Friday, March 5, 2010

Impeccability

Dr. Couch, what is the impeccability of Christ all about?

ANSWER:  Christ did not sin nor could He do so. In prophecy, the Messiah is called the Holy One (Psa. 16:10). And in Isaiah 53:9, He had "done no violence, nor was their deceit in His mouth." He is also called "the Righteous One" (v. 11).

   Peter reminded the Jews that they participated in Christ's death. He called the Lord "the Holy and Righteous One" (Acts 3:14). The apostle Paul said that God the Father "made Him to be sin, He who knew no sin" so that we could become through Him "the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21). The writer of Hebrews adds that Christ had "been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15). And, He was "a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens" (7:26). Finally, Peter adds that there was no deceit in His mouth, quoting Isaiah 53:9, and "while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously" (1 Pet. 2:22-23). Christ is called the Just One (Acts 7:52; 1 John 2:1) and the "King of Righteousness" (Heb. 7:2).

   None of this can be said of any other religious prophet or Teacher. He is sinless because He is "the Word who was God" (John 1:1). The "was" is Past Tense, meaning that He always existed as God forever in the past. There has never been a time that He was not God!

   Thanks for asking.
   Dr. Mal Couch
(Mar., 10)