Was Jesus Able to Commit Sin?

[MSizer]

It seems to me that christians would consider Jesus unable to commit sin, since he was God (being part of the Trinity). Yet I don't understand how God could be tempted to sin, as is claimed about Jesus. Jesus was tempted by satan several times according to scripture. I see an inconsisency here. If Jesus is God, is he not incapable of sin? Yet if he were tempted to sin, it naturally follows that he would have been capable of commiting sin.

Can somebody shed light on this? It doesn't seem to make sense to me.

 

[Just_me_Mike]

It seems to me that christians would consider Jesus unable to commit sin, since he was God (being part of the Trinity). Yet I don't understand how God could be tempted to sin, as is claimed about Jesus. Jesus was tempted by satan several times according to scripture. I see an inconsisency here. If Jesus is God, is he not incapable of sin? Yet if he were tempted to sin, it naturally follows that he would have been capable of commiting sin.

Can somebody shed light on this? It doesn't seem to make sense to me.

Well it seems on the bigger picture here you are discussing the "will of God", we then must ask can anything happen outside of the will of God?

Jesus as taught by some is God in the flesh. Having flesh he became identified as one of us, to experience the same thing as us, so we no longer had to look to the heavens or worship Zeus, and other figments of the imagination. We now had a God that we could touch and feel, and truly identify with.

So, since he was flesh, he was able to be tempted, because he was just as you and I. Now whether or not he could go through with one of the sins, the bible seems to indicate to me, there is no free will (many Christians will disagree with this though). So Jesus could never sin. Just as God could never sin because it was God's will for Jesus to save his people.

God the spirit, is not subject to the nature of man, and this world, but Jesus was, but as they are both God, they both can't sin, even though one of them was subject to temptation.

Interesting subject.

 

[Scott C.]

It seems to me that christians would consider Jesus unable to commit sin, since he was God (being part of the Trinity). Yet I don't understand how God could be tempted to sin, as is claimed about Jesus. Jesus was tempted by satan several times according to scripture. I see an inconsisency here. If Jesus is God, is he not incapable of sin? Yet if he were tempted to sin, it naturally follows that he would have been capable of commiting sin.

Can somebody shed light on this? It doesn't seem to make sense to me.

There are some sins that I would never commit, even though my free will allows me to. If someone tempted me to commit murder, I wouldn't do it, for example. Yet there are other sins that, when tempted, I struggle and may give in. In the case of Jesus, the Son of God, he has a perfect character and no disposition to sin. Even though Satan tempted him, Jesus's strength prevailed in all cases and he never sinned. Yet, he had free will and the choice was his.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

It seems to me like this question is up in the air.

I would say yes, Jesus could have sinned and had a unique relationship with God that empowered him to have the power not to sin unconsciously.

 

[Just_me_Mike]

It seems to me like this question is up in the air.

I would say yes, Jesus could have sinned and had a unique relationship with God that empowered him to have the power not to sin unconsciously.

Yes I agree it is up in the air. However, what in particular would lean you towards Jesus being able to sin? Do you not agree that everything is done according to God's will, and if so, Jesus could never sin?

The problem I have with this, is we can go down a road, that says if Jesus sinned, we would have had to wait for another "Jesus", one with a stronger will. That just doesn't seem to fit with what I know from the bible. Any thoughts?

 

[tumbleweed41]

Isaiah 45:7 "I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things."
Amos 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Lamentations 3:38 "Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?"
Jeremiah 18:11 "Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you."
Ezekiel 20:25,26 "I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live. And I polluted them in their own gifts...

Not to mention Job,
If God does it, it is apparently not a sin.

 

[McBell]

It seems to me that christians would consider Jesus unable to commit sin, since he was God (being part of the Trinity). Yet I don't understand how God could be tempted to sin, as is claimed about Jesus. Jesus was tempted by satan several times according to scripture. I see an inconsisency here. If Jesus is God, is he not incapable of sin? Yet if he were tempted to sin, it naturally follows that he would have been capable of commiting sin.

Can somebody shed light on this? It doesn't seem to make sense to me.

Seems to me that there is a difference between "not being able to sin" and "nothing done can be considered a sin."

 

[Atruthseeker]

It seems to me that christians would consider Jesus unable to commit sin, since he was God (being part of the Trinity). Yet I don't understand how God could be tempted to sin, as is claimed about Jesus. Jesus was tempted by satan several times according to scripture. I see an inconsisency here. If Jesus is God, is he not incapable of sin? Yet if he were tempted to sin, it naturally follows that he would have been capable of commiting sin.

Can somebody shed light on this? It doesn't seem to make sense to me.

You are right, the reason it doesn't make sense is that Jesus isn't God. So he was able to commit a sin, like you said, that's why he was tempted by Satan.
The reason Jesus came to earth was to provide a ransom sacrifice. He was the second Adam and was equal to Adam in the sense that Adam was perfect to. Adam and Jesus both had free will and the choice to serve God or not. Adam chose not to and sinned whereas Jesus chose to serve God, and didn't sin, proving faithful until death.

This can also be seen by Jesus dying words at Mather 27:46 'About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?". This shows that God had to see if Jesus would remain faithful and not sin even right up until the end. (By the way, this is another verse that proves that Jesus isn't God.)

 

[Sunstone]

Was Jesus able to commit sin? Well, let's look at this logically. The Republican Party was not around back then. Thus, Jesus could not have voted for a Republican. And, consequently, he was unable to commit sin.

