Sinlessness of Christ

Definition and Meaning

Sinlessness means "the quality of being without sin." This doctrine teaches that Jesus Christ, having become truly human through the Incarnation, underwent temptation and suffering yet never himself committed sin. Protestantism, the Catholic Church, and the Orthodox Church all accept this doctrine. Christology links the sinlessness of Christ to the atonement, holding that only one who is without sin can bear the sins of others in their place.

Theologians have traditionally discussed sinlessness in terms of two views:

• Impeccability: The view that Christ, possessing a divine nature, was unable to sin. In Latin this is expressed as non posse peccare ("not able to sin").
• Peccability: The view that Christ was able to sin but did not. In Latin this is expressed as posse non peccare ("able not to sin"). This view emphasizes that his temptations were real.

Biblical and Historical Background

The New Testament speaks of the sinlessness of Christ in several places:

• Hebrews 4:15 says that Christ "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."
• 2 Corinthians 5:21 calls him the one "who knew no sin."
• 1 Peter 2:22, 1 John 3:5, and John 8:46 convey the same meaning.

The temptation in the wilderness and the prayer in Gethsemane are frequently cited as scenes in which he was tempted yet did not sin.

In 451 the Council of Chalcedon confessed that Christ is "like us in all things, apart from sin." Churches explain differently how this relates to original sin (the state of sin that humanity is held to have inherited through the sin of the first man):

• Protestants generally ground Christ's freedom from original sin in his conception by the Holy Spirit and his birth of a virgin.
• The Catholic Church proclaimed in 1854 the dogma that Mary was conceived without original sin. Protestants do not accept this dogma.
• In the twentieth century, Karl Barth argued that Christ assumed a fallen human nature yet did not sin. This claim provoked controversy.

Practice in Korean Churches

All the major Korean denominations confess the sinlessness of Christ. Presbyterians confess in chapter 8 of the Westminster Confession of Faith that Christ was "yet without sin." Other denominations likewise presuppose it in their own confessions and doctrinal statements.

The differences among denominations lie not in the doctrine of sinlessness itself but in emphasis:

• Many Reformed theologians emphasize impeccability.
• Explanations that stress the reality of Christ's temptations and his life as an example are widely used across denominations.

The debate is addressed mainly in seminary classrooms. From the pulpit, the doctrine is frequently invoked through the phrase "the sinless Lamb of God" in sermons on the wilderness temptation passages, during Holy Week, and at Christmas.