Part II — The Word Made Flesh

The Word that was God was made flesh — John 1:1, 14, 18; 1 Tim. 3:16; Col. 2:9:

• John 1:1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" — the Word (Logos) is eternal, distinct from the Father, and Himself God: deity stated before any mention of flesh.
  • the Word made flesh = the eternal Son, the Logos who was with God and was God, becoming truly human without ceasing to be God — the same Person who is the pre-existent Word now dwelling among men in real flesh, truly God and truly man, two natures in one Person (John 1:1, 14; 1 Tim. 3:16; Col. 2:9; Heb. 2:14, 17; Phil. 2:6-8; Gal. 4:4).
• John 1:14. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" — the central text: the very Word of v. 1 was MADE flesh and tabernacled among us; the glory beheld is the glory of God in a man.
• John 1:18. "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him" — the unseen God is declared (exegeted, shown forth) by the only begotten Son in the Father's bosom; the incarnation is God making God known.
• 1 Tim. 3:16. "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" — the mystery named plainly: God Himself manifest in flesh; deity and humanity in one Person.
• Col. 2:9. "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" — the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily in the incarnate Christ; not a partial, diluted, or borrowed divinity.
• WitnessPREX1 15.2. Litch: "The natures were blended in one, and yet distinct... In this mysterious being 'dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.' The Word or Logos which was in the beginning with God, and was God, dwelt in the Son of God, the man Christ Jesus" — a Millerite-pioneer witness binding the spine texts (Col. 2:9; John 1:1) into the two-natures confession: blended yet distinct.
• WitnessDA 23.1. White: "Had He appeared with the glory that was His with the Father before the world was, we could not have endured the light of His presence... His divinity was veiled with humanity,—the invisible glory in the visible human form" — the incarnation stated precisely: deity veiled in, not exchanged for, humanity.
• Witness6LtMs, Ms 24, 1890, par. 23. White: "Remember, in Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" — Col. 2:9 confessed of the incarnate Christ.

The deity that was made flesh — Heb. 1:3, 8; Rom. 9:5:

• Heb. 1:3. "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" — the very radiance and exact stamp of God's substance (full deity), yet purging our sins as man.
• Heb. 1:8. "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom" — the Father directly addresses the Son as "O God" on an eternal throne: explicit deity of the Son.
• Rom. 9:5. "of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen" — both natures asserted in one verse: as to the flesh, of Israel; in His Person, "God blessed for ever."
• WitnessDA 530.3. White: "'I am the resurrection, and the life.' In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived... The divinity of Christ is the believer's assurance of eternal life" — the underived, original life that belongs to God alone, held in the One who became flesh; this marks Him off from every creature.
• WitnessGC 493.1. White: "Christ the Word, the Only Begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father,—one in nature, in character, and in purpose... and to Christ, equally with the Father, all heaven gave allegiance" — the One who became flesh is worshipped equally with the Father.

The humanity that the Word took — Gal. 4:4; Rom. 1:3; Heb. 2:14, 16, 17:

• Gal. 4:4. "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law" — the pre-existent Son was "sent forth" and "made of a woman": He was the Son before He was made man.
• Rom. 1:3. "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh" — "according to the flesh" He is David's seed: true humanity in real human lineage.
• Heb. 2:14. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" — He took the same flesh and blood as the children, so that He could die and through death destroy the devil: true humanity for redemption.
• Heb. 2:16. "For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham" — He took human nature, not angelic: this defines the kind of incarnation.
• Heb. 2:17. "Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people" — made like His brethren in all things, the saving purpose of the two natures in one Person: a merciful and faithful High Priest.
• WitnessDA 25.3. White: "In taking our nature, the Saviour has bound Himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken... God gave His only-begotten Son to become one of the human family, forever to retain His human nature... It is the 'Son of man' whose name shall be called, 'Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God'" — the Son permanently took our nature, yet that Son of man is "The mighty God" (Isa. 9:6).
• Witness6LtMs, Ms 16, 1890, par. 87. White: "In Christ dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily. This is why, although He was tempted in all points like as we are, He stood before the world, from His first entrance into it, untainted by corruption" — the bodily fulness of deity stands behind the One who was truly tempted as a man.

Being in the form of God, He made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant — Phil. 2:6-8:

• Phil. 2:6-8. "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" — being equal with God, He took the form of a servant: the self-emptying of deity into humanity, without ceasing to be God. (The manner of that emptying — veiled, never divested — is unfolded in "He Emptied Himself — Veiled, but Never Divested.")

