The Impeccability of Christ

If by "impeccable," you mean He was above reproach, sinless, perfect, etc., then, I agree. I have to. It's in the Bible.

 

Doctrine of the impeccability of Christ does not deal with whether or not He sinned but whether or not he could have sinned. As I believe He was God in the flesh, I do not believe He was able to sin, as sin is the product of the sin nature, which He did not have.

 

If Jesus could not sin because he didn't have a sin nature, then how was Adam able to sin? He was created without a sin nature. Wasn't he?

 

Adam was created in innocence. He had free will, but lost that free will became a bond-slave of sin, as are all his descendents, when he used his free will to disobey God.

Today, man does not have free will. He is either a bond-slave to sin or a bond-slave to Jesus Christ.

 

Ah, but Jesus is the second Adam, 1 Cor. 15:45.

What good was His submission if it was constrained?

 

Paul begins with a quotation from Gen. 2:7 with the addition of two words, “first” and “Adam.” Adam was created with a natural body, not perfect, but good in every way (Gen. 3:1). The “last Adam” is Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:19, 21). He is saying that through the first Adam we received our natural bodies, but through the last Adam we will receive our spiritual bodies in resurrection. Adam’s body was the prototype of the natural, Christ’s body of the resurrection. We will bear the image of His body fit for heaven (Acts 1:11; Phil. 3:20, 21; 1 John 3:1–3) as we have borne the image of Adam’s on earth.

Since Adam was created “good in every way,” he was created perfect but not infallible. He was created with the God-given ability to make moral choices, and he made a serious wrong one. In contrast, Jesus was NOT created; was NOT fallible, and could not have sinned. He did not have the sin nature or the inclination to sin.

The allegory of Jesus as the “last Adam” means he was a “type” of Adam, where comparisons and contrasts could be drawn. Back in verses 21-23, Paul shows that the resurrection of Jesus, which the Corinthians accept, is a pledge that ‘all’ will share a like destiny, just as all die in Adam. Adam, who by sinning, set in motion a chain-reaction of sin and its consequence of death by God’s decree. Christ, who by his obedience, has inaugurated a saving process in which men receive God’s gracious gift of righteousness and ‘reign in life.’

 

Thomas:
What happened to free will? A person either
chooses Eternal Life or eternal condemnation,
don't they?

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by david reed:
Aaron,
You have one fatal flaw in your thinking
my brother, I Cor. 15:45 actualy says " The first man Adam was made a living soul; the
LAST Adam was made a quickening spirit."
Christ was not the second Adam, He was the
LAST Adam. Study II Cor.5:21 and get back
to me.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Last or Second, however you want to say it. There have only been two men in history who could affect the whole human race, one for death and the other for life. Adam is the source of death for all mankind. Jesus is the source of life. So the Last Adam was indeed the Second Adam. As Charles Wesley elloquently phrased it in Hark! The Herald Angels sing:

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

But, I will not enter into a strife over words in this issue.


[ September 29, 2001: Message edited by: Aaron ]

 

Was Christ not able to sin or was He able not to sin?

James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

HankD

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Aaron:
Last or Second, however you want to say it. There have only been two men in history who could affect the whole human race, one for death and the other for life. Adam is the source of death for all mankind. Jesus is the source of life. So the Last Adam was indeed the Second Adam. As Charles Wesley elloquently phrased it in Hark! The Herald Angels sing:<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I understand you don't want to enter into a debate over words, but I feel I must point something out. I believe there is a big difference between "last" and "second".

Last-final, end, no other.

Second-next to the first in place or time, next to the first in value, excellence, or degree.

Second also carries with it the possibility of there being a third, fourth, fifth etc. Will there be a third Adam? Or a fourth. No, Jesus was the last Adam. There will be no other.

Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. He could never be the second Adam.

Dave

[ September 30, 2001: Message edited by: Dajuid ]

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dajuid:
Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. He could never be the second Adam.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I Cor 15:44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
45 And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.
47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

To be second does not necessitate there must be a third, fourth, etc. In a two-man race, the winner is first and the loser is second! Simlarly, in a pair of bookends, one is first and the second is last.

I Cor 15 makes it clear that Jesus is both the last Adam and the Second Man. Adam and Jesus are the bookends of human history and redemption. Adam was the first of all sinful humans, Jesus is the Firstfruits of a new, redeemed race of men.

 

I see your point and stand corrected.

 

Dr. Bob;
You make it sound( to me anyway) like we have no choice at all in the matter. When a person is under true conviction, does he not at that time realize that the God of Heaven is dealing with him? That God has opened his eyes to reveal to that person his true sinful state? isn't repentence a choice? The Word teaches you must repent, agree with God
about our hopelessness, & accept Christ as our Saviour. Thats Choice of an individual.
I know God gives us even the Faith we need to come to Him, but we must choose to use that Faith. If we have no choice in the matter, then why isn't everyone saved since it's the will of our Father that none should perish, but that all should come to repentence?

 

Who did Christ die for? Again if there's no choice, then why are we to be the Light, or the Salt, why take the Gospel into all the world if God is picking & choosing who He will save?
Also..how can a Christian sin willfully, even just once, if he has no will of his own?