The Perfection of Christ

Because Jesus is God, the same attributes of perfection, holiness and impeccability also apply to him. We can also see his sinlessness clearly laid out in the scriptures. First, we have no examples of Jesus sinning. Rather, we have examples of Jesus resisting temptation altogether (Mt 4:1–11, Mk 1:12–13, Lk 4:1–13). Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin.” In other words, Jesus knew no sin for he had neither sinned intentionally or unintentionally at any point in his life. 1 Peter 1:22 says that, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.” There are several reasons why this is important. First, Jesus in his incarnation revealed the Father. If Jesus had sinned, it would either prove God to be untrustworthy, or that Jesus was not in fact God. Second, Jesus is represented as the second Adam. He is able to do what Adam could not. Jesus is able to live his life without ever falling into temptation. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus was able to live the perfect human life. He sets the perfect example for us. But most importantly, the sinlessness of Christ was necessary for Jesus to be the sacrifice we needed. Jesus, as God’s passover lamb for us, needed to be without blemish (Exodus 12:5). Isaiah wrote (Is 53:7) that the Messiah would be, “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter.” John the Baptist declared that Jesus was the Lamb of God (Jn 1:29). Peter writes (1 Pt 1:18-19) that we were ransomed by “the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” It was necessary that Jesus be sinless, in order that he be a spotless sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to the Lord. Only a perfect human could satisfy the debt owed sinful humans.