Immanuel — the virgin's son who is The mighty God — Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23; Isa. 9:6; Luke 1:35:

• Isa. 7:14. "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" — the sign: a virgin's son bearing a name that fixes who He is, the OT promise of God dwelling with His people in a human child.
  • Immanuel = "God with us" (Scripture's own interpretation, Matt. 1:23) — the name of the virgin-born son, identifying the human child as God Himself come to dwell with His people, the deity ("The mighty God," Isa. 9:6) resident in the man (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23; Isa. 9:6; Luke 1:35).
• Matt. 1:23. (partial) "...they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" — the NT supplies the definition itself: Immanuel = God with us; the symbol is glossed by inspiration.
• Isa. 9:6. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given... and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" — the born child / given son is named "The mighty God": full deity predicated of the human infant — two natures, one Person.
• Luke 1:35. "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee... therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" — the conception by the Holy Ghost: the One truly born of Mary is at once "the Son of God"; the mechanism of the union.
• WitnessGSAM 49.3. Loughborough: "How could he be a child born of the seed of David, and yet be Immanuel—God with us? Yet Isaiah, their own prophet, declared, 'A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel'" — a pioneer framing the very paradox of the section and anchoring it in Isa. 7:14.
• WitnessDA 19.1. White: "'His name shall be called Immanuel, ... God with us.'... From the days of eternity the Lord Jesus Christ was one with the Father... To this sin-darkened earth He came... to be 'God with us'" — defines Immanuel exactly as Scripture does and roots it in the Son's eternal oneness with the Father.

The incarnation is the dividing line — 1 John 4:2-3:

• 1 John 4:2. "Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God" — confessing the incarnation is the test of the Spirit of God.
• 1 John 4:3. "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist" — to deny it is the spirit of antichrist; the Word made flesh is a dividing-line doctrine on which everything turns.

The kenosis text — what the emptying IS — Phil. 2:5-8:

• Phil. 2:5. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" — Paul holds up the kenosis as the believer's own pattern; the emptying is something to be imitated, not a metaphysical loss we could never share.
• Phil. 2:6. "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God" — the starting point is full deity: "the form of God," "equal with God." Nothing here is surrendered; this is who He IS while He empties.
  • emptied himself / "made himself of no reputation" (kenosis) = not a divesting of deity but a veiling of His glory and a laying aside of the INDEPENDENT exercise of His divine power, choosing to live as a dependent man — defined by the text's own appositives: He emptied Himself by "taking the form of a servant," being "made in the likeness of men," and "humbling himself" to death (Phil. 2:7-8); on earth "the Son can do nothing of himself" (John 5:19, 30) and "the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works" (John 14:10), yet throughout "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9; John 14:9; John 1:14).
• Phil. 2:7. "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men" — the Greek ekenosen ("emptied") is defined by what follows: the emptying IS the taking of servant-form and man's likeness. He empties by ADDITION of humanity and the servant's place, not by subtraction of Godhead.
• Phil. 2:8. "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" — the bottom of the descent is not loss of nature but depth of self-humbling, all the way to the cross — the act of One who retains the exalted nature He stoops from.
• WitnessAA 481.2. White: "As their example in the Christian life, Paul pointed the Philippians to Christ, who... 'made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant'" — anchors the term in Phil. 2 and frames it as "their example in the Christian life"; the self-emptying is a pattern for the believer, not a surrender of deity.
• WitnessDA 436.1. White: "While Lucifer counted it a thing to be grasped to be equal with God, Christ, the Exalted One, 'made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant'" — sets the emptying against Lucifer's grasping: Christ, "the Exalted One," voluntarily descends from a position He still holds.

Deity clothed, not abandoned — the veil was thin — John 1:14; Col. 2:9; John 14:9:

