Posted on 10/31/2013 10:27:20 AM PDT by GonzoII
He can do whatever He wants, He is God.
Considering that “temptation” is a sin...
Hebrews 4:15- “For we have as high priest, not one who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tested in all respecs like ourselves, but without sin”. And
1 Peter 2:22 - “He committed no sin, nor was deception found in his mouth”.
The answer is NO.
Maybe a little off topic; maybe not.
Is killing people always a sin?
I would say, “No”.
Question 2.
Is “Gospel of Thomas”, authoratative, or in the Bible, or possibly Gnostic.
I would say, “no”, “no”, and “maybe”.
Actually Thou shalt not murder is the understanding.
It seems the tension is between Jesus’ humanity and his deity. If he is truly human, he is capable of sin but resisted it perfectly. But as deity, he is incapable of sin so doesn’t that counter his humanity and capacity to sin.
I once heard an explanation that I found very satisfying. It goes like this. In his humanity, Jesus’ resisted all temptation to sin so his deity, which would have prevented sin, was a backstop against sin that was never reached or needed.
This maintains his humanity and his sinlessness while retaining his perfection as deity.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been TEMPTED in every way, just as we are—YET HE DID NOT SIN. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Yet he did not sin.
That is the key- YET. He did not sin.
The first thing I thought of is we are human, but we also have God dwelling in us. And of course we sin. I think the Garden of Gethsemane was Christ's biggest temptation - I would go even as far as saying that Christ was anxious, but then quickly turning that worry into a prayer. Like Paul tells us “Don't be anxious about anything, but with prayer and thanks call on God” (or something to that effect). While dwelling on worry is probably a sin (not trusting in God), I think the momentary anxiousness is the normal human response to a bad situation.
Could Jesus have jumped ship? Yes, I think He had free will and could have. Would He? No. Another scene comes to mind, when Jesus is baptized and God says something like “This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Why would it please God for Jesus to be baptized if Jesus had no choice in the matter? It would make Jesus an automaton imho.
I would say He came, He saw, and He conquered perfectly as only God could.
I believe if He could hear the thoughts and suggestions of men he could of heard those of the Devil and acted accordingly.
“Actually Thou shalt not murder is the understanding.”
And one doesn’t have to look to Thomas to see God doing lots of killing.
I'll take issue with your term "killings".
From the article:
"When God destroys nations, that isn't murder, because God is Creator and Judge, and has the prerogative to give life or take it away. They are judged because of the evil they have done, and so there is no injustice."
He might have enjoyed the occasional non fat free yogurt, but that is it.
Jesus is the innocent Lamb of God - unspotted and without sin - the perfect Sacrifice to redeem us of our sins.
No way, a worker was a worker in those days, He would have needed every calorie.
As I read your post, I have the impression you mean that to say that Jesus' genetic seed, as in sperm, did not leave him; i.e., he did not have intercourse with a woman--ok, or anything else, neither ever have a wet dream. I hope not to have put that inference upon your writing inappropriately, but I believe that would not reasonably follow the context from which that piece of Scripture comes, I John 3:9, where, "No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." speaks to God's seed being in anyone born of God, as Jesus was (though through Mary, He had David's seed, also) and therefore even a human, so begotten, cannot sin."
Yet, I don't see eye-to-eye with (for example, Lutherans) those who would aver that we sin because we have a sinful nature. Conversely, if we were brought to this Earth as "born of God", we would not, or even "could not." I subscribe to the tenet, "fully God, fully human." I don't reflexively ascribe infallibility to various Councils any more than I would to a pope. Such I do ascribe to canonical Scripture.
We must be in the dispensation of which Ezekiel 18:2-3 speaks. Sinning is no longer a question of parentage or seed. "The soul who sins shall die" (without a Savior to wash those sins away).
Mt 5:48 ("Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.") would be a horrible taunt if God's Holy Writ were to command an impossibility. A gerbil endlessly attempting to catch his tail in a spinning race would serve a similar, mindless point.
HF
I messed up, I didn’t see the “non” fat free...
To say--as you do--that Jesus' spirit remained within him is to say nothing unusual for any human, though Jesus did somewhat unusually in the consciousness of man explicitly give up his spirit on the cross.
HF
Hence my use of the term “killing” and not “murder”. Similar to killing in self defense and war.
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