Thoughts
KJV Philippians 2:5-6
5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
I gather from this scripture that I am to have the same mind Jesus did, the mind of God, to be equal to God in some way. The mind and the will are the same thing.
KJV John 5:30
30. I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
Here Jesus said that he could do nothing but Gods will or Gods mind.
KJV John 5:23
23. That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
Jesus and God have the same will, the same mind and we should honor the Son as we honor the Father. To say that Jesus was capable of sin is to dishonor him and his Father. Even though Jesus was a created being, God created Jesus with His will and His mind. The quality of God of being unable to sin was also in Christ Jesus.
While Jesus was not omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent or eternal he was unable to sin and it is in this thing that Jesus was the image of the invisible God, the express image of His person, the brightness of His glory and that in Jesus was all the fullness of God in bodily form.
It is our thoughts that make us who we are and Gods thoughts that make God who He is. Our thoughts must become His thoughts and His ways our ways.
KJV Psalms 139:23-24
23. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
24. And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
David knew his thoughts could be sin.
KJV Proverbs 16:3
3. Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.
God has the power to establish your thoughts if you submit to His will.
KJV Isaiah 55:7
7. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
KJV Matthew 15:19-20
19. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
20. These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
Jesus brings out the true cause of sin and it is our thoughts.
KJV Mark 7:21-23
21. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22. Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
Our minds, our thoughts are what defile us. Jesus did not have a mind with evil thoughts and his mind was like Gods in this way. Jesus was like God in that he could not sin.
KJV Romans 2:15
15. Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness,and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another
The law could not address the thoughts and intents of the heart, the true place of our sins. By the Holy Spirit God begins to transform our minds to be like the mind of Christ that was equal to God.
KJV Hebrews 4:12
12. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
This is how God will truly judge humanity.
KJV Genesis 6:5
5. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
The evil thoughts of our minds, our hearts needs and inner cleansing by the Spirit of God.
KJV 1 Chronicles 28:9
9. And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
I know that some teach that Jesus could have sinned and I believe this to be because they use the temptation angle to try to prove that Jesus is not God. This issue about temptation, cannot be used to prove Jesus was not God. This is because in the matter of temptation Jesus was exactly like his Father.
KJV James 1:13
13. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
KJV John 5:17-18
17. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
18. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
KJV Philippians 2:5-6
5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Jesus could not have sinned any more than God could sin because they had the same nature, will or mind. In this Jesus was equal to God.
KJV John 5:19-20
19. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.(Jesus could only have sinned if God could sin)
20. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
Consider that God gave a testimony about His son long before Jesus was born by the words of the prophets and Jesus knew these words. Jesus knew that he was going to rule the kingdom of God, he told Pilate,
KJV John 18:37
37. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
What this means is that Jesus knew that he would never sin and could not sin.
Consider also that if Jesus could have sinned on Earth what
would prevent him from sinning in heaven? If Jesus is the same now in mind as he was when on Earth and it was possible for him to sin then perhaps God had better keep an eye on him.
KJV Hebrews 13:8
8. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
God has no need to be concerned about Jesus because God created Jesus like Himself. Did not God say, “let us make man after our image and according to our likeness.” Adam did not fulfill this, Jesus did. There are many other ways to prove Jesus is not God but when it comes to the temptation way it will not work.
Satan is the absolute master of temptation; after all, he tempted many angels to rebel against God. Remember that angels have seen the face of God and experienced the most high in all of His glory and yet they still sinned. Jesus went head to head with him and defeated him never once wavering.
It has been said that if Jesus could not have sinned that the temptation would have been a farce, I will address that claim with my own thoughts and with scripture.
Since I was converted and came out of the law I learned the lesson of the schoolmaster, that lesson being that try as I may I could never keep the law because I always sinned. Now that I have arrived and am with Jesus I find a teaching that says the Messiah I love had the ability to sin the same as me. My desire is to become unable to sin to be like God and my hope to achieve that is the resurrection.
KJV 1 Corinthians 15:52-57
52. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56. The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
My understanding is that at the resurrection not only will I put on immortality but also be made impeccable or unable to sin. Sin was the problem that caused my death and I need to be changed so that I do not die.
This victory comes from God through Jesus Christ. If I achieve this incorruption/impeccability it had to have been made possible by a man who had been impeccable, unable to sin. When I sin today I know the blood of an impeccable messiah can cover that sin so that I have the hope of some day becoming like him when he was on this Earth. This knowledge provides me with great confidence and is proof from God to me that God is able to do for me what he did in the man Jesus. This in no way diminishes Jesus being able to sympathize with us in our weakness but rather shows that he and the Father provided us with the hope of being raised in power.
KJV 1 Corinthians 15:43
43. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
I am yet weak because I still sin and need forgiveness and these sins cause me to hate this life of flesh and yearn for the change to come.
KJV John 12:25
25. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life everlasting.
If Jesus was a potential sinner he could not provide for me what he himself did not have. I would always be a potential sinner just like Jesus, never truly being free from sin, unable to sin and become like my Father who cannot sin. The only two potential sinners that ever lived were Adam and Eve and they became sin as all of their children are, we do not have sin we are sin. Our human spirit, our mind and thoughts are sin and this is what defiles us and what we need saved from.
KJV Romans 6:22
22. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
I am kept free from sin by the blood of Jesus looking to have my nature of sin changed to righteousness and holiness at the resurrection to everlasting life. I will never be completely free from sin until this change comes that is possible through God and Christ. At this time I have partaken of the nature of God only in part by the measure of His Spirit that I have been given but hope to put on the stature and fullness of Jesus when that change comes. I still sin but I know that will end when Jesus returns because then I will be like him and his Father, unable to sin.
This is not a farce but a living hope by which we draw close to God.
KJV Hebrews 7:19
19. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.