At the bottom of each devotional message you will now see the date when the message was originally sent to DDB readers. To many of you, as new or recent subscribers, these messages are fresh "bread," as they are to those of us who have read them before. Elder Wieland sends his greetings to all of you, his faithful readers and friends, and asks that you join us in prayer that he will soon be able to write these messages again. Please feel free to write him at the following e-mail address. Your comments are welcome and appreciated. Sincerely, Robert J. Wieland and the "Dial Daily Bread" Staff
[email protected] --------------------------------------- To what extent was Jesus in His incarnation tempted like as we are, from within? We cannot dare to go beyond what the Bible says. But neither do we dare to deny or come short of what it does say, regarding our Lord's experience with our temptations. What Scripture does say clearly is: "We have ... an high priest ... touched with the feeling of our infirmities, [who] was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15; the double negatives mean a firm positive). We dare not say that there are some temptations we must endure which Jesus never had to meet! With great respect to them, some Christians teach that when the virgin Mary was in the womb of her mother, the little embryo was miraculously separated from the heredity of all other descendants of the fallen Adam, so that she was born with a sinless nature so she could give to her Son Jesus a sinless nature. That is the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. Specifically, this doctrine teaches that Mary was never tempted as we are, for example in sex. This denies what Scripture says. The word "all points" in Heb. 4:15 is a Greek term that means exactly that--"all." "Infirmities" is the word that means "weaknesses." And the word "like as" in the Greek means "identically," not merely in a similar way. Only one conclusion seems possible: In His incarnation, Christ had to endure every temptation that we have to meet. Some object, "Was He tempted to watch TV? Eat ice cream? Drink Vodka? Etc. These things were not invented in His day!" The answer has to be yes, He was tempted in principle. He had to meet the temptations of appetite as must we, and also of sensuality, as must we. Hebrews 2:18 in the Greek quite clearly implies that only "in that wherein He Himself hath suffered being tempted, is He able to succor those who are tempted." If we can find some temptation to sin that He never had to meet, in that respect we do not have a Savior from that sin! His temptations on His cross were certainly from within: His cry, "Why hast Thou forsaken Me?" was from deep within His soul. We must accept the Good News that indeed Christ is a Savior FROM sin. We can come "boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in [every] time of need" (Heb. 4:16). All I can do is encourage you to believe how good the Good News is. --Robert J. Wieland [From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 9, 2000] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Deaf-Blind Inspirational Life Group" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/dbilg?hl=en.
