By Anneka Muller
im·pec·ca·bi·li·ty (im-pe-kə-bi-lə-tē) n.
1. being free from fault or blameless: flawless;
2. not capable of sinning or liable to sin.
The fact that Jesus never sinned is indisputable. But was it even possible for Him to sin? In His human nature, He was subject to temptation, and some say temptation implies the ability to actually sin (known as peccability). In this article, we will explore the view that Christ was, indeed, impeccable—that is, unable to sin—and why His impeccability matters when it comes to our salvation. Christ’s impeccability is essential for regeneration since only an unblemished sacrifice would remove the sin barrier (John 1:29; 2 Cor 5:21). His impeccability was essential for Him to remain loyal to His divine nature as well. Christ had to be impeccable to fulfill the OT prophecies regarding the Messiah. His impeccability assures the salvation of all who believe in Him for it. Additionally, it serves as a beacon of encouragement and joy for us as saved humans because we, too, will one day be impeccable.
IMPECCABILITY DEFINED
Merriam-Webster defines impeccable as “being free from fault or blameless: flawless” and “not capable of sinning or liable to sin.”1 Therefore, when we refer to Christ’s impeccability, we are referring to His inability to sin. Not only did He choose not to sin, but due to His divine nature, He was unable to do so. In a blog post, Bob Wilkin presents two reasons for Christ’s impeccability: the inability of God (and by extension, Christ) to sin, and also perfect humanity’s inability to sin.2 We will discuss this further below.
CHRIST IS THE PERFECT SACRIFICE
In the OT, frequent sacrifices of unblemished animals were required to temporarily cover sins. Christ came as the impeccable sacrifice to pay for the sins of the world (Heb 9:22-28). The Bible tells us in Hebrews 10, Christ only had to offer one sacrifice for sin to forever perfect and sanctify us. We also see the picture of Christ as the perfect sacrifice in the unblemished Passover lamb in Exodus 12. John the Baptist identifies Christ as the Lamb in John 1:29 when he proclaims, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
CHRIST’S IMPECCABILITY IS LOYAL TO HIS DIVINE NATURE
When Christ came as the incarnation of God, He was fully God, but also fully man. The Bible tells us in James 1:13 God cannot sin: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.’” So, if Jesus is God, He also cannot sin.
Jesus was born of a virgin, so He was born without a sin nature inherited from Adam. The Bible tells us in 1 John 3:9, “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” Therefore, if anyone born of God cannot sin because it is against God’s divine nature, Jesus could not sin as that would be a violation of His deity. If at any point Jesus is without sin, including eternity past or eternity to come, He was impeccable during His incarnation. This is supported in Heb 13:8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
CHRIST’S IMPECCABILITY FULFILLED PROPHECY
The OT prophesies of Christ’s impeccability. In Daniel, it says the Messiah will put an end to sin (Dan 9:24). In order for this to be true, the Messiah would have to be sinless in His first coming, as well as in His eventual second coming that will fulfill this prophecy. The unblemished Passover lamb of Exodus 12 was a picture of Jesus, as well as the unblemished sacrifices through the book of Leviticus. Isaiah 53 discusses the Savior who “had done no violence” and who will “justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.” The impeccability of Christ fulfills these prophecies.
CHRIST’S IMPECCABILITY GIVES ASSURANCE OF SALVATION
If Christ were capable of sinning, our salvation would be precarious. Our remission of sins is based on the sacrifice of the spotless Lamb (John 1:29, 2 Cor 5:21). If at some point Christ were to sin, His sacrifice would be insufficient. If Christ had sinned during His temptations in the wilderness (Matthew 4), for example, the belief of Abram in Gen 15:6, the belief of Adam and Eve in Gen 3:15, as well as the belief of all other OT believers would have been in faulty sacrifice, and salvation would be unavailable to any NT believer. It is impossible for God to break His promises; therefore, Christ’s promise of eternal life to those who believe in Him is assured. Understanding impeccability reinforces assurance of salvation for all believers.
CHRIST’S IMPECCABILITY WILL USHER IN OUR OWN IMPECCABILITY
Some would argue that Jesus could not fulfill Heb 4:15 (“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin”) unless He was peccable, or capable of sinning. This is a false assumption as Christ was tempted in Matthew 4, yet He resisted. Whether or not He was capable of sinning has no effect on His ability to be tempted and to sympathize with us in our temptations. In fact, Jesus faced greater temptation than we ever have. Ken Yates discusses this in his Hebrews commentary:
The difference between us and our High Priest is that He went through these things without sin (emphasis his). Because He never sinned, He felt the full power of sin’s temptation. Only the One who has never sinned has felt the full force of temptation. When a person sins, he gives in to the temptation before it was fully felt. Since He is the only One to have never sinned, He is now able to understand the weaknesses we have when we are tempted to fall away.3
The Bible tells us in 1 John 3:2 that we will be like God because we will see Him as He is. This points to the fact we will eventually be impeccable. In an article in Grace in Focus, Bob Wilkin states:
The impeccability of Christ should motivate us to abide in Him so that one day we will hear Him say, ‘Well done, good servant’ (Luke 19:17), and so that we will not be ashamed before Him.4
Christ’s impeccability will usher in our own impeccability, and what a great promise that is.
CONCLUSION
Christ’s impeccability is essential to a proper interpretation of Scripture. Christ provides a perfect sacrifice for our sins. He was loyal to His divine nature in His impeccability. It was a fulfillment of the prophecy that the Lamb of God would be unblemished. Christ’s impeccability reinforces assurance of salvation. Finally, it gives us cause for rejoicing, as we shall be like Him (1 John 3:2).
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Anneka Muller is a pediatric nurse practitioner and homeschool mom of four. She and her husband, Greg, enjoy studying theology together.
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1 “Impeccable Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Accessed October 8, 2022. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impeccable.
2 Wilkin, Bob. “Was Jesus Able to Sin?” Grace Evangelical Society. Last modified January 16, 2018. Accessed October 8, 2022. https://faithalone.org/blog/was-jesus-able-to-sin?.
3 Yates, Kenneth Wayne. “Hold Fast or Miss Out on Ruling with Christ.” In Hebrews: Partners with Christ (Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2019), 71.
4 Wilkin, Bob. “The Impeccability of the Lord Jesus Christ Makes the Life to Come More Thrilling.” Grace Evangelical Society. Last modified September 1, 2010. Accessed October 8, 2022. https://faithalone.org/grace-in-focus-articles/the-impeccability-of-the-lord-jesus-christ-makes-the-life-to-come-more-thrilling/.