The Impeccability of Christ
Jesus Christ, our Lord, is the eternal Son of God from everlasting to everlasting. As the second Person of the Trinity, He is God the Son (Luke 1:35). At the appointed time, the Son of God was enfleshed. This means that He took on flesh, becoming like us (man), yet without sin (Jn 1:14; Heb 4:15).
The matter addressed here is whether the God/man, Jesus Christ, had the ability to sin. The Latin word for “sin” is peccare. The Christian doctrine itself is called, “Impeccability.” The prefix “im-“ introduces the negative. Hence, the word of the very doctrine itself suggests that Christ was not able to sin. Let us investigate why this is true.
In order to draw the conclusion that Jesus Christ was not able to sin, we must consider what is clearly established in Scripture. First, Jesus Christ avoided the original sin of Adam by the supernatural conception where the Holy Spirit entered the womb of the Virgin girl, Mary of Nazareth (Luke 1:26–38). Because He was God incarnate, He did not have a sin nature, as a product of the fall of man (Adam). Everyone else does have original sin and a sin nature (Ps 51:5; Eph 2:3). Thus, our first proposition is stated, “During His life and earthly ministry, Jesus of Nazareth did not sin (2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15).”
Second, Jesus Christ was tempted to sin throughout His entire earthly existence, culminating at the cross, as the unblemished Lamb of God (Jn 1:29; Rev 5:6, 12; 13:8). In some instances, the devil assaulted Jesus with full force, as he did in the Judean Wilderness temptations and in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mt 4, 26; Mk 14; Lk 4, 22). Even Peter, Jesus’ disciple, was employed by Satan to tempt his Master (Mt 16:23; Mk 8:33). These temptations were very real, as they are with each of us (Heb 4:15). Thus, our second proposition is, “Jesus Christ was truly tempted to sin (Heb 4:15).”
Third, the key to drawing a correct conclusion comes from James 1:13, “ Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:”
It is clear from Scripture that Jesus is God. It is also clear that God cannot be tempted. It is also clear that Jesus was tempted. The reason Jesus was tempted is because He was in the flesh as a human. Being fully human and fully God, Jesus Christ displayed attributes of both natures: deity and humanity.
The challenge is obvious. We have clear statements about Jesus Christ from Scripture, but we must also hold that the Bible has no contradictions in it, which is one reason we accept the Bible alone as the Word of God. So, we must consider how the one Person, Jesus, was different from us. This is obvious. He was fully God. Therefore, we must add consideration to the fact that His deity was relevant to His humanity. Again, this is unlike us. At no point after His incarnation did Jesus cease to be either human or God.
Sinning is a moral act. It is impossible for the Holy God to sin, that is, to break His own Law. Being God, it was impossible for Jesus to sin because that would be contrary to His divine nature. Again, in the one Person of Christ, it is impossible for Him to be anything, at any time, other than both divine and human in His nature. He is one Person with two natures.
We must conclude that Jesus was truly tempted as a man, but because of the inseparable union of His two natures (divine and human), it was impossible for Jesus to sin. For this reason, Jesus did not sin. He was not able to do so because of His divine nature — which cannot be tempted nor sin. Jesus, in His human nature, suffered the full weight of temptation until He defeated sin, death, and the devil at the cross. He knew the agony of every temptation common to man. He resisted temptation on every front until He triumphed over it at Calvary. We give glory to the God/man for the power to resist temptation to the end…and glory for never sinning.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
July 17, 2023
