Can We Prove that Christ Could or Could Not Sin?

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by Rhoda Foust (Lehigh Acres, Florida)
To begin with, can we agree that God made statements and promises and swore to those promises? Did these promises include Christ’s sinless sacrifice and resurrection? If we can agree to these things, then the only argument is whether we do or do not believe God’s words one hundred percent. To reach a conclusion we will look at and study some pertinent scriptures, asking the question, “Could God, in the flesh, have sinned? The symbol ^ will indicate my emphasis on a word or words.
 
Acts 15:18 ^Known^ unto God are all his works ^from the beginning^ of the world.
 
Note: Everything God planned was already known. In other words, He knew how His plan would turn out, from the very beginning of creation. He (The Word) knew He would come into the world, in the flesh, and be the “savior” of mankind.
 
Luke 2:9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David ^a Savior^, which is Christ the Lord.
 
Mat.1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he ^shall save his people from their sins.^
 
Heb.13:22 “…. he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the [son] of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. 13:23 Of this man’s seed hath God according to [his] promise raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus:
 
Ps.107:19 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, [and] he saveth them out of their distresses. 107:20 ^He sent his word^, and healed them, and delivered [them] from their destructions.
 
Is 43:3 For I [am] the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, ^thy Savior^: ……”
 
Isa.43:11 I, [even] I, [am] the LORD; and beside me [there is] no savior.
 
Act. 2:23 Him, being delivered by the ^determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God^, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 2:24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because ^it was not possible^ that he should be holden of it.
 
Note: We might ask, why was it not possible? As the next scriptures show, because the ^determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God^ PROMISED it would happen this exact way.
 
Ps.16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
 
Gen. 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
 
Note: The Faith chapter (Heb. 11) illustrates those people who received the promises, and the sufferings they endured, ^believing^ God, that they would receive the ^fulfillment^ and rewards of those promises.
 
Heb.11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they with us should not be made perfect.
 
Heb.11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of [them], and embraced [them], and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
 
Note: Did Abram think The Word could or would sin? He had faith, was fully persuaded, that God’s promises would never be jeopardized by the possibility of God deciding, “to sin?.”
 
Rom.4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.  4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
 
Heb.6:13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because ^he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself^, 6:14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.  6:15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
 
Note: He obtained the promise, not the FULFILLMENT of the promise.
 
These people have not yet received the fulfillment of those promises. God’s plan is a progressive process. Christ’s resurrection was a crucial step (fulfillment) in that process. These people of faith BELIEVED God’s word to be IMMUTABLE. To strengthen his promises as being absolutely sure, He “swore” by Himself.
 
Heb.11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of [them], and embraced [them], and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
 
Note: If Jesus had the choice to sin, all of these promises would have hinged on his decision “to sin, or not to sin”! This would have been “THE GREATEST GAMBLE” of all time. Had Jesus chosen to sin the whole plan of God would have been defeated and proved that God’s word was NOT IMMUTABLE.
 
1 COR.15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your sins. 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
 
Heb. 6:16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation [is] to them an end of all strife. 6:17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the ^immutability of his counsel, ^confirmed^ [it] by an oath^: 6:18 That by two ^immutable^ things, in which [it was] ^impossible for God to lie^, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 6:19 Which [hope] we have as an anchor of the soul, ^both sure and steadfast^, and which entereth into that within the veil;
 
Tit.1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
 
Note: Can we accept the statements, “…impossible for God to lie”?  If we accept this, we also have to believe the “immutability of his (God’s) council, that it was “absolutely SURE” His promises would be kept. How then could we even entertain the assumption that God (in the flesh) could have sinned? If, as Paul states, it is impossible for God to lie, is it not also impossible for God to sin? Jesus ^was^ God, even if he was ^in the likeness^ of man.
 
Is not God’s character the most important thing to consider, along with faith in that character? How can anyone have faith in a God that gave himself the choice “to sin, or not to sin”, which–if he had sinned–would have condemned every human being to eternal death?
 
