Christ's Human Sinlessness Proves the Justice of God's Demand for Man's Sinlessness


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Christ's Human Sinlessness
Proves the Justice of God's Demand for Man's Sinlessness

by Tom Stewart
December 7, 1999

It is a forthright point of Biblical theology to state that Jesus is truly God Almighty and that He was truly born as a human baby nearly 2,000 years ago; but, the uniqueness of His person has caused many in the study of theology to discount the value of His human sinless life. "And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin" (1John 3:5). "Sure," they may say, "Jesus did not sin while in human flesh, but that's because He is God." But, this misses the point entirely of why the Almighty had to resort to such a daring move as to allow His Eternally Begotten Son to become a defenseless babe in a manger. "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth" (1Peter 2:22). You can nearly see in your mind the picture of the Father discussing with the Son that mankind would object to His demand of sinless living as unreasonable and unobtainable because no one could live without sin while in human flesh. But, then the Son said, "Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of Me,) to do Thy will, O God" (Hebrews 10:7). The Son of God was willing to undergo all the difficulties, humiliations, and sufferings of the human condition, if only the attainability of a sinless walk from man could be proved, then the Father's wisdom and justice of requiring it would be justified. "5 But whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. 6 He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked" (1John 2:5-6).

The Son of God volunteered to become a man, because He desired to justify the Father's demand of loving obedience from all the children of men. "For this is the love of God, that we keep His Commandments: and His Commandments are not grievous" (1John 5:3). Since "grievous" Commandments are unbearable and impossible to obey, the Son had to demonstrate that man in human flesh could obey everything that the Father commanded of all men. "37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and Great Commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Matthew 22:37-39). And, if Satan could stumble Jesus into sinning, then Satan would justify himself for his rebellion, as well as humiliate the Father for requiring more than He ought from His creation. "If ye love Me, keep My Commandments" (John 14:15).

If one must be the Son of God to obey completely the Father, then no one needs to feel himself rebellious for giving only the semblance of partial obedience. But, "whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" (James 2:10). Jesus came to destroy the arguments of self-justification that allow man to hide behind physical flesh as his excuse for sinning. Instead, the Son of God's manifestation in human flesh was to obliterate man's arguments of self-justification for why he sins, which arguments are the "works of the devil". "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil" (1John 3:8). Sin is so rampant in this world, and in the Professed Church, because excuse is found everywhere that our flesh made us to sin. "And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat" (Genesis 3:12).

Man has transposed sin away from his willful disobedience of God and metaphysically made human flesh the residence of sin, as evidenced by the misunderstanding many have of the Apostle Paul's inspired reference to "sinful flesh". "For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (Romans 8:3). Flesh can only be sinful by how we use it, else wise Christ could not have "condemned sin in the flesh" (8:3) without obliterating flesh entirely-- which He did not. "19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1Corinthians 6:19-20). Brother Paul goes on to disabuse us of any misconception we have that flesh, by itself, is sinful, by further informing us that:

If we desire to honor God for His Love, Truth, Mercy, and Grace, then we ought to give the Son of God the "glory and honour and power" (Revelation 4:11) for walking in human flesh without sinning, without having to resort to miraculous or supernatural advantages normally unavailable to mortal man. "Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered" (Hebrews 5:8). Instead of calling for the assistance of angels to stand in for Him when obedience was difficult and sinning was easy, i.e., "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matthew 26:53), Jesus chose to be humanly perfected and matured by His human sufferings. "For it became Him [the Father], for Whom are all things, and by Whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of Their Salvation [Jesus] perfect through sufferings" (Hebrews 2:10).

The sinless obedience of Christ while in human flesh magnifies the wise choice of God to create man and to wisely and certainly expect that man must perfectly obey Him, "as unto a Faithful Creator" (1Peter 4:19). "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His Judgments, and His ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33). If the Son of God was the only man to ever obey the Father, then God would still be praised for the wisdom and justice of His decision to require loving and sinless obedience from man. "Let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That Thou mightest be justified in Thy Sayings, and mightest overcome when Thou art judged" (3:4). But, the truth is that any time that any man ever does obey the Father, it is because the New Covenant's gift of the Spirit of Christ is working in us to "will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). And, that working in us comes only when we trust Him. "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23).

Maranatha!