The Perfection Of Our Saviour
THE PERFECTION OF OUR SAVIOUR
Bible Believers’ Bulletin, February 1992, Page 2
by Brian Donovan
Any time a child of God looks into the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, he ought to be drawn into a closer appreciation of just how much love and mercy was shown when God became man. The theologians have a way of quenching that appreciation, every time they bog us down with their trade jargon. For instance, instead of saying that the Lord knows everything, we are told He is “Omniscient.” To the theologian, the Lord is “Omnipotent,” instead of all powerful. “Omnipresent,” instead of all over the place. One of the nonscriptural banterings for the theologian is what he labels the “impeccability” of Christ. That is the doctrine that Jesus Christ was not tempted like you and I because for Him there was no choice.
Rather than waste time with terms like “impeccability,” this article will deal with the Bible teaching of the perfection of Christ. The Bible says that Jesus Christ “learned obedience” (Heb. 5:8) and was made perfect “through sufferings” (Heb. 2:10). Now right from the start of this
(Continued on page 6)
Bible Believers’ Bulletin, February 1992, Page 6
(Continued from page 2)
study, you need to remember that the Lord Jesus Christ has two complete natures. He is all God and all man. That is important to keep in mind because there are times when the Bible refers to His human nature, and other times refers to His God nature. When someone tells you that Jesus Christ could not be tempted (because God cannot be tempted with evil), he is forgoetting that Christ has a human nature that was subjected to temptation. This distinction must be made and kept in mind or you will hae some real problems with a number of verses in the Bible. For instance, how does God increase in wisdom (Luke 2:52–and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature…)? How does God learn something (Heb. 5:8–though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience…)? How is God made perfect (Heb. 5:9–and being made perfect…)? These verses are obviously speaking about God as a man, the man Christ Jesus.
We are dealing with the mystery of godliness (God manifest in the flesh–1 Tim. 3:16) when we speak about the Lord Jesus Christ. AS A MAN, the Lord made His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom. 8:3), made Him a little lower than the angels (Heb. 2:9), and made him the last Adam (1 Cor. 15–Rom. 5). Even though God cannot be tempted with evil, the MAN Christ Jesus became perfect through sufferings. The sufferings included his death, burial, and resurrection (Luke 13:32–the third day I shall be perfected), as well as His temptations (Heb. 2:18–for in that he himself suffered being tempted…).
When the devil came to Christ to tempt him, he was not tempting God, but the human nature of the last Adam. Where the first Adam failed and lost his innocence, the last Adam came through victorious and became perfect! Adam’s innocence was tempted when the woman gave him of the tree in the garden, and he of his own free will, chose to go against the Lord’s command. Adam wasn’t deceived (1 Tim. 2:14), he knew the choice he was making and with it, became imperfect. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, was tempted in all points like as we are (Heb. 4:15), YET WITHOUT SIN! The perfection of our Saviour came about through his victory over temptation, and through that victory, was perfected on the third day. Now, He is able to succour me in my temptations because He Himself suffered the same. What a perfect Saviour! How can Jesus Christ have been tempted like you and I (Heb. 4:15) if He never experienced the possibility of choice? Of course he had a choice or He never had a temptation. That’s why the Bible correctors today try to change “tempted” to “tested” every time it appears in the King James Bible.
Was Jesus Christ impeccable? Not until as a man He chose to do His Father’s will and became perfect through suffering and temptation (just as Adam would have become had he chosen right). I know He’s impeccable now, and that’s a real comfort for one who is prone to sin as myself. He has become my perfect Saviour.