Could Jesus Have Sinned?
Part I
Beware Ye Simple Ones
John 1:14 states that " . . .the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. . ." Please do not mistake, as some have, thinking that the word "flesh" in this verse carries the connotation of "carnal." The Word was made flesh--but never carnal!
Recently, I was asked the question, "Could Jesus have sinned?" My immediate, without hesitation, answer was emphatically, "NO!!" That answer still remains my response even after having been tossed several supposedly "logical" retorts. It still remains my irrevocable answer even after parrying out-of-context scriptures that were suppose to build a tower of truth (which more resembled the leaning tower of Pisa).
The question, "Could Jesus have sinned?" reminds me of a selection from Proverbs chapter 7. ". . .beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths a young man void of understanding, passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: and, behold; there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtle of heart. . .she caught him; and kissed him. . .with her fair speech she caused him to yield. . .he goeth after her straightway, as an ox to the slaughter. . ." If hell can ever convince you that the blood of Jesus Christ is "taintable" blood -- then you have no Savior! "Could Jesus have sinned?" is a question designed to lead the simple to slaughter! Even if one answers, "Well, He could have but He didn’t sin." you are caught in the trap nonetheless! In allowing that Jesus could sin (but didn’t) undeifies Jesus Christ! To entertain the fallacy that Jesus Christ, God in flesh, could have ever contemplated sinning is to have entertained a demonic doctrine that makes Him a man -- but not the God-man.
The Word was made "flesh" but that in no way, shape, or form has any connection to "carnal." The very act of sin is a transgression of the law. Are some so foolish as to believe that the Law Giver Himself ever contemplated rebellion to His own law? Are they so demented as to believe that the Eternal God of all holiness could have, even for a millisecond, pondered within Himself to be disobedient to Himself? Surely they are not so presumptuous as to declare that the Savior of mankind nearly succumbed to the enemy of which He came to deliver us from! God forbid!
Sin is a process. ". . .Every man is tempted, WHEN he is drawn away of his OWN lust, and enticed. Then WHEN lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin. WHEN it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:14-15. NO!! Jesus Christ could not, could never, and never shall sin! To be tempted requires "lust" to be present in the individual. Jesus Christ was God in flesh -- not God in carnality! There existed no carnal urgings in Jesus Christ for James 1:13 declares, "for God CANNOT be tempted with evil. . ." The nimble of mind jumps to the "wilderness temptation" episode and scratches their head in consternation; "But He was tempted of the devil" they declare. True, the devil fired all the rounds he possessed in his diabolical pistol at the Lord in the wilderness. But to be shot at is far different than being shot at and hit. The devil’s salvo of temptations never once hit a vital organ! He might as well have been firing blanks when it came to the subject of his intended target. Jesus Christ was in no way affected by the enemy’s temptations. Impossible for Him to have been affected! Jesus being tempted of the devil is like saying He was shot at but was invulnerable to the shooting. No harm, injury, or penetration, not even a dent or a sting was inflicted on the One that even death could not claim without His permission! Hebrews 13:8 declares that Jesus Christ is UNCHANGEABLE always the same, never altering, never wavering -- this is the foundation from which all things true are built upon!
Could Jesus have sinned? NO! I did not say "maybe" or "perhaps" or "under certain circumstances." I said, "No!" And my answer is not mine own but the Scriptures declare that Jesus Christ was perfect. Perfect man and perfect God. Therefore it was impossible for Him to sin. Tempted in all points? Simply means that the three areas of temptation (pride of life, lust of the flesh, lust of the eye) were presented to the Lord and that WE learn the principle of victory through His rebuttals to those points. "In all areas," does not mean "with every known temptation existing or to ever exist." How, pray tell, would Jesus ever have been tempted with cigarettes, or television, or unisex clothing? No -- to interpret "all points" in that way is utter nonsense! Jesus as the perfect example showed us the principle of victory in the three areas (which all temptations stem from) of the "all points." His "humanity" was fully integrated with His "Deity" at ALL times! Thus, He being God -- could not sin.
He became weary, hungry, and thirsty, He slept, He felt the limitations of the physical frame of the human body but never could He have been enticed to sin. Weariness, hunger, has to do with the limits of flesh physically but He was never carnal! Physical limitations were necessary in Christ as the Lamb of God that was to die on Calvary. Jesus Christ did feel human physical limitations but He never felt carnality! John 5:19 says that the Son (humanity) can do nothing except what He sees the Father (deity) do. So to make the flesh to sin is to make the Spirit to sin--how foolish! According to that verse, it would have to mean that the Father (deity) was the originator of the sin THEN the Son (humanity) followed suit -- and that idea is demonic! 1John 3:9 says, "Whosover is born of God DOTH NOT COMMIT SIN; for his seed remaineth in him: and he CANNOT SIN, because he is born of God." How much plainer must it become before one acknowledges that Jesus CANNOT, COULD NOT SIN?
Could Jesus have sinned? NO!! A thousand times No!! Jesus declared that the devil had no part IN Him. Since there is only one God, then the Holy Ghost (Spirit of God) IN us rescues us from sin. If Jesus could have sinned He can still do so now because He changes not! How foolish can a darkened mind become! To make Jesus a man separate from God -- with the capability to sin -- makes him a horse with a rider rather than God manifest IN the flesh!
God cannot be tempted with evil! That settles the issue! Don’t become a silly woman carried away with a demonic doctrine that would taint the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Which is how He purchased the church. "With His own blood." Our Great High Priest is able to succor us simply because He cannot sin!
May the Lord deliver the minds of those that have been blinded -- to restore their sight and allow them to see a sinless Savior yes, even an un-temptable Savior -- Jesus Christ!
Elder James Groce
Calvary Apostolic Tabernacle
Molino, Florida
