Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 82:327 (Jul 1925)
Article: The Sinlessness Of Jesus
Author: James Harper

BSac 81:327 (July 1925) p. 267

The Sinlessness Of Jesus

How Could Jesus, Born Of A Sinful Woman, Be Sinless?

James Harper

There are two things assumed in this question, namely that Christ was sinless and that he was born of a sinful woman. It may be proper to present some explanation of both of these positions before proceeding to explain how Christ could, in the circumstances, be sinless.

That Christ was in himself absolutely untainted by sin and perfectly holy is clearly taught in Scripture. For explicit proof the following texts are adequate, Luke 1:35; Jno. 8:29, 55; 15:10, 25; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 7:26, 27; 1 Pet. 2:22; 1 Jno. 3:5.

In addition to this direct evidence it may be mentioned, as powerful collateral proof, that our Lord, lowly and humble though he was, never, during his sojourn in the world, acknowledged himself to be mistaken, or at fault, in any particular. He offered thanks to God, but never confession of sin. In no spirit of boastfulness, but in the calm consciousness of his perfect integrity and purity, did he give the challenge to his unscrupulous foes; “which of you convicteth me of sin?” (Jno. 8:46); and declare “He that sent me is with me, for I do always those things that please Him” (Jno. 8:29).

It may on the other hand be objected that in the Psalms which embody a forecast of his sentiments and feelings when he appeared among men, or which rather present him to us in the very act of uttering his inmost thoughts and emotions, he does confess and bewail his sins. Thus in Ps. 31:10, it is he who says, “My strength faileth because of mine iniquity,” and in Ps. 40:12 it is he who exclaims, “For innumerable evils have compassed me about; mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs

BSac 81:327 (July 1925) p. 268

of mine head; therefore mine heart faileth me”; while in Ps. 69:5 he cries, “O God, thou knowest my foolishness, and my sins are not hid from thee....