Theology - An examination of the question of the impeccability of Jesus Christ The New Testament authors had no qualms about declaring that Jesus was truly human and telling us that Jesus committed no sin.
Bible passages such as 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 2:22 and 1 John 3:5 witness that He [Jesus] did not give in to temptation, nor violate the moral standards of God, nor was He inconsistent with the nature of his character. That is, Jesus was sinless. It is vital to our theology that Jesus was sinless. For only if Jesus was sinless could His death have been a vicarious substitution and fulfil Gods redemptive plan for man.
If Jesus had not been sinless, then it would mean that He died for His own sins and not those of mankind. Had Jesus died for His own sins then His death could not have been accepted by the Father as a vicariously substitution for the punishment and judgement each of us are entitled to receive. Even though there is no serious debate that Jesus was anything but sinless, theologians have discussed the question of whether Jesus could have sinned if He had wanted. This is called the peccability of Christ. The opposing argument, i.
e., impeccability, being that even if He had wanted, Jesus could not have sinned. Upon first consideration, one might view this question as being trivial; something to simply keep the theologians out of mischief when they have nothing better to do.However, there are some very appropriate reasons for examining this issue. The first reason to examine the issue of Christs peccability/impeccability is so that we might obtain a better understanding and a more in depth knowledge about both Jesus Christ and God, just as God has invited us. This is the same reason that we study Theology proper.
When we arrive at an answer to this question, we will have additional knowledge about Jesus preincarnate state and a better understanding of the meaning of the statement Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever . Second, some theologians have argued that the peccability of Jesus has a direct impact on the humanity of Christ.That is, if Jesus was not peccable then just how human was he? Could he have been true man if he were not able to sin like the rest of mankind? (Note: this is a question of whether Christ could have sinned; not that Christ had to have sinned in order to be human.) Morris indirectly asks if Jesus impeccability implied that he was lacking a part of the human condition that the rest of mankind have, viz., the consciousness of past sin? If this is the case, Christ may not have been truly human because he only took on most of the qualities of human nature but shielded himself from the consciousness of sin. Third, Sahl tells us that the virgin birth, the Incarnation, and the hypostatic union, are all influenced by the impeccability of Jesus Christ .
Therefore, if we are to have a full understanding of these doctrines, we need to study the question of Christs peccability/impeccability. Fourth, an understanding of the peccability/impeccability of Jesus Christ will have an impact on our understanding of angels in general and Lucifer/Satan in particular . That is, by examining the peccability/impeccability of Jesus (and the related issue of the temptability of Jesus) we will come to have a better understanding of the realm of angels, especially the fallen angels.Furthermore, by examining the temptations that Satan makes to Christ, we will also have a deeper awareness of the powers of Satan and his followers. Fifth, because the Bible tells us that Jesus did not sin, the question of Jesus peccability or impeccability will have an impact on biblical inerrancy and integrity. As Sahl states, if it is possible that the Lord Jesus Christ could succumb to or be deceived by sin, then one must also conclude that it is possible for Him to have given inaccurate information about eternal things when He was growing in wisdom and stature and favour with God and man .
And finally, Christs peccability/impeccability will have an impact on the victory over temptation and sin that the Redeemer accomplished . For if it was impossible for Jesus to have ever sinned then it is indeed a hallow victory: there was no chance of his ever not winning the battle.Thus, the victory is a very mute point and raises the question if the victory has any real impact on mankind under these circumstances. Thus, we can see that the peccability or impeccability of Jesus is more than simply an academic debate.
The outcome of such a debate could have far reaching implications on our view and knowledge of God, our doctrine of the humanity of Jesus, the doctrines of the virgin birth, the Incarnation and the hypostatic union, our theology of angelology, the question of biblical inerrancy and integrity and finally, our view of Jesus victory over temptation and sin. I would now like to turn to the arguments for the peccability of Jesus, i.e., Jesus could have sinned if he had wanted to sin. As stated earlier, a positive result of this investigation does not imply that Jesus had to have sinned during his earthly life.Only that it was possible for Jesus to have sinned.
