Study of First Peter Chapter 2 Lesson 39
Review:
Next we need to examine the Doctrine of
Impeccability
If
Christ’s hypostatic union means He had true humanity, and if His kenosis means
that this true humanity met every trial without reliance upon His divine
nature, then what was the situation whenever Christ was tempted? Was He always
successful? If so, how?
Biblical Documentation for
Impeccability.
That
Christ was morally perfect without sin is central to the Christian faith and
one repeatedly mentioned in the NT.
The
following verses are just a few that confirm the point: John 8:46; Rom 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb.
Problem that must be dealt with:
Having
all these statements of the sinlessness of the person of Christ yet at the same
time in the Gospels we have many other verses that seem to show Christ behaving
in a fashion considered today as rude, impolite, and even eccentric.
The
gospel of Matthew particularly notes this behavior. Jesus calls His opponents
“snakes,” “hypocrites,” ”adulterers,” ”children of hell,” and “whitewashed
tombs” (Matt.
Some
other examples:
In
spite of His own teaching not to call people fools in Matthew 5:22, Jesus calls
His enemies fools in Matthew 23:17, 19.
Point that must be remembered.
Modern
observers, so heavily conditioned by present day psychological models of the
“ideal” personality, are upset by this discrepancy.
Psychologist
Paul Vitz is right when he notes “Certainly Jesus
Christ neither lived nor advocated a life that would qualify by today’s
standards as ‘self-actualized.’”
The
problem, therefore, doesn’t lie with Jesus; it lies with present-day
personality theories so widely accepted as the norm.
Jesus’
personality is disturbing because it is perfectly holy and in active contact
with the sinful, unholy world. [not operating from the same std]
Being
“Christ like” is not necessarily, therefore, being conformed to what modern
psychological theory regards as the ideal or healthiest personality as it is so
often assumed.
The
Biblical data supply not only a clear picture of Jesus’ holy and sinless
personality, but they provide other clear light on His human nature.
1. Matthew 4:1-11 related how Jesus explicitly refused the use of His
divine nature to meet temptation.
2. Matthew 26:36-46 tells how Jesus struggled in
3. On the other hand, in the same situation John 8:58 made a statement
that could only apply to His divine nature, …"before Abraham was born, I am." (cf. Exod.
4. In James
5. Finally, Hebrews
The
Doctrine of Impeccability Stated.
To
understand the doctrine of impeccability, we need to examine these two
expressions:
(1) “not able to sin” (non posse peccare); and
(2) “able not to sin” (posse non peccare).
The
first statement means that one is not able to sin at all, while the second
statement means that one is able to avoid sin although he is able to sin as
well.
The
major question in discussing Christ’s impeccability is to determine which
statement applies to Christ.
Charles
Hodge, for example, thought that statement (2) must apply to Christ because he
held that it must be possible for one to fall or sin in order to insure that
any temptation would be real.
On
the other hand William Shedd, held that statement (1) applies to Christ because he
observed it was impossible for Christ as God-man to sin without fracturing the
hypostatic union and the sovereign plan of God.
To
clarify matters we must dig a little deeper into the language and logic being
used to discuss the question, using our knowledge of the Creator-creature
distinction.
To
phrase the question as though free will and determinism are locked in mortal combat, implies that both categories are universal and apply
to all existence, including the Creator and the creature, in the same way.
Saying
that, however, puts the speaker solidly in the pagan camp believing in the
Continuity of Being.
The
question rather is: how do the analogous qualities of the Creator’s choice and
the creature’s choice coexist?
One
expresses the incomprehensible nature of God; the other describes human design in
His true humanity.
As
undiminished deity, Jesus possessed divine sovereignty; as true humanity He
possessed human responsibility.
Must recognize:
That
in the first statement above “not able to sin” refers to the uncreated divine
nature. Therefore the verb “able” then takes on its meaning from its link to
divine sovereignty. [volition/determinism]
The
second statement “able not to sin” refers to created human nature. In this
statement the verb “able” takes on its meaning from its connection to His human
experience.
Because
of the hypostatic union, both terms must apply to Jesus Christ.
In
the case of Jesus Christ, however, we must ask about whether temptation under
the “not able to sin” condition is somehow less of a problem than
temptation is for fallen beings like ourselves.
Some
have concluded that Jesus, did not really enter in to
the struggles we face! But is that
true? Is that what Heb 4:15 states?
B. F.
Westcott, who lived in the nineteenth century along with Hodge and Shedd, gives us insight into what it means for a sinless
being to be tempted.
His
classic commentary on the epistle to the Hebrews puts the matter well:
“Sympathy with the sinner in this trial does not depend on the experience of
sin but on the experience of the strength of the temptation to sin which only
the sinless can know in its full intensity.”
Summing up!
The
doctrine of impeccability, therefore, states that Jesus Christ, though
genuinely tempted beyond anything any other creature ever experienced, could
not sin.
As
the One having true humanity and undiminished deity coexisting in one Person
forever, Christ would always be victorious, even though kenotic during His life
on earth.
He
did not rely on His attributes of deity to deal with the temptations but relied
on the empowering of the Holy Spirit and the truth He knew always willing to
fulfill the will of the Father!
Therefore
setting the example we are to follow.
Summary Observations:
1.
As a Man, Christ was always filled with the Spirit (see Luke 4:1). He always
walked in complete dependence upon His heavenly Father always entrusting Himself to Him who
judges righteously.
2. As a Man, Christ always stood firmly upon the Word of God. "IT
IS WRITTEN" was His constant plea! The devil must flee from those who
stand firmly on the Word.
3. As a Man, Christ always had His full armor on! He was fully
prepared there was no way the enemy could get to Him! This same armor is
available to us! (see
Ephesians 6:10-18)
4. As a Man, Christ always was
alert to temptations. He always put Mark