• John 1:14. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" — the divine Word truly "was made flesh," yet the glory was still there "to be beheld" — veiled in flesh, not extinguished. Deity was clothed, not abandoned.
• Col. 2:9. "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" — the decisive proof: even incarnate ("bodily"), "all the fulness of the Godhead" remained in Him. Full Godhead and a real body coexist; He never divested His deity in becoming man.
• John 14:9. "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" — the veil was thin: to see Christ is to see the Father. Deity was present and revealed, only screened by humanity so sinful men could endure His presence.
• WitnessEP 230.3. White: "Christ, the divine Mediator, veiled His divinity with humanity when He came to earth. Had He come clothed with the brightness of heaven, men in their sinful state could not have endured the glory of His presence" — the emptying was a VEILING of His divinity with humanity, not a loss of it; the glory hidden so sinful men could endure His presence.
• WitnessAA 33.3. White: "As in the typical service the high priest laid aside his pontifical robes and officiated in the white linen dress of an ordinary priest; so Christ laid aside His royal robes and garbed Himself with humanity... so Christ will come the second time, clothed in garments of whitest white... in His own glory" — what He laid aside was the ROBES (the visible glory/royalty), and He "garbed Himself with humanity"; an exchange of garments, not of nature, the glory resumed at the second coming.
• WitnessDA 530.3. White: "In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived... The divinity of Christ is the believer's assurance of eternal life" — even as He laid aside the independent exercise of power, His DEITY was never divested: His life is "original, unborrowed, underived." He remained fully God while living the dependent human life.

The dependent life He lived — the pattern for us — John 5:19, 30; 14:10; 6:57:

• John 5:19. "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" — on earth He laid aside the INDEPENDENT exercise of His power: "can do nothing of himself." He lived as a man dependent on the Father — the very position He calls us to occupy.
• John 5:30. "I can of mine own self do nothing... I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me" — repeats and seals it: "of mine own self" He does nothing; His whole life is surrendered will and received power. He drew no advantage from deity that we cannot draw from God.
• John 14:10. "the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works" — the source of His works named: "the Father that dwelleth in me." The miracles flowed not from independent self-use of deity but from the indwelling Father — the same faith-channel open to every believer.
• John 6:57. "As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me" — "I live by the Father": Christ's earthly life was a life of faith-dependence, the exact pattern of the believer who lives by Him. He laid aside self-sufficiency, not deity.
• WitnessGW92 29.1. White: "As the Son of man, he prayed to the Father, showing that human nature requires all the divine support which man can obtain that he may be braced for duty and prepared for trial. As the Prince of Life, he had power with God, and prevailed for his people" — "As the Son of man, he prayed," drawing the same "divine support which man can obtain"; He took the dependent position, the faith-life confirmed as our pattern.

The humanity He took, He keeps forever — Heb. 2:14-17; Luke 24:39; Acts 1:11:

• Heb. 2:14. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" — He took flesh and blood to defeat the devil through death. The incarnation was undertaken to save us in our nature, not as a temporary disguise.
• Heb. 2:16-17. "he took not on [him the nature of] angels; but he took on [him] the seed of Abraham... that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest" — He took human, not angelic, nature precisely to serve as our "merciful and faithful high priest" — a priesthood requiring He KEEP that nature, not shed it.
  • the man Christ Jesus (permanent humanity / mediator) = the Son retains His humanity forever as our mediator and high priest — risen, He is no ghost but "flesh and bones" (Luke 24:39); "this same Jesus" ascended and so returns (Acts 1:11); the one mediator now IS "the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5); as "this man" with "an unchangeable priesthood" He "ever liveth to make intercession" (Heb. 7:24-25), "touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (Heb. 4:14-15), "the same... for ever" (Heb. 13:8). The incarnation is permanent.
• Luke 24:39. "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have" — after the resurrection He insists He is no disembodied spirit. The risen Christ retains a real, tangible human body — the same nature, glorified, not discarded.
• Acts 1:11. "this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go" — "this same Jesus," the identical incarnate Person, ascended bodily and will return bodily. The humanity is carried into heaven, not left behind at the ascension.

The man Christ Jesus mediates now — and forever — 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 4:14-15; 7:24-25; 13:8:

• 1 Tim. 2:5. "there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" — present tense, after the ascension: the one mediator IS "the man Christ Jesus." He mediates now still wearing our nature.
• Heb. 4:14-15. "we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens... touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" — our high priest "passed into the heavens" still able to be "touched with the feeling of our infirmities" — a real human sympathy that requires keeping real humanity in glory.
• Heb. 7:24-25. "this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood... he ever liveth to make intercession" — "this man" with "an unchangeable priesthood" "ever liveth to make intercession." The incarnation is permanent; to divest His humanity would dissolve His priesthood.
• Heb. 13:8. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" — the incarnate Christ is unchanging. Having taken our nature, He remains "the same" forever — the standing guarantee that He never divests His humanity.
• Witness12LtMs, Ms 115, 1897, par. 28. White: "The One who was obedient unto death is now taken into eternal unison both as God and man. The Father says to Him, 'Thou art a priest for ever'" — the risen Christ is "now taken into eternal unison both as God and man," the God-man forever, our eternal priest — a direct refutation of the idea that He divested His humanity.
• WitnessGW92 29.1. White: "This Saviour... is now before the throne, to receive and present to his Father the petitions of those for whom he prayed on earth" — the same Saviour who prayed as Son of man "is now before the throne" interceding; the permanence confirmed (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:25).

