Could Jesus Sin?

[Richard]

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Could Jesus sin? If he couldn't, then doesn't this mean when he was tempted, it was not a real temptation?

Answer​

This answer is covered in a series by IIIM called the, "Apostles' Creed," (APC - 3rd Lesson) and the "We Believe in Jesus," (JES 2nd Lesson) video series. Here is a brief summary.

The word "impeccability" means "inability to sin." Christians have used it for centuries to refer to the fact that Jesus was incapable of sinning. Theologians often talk about Jesus' impeccability in conjunction with His temptation because it was the time in his life when he would have been most likely to sin if that were possible (which it is NOT).

There are a few things worth saying about Jesus' impeccability:

• (1) Natures don't sin; only persons sin. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. His person is fully divine. God can't sin. Therefore, Jesus can't sin.
• (2) There is no mixture or confusion between Jesus' natures. Impeccability is a divine attribute, and part of Jesus' divine nature. Divine attributes are immutable. Therefore, Jesus' human nature can't change his divine attribute of impeccability.
• (3) The ability to sin is not an essential human attribute. We lose the ability to sin when we are glorified. Therefore, one can be fully human without having the ability to sin.

Jesus was born without sin and lived a perfectly sinless life. The Bible specifically speaks of his sinlessness in passages like Hebrews 4:14-15 and 9:14. So, how do we reconcile this idea with the assertion that Jesus had a true and complete human nature? Simply, the commission of sin, and even the ability to sin, are not essential to being human.

 

[TibiasDad]

​

Could Jesus sin? If he couldn't, then doesn't this mean when he was tempted, it was not a real temptation?

Answer​

This answer is covered in a series by IIIM called the, "Apostles' Creed," (APC - 3rd Lesson) and the "We Believe in Jesus," (JES 2nd Lesson) video series. Here is a brief summary.

The word "impeccability" means "inability to sin." Christians have used it for centuries to refer to the fact that Jesus was incapable of sinning. Theologians often talk about Jesus' impeccability in conjunction with His temptation because it was the time in his life when he would have been most likely to sin if that were possible (which it is NOT).

There are a few things worth saying about Jesus' impeccability:

• (1) Natures don't sin; only persons sin. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. His person is fully divine. God can't sin. Therefore, Jesus can't sin.
• (2) There is no mixture or confusion between Jesus' natures. Impeccability is a divine attribute, and part of Jesus' divine nature. Divine attributes are immutable. Therefore, Jesus' human nature can't change his divine attribute of impeccability.
• (3) The ability to sin is not an essential human attribute. We lose the ability to sin when we are glorified. Therefore, one can be fully human without having the ability to sin.

Jesus was born without sin and lived a perfectly sinless life. The Bible specifically speaks of his sinlessness in passages like Hebrews 4:14-15 and 9:14. So, how do we reconcile this idea with the assertion that Jesus had a true and complete human nature? Simply, the commission of sin, and even the ability to sin, are not essential to being human.

Good question, Richard; nice to meet you!
That he is human with a human will and freedom of choice, not unlike Adam and Eve, the second Adam is theoretically capable of sin. While it is “possible” the probability factor is zero because of who he is. The temptation is real and dynamically as powerful as it is with any one of us, but his purity of character and strength of relationship with his Father makes his willingness to sin practically impossible.

Our ability to withstand any temptation is possible because he who withstood temptation is in us.

1 John 2:1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 3We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

1 John 3:8The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

Doug