THEOLOGICALLY TH INK ING
Doctrinal pointers by Gerald B. Stanton, Th.D.
Your
Impeccability
ill he doctrine of impeccability con- I cems the person of Christ in His relationship to personal sin. There are those who claim that, although Christ in the days of His flesh did not sin, nevertheless He might have sinned had He so desired. Contrary to this is the claim expressed by the word impeccability (from the Latin, peccare, to sin) which affirms not only that Christ did not sin but also that He could not sin. This view con siders it inadequate to state that “ Christ was able not to sin.” Rather, it declares that “ Christ was not able to sin.” What evidence is there for such a strong position? The doctrine of impeccability is confirmed in part by an examination of the attributes of Christ. One of these was divine holiness for Christ was “ . . . holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners . . .” (Heb. 7:26). Christ possessed immutability for He was unchangeable, . . the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8; cf. 1:12). These attributes indicate that His eternal holiness continued through His earth ly life and will ever be part of Him. Moreover, Christ was omnipotent (Matt. 28:18) and although tempted He had infinite power to resist temp tation. Though upon earth He was still omniscient (John 2:25), knowing all things. While sin frequently appeals to the ignorance of the one being tempted, Christ had infinite wisdom to perceive sin in its true light. Never was He deceived by the subtle solici tations of the devil. Any weakness manifested by Jesus during His years upon the earth (hunger, weariness, etc.) were all in the realm of His humanity and were entirely non- moral in their nature. It is impossible to carry full-orbed deity into the incarnation without facing convinc ing evidence for the impeccability of Christ. Just as God cannot lie (Titus 1:2) or be tempted with evil (James 1:13), so it may be affirmed that God cannot sin. The chief problem connected with the doctrine of impeccability is this: “ If Christ while upon earth could not sin, then were His temptations real?” Obviously, the question must be an swered in the affirmative for Hebrews
4:15, 16 declares that Christ was tempted in all points like as we are, yet apart from sin. And His tempta tions went far beyond the experience of ordinary men. While He did not know the inner struggle of two con flicting natures (Romans 7), who else ever has experienced the severity of 40 days of temptation in the wilder ness under the personal attack of Satan? How severe the temptation when taunted by evil men to demon strate His power by coming down from the cross (Mark 15:29-31)! How can an impeccable person be thus tested? In the same manner that an impregnable fortress may be placed under severe attack, yet never taken. The attack is nevertheless real. Further light is shed on this problem by a clarification of the two natures which unite to form the one person of Jesus Christ. In His humanity, Christ might be considered as both peccable and temptable; in His deity He is neither peccable nor temptable. But it must be emphasized that the humanity of Christ never stands alone for the true person of Christ includes untarnished deity. In that union Christ is temptable (this from His humanity) but not peccable (by virtue of His deity). Another illustration may aid our understanding. We have before us a square block of steel and next to it a piece of wire equal in length to the dimensions of the block. The wire may readily be bent; the steel block cannot be bent. Now weld the two together. The wire is strengthened by the block; the block is not weak ened by the wire. Welded together as one, neither can be bent. Even so, Christ in the flesh Could be tempted but with humanity permanently welded to deity in one theanthropic person, Christ not only did not sin - He could not sin! The importance of the doctrine is seen in the fact that if Christ were peccable upon earth, He is peccable now, and our salvation is surely endangered. Likewise, a cloud would be upon every other benefit which stems from His spotless person and finished work. We conclude that in His past and present relationships to personal sin, Christ is impeccable.
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