Could Jesus have Sinned

Hamilton Bible Study Forum

Could Jesus have Sinned?

First, in my opinion, Jesus was very God and very man. He was divine in His nature and human in His construct. There are those (Hank Hanegraf, the "bible Answer Man", for instance) who say that it was an impossibility for Jesus to have sinned during His life on this earth. Three primary arguments, as far as I have determined, are put forward to support this view. At the expense of being accused of setting up "straw men", I would like to answer these arguments.

Argument 1: Jesus was God with all the attributes of God. Consequently, it is impossible for Him to have sinned because God is too holy to even look at sin.

Answer: There is no legitimate question of Jesus' divinity. In procreation, the blood is supplied by the father and the body by the mother. The Bible says the life is in the blood. Jesus' blood was brought about by the miraculous fertilization of Mary's ova by the Holy Spirit. Anthropologically speaking, Jesus' blood was from God: Untainted by sin, sinlessly perfect and pure. In this respect, Jesus was indeed divine, very God. However, the Bible says He laid aside the attributes of Godhood when He voluntarily submitted Himself to the incarnation.

Philippians 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

How can it be said that Jesus did not display the attributes of Godhood? Some examples of the attributes of God that Jesus did not demonstrate are:

Omniscience, having all knowledge. Jesus clearly did not display this attribute. Two examples should suffice: He said He did not know when He would be coming back which would not have been true had He displayed His godlike attributes. He did not know who had touched Him for healing (the woman with the blood problem in [Mark 5:25-34]).

Omnipresence, being everywhere at the same time. Jesus clearly was able to be only one place at any given time.

Omnipotence, having all power. If Jesus displayed this attribute, why would He have had to ask the Father for ten legions of angels to come to His rescue (Matt 26:53)?

It is clear from an objective reading of the gospels, that at no time did Jesus display a single attribute of God except those that His creatures share through the new birth (mercy, justice, grace, etc) and the Holy Spirit. In other words, Jesus did not "cheat". When He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." (Jn 14:12) He was telling the truth. Not because we are "gods", as some are claiming today, but because we have the same resources that He had: The Word and the Holy Spirit. To verify this very point, He said, "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." (Jn 14:10) and "For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me." (Jn 17:8) and many other such statements.

Argument 2: Jesus could not have sinned because He did not have the sin nature. There can be no sin without the sin nature.

Answer: This is not only silly but totally against scripture and common sense. Jesus showed quite plainly that sin is not only something we think but something we do. Not having the sin nature, the natural bent or tendency toward sinning, would not preclude someone from committing a sin.

Argument 3: If we accept that Jesus could have sinned while He was on the earth, than we have to wonder day after day, "Is Jesus going to sin now?".

Answer: This is such a biblically illiterate argument it seems a waste of time answering it. Of course, Jesus could not sin now. He has regained the "Glory" He had with the Father before the worlds began. He has been seated on the right hand of God in the Heavenlies. He has once more "clothed Himself" with glory, honor and power. He has taken back to Himself His right attributes as God. A foolish, foolish argument.

To sum up:

If Jesus could not have sinned than the whole temptation in the wilderness, following His baptism by John, was a farce.

If Jesus could not have sinned than you may as well take the book of Hebrews out of the Bible because it is a lie. If He could not have sinned, He does not understand our weaknesses and He does not know what it is to be tempted and resist temptation. He is not a high priest Who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.

In other words. if Jesus could not have sinned while He lived on this earth, the whole Gospel is a lie and a sham.

Jesus was very God and very man. He voluntarily, out of His love,

Made Himself like us

To show us what God was like

So we could be like Him

Back to ARTICLES

HOME