Pietism has its origin in Lutheranism. I am not Lutheran. I just believe the Bible. One Lutheran I ran into on another forum did not hold to any kind of Pietism but he appeared to be more for Hyper Grace (i.e., an extreme for of a sin and still be saved type belief).
Bible Highlighter said:
Your belief is actually attack upon the good character of our God and you don't’ even realize it.
You said:
an emotional reaction without merit.
No emotional reaction involved. I was not upset by any means when I made that statement.
I am just telling you how things are.
You said:
Did you miss the part where I explained that your belief imputes actual (not merely potential) sin to God?
Well, sometimes I do skim people’s posts if I see that they are rambling on about something that is entirely unbiblical. But a post # and an actual quote of your words would be great. I don’t hang on the words of others unless it is something that they are writing that is edifying and helpful to growing in the faith.
You said:
According to Scripture, Hebrews 4:14-15 "Jesus the Son of God, ... was in all points tempted like as we are". You can't ignore this verse just because it doesn't square with your premature conclusions on this matter.
As I demonstrated in my previous post to you, the Bible clearly teaches that there is internal temptation and external temptation.
Seeing that there would be multiple contradictions in Scripture if Jesus was internally tempted to do evil (See: 1 John 1:5, Hebrews 7:26, James 1:13, John 1:29), we must conclude that Jesus was externally tempted.
Bible Highlighter said:
You fail to believe Hebrews 7:26 that says that Jesus is holy, undefiled, and separate from sinners.
You said:
Wrong... and rather asinine of you to make such an accusatory assumption.
Surely cussing is not needed in our adult conversation here.
The Bible says,
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” (Ephesians 4:29).
Anyway, I said what I did because how exactly do you not see Jesus as not being defiled if He was capable of sinning? Scripture makes it clear that God is good, and He is holy, and there is no darkness in Him. Hebrews 7:26 also says that Jesus is separate from sinners. So this means He is not like us in the fact that He could ever sin. What you will not see Hebrew 2:18, and Hebrews 4:15 says is that Jesus could have potentially sinned but He simply did not do so. I say this because you can read Hebrews 2:18, and Hebrews 4:15 with external temptation in view.
You said:
Scripture doesn't say that Jesus was "tempted externally"; it says He was tempted "as we are".
And are we not externally tempted by sin? 1 Corinthians 10:13 says that we are.
Plus, as I said, you will have multiple contradictions in Scripture if Jesus was internally tempted to sin.
It would suggest there is darkness in God, and that there is some kind of defilement in Him.
But Jesus said He is the good shepherd. Jesus said He is the light of the world. Jesus says He is the way, the truth, and the life.
This is not possible for Jesus to say these things and yet also for Him to potentially sin. It would suggest Jesus was not God, as well.
You said:
Scripture doesn't say "Jesus is separate from sinners because He could not sin"; it simply says He is "separate from sinners".
The two concepts go together. If one is separate from sinners, that means one is not like sinners in any way to even sin. This is the case especially if Hebrews 7:26 says that Jesus was undefiled. Jesus potentially sinning means there would be some kind of defilement in Him to be able to do some kind of evil potentially. This is what you don’t understand. Jesus says a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit, and Jesus clearly is a good tree. God is good.
You said:
It doesn't mean that at all. Only if Jesus did sin would He have defilement in Him.
Not at all.
One’s nature can be that of a child of wrath.
Ephesians 2:3 says, “…and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”
2 Corinthians 7:1 says,
“….let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Meaning, that defilement or filthiness can be a part of a believer’s flesh that needs to be cleansed.
Jesus was born of a virgin by the seed of a woman for a reason.
Sin is passed down by the male seed.
But like I said, any potential to do wrong means something is not good in that individual.
It means there are lusts or wrong desires that they are simply not acting upon or they are suppressing.
Jesus says there is none good but God. Jesus is good and He is God and so His capacity to sin is zero.
In other words, you need a verse that more clearly says that Jesus could have sinned and yet He didn’t.
Hebrews 2;18, and Hebrews 4:15 can be read as referring to external temptation only with no contradiction or problems.
You said:
That He is our spotless Lamb is based on the fact that He did not sin, just as the successful examination of a lamb at the temple under the Sinai covenant did not mean the lamb could not be defiled, but simply that it was not defiled.
I imagine that is what you like it to mean, but if one has the potential to do evil and that exists inside of them, then that is darkness of some kind. That is defilement of some kind. Even one does not act on one’s capacity to do evil, the fact that they could have potentially do evil shows there is something wrong in them that they need to remedy. Again, you are claiming God could have potentially sinned. The implications in this claim are problematic to begin with.
You said:
"Internal" and "external" are your terms, not the Bible's terms, and Hebrews 4:15 states "in all points tempted as we are" without noting any such distinction. No matter how you carve up "temptation", Jesus was tempted as we are. The difference is that He did not sin.
Well, I have demonstrated this fact clearly by showing you the verses on internal temptation vs external temptation. Please go back and check them out. If you do not see it, I would encourage you to ask God to send you the Spirit to illuminate your understanding of such verses as you reread them. For me, it is really plain.