Monday, June 27, 2011

Did Jesus Have A Sinful Nature?

I tend to get more than peeved when I continue to read articles or comments saying that Jesus could have sinned. I would like to say….

·        Jesus did not have a sinful nature.

The Bible Says in 2 Cor. 5:21 NIV…

For he (God) hath made him (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

When we trust in Christ, we make an exchange—our sin for his righteousness. Our sin was poured into Christ at his crucifixion. His righteousness is poured into us at our conversion. This is what Christians mean by Christ's atonement for sin. In the world, bartering works only when two people exchange goods of relatively equal value. But God offers to trade his righteousness for our sin—something of immeasurable worth for something completely worthless. How grateful we should be for his kindness to us.
—Life Application Bible Notes

The Bible Says in 1 Peter 2:22 KJV

Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.

·        Jesus had a human body but not a sinful nature.

The Bible Says in Roman 8:3-4 NASB,  

“For what the Law could not do, weak  as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Please note that there is a difference between sinful flesh and a sinful nature. The dictionary defines Flesh as the soft substance of a human or other animal body, consisting of muscle and fat. The dictionary defines Nature as a result of inborn or inherent qualities. This said, Jesus had muscle and fat like us and was NOT born with our inherent human qualities.

Why would God send someone with a sinful nature to redeem those of us with a sinful nature? How would that work? Jesus came to meet the righteous requirements of the law because we were unable to do so. We were born in sin and shaped in iniquity. Jesus had a body like ours, nothing else.

Some might ask this valid question: “Was Jesus capable of sinning and just managed not to?” I submit from the Word of God that Jesus was not capable of sinning.

The Bible Says in Hebrews 1:1-3 NIV

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

The exact representation of His being is saying that Jesus expressed the very character of God in Whom is no sin. Jesus, as God, and as a human was sinless. 

The Bible Says in John 1:1-3, 14 NASB

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt  among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus revealed His glory for the first time at the Wedding of Cana in Galilee when He turned water into wine and His disciples believed in Him. (John 2:11)

·        Jesus was the spotless Lamb of God

The Bible Says in John 1:29-34 NASB

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said , "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 "This is He on behalf of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.' 31 "I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water." 32 John testified saying, "I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 "I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.' 34 "I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.

Jesus, as the Lamb of God, represented the spotless and unblemished lambs that were slain for the sins of the people prior to His coming. The slain, unblemished lambs pointed forward to Christ’s coming to bear our sins, to become sin for us and to die for us.

·        Jesus came to do the will of the Father. Only He could fulfill God’s purpose.

The Bible Says in John 6:38-40 NASB

"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40 "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."

·        Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit; therefore, His nature is/was spiritual.

The Bible Says in Matthew 1:20 KJV

But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is holy and cannot sin. The Holy Spirit is also God.

·        Jesus was the second Adam.

The Bible Says in 1 Cor. 15:45-47 KJV

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

Adam and Jesus had two different natures. Adam was earthy and Jesus was heavenly. The two natures cannot be compared. Jesus came to do what man of himself could not do. 

I fail to understand why some insist that Jesus could have sinned or why they would even want Jesus to be the same as sinful humans. The Father sent Him on a specific mission to be our kinsman Redeemer, and They both knew it would be a successful mission. Did not Jesus tell His disciples that in three days He would rise again? He didn’t say if I manage not to sin or if I am lucky I will rise again, HE SAID in Matthew 20:17-19…

Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, 18 "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!"

It sounds to me as if Jesus is speaking from a position of confidence and surety, not risk! If I know something for a fact and act on it, I’m not taking a risk. A risk is taken only on the unknown.

In closing, when Jesus began His ministry He was approved and acknowledged by His Father Who said, “This is MY beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him.” Unfortunately many listen to and believe what Ellen White teaches in her writings. I quote as follows:

The Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church teaches that in the incarnation, Jesus came to show us how to keep God’s law perfectly, and “he took upon Himself fallen, suffering human nature, degraded and defiled by sin,” possessing neither omniscience nor omnipresence. (Christ’s Humiliation by Ellen G. White, The Youth’s Instructor, December 20, 1900).” (emphasis mine)  

How demeaning! How degrading to say that Jesus took upon Himself our human nature that is defiled by sin and that He did not possess omniscience nor omnipresence. Jesus is the Word that became flesh and dwelled among us. Jesus is God in human form. Jesus was 100% God and 100% human, with a spiritual nature. The Bible Says in John 4:24 KJV, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

God’s instruction to us for the last days is: While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" 

Let’s by God’s grace do just that. Let’s listen to Him! 

Blessings!
(all emphasis mine)

1 comment:

  1. Always look for such post as they refreshes my faith and give me chance to know more about religions. Thank you for sharing it

    ReplyDelete