He was sent in the likeness of SINFUL flesh — Rom. 8:3:

• Rom. 8:3. "God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" — the foundation text: not "the likeness of flesh" but "the likeness of sinful flesh," and in that very flesh He condemned sin — proving sin can be overcome in fallen human nature.
  • the likeness of sinful flesh = the full fallen human nature Christ assumed — the real flesh and blood of the race, the seed of Abraham and David after four thousand years of degeneracy, bearing all our infirmities, weaknesses, and liabilities, yet not the guilt of sin (Rom. 8:3; Heb. 2:14, 16, 17; Rom. 1:3). Defined in full in the Symbol Dictionary.

He took part of the SAME flesh and blood — the seed of Abraham, the seed of David — Heb. 2:14, 16; Rom. 1:3; Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:7:

• Heb. 2:14. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death" — He took part of the SAME flesh and blood as the children, real common humanity, not a separate sinless order, in order to die and destroy the devil.
• Heb. 2:16. "For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham" — not angelic nature but the seed of Abraham, the line of fallen, post-Fall humanity after generations of degeneracy.
• Rom. 1:3. "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh" — He inherited the actual human lineage, and behind that flesh stands David's own confession, "in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps. 51:5).
• Gal. 4:4. "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law" — entering the human race by ordinary birth, under the law's full claim, at the appointed time after four thousand years.
• Phil. 2:7. "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men" — the self-emptying: a real descent into our condition, the form of a servant, not a costume worn over a different nature; this kenosis text is the load-bearing verse of "He Emptied Himself — Veiled, but Never Divested," carried here to show the descent reached into our actual fallen flesh.
• WitnessCHR 26.2. Waggoner: "the flesh which He assumed had all the weaknesses and sinful tendencies to which fallen human nature is subject... He 'was made of the seed of David according to the flesh'" — the central pioneer voice argues straight from Rom. 8:3 and Rom. 1:3: the flesh Christ took was fallen man's.
• WitnessCon 32.3. White: "Since the fall, the race had been decreasing in size and physical strength, and sinking lower in the scale of moral worth... He took human nature, and bore the infirmities and degeneracy of the race. He who knew no sin became sin for us" — anchors the four-thousand-years-of-degeneracy frame: He bore the race's accumulated infirmities, yet "knew no sin."
• Witness17MR 28.4. White: "We have nothing to endure that He has not endured.... For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in physical strength, in mental power, in moral worth; and Christ took upon Him the infirmities of degenerate humanity" — the degeneracy stated explicitly; He took the infirmities of degenerate humanity, so nothing we endure is outside what He endured.

In ALL THINGS made like His brethren — touched with our infirmities — Heb. 2:17; 4:15:

• Heb. 2:17. "Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people" — in ALL THINGS made like His brethren; the comprehensiveness rules out exemption from the fallen liabilities we bear, and this very likeness qualifies Him as merciful high priest.
• Heb. 4:15. "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" — the two streams in a single verse: touched with the feeling of our infirmities and tempted in all points AS WE ARE, yet WITHOUT SIN — same temptations, no sinning.
• Witness4BC 1147.4. White: "He took upon Himself fallen, suffering human nature, degraded and defiled by sin. He took our sorrows, bearing our grief and shame. He endured all the temptations wherewith man is beset" — the strongest "full fallen nature" phrasing, paired with enduring all our temptations.
• Witness1SM 256.1. White: "In taking upon Himself man's nature in its fallen condition, Christ did not in the least participate in its sin. He was subject to the infirmities and weaknesses by which man is encompassed... He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and was in all points tempted like as we are. And yet He knew no sin" — the decisive reconciliation: fallen nature with its infirmities and full temptation, but NO participation in sin.
• WitnessDA 24.2. White: "Therefore Jesus was 'in all points tempted like as we are.' Hebrews 4:15. He endured every trial to which we are subject. And He exercised in His own behalf no power that is not freely offered to us. As man, He met temptation, and overcame in the strength given Him from God" — He used no power not offered to us, overcoming as Man — proving His example is reproducible.
• WitnessYRP 368.3. White: "many say that Jesus was not like us... that He was divine, and therefore we cannot overcome as He overcame. But this is not true... He took upon Himself our nature; He was tempted in all points like as we are" — directly rebuts the objection that His divinity exempted Him: He was as we are, and overcame as we may.