Heb.11:6 But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] ^he is a rewarder^ of them that diligently seek him.
 
Note: How could God (the Word) expect us to believe Him so strongly, if he had given himself permission to sin? Instead, He sent the message of hope to mankind, down through the ages.
 
Acts 3:24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. 3:25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
 
Rom. 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called [to be] an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, 1:2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; 1:4 And declared [to be] the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: 1:5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
 
Note: God says He is not hiding anything. If the Word could have sinned, would He not have told us? He claims to speak “right” things, not “this may or may not work out” kind of promises.
 
Isa.45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
 
Note: God himself says He does NOT speak in vain, and that He is a JUST God. Would a just God give Himself the option to sin, knowing mankind’s eternity would depend on his choice?
 
Isa.45:21 “…. and [there is] no God else beside me; a ^just God^ and a Saviour; [there is] none beside me.  45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I [am] God, and [there is] none else. 45:23 I have ^sworn by myself^, the word is gone out of my mouth  [in] righteousness, and shall not return, …”
 
Note: We must believe, have faith, that we are not offending God, even in physical things such as eating. How much more important is it to believe that God’s promises were IMMUTABLE? Are we to believe God’s promises depended on whether Jesus decided to sin, or not to sin?
 
Rom.14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because [he eateth] not of faith: for ^whatsoever [is] not of faith is sin^.
 
Rom.5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. 5:10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
 
Note: Someone is bound to quote 1 Cor.13:8 as proof that we cannot rely on prophecy…that it can fail. God’s promises have never failed. There have been times when God, out of mercy, has changed his mind about intended punishments, if there’s repentance involved. Such was the case of Nineveh. Jonah 4:20 and 3:10 demonstrates this principal.
 
Note: Any and all other arguable ideas, theory, doctrines of men, even “difficult scriptures” cannot negate God’s promises and prophecies. Would you not agree, to teach that you cannot believe God one hundred percent is nothing short of heresy? To teach something that damages ones faith, and is not biblically sound, is a dangerous affront to God the Father and God the Son.
 
Prov. 30:5 Every word of God [is] pure: he [is] a shield unto them that put their trust in him. 30:6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
Iron Sharpening Iron
In regard to: Can We Prove that Christ Could or Could Not Sin?
Article by Rhoda Foust
Comments by Alfio La Spina (Victoria British Columbia)
Jesus Came in The Flesh
To say that Jesus could not have sinned is the same as saying He did not come in the flesh which is the spirit of Antichrist. 
 
Jesus came in the flesh, which is corruptible, so He was very capable of sinning however He did not sin because He was obedient and did everything the Father instructed Him to do. He also stayed very close to the Father which strengthened Him and made Him able to overcome. 
 
Once we receive the Holy Spirit and we are obedient and do all the Father asks of us we can also be without sin and proceed to perfection as the Father requires us to do in order to enter His Kingdom.
 
Matthew 5:48 (ESV)
48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
 
God knew that Jesus would be successful that is why He made those statements concerning our salvation through Christ. 
 
Hebrews 2:14-17 (ESV)
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
 
I believe verse 17 says it all. 
 
Editor’s Note: Thank you Alfio for your response. You are absolutely correct. After looking at Rhoda’s article again I can see how the flaws were overlooked. On the one hand it looks like she could see that Christ had a choice whether to sin or not but then she crashes by saying:
 
“Note: If Jesus had the choice to sin, all of these promises would have hinged on his decision “to sin, or not to sin”! This would have been “THE GREATEST GAMBLE” of all time. Had Jesus chosen to sin the whole plan of God would have been defeated and proved that God’s word was NOT IMMUTABLE.”
 
So here she is concluding that Christ could not sin and that is what makes the conclusion of this article false. When Christ came in the flesh, He always had the choice to sin or not just like all of us do. Thank you for catching this. Laura Lee
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