SINFUL NATURE 6: JESUS' SINLESSNESS
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. What is the ‘Sinful Nature’?
a) Why do we sin? What is it that oftentimes urges us to do what we know is wrong? Did humanity inherit a ‘sinful nature’ when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden? Did God curse humankind by giving them a tendency to sin; a tendency that has been the cause of hurt and heartache for untold multitudes to this day?
2. Jesus' Sinlessness
a) If every child were born guilty of sin because of an inherited ‘sin nature’, we must consider Jesus Christ and His birth. We know Jesus was without sin (1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5; Hebrews 4:15, 7:26). Therefore, we must consider how this was possible.
b) Theological discussions have gone on for ages concerning how Jesus was born of a woman yet remained sinless. Some say that the ‘sinful nature’ is passed down from the father only and, since Jesus had no human father, He never received this ‘sinful nature’. However, we have seen that Adam and Eve were tempted and fell before this supposed ‘sinful nature’ even existed. Neither Adam nor Eve had any human parents and yet they stilled sinned.
c) However, the ‘sinful nature’ in not something inherited at all. It is a lack of God’s holiness within a person. Jesus, being God, would not have lacked that holiness. Jesus, although existing in a human body and being tempted in all ways as are we (Hebrews 2:18, 4:15), had the power and ability to resist any temptation to sin and thus remained sinless. This same power, supplied by the Holy Spirit, is available today to anyone who trusts his or her life to Jesus Christ.
The End ...
1. What is the ‘Sinful Nature’? a) Why do we sin? What is it that oftentimes urges us to do what we know is wrong? Did humanity inherit a ‘sinful nature’ when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden? Did God curse humankind by giving them a tendency to sin; a tendency that has been the cause of hurt and heartache for untold multitudes to this day?
2. Jesus' Sinlessness
a) If every child were born guilty of sin because of an inherited ‘sin nature’, we must consider Jesus Christ and His birth. We know Jesus was without sin (1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5; Hebrews 4:15, 7:26). Therefore, we must consider how this was possible.
b) Theological discussions have gone on for ages concerning how Jesus was born of a woman yet remained sinless. Some say that the ‘sinful nature’ is passed down from the father only and, since Jesus had no human father, He never received this ‘sinful nature’. However, we have seen that Adam and Eve were tempted and fell before this supposed ‘sinful nature’ even existed. Neither Adam nor Eve had any human parents and yet they stilled sinned.
c) However, the ‘sinful nature’ in not something inherited at all. It is a lack of God’s holiness within a person. Jesus, being God, would not have lacked that holiness. Jesus, although existing in a human body and being tempted in all ways as are we (Hebrews 2:18, 4:15), had the power and ability to resist any temptation to sin and thus remained sinless. This same power, supplied by the Holy Spirit, is available today to anyone who trusts his or her life to Jesus Christ.
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