James 1:13 ESV
Wouldn't it be nice if it were impossible for you and I to sin? Imagine that you literally couldn't sin, that is was so contradictory to your nature, to what you are really like, that it would be as impossible to sin as it would be to for you to become a horse. In this way, it's impossible for God to sin.
What makes sin impossible for God? To answer this question, we have to understand what sin is in it's truest form. James gives a good illustration of what sin is through the experience of temptation.
Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
James 1:14-15 NLT
According to James, we sin when we yield to our desires instead of yielding to God. We want something or someone more than we want God or what God gives us. So we sin to get what we want. This is why we sin; but why can't God sin?
God is love, light, spirit, and life. In other words, God is fulfillment itself, fulfilled in and of and by Himself. What could you tempt God with? What can you offer God that is better than God; what's better than being God?
God can't sin because God can't be tempted.
He has no unfulfilled desires.
God has no needs.
Already, it seems impossible for you and me to ever experience this. We clearly have needs and desires, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Even Jesus had needs when he was on earth. He was hungry, thirsty, and sleepy at times. Satan could tempt Jesus because He had needs like our own. But Jesus never sinned. Nor do we get the impression that He had sinful desires. Hunger, thirst, and fatigue aren't sinful in and of themselves. But they did give Satan an opportunity to tempt God the Son, yet Jesus never yielded to temptation.
How can we be like Jesus, who in His weakest moments didn't yield to temptation? (Click here for part 2.)
No comments:
Post a Comment