Our first argument that Jesus was peccable centres on the question of the temptations of Jesus. Charles Hodge has been quoted as summarizing this teaching in these words: This sinlessness of our Lord, however, does not amount to absolute impeccability. It was not a non potent peccare. If He was a true man, He must have been capable of sinning.That he did not sin under the greatest provocation ..
is held up to us as an example. Temptation implies the possibility of sin . Sahl states this as if a person has no susceptibility to sin or if sin has no appeal for him, the temptation is a farce . In short, this means that if Jesus was not capable of being tempted by sin and capable of sinning and then He was not truly human.For temptability and the ability to sin are part of being human. In order to fully understand and respond to this argument based on temptability we must examine the nature of temptability.
Sahl argues that the problem with this argument is that we have a misconception of the nature of temptability. Specifically, he says, the Greek word to tempt does not mean to induce evil. The word means to try, make a trial of, put to the test .. to signify the trying intentionally with the purpose of discovering what of good or evil, of power or weakness was in a person or thing, or to have an appeal. In this regard, Sahl concludes that the temptations of Christ were real: Christ faced real challenges in the desert where he proved the good that was in Him and also in the Garden of Gethsemani and on Calvary where he demonstrated His power.
Towns notes that temptability may be defined as Generally understood as the enticement of a person to commit sin by offering some seeming enticement. .. In this sense our sinless Redeemer was absolutely untemptible and impeccable. That is, because Jesus was God and possessed the attributes of God, there was nothing that Jesus could be enticed to have or obtain.
Therefore, he could not be tempted. However, on the opposite side of the question, Towns also notes that [t]he nature of Christs temptation was that He was asked to do the things He could do and the things He wanted: the results of which would have come from doing what Satan asked. The nature of His temptation was .. the fact that He as God was tempted to do the things He could do. The things Christ is asked to do .
.appear to be valid requests . Therefore, because Satan asked Christ to do the things he was capable of, e.g., turning stones to bread, etc.
, we can see that the temptations Christ faced were real. However, the temptations Jesus faced were different from those other men would endure; [Jesus] was tried as no other was ever tried. Added to the nature of the temptation itself was the greater sensitivity of Christ . It is possible that the ultimate and most severe temptation of Jesus came in the Garden of Gethsemani.Here Jesus was tempted to abandon the plan of God and to let this cup pass from me (Matthew 26:39). Clearly, Jesus experienced worse temptations than we do.
Hence, the temptations Christ faced were real precisely because they were tests of and trials to His power. That is, when [the Bible tells us Jesus] was tempted .. it implies He was tempted in all His thinking, desires (emotions) and decision-making ability. Christ was tempted in every part of His being as a person is tempted in every part of human nature .
Another point we must remember in disputing the argument of peccability from temptability is that temptation to sin does not necessitate susceptibility to sin .The impossible can always be attempted. While success may not be likely, or the attempt may be impractical this does not in and of itself mean that such an attempt cannot be done. Walvoord states while the temptation may be real, there may be infinite power to resist that temptation and if the power is infinite, the person is impeccable . As an example, Walvoord quotes Shedds example of an army: [it is not correct] to say that because an army cannot be conquered, it cannot be attacked. There is also Biblical evidence that Jesus was truly tempted as we read in Hebrews for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who was tempted in every way that we are (4:15).
In summary then we can see that the argument of Jesus Christs peccability cannot be supported by the temptation argument. For one to be tempted does not necessarily imply that one must be susceptible to the temptation. Furthermore, Jesus was tempted in every aspect of the term. True, His temptations were different from those we experience, but they were none the less real temptations. And Finally, just because Jesus was tempted does not imply that He was capable of sin.
