QUESTION: Was it possible for the Lord Jesus to sin? Doesn't the temptation in the wilderness demonstrate this possibility?

ANSWER: In reading the accounts of the temptations of the Lord in the wilderness recorded in Matthew 4 and in Luke 4, it is natural for us to think that the reason for these temptations was to show that Christ could have sinned but did not. But what saith the Scripture? Let's look at a few Scriptures which teach us about this subject.

1. The angel said to Mary regarding the birth of the Lord Jesus "That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). The word "holy" here signifies the absolute purity, majesty and glory of God. It is used for the Spirit in Luke 1:35 and for the Father in Luke 1:49. This Scripture teaches us that the Lord Jesus in becoming man did not inherit the sinful nature of man. All other men have been born in the condition of sin. See Psalm 51:5. Jesus Christ alone of all men was born "holy," not made like Adam, innocent and upright only, but holy. This holy nature is a nature which is incapable of sin.

2. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we read, "For He (God) hath made Him (Jesus Christ) to be sin for us Who knew no sin." The Lord Jesus never knew what it was to have a sinful thought.

3. Perhaps the clearest Scripture is 1 John 3:5: "And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins: and in Him is no sin." Not merely did He not sin but the principle of sin was not in Him.

4. "The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in Me" (John 14:30). When Satan tempts us he finds something in us. As James 1:14 tells us, "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." When Satan came to the Lord Jesus he found nothing in Him to respond to temptation.

These Scriptures which we have looked at briefly, and many others, lead us to conclude that the teaching that the Lord Jesus could have sinned but did not:

1. Does not agree with the plain teaching of Scripture.

2. Degrades the glory of the Lord Jesus and makes Him equal to Adam.

3. Suggests that Jesus Christ who is "the same yesterday, and today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8), could still sin now.

4. Indirectly denies that Jesus Christ could be our Saviour. In order for us to be redeemed the sacrifice had to be "without blemish or spot." The possibility of sin is surely a blemish. The sacrifice to be accepted for us must be, "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners" (1 Peter 1:19; Hebrews 7:26).

Regarding the temptations in the wilderness we find that they do not show us that the Lord Jesus could have sinned but did not. Instead, just as gold may be tried in the fire to prove that it is indeed gold, so the temptations demonstrate to us the holy, sinless humanity of the Lord Jesus. And He is also our example of how to resist Satan's wiles.

—John D. McNeil