Love, self-sacrifice, and unselfishness are indeed divine attributes or characteristics. When Moses asked God to show him His glory, God showed him these characteristics. These are part of God's "image."

Remember also that Adam was made in God's image. When he came from the Creator's hand, Adam was naturally loving and unselfish. He was in the image of God.

However, in that unfallen state of perfection, of being loving and unselfish, of being in God's image, Adam was tempted. So, here we find one guidepost of truth: Being fallen is not required to be tempted. The same argument can be used with Lucifer in heaven.

When man sinned, selfishness took the place of love. The defining characteristic of God - love - which Adam had at his creation, was replaced by its antithesis - selfishness. So, that makes the unregenerate man WANT to be tempted, and WANT to sin. Hence, it is harder for such to avoid sin because he likes it.

Going to your other list of divine attributes, there is one there that could prevent temptation: omniscience. Larry Kirkpatrick presented in a sermon that omniscience prevents God from being tempted, but I haven't really spent the time analyzing it. In any case, I'll present my understanding of his argument.

We are tempted to sin when the sinful option is presented to us, and we get the idea that some benefit could come from it. Just consider Eve's temptation to eat the forbidden fruit. However, it is wrong to think that we could benefit from sinning; we just don't know it because we don't know everything. So it is possible to fool people, even people with perfect characters such as pre-fall Adam and Eve, into thinking that falling into temptation could be beneficial.

This is where omniscience keeps God from being tempted. If a temptation is presented to Him, He can see the end from the beginning, and knows how it would all turn out. He would see all the nasty consequences of sin. That omniscience, combined with His wisdom and unselfishness, keeps Him from wanting to have any part of sin.

Jesus, while incarnate, was not omniscient. He could not see the end from the beginning. He couldn't even see what He was going to do for the rest of the day, but relied on God telling Him what to do. IOW, Jesus used God's omniscience to keep Him from sinning. But on His own, He was not omniscient and could be fooled into thinking that some benefit could be gained from sinning.

If we imitate Christ's example, we also can be kept falling into temptation. We can also take advantage of God's omniscience, and let Him "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." That's why it is important to walk by faith and not by sight, because without omniscience sight is not reliable.

Harder than for Christ?

I don't think the omniscience speaks well of God. That is, if the reason that God doesn't do bad things is simply because He is omniscient, that's not a very good reason IMO.



Certainly this is true, but what I hear from the other threads (I guess we're getting a bit off topic here) is that what's needed is not only to not fall into temptation, but not be able to be tempted; that is, the temptation itself is sin. So we need to lose our tendencies to sin (which is to some extent true) so that we can't be tempted. I say to some extent, because cultivated tendencies do need to be removed from our character, but the idea has been expressed that Christ had no tendencies to sin, even ones that would come genetically, so we need to not have any either -- even the genetic ones must be removed.

???
Let me repeat what Arnold has already said in his last post. If the absence of sinful tendencies in the person prevented that person from being tempted, how is it that the angels in heaven, as well as Adam and Eve, were tempted?
By the way, what I said was that the sinful desire is sin, as the tenth commandment points out, and that, as I see it, internal temptations are accompanied by sinful desires.

No, I don't see John 2:19 as contradictory, but complementary to the other scriptures. God called His Son from the grave, but He came from the grave by the life that was in Himself. Surely no mere man can say, like Jesus (John 10:18) that he has power to take his own life again. Neither can any mere man say "I am the resurrection and the life."

About this, Ellen White says,

When the voice of the mighty angel was heard at Christ's tomb, saying, Thy Father calls Thee, the Saviour came forth from the grave by the life that was in Himself. Now was proved the truth of His words, "I lay down My life, that I might take it again. . . . I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." Now was fulfilled the prophecy He had spoken to the priests and rulers, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." John 10:17, 18; 2:19. {DA 785.2}

Over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, Christ had proclaimed in triumph, "I am the resurrection, and the life." These words could be spoken only by the Deity. All created beings live by the will and power of God. They are dependent recipients of the life of God. From the highest seraph to the humblest animate being, all are replenished from the Source of life. Only He who is one with God could say, I have power to lay down My life, and I have power to take it again. In His divinity, Christ possessed the power to break the bonds of death. {DA 785.3}

I don't know about that. I don't see how it is complimentary with the quote offered. Over 30 Bible text state very clearly that the Father raise Jesus up. This is different then the EGW statement that said, an angel said to Christ, the father calls you. I know that Jesus said that "He's the ressurection". This can be taken that those who ressurect will ressurect throught Him. But did Jesus ressurect from Himself? and why the other 30+ scriptures says the Father raised Him up.
Also Jesus is our example in life, death and ressurection :



So we shall be also be raised in the likeness of Christ? through our own power of the resurrection? Do you have other scripture that says that Jesus raised himself up?

OK, let's us assume that Jesus ressurected himself, that power in Christ that raised Himself up, Is it His Omnipotence? His immortality?

i dont know if this will help or not, but we have been planted in the likeness of Christs death when we were baptized, not when we literally die.

we will be raised in the likenessof His resurrection. He raised Himself because it was not possible that death should hold Him.

Elle,

Christ is our example but not everything He did we can do. He forgave sins; we can't do that. He said, "I am the way, the truth and the life;" none of us can say that. Notice the present tense. He was the way, the truth and the life while He was a man, on earth. He didn't divest Himself of His attributes (omnipotence, ominiscience, immortality, etc). He just chose not to use them in His own benefit until His work for man's salvation was finished.


He lived for us (His life substitutes ours); He died for us (His death substitutes ours); He raised Himself for us - as His power raised His own body to life, it will also raise our body in the last day.


As I said, John 10:18 also alludes to this. "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."

If this is so, and I am not saying it isn't, wouldn't this have given Jesus an advantage over Eve, Adam, and the rest of us?

Rom 6:5 says what it says, in the same likeness Jesus ressurected so we are going to be ressurected. And it's in harmony with the other 30+ scriptures that I quoted above that the Father raised Christ, and so will Christ raise us up.

Rosangela you're saying that Jesus posseses all His divine attributes (omni-present, omniscience, immortality...)when he was on earth. Then that pose a problem, because He did not come on this earth like one of us.

I think these divine attributes doesn't make Him more of less the son of God. Jesus is the Son of God regardless of these. I saw a text that said that Jesus stipped himself from his divity, but I can't find it right now.

With holding to what we were taught will make this study a dead end.

I don't believe that Jesus could of died while still possessing immortality.

It prevents people from being tempted from within, which original sin advocates say is sin. It is at this point that Donnell and Haskel disagreed, and where you agree with Donnell and disagree with Haskell.



Simply having a temptation is not a sin. Cherishing a desire is sin. As A. T. Jones put it:



As Ellen White put it:



No consent = no sin.