Tempted in all points YET WITHOUT SIN — He did no sin, knew no sin, in Him is no sin — Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:22; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 John 3:5; Heb. 7:26:

• Heb. 4:15. "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" — the hinge verse: same temptations, no consent; the line is drawn not at the nature but at the sinning.
  • without sin = sinlessness defined by the life lived, not by a different nature: tempted in all points as we are "yet without sin," never consenting, doing no sin and speaking no guile, knowing no sin, with no sin in Him, holy, harmless, undefiled in conduct (Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:22; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 John 3:5; Heb. 7:26). Defined in full in the Symbol Dictionary.
• 1 Pet. 2:22. "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" — sinlessness defined by conduct: He DID no sin, no act, no guile — the life lived, not a different nature, is the difference.
• 1 John 3:5. "And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin" — in Him is no sin: He bore sin away precisely because there was none in Him; the nature He took never produced sin in Him.
• 2 Cor. 5:21. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" — the mystery at full strength: made to be sin for us, yet He knew no sin — the great exchange, His sinlessness for our righteousness.
• Heb. 7:26. "For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens" — holy, harmless, undefiled: His character and conduct, "separate from sinners" morally though sharing their flesh.
• WitnessCHR 27.3. Waggoner: "Sinless, yet not only counted as a sinner but actually taking upon Himself sinful nature. He was made to be sin in order that we might be made righteousness" — Waggoner holds both streams at once, sinless YET taking sinful nature, reconciling 2 Cor. 5:21 with the "yet without sin" of Heb. 4:15.
• WitnessFH 38.2. White: "In Him was no guile or sinfulness; He was ever pure and undefiled; yet He took upon Him our sinful nature" — both streams in a single sentence.
• WitnessCTr 208.7. White: "Christ took our nature, fallen but not corrupted, and would not be corrupted unless He received the words of Satan in the place of the words of God" — the precise reconciliation: nature "fallen but not corrupted" — He bore our liabilities but would not be corrupted, because He held the Word against the tempter.

The difference was the LIFE He lived — "born a Christian," overcoming from the first — Luke 1:35; John 8:29; Heb. 5:8; Heb. 7:26; Luke 4:1; Matt. 4:4:

• Luke 1:35. "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee... therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" — the counter-stream: the One born of Mary is "that holy thing," holy from birth by the overshadowing Spirit, never sharing the guilt of the nature He bore.
  • born a Christian = the study's term for the moral difference between Christ and us: from birth He was "that holy thing" (Luke 1:35), set apart by the Spirit and living in unbroken surrender to the Father — "I do always those things that please him" (John 8:29), holy, harmless, undefiled in conduct (Heb. 7:26). The difference was never the nature He bore but the life He lived; from the first He overcame, learning obedience (Heb. 5:8) by the Spirit and the Word available to us. Defined in full in the Symbol Dictionary.
• John 8:29. "And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him" — the life He lived: unbroken surrender, "I do ALWAYS those things that please him" — the moral constancy that marks Him off from us though He shared our nature.
• Heb. 5:8. "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered" — He learned obedience by suffering: real moral development and overcoming in fallen flesh, not an automatic immunity native to His person.
• Luke 4:1. "And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness" — He met the wilderness temptation full of the Holy Ghost, overcoming by the same Spirit available to us, not by an exemption native to His person.
• Matt. 4:4. "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" — He overcame by the same weapon offered us, the written Word, standing as Man against the tempter.
• WitnessDA 311.5. White: "He took our nature and overcame, that we through taking His nature might overcome. Made 'in the likeness of sinful flesh' (Romans 8:3), He lived a sinless life" — the position stated exactly: fallen nature taken, sinless life lived, victory transferable to us.
• Witness5BC 1108.6. White: "He vanquished Satan in the same nature over which in Eden Satan obtained the victory... He overcame in human nature, relying upon God for power. This is the privilege of all" — binds nature and victory: He conquered in our human nature with hidden Godhead, relying on God — and this same dependence is the privilege of all.