 

[John D]

I think it brings forward the Question - What does God see as sin.
Jesus broke a lot of jewish laws -count the broken sabath laws !
He mixed with the "unclean". Even ate with them. In theire religious views he was a blasphemer - killed for it.
So, in the context of religion(jewish) he was one hell of a sinner.
God said: Not so!
Tells me one thing : our concept of "sin" - is totally corrupt.

 

[sandy whitelinger]

The peccability vs. the impeccability of Christ is an age old question. The answers seem to range from, as man He could have sinned and as God He would not have sinned, to as God whatever He did was what God would do and therefore could not be sin.

when you get a definitive answer, write a paper. It should be well recieved.

 

[jtartar]

Well it seems on the bigger picture here you are discussing the "will of God", we then must ask can anything happen outside of the will of God?

Jesus as taught by some is God in the flesh. Having flesh he became identified as one of us, to experience the same thing as us, so we no longer had to look to the heavens or worship Zeus, and other figments of the imagination. We now had a God that we could touch and feel, and truly identify with.

So, since he was flesh, he was able to be tempted, because he was just as you and I. Now whether or not he could go through with one of the sins, the bible seems to indicate to me, there is no free will (many Christians will disagree with this though). So Jesus could never sin. Just as God could never sin because it was God's will for Jesus to save his people.
God the spirit, is not subject to the nature of man, and this world, but Jesus was, but as they are both God, they both can't sin, even though one of them was subject to temptation.

Interesting subject.

itwillend,
The Almighty, whose name is given in the Holy Scriptures,is Jehovah,is completely different from His son, whose name is Jesus, John 17:3, 14:28, Matt 3:16,17, 16:13-17, John 12:27,28. It is true that Jesus is called a god, even a mighty god, but never The Almighty God or Jehovah.
Jesus was created as a free moral agent, just as all the angels and man was, so theoretically Jesus could have sinned, BUT, Jehovah God knew His son would not sin so He had it recorded in the Bible what Jesus would do. In a way therefore, you could say that Jesus could not sin because when anything is recorded in God's word it will come true exactly as recorded. So Jesus could have sinned but His Father knew that he would NOT.
Here is something to think about. Jesus was a perfect man, so he would have had to go against his nature in order to sin. It seems that when a perfect person sins he is never forgiven, because he has no excuse, and nothing is recorded about any perfect person asking for forgiveness after sinning.
The real problem for us is: We are imperfect so we must fight against our nature to do the right thing, Gen 8:21. That is why we must continually ask God for help in not committing sins and then asking for forgiveness when we do, 1Thes 5:17.

 

[RomCat]

Jesus cannot sin.
Jesus is God!

 

[Dunemeister]

Jesus cannot sin.
Jesus is God!

Fine, but you're missing the point of the question. We Christians affirm these two statements. But we also say that Jesus was tempted just as everyone else was. But that instead of sinning, he "learned obedience." So he "learned" how to obey God. What sense can we make of this learning and temptation if it wasn't really possible for him to sin? I personally think it's a fair question, although not one that should perturb the Christian much in the sense that they need to be worried that the lack of resolution casts doubt on the validity of her faith.

 

[tumbleweed41]

Jesus cannot sin.
Jesus is God!

To say a god "cannot" do anything is to restrict the omnipotence of that god.
The temptation story, as has been pointed out, speaks of Jesus' temptations to sin. His ability to resist temptation as more of a testament to his strength of character that to simply say "Jesus cannot sin."

 

[RomCat]

Tumbleweed:
God cannot sin. That in no way is a restriction
on his omnipotence. Nothing is real without God.
Sin is the opposite of reality.

 

[tumbleweed41]

Tumbleweed:
God cannot sin. That in no way is a restriction
on his omnipotence.

How is a statement describing what God is incapable of not a restriction on omnipotence?

Nothing is real without God.
Sin is the opposite of reality.

So sin is not real?

 

[RomCat]

Dunemeister:
"The temptation of Christ was just another
of the devil's bad mistakes. He had to guess;
and he guessed wrong. Not even an angelic
intelligence could pierce through to the divinity
of Christ."
Companion To The Summa Vol. 4

 

[RomCat]

Tumbleweed:
For an explanation of the nature of sin
read Chapter 8 Habits Of Unhappiness,
Vol 2 Companion To The Summa.

 

[tumbleweed41]

Dunemeister:
"The temptation of Christ was just another
of the devil's bad mistakes. He had to guess;
and he guessed wrong. Not even an angelic
intelligence could pierce through to the divinity
of Christ."
Companion To The Summa Vol. 4

Christ wished to be tempted; first that He might strengthen us against temptations. Hence Gregory says in a homily (xvi in Evang.): "It was not unworthy of our Redeemertempted, who came also to be slain; in order that by His temptations He might conquer our temptations, just as by His death He overcame our death. to wish to be " Secondly, that we might be warned, so that none, however holy, may think himself safe or free from temptation. Wherefore also He wished to be tempted after His baptism, because, as Hilary says (Super Matth., cap. iii.): "The temptations of the devil assail those principally who are sanctified, for he desires, above all, to overcome the holy. Hence also it is written (Sirach 2): Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation."
Thirdly, in order to give us an example: to teach us, to wit, how to overcome the temptations of the devil. Hence Augustine says (De Trin. iv) that Christ "allowed Himself to be tempted" by the devil, "that He might be our Mediator in overcoming temptations, not only by helping us, but also by giving us an example."
Fourthly, in order to fill us with confidence in His mercy. Hence it is written (Hebrews 4:15): "We have not a high-priest, who cannot have compassion on our infirmities, but one tempted in all things like as we are, without sin."


Summa Theologica, Christs Temptation.


Without the ability to give in to sin, there is no temptation. Without temptation, the entire meaning of the story is meaningless.