Correspondence

 •  7 min. read  •  grade level: 7
 
Question: Why is the order of the Lord’s temptations different in Matthew’s Gospel from that of Luke? T.
Answer: The Holy Spirit has intentionally given us four gospels, all are varied according to God’s object in giving each, that the glories of His beloved Son might be unfolded to us in greater measure.
Matthew presents to us the Lord Jesus as heir to the throne of Israel, and as heir to the promises given to Abraham. Coming as He did into the world, He fulfills the Scriptures, and when grown up, we are introduced to Him in Matthew 3, taking His place with the believing remnant who were called by John to confess their sins. He had no sins to confess, and God justifies Him (1 Tim. 3:16) at His baptism as the fulfiller of all righteousness, sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in Him as the Holy One, and declaring, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:15-77; John 6:27; Acts 10:37, 38); and then as the second Man, the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45), He is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. It was necessary that Satan, as the strong man, should be bound (Matt. 12:29), and that where Adam fell by transgression with everything around to sustain him, Jesus should prove Himself the obedient One even with everything against Him. He had fasted forty days and forty nights. Then the tempter said, “If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” Without the word from His Father, He would do nothing, but said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Notice, dear young believers, He applies the word to Himself, and thus defeats Satan. This was in connection with His bodily need (Deut. 8:3; 2 Tim. 3:16).
Then Satan quotes part of Psalm 91, which contains promises to the Messiah. Jesus knew that they were true, but in this also He would not leave the path of obedience. His confidence was perfect, he would not sin by testing His Father’s care over Him, and so quotes Deuteronomy 6:16, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”
In Psalm 8 we have the Son of Man set over all things in heaven and on earth, and in this also Satan tries Him, promising to give Him all the kingdoms of the world. But He refuses to think of taking the kingdom till the Father gives it to Him in the appointed time (Psa. 110:1), and Satan is manifested plainly in asking worship, so He says, “Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve’” (Deut. 6:13).
There is less of the dispensational character in Luke’s Gospel. It is more the moral glories of the Man Christ Jesus, and stands in sharp contrast to the fallen man. Luke does not state things consecutively, but groups the lessons together to display to the opened eye and ear, the glories and perfections of the Son of God as the “Man Christ Jesus.”
In 1 John 2:16 we have what the world is to the natural man. “The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise.” These find an answer in our fallen nature. But in Jesus our Lord ever perfect, they find no answer. He is tried by Satan here on these three points, but there was the absolute refusal in Him to all that sin is; there was no desire in Him to gratify His own will.
Obedient, submissive, dependent.
He would not gratify His bodily need.
He would not seek worldly honor and possessions.
He did not seek a place before men.
He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Matt. 4:1). He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness (N. T.) (Luke 4:1), and is led in the power of the Spirit into Galilee after all was finished (verse 14). Every trial to Him was another stepping-stone to do His Father’s will.
Question: Is the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2) the same as the true God and eternal life? (1 John 5:20). W. H.
Answer: We see from Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6, that it is the Holy Spirit dwelling in us that enables us to say, “Abba Father.” None could fully enter into these things till the Comforter was come. The light was dim till then.
The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:2) is life in the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in the believer.
l John 5:20 is different. It is the inscrutable person of the Son of God. He is the true God and eternal life. (See Matt. 11:27).
Question: Please inform one who is interested in Bible studies, where I can find in the (English) Bible where Christ told His disciples to come to Him to confess; or where He went to them to confess? S. B. S.
Answer: We do not find any place in the Bible where the Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples to confess to Him, nor where He went to confess to them. The Lord Jesus had no sins to confess, but for our sins He died on the cross. (Rom. 4:24, 25; 1 Peter 2:24).
We are encouraged in many scriptures to confess to God, our sinful, lost estate, and then to believe that our Lord Jesus suffered for our sins that we might be cleansed from them (Read the following verses, Isa. 1:18; 6:5, 6, 7; 53:5, 6; Psa. 32:5; 51:3, 17; Prov. 28:13).
In the New Testament, John Baptist, before Christ died, preached the baptism of repentance for remission of sins. (Matt. 3:6; Mark 1:5; Luke 3:3). Many were thus prepared to receive Christ when He came and died and rose again, after making atonement on the cross, and believing on Him were given the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38; 10:43; 13:38, 39; Rom. 1:16; 3:22-26; 4:24, 25; 5:1). And in chapter 10:9, we read, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
The Epistles were written to give us the full assurance of our acceptance in Him, and of the provision made for every believer in Christ, as our Great High Priest (Heb. 7:25; 4:14-16); as our Advocate for the failing believer, if any man sin (1 John 2:1). We are led to confess our sins with the promise that if we do “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). This restores our happiness again if we had lost it.
Notice that confession of sins is always to God in every verse. Notice also in James 5:16 that believers in Christ can help each other by praying and confessing their sins or faults one to another, that they may be healed spiritually and physically too if it is the Lord’s will.
In none of these passages do we find mention of a priest. Every believer has access to God for himself or herself.
We are all children of God who have faith in Christ Jesus as our true and only Savior (Gal. 3:26; 1 John 3:1, 2).
What a loving God and Father He is, and what a blessed Lord and Savior Jesus is! He has promised, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).