Friday, February 15, 2019

The Sinlessness of Christ

In this day and age when liberal pastors and theologians are challenging the sinlessness of Christ, it would do our souls well to protect ourselves from such lies by holding fast the faithful Word. If anyone doubts whether Christ was sinless, they need only to examine the Scriptures to see that He was. Here are seven verses that speak of the sinlessness of Christ:

He Committed No Sin
He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” (1 Pe 2:22, NIV). The meaning of this verse is clear. Jesus Christ committed no sin.

He Had No Sin
"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor 5:21, NIV). Once again, the the Bible says that Jesus had no sin. The only sin he ever had was yours and mine, which he bore in his body and paid the penalty for on the cross.

In Him There is No Sin
"You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin." (1Jn 3:5). As with the previous verses written by the apostles Peter and Paul, the apostle John here affirms that there is no sin in Jesus Christ.

Without Sin
"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." (Heb 4:15). The Scripture plainly says that Jesus was without sin.

Always Pleasing to God
Jesus said, "And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him." (Joh 8:29). The Lord explicitly says that He was always pleasing to God, and God would not have always been pleased with Him if he had committed even a single sin.

Without Blemish or Defect
"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." (1 Pe 1:18-19, NIV). The apostle describes Jesus as a lamb without blemish or defect. If he had committed even one single sin, then he would not be without blemish or defect.

Perfect as the Heavenly Father is Perfect
Jesus said, "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mat 5:48). He taught us that we must be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. Since Jesus did not require us to do anything that He Himself did not do, we know that He was perfect. And just in case there is any uncertainly over what the word "perfect" means, Jesus compared this to the Father's perfection. That's the highest level of perfection, which He Himself was walking out, and He said we must be like that.

He said, "I and the Father are one." (Joh 10:30). Since Jesus and the Father are one, we would expect perfection from Him just as the Father is perfect. The apostle alludes to His perfection when he says, "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form." (Col 2:9). This means that all he fullness of the Godhead, which includes His perfection, dwells in Jesus in bodily form.

Putting it All Together
In these seven verses, along with the supplemental ones I quoted in the final section, we have explicit, biblical proof that Jesus was in fact sinless. According to God's Word, He committed no sin, He had no sin, in Him there is no sin, He was without sin, He was always pleasing to God, He was without blemish or defect, and perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect. The implications of this for us are twofold.

First of all, He alone is the one person who is entirely without sin. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, except for Jesus, since He is God incarnate. He came and led a sinless life, and then died on the cross as our sacrifice of atonement to take away our sin. He died in our place, the innocent for the guilty. He's a perfect Savior, and your life is in good hands when you turn it over to Him, trusting Him to save you.

Secondly, if Jesus lives in you, and you no longer live, because you have been crucified with Christ, then we know what kind of fruit that should produce in your life. It should produce only the good fruit of the Spirit, like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Christ will not produce any sin in us, but only righteousness, holiness, and truth. As we trust and obey the Lord, abiding in His Word, we will see the evidence of that in our lives, because He is a perfect Lord. Since He was sinless, then we, too, should aim for perfection.

Perhaps the best way to summarize these two implications is with the words of John the apostle, who said, "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One." (1 Jn 2:1, NIV).

I hope this has give you a new appreciation for Jesus our perfect Lord and Savior, and some insight into what it means for us to follow in His steps.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible New International Verion, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Other Scriptures taken from the NASB, copyright The Lockman Foundation, used by permission. Image may be subject to copyright of ShareFaith.com, used per the Fair Use Act for educational and commentary purposes only.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, I recommend reading Aim for Perfection, Following in His Steps, and Called to Be Blameless.  Supremacy of Christ, You're Better Off The Bodily Form of the Lord Jesus Christ, Is Jesus God?, and Jesus is Yehova. You may also access the Main Directory for this blog, or my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.