· Christology ·

Lecture Forty:  The Sinlessness and Impeccability of Christ

TH330 Systematic Theology I · Moody Bible Institute · Dr. Richard M. Weber

I. The Sinlessness of Christ

A. The Meaning of Christ’s Sinlessness

Definitions:

“Sinlessness in our Lord means that He never did anything that displeased God, violated the Mosaic Law under which He lived on earth, or in any way failed to show in His life at all times the glory of God.”  (Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, 303).

“The doctrine that Jesus was without sin, free from all transgressions of the law and thus able to do the will of the Father in complete holiness.”  (“Sinlessness of Christ,” in Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki, and Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms, Downers Grove, Ill.:  InterVarsity, 1999).

B. The Evidence For Christ’s Sinlessness

1. The Testimony of the Evangelists

a. Jesus Claimed To Do Always Those Things That Pleased the Father

John 8:29.  “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”

John 15:10.  “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”

b. John Said That In Christ Was No Sin

1 John 3:5.  “...in him is no sin.”

c. The Evangelists Record No Examples of Christ Offering Sacrifices

2. The Testimony of Paul

2 Cor 5:21.  “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

3. The Testimony of Peter

1 Pet 1:19.  Describes Christ as “a lamb without blemish or defect.”

1 Pet 2:22.  Quotes Isaiah 53:9, applying it to Jesus:  “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

4. The Testimony of the Epistle to the Hebrews

Heb 4:15.  “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.”

Heb 7:26, 27.  “Such a high priest meets our need – one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.  Unlike other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people.  He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.”

-He doesn’t need to offer up sacrifices for HIS sins because He is sinless.

C. The Significance of the Sinlessness of Christ

“The sinlessness of Christ is a claim that he is, indeed, qualified to be the Savior of the world.  … There is nothing that Jesus ever said or did which would disqualify him as the Lamb of God.”  (Bernard Ramm, Evangelical Christology)

“The sinlessness of Christ is not basically a matter of moral perfection; it is a matter of holiness.  Jesus Christ is our Savior for us.  To be our Savior, our Substitute, and Representative he dedicates himself completely to that task.  His sinlessness is not a statement about Christ-in-Himself but of Christ-for-us.  He is therefore holy in order to be fully qualified to be for us Lord, Savior, and Redeemer.  . . . [T]his sinlessness, this holiness of Jesus, is the moral presupposition of the atonement.”  (Bernard Ramm, Evangelical Christology)

II. The Impeccability of Christ

A. The Meaning of Peccability and Impeccability

B. Peccability / Impeccability and Testing /Temptation

1. The Relation of Testing / Temptation to Peccability / Impeccability

“Temptation implies the possibility of sin.  If from the constitution of His person it was impossible for Christ to sin, then His temptation was unreal and without effect, and He cannot sympathize with His people.”  (Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, 2:457).

“It is objected to the doctrine of Christ’s impeccability that it is inconsistent with His temptability.  A person who cannot sin, it is said, cannot be tempted to sin.  This is not correct; any more than it would be correct to say that because an army cannot be conquered, it cannot be attacked.  Temptability depends on the constitutional susceptibility, while impeccability depends on the will.  . . . Those temptations were very strong, but if the self-determination of His holy will was stronger than they, then they could not induce Him to sin, and He would be impeccable.  And yet plainly He would be temptable.”  (William G. T. Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, 2:336)

2. The Nature of Christ’s Testing / Temptation

Heb 4:15.  Jesus is “one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

James 1:13.  “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’  For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.”

“Christ, while having a peccable human nature, in His constitution was an impeccable Person.  Impeccability characterizes the God-Man as a totality, while peccability is a property of His humanity.”  (William G. T. Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, 2:333).

This is a distinction between nature and person again. A property of His humanity is the peckability. However He was divine and Human, and with the two interacting, He could not have sinned.

C. Grudem’s Affirmation of Christ’s Impeccability

1. Christ Never Actually Sinned

He was without sin.

2. Christ Was Truly Tempted

“If our speculation on the question of whether Christ could have sinned ever leads us to say that he was not truly tempted, then we have reached a wrong conclusion, one that contradicts the clear statements of Scripture”

3. “God Cannot Be Tempted With Evil” (James 1:13)

4. Jesus Christ Was God

5. Solution:  It is Not a Contradiction to say “Jesus was tempted” and “Jesus could not sin”

a. In his human nature, Jesus was peccable

If the human nature ever had independent existence, then He could have sinned. (Grudem) There are some that believe that Christ was indepenantly a human until His baptism.

b. But Jesus’ human nature never had independent existence (apart from the divine nature)

From the moment of conception He was the God/man.

c. An act of sin would have involved the person of Jesus Christ

d. An act of sin would thus have meant that God would have been involved in sin – which is clearly an impossibility

e. Therefore, due to the hypostatic union, the Person of Jesus Christ could not have sinned

In other words: Grudem’s Affirmation of Christ’s impeccability.

1.      Jesus’ human nature was peccable

2.      But Jesus’ human nature never existed independently

3.      An act of sin wouls have involved the Person of Christ

4.      But this would have meant that God would have involved in sin

5.      So the Person of Jesus Christ could not have sinned due to the union of natures (hypostatic union).

D. A Soteriological Affirmation of Christ’s Impeccability

“Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.”  (Isa 11:5)

“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.”  (Zech 13:1)

“[Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  (Matt 1:21)

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.  In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. … Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”  (Heb 2:9-10, 14-15)

“Christ … has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.”  (Heb 9:26)

“But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.  And in him is no sin.  … He 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.”  (1 John 3:5, 8)

“Such a high priest meets our need – one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.  Unlike other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people.  He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.  For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.”  (Heb 7:26-28)

III. Issues Regarding Impeccability

A. Was Jesus’ Righteousness Praiseworthy?

B. Were Jesus’ Temptations Real?

“The man who yields to a particular temptation has not felt its full power.  He has given in while the temptation has yet something in reserve.  Only the man who does not yield to a temptation, who, as regards that particular temptation, is sinless, knows the full extent of that temptation.”  (Leon Morris, Lord From Heaven, 51-52)

TH330 Systematic Theology I, Christology Unit

The Peccability versus Impeccability of Christ

Moody Bible Institute · Dr. Richard M. Weber

From H. Wayne House, Charts of Christian Theology & Doctrine, Grand Rapids, Mich.:  Zondervan, 1992, p. 62.

Used by Permission.