My take on if Jesus could have sinned debate

The opinions are all over the board, including with people I highly respect.

R. C. Sproul says, “I believe that since Jesus was fully human, it was possible for him to sin … I think it is wrong to believe that Christ’s divine nature made it impossible for his human nature to sin.”

However, one of Sproul’s partners-in-crime, who’s shared a stage with him numerous times — John MacArthur — takes the opposite position: “Could Christ … have sinned? The answer is, no, definitely no. Christ could not sin.”

Both are very learned men who are devoted to God’s Word but with opposite views. If they can’t agree, is there any hope that we mere mortals can figure out whether Jesus could have sinned? Moreover, does it really matter?

Well, I do think having the right answer to the question is important, so how about we take a shot at it?

Let’s start with the common ground shared by all Christians (minus the really fringe groups) which is that Jesus, during His earthly ministry, never sinned. The Bible is stone-cold clear on that.    

Jesus asked His opponents, “Which one of you convicts Me of sin?” (John 8:46) and got no reply. Paul says, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf” (2 Cor. 5:21) with Peter agreeing that “He committed no sin” (1 Pet. 2:22). John says, “… in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5), which is echoed by the writer of Hebrews: “[Jesus] has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).  

Good so far? If so, let’s keep going.

Augustine put forward a couple of Latin phrases historically used in theology to discuss whether Jesus could have sinned. First is non posse peccare (not able to sin), which refers to the position of Jesus having impeccability. The second position is posse non peccare (able not to sin) which says Jesus was free to sin but kept Himself from doing so.

Quite a few theologians argue the latter stance (assumed by Sproul) is the minority position, although many Christians I talk to believe it. You’ll typically hear three arguments as to why: 1. Christ had a human nature and so, just like Adam and Eve, He could make free will choices including sin; 2. Scripture says He was tempted (e.g., Matthew 4) and that implies the ability to yield to temptation; 3. The Bible also says He understands our weaknesses (Heb. 2:18; 4:15) and how is that possible if He didn’t feel what we do?

While those arguments, collectively and on the surface, seem to make a decent case for Christ being able to sin, I’m a firm believer that Jesus not only did not sin but could not sin. So, let me crack my knuckles and make my case to you, taking each of the Jesus-could-have-sinned arguments in turn.

First, yes, Jesus had a human nature, and if that nature ever existed apart from His divine nature, then it would have been one just like Adam and Eve’s and He would have been able to sin. But that never happened. While He experienced things like hunger apart from His divine nature, sin is a moral act that would have involved both His human and divine natures. And as Scripture says: “God cannot be tempted by evil” (James 1:13).

As to the issue of Christ making “free will choices”, let me ask: is God free to sin? His divine attributes, including immutability and infinite and absolute holiness, make such a thing an impossibility that wasn’t short-circuited by Jesus’ incarnation or “kenosis” (emptying) covered in Philippians 2:6-7.

Next, Scripture does indeed say that Christ was tempted, but the Greek word used in the text — peirasthēnai — has an interesting definition according to the best Greek lexicon (BDAG) out there: “to make an effort to do something, try, attempt at times in a context indicating futility; to endeavor to discover the nature or character of something by testing, try, make trial of, put to the test” (my emphasis). I’ll roll their definition up by asking you this about Jesus’ temptations by Satan and the cross: was the goal of those to probe for a moral weakness or to showcase strength? I believe the latter.

Does that mean Jesus didn’t feel the weight of those temptations and so can’t sympathize with what we go through? Not at all. Theologian Leon Morris describes what Christ experienced this way: “The man who yields to a particular temptation has not felt its full power. He has given in while the temptation has yet something in reserve. Only the man who does not yield to temptation, who, as regards that particular temptation, is sinless, knows the full extent of that temptation.”

Let me offer up one last consideration and it comes in the form of another issue often asked about the eternal state that we will one day enjoy with God. Many Christians wonder what will keep us from sinning in the new heavens and earth talked about in Revelation 20. Just because we have new, glorified bodies, how will that alone keep us from ruining things all over again just like our first parents did this world?

I think the answer is found in what Paul says will happen to us one day — we will be “conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29), which includes having a non posse peccare internal, moral state just like Jesus had during His earthly ministry. This may also partly be what Peter refers to when he says we will one day “become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). I think that Jesus’ could-not-sin nature during His ministry foreshadowed what we will be like ensuring a sinless eternal state with God.

So, in the end, no, I don’t believe Jesus could have ever sinned. And I think He showed us what we’ll be like one day: “free” people who are unable to sin just like Him. I don’t know about you, but that can’t get here soon enough for me.