It is possible for Satan to try the impossible, i.e., tempt Jesus, even though there is no chance of success. The second argument in support of the peccability of Jesus rests on the humanity of Jesus, i.
e., [i]f He was a true man He must have been capable of sinning .This argument rests on two fallacies. First, it fails to recognize that while Jesus was true man, He was also true God. He was the God-man. Even though a man, Jesus still retained all of the attributes of His divine nature (even though through the kenosis, or self-emptying, He willingly did not exercise all of His divine attributes.
) Jesus Christ possessed all the divine attributes of the Father .. In humanity, Christ was totally human; in deity, Jesus was unalterably God.Yet in Jesus Christ was a single, undivided personality in whom these two natures are vitally and undividedly united, so that Jesus Christ is not God and man, but the God-man. The second fallacy is that, Jesus was first God and subsequently took on human manhood.
The second Trinitarian person [Jesus Christ] is the root and stock into which the human nature is grafted or God in becoming man did not diminish His deity, but added a human nature to the divine nature. >From these two rebuttals we can see that even though Jesus was truly man, He maintained His divine attribute of holiness. It was this holiness which supplied the strength and will power to ensure that Christ avoided sin and could not sin.In other words, [t]hough Christ was of both human and divine desires, He had only one determinative will. That determinative will is in the eternal Logos.
Thus, even though Jesus was truly human, His divine will was more powerful and prevented Him from sinning because a holy will may be perfectly free, and yet determined with absolute certainty to the right. Such is Gods will . Therefore, as God, Christ is certain to do only good, and yet He is a moral agent making choices. He need not have the capacity to sin .
The third argument in support of the peccability of Jesus is based on the Scriptural statements that Jesus is the second or New Adam and corresponds to the first Adam. Thus, if Jesus was the second Adam he had to have all the qualities and characteristics of the first Adam. The proponents of this argument then proceed to conclude that one of the characteristics of Adam was the ability to sin. However, in actual fact, this argument misses the point.
The first Adam was a perfect man when he was created by God. Adam was created in holiness without the inward compulsion toward sin that now characterizes his progeny or Jesus did not possess a sin nature because it was not a part of the original nature of man .In the garden Adam knew neither sin nor the consequences of sin. [Adam] had no experience of sin before the Serpent and Eve presented him the apple from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was only when Adam disobeyed God that Adam added sin to his perfect nature. This is a case of arguing from the present condition to a past condition which is then applicable to Jesus.
It make[s] the mistake of taking our imperfect lives as the standard, and regarding Christ as human only as He conforms to our failures. [Rather,] He is the standard, and He shows us what a genuine humanity can be .Thus, the perfect human is without sin and is capable of not sinning (even though the perfect human will still have inherited a sin nature and original sin from Adam). Therefore, Christ can be the second or New Adam and still not have a peccable nature. In the chapter entitled The Sinlessness of Christ in Berkouwers book The Person of Christ, the author presents three unique arguments for the peccability of Christ.
I did not find mention of these arguments in any other source and, therefore, am sceptical of the weight they carry. However, I have decided to summarize them below in the interest of completeness. All three of his arguments are based on Biblical passages. Berkouwers first argument centres on Christ words Why do you call me good? None is good but God alone (Luke 18:19, Mark 10:18 and a similar reference in Matthew 19:17).According to Berkouwer, this statement brings the peccability of Christ into question because people have inferred that Christ himself did not proceed from his absolute sinlessness or holiness but rather places himself in the rank of sinful human beings. However, to read this passage in this manner is clearly a case of poor interpretation.
The Jerome Biblical Commentary tells us that the phrase good teacher is a rarely used epithet for a rabbi and that Jesus answer implies that the epithet good being proper to God, should not be used indiscriminately and casually . Berkouwer, on the other hand, suggests that this is a different type of misinterpretation. He argues that in the early church and at the time these three Gospels were written, there was no question of the sinlessness of Christ. The sinlessness of Christ is a theological concept which developed later in hist ...
