| Our verse does not say that our Lord Jesus Christ “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sinning”; rather, it says, “Yet without sin.” He had no indwelling sin, such as we have. God takes great care in His Word to tell us of the absolute purity and impeccability of His Son. Not only did our Lord not sin, He could not sin, “for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man” to do evil. It may be argued that since our Lord was both God and man, the manward side could sin though the Godward side could not. But we cannot thus separate our Lord’s nature, for He is “God … manifest in the flesh.” The law could not save or deliver from sin, but “God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” When gold is refined or tested by fire, the dross or impurities come to the top, but when pure gold is tested, there is no dross to come forth. So it was with our Lord in His temptations, and now He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities. … Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” |
