Christ Alone Without Sin

Christ, who truly took our human nature, was made like us in every respect except that of sin. From this he was clearly free in both body and spirit. He came to be the Lamb without blemish who, by the sacrifice of himself once made, should take away the sins of the world. Sin, as St John says, was not in him. But all the rest of us, even though baptized and born again in Christ, still offend in many ways. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (Article 15)

This morning we come to the end of our spring series looking at some of the 39 Articles of Religion. Just in case you are unaware, the 39 Articles are a series of essential biblical truths that the Anglican church bases its distinctive doctrinal position on. But because they are biblical they are relevant for all Christians! We've got to number 15 in this list of 39 - and Article 15 is all about Jesus being the only human being who has not sinned. I want to begin today by reading you a couple of verses from1 Peter chapter 2. It's a passage about submitting to authority, doing good and suffering for doing so. I'd like you to think about your reaction as I read. 1 Peter 2.21-23:

For to this [suffering for doing good] you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

If I could crudely paraphrase: we've been called to suffer for doing good, Christ set an example, he was perfect. How do we react? This is what American theologian Bruce Ware tells of his reaction to reading it for the first time, as a 10-year-old lad. I wonder how many of us can identify with what he writes:

It is hard to describe how unfair I felt this passage to be. I really was quite disturbed, not about the part that speaks of Christ's suffering for us and committing his life to the Father, but about his followers being called to follow in his steps. Not fair, I determined. Especially when the passage says to follow in the steps of the one 'who did no sin.' This was totally outlandish and unreasonable, and I just couldn't see how God could really mean for us to take it seriously." [He continues] "In my 10-year-old mind, I just couldn't see how it would be fair, then, for God to call us to follow in the steps of Jesus, especially not to sin… since Jesus was God and we are not!"(Bruce A Ware, The Man Christ Jesus p.11-12)

I think many of us can identify with this can't we? We're confused by the fact that Jesus can both be fully human and then not sin, and then we think it unfair that being fully God he sets an impossible example to follow. This is where Article 15 comes in, as it seeks to explain that, in fact, 'Jesus being without sin' – is unfair, but not in the way we tend to think. Indeed, the biblical truths it highlights are designed to show us that despite being unworthy we get to benefit through Christ's 'sinless-ness!' If anything, in human terms, it's unfair towards God not us! So let's look at exactly what the Article says: I have four things it teaches and then briefly four responses that I think flow from that teaching in conclusion:

Firstly, then, four biblical truths that the Article affirms:

1. Jesus' True Humanity

Christ, who truly took our human nature, was made like us in every respect

Why does it say that? Well simply put it is restating biblical truth from passages such as 1 Timothy 2.5 which says, "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus". Or Philippians 2.6-8 which says, "though he [Jesus] was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." And then there's Hebrews 4.15 which 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".

Jesus knows what it is like to be human, because in the course of human history he became a man. That meant a human body, a human mind, a human soul and human experiences. He knows pain, he knows what it is like to grow from a child into an adult, he knows hunger, thirst, emotion. Jesus was fully human and he continues to reside in this perfect human body in heaven. He is like us in every respect bar one – he was, and he is, without sin. And that is the second biblical truth the article affirms.

2. Jesus' True Sinlessness

Christ, who truly took our human nature, was made like us in every respect except that of sin. From this he was clearly free in both body and spirit…. Sin, as St John says, was not in him.

Time and again the New Testament affirms that the human Jesus was without sin. The Article refers to 1 John 3.5: "You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin." We've already heard in 1 Peter 2.22:, "He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth." To the Jewish leaders who opposed him, Jesus asked, "Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?" (John 8.46) and received no answer. No one could convict him of sin because he had not sinned! But this is puzzling, is it not? It is hard for us as sinners to imagine what it would be like to be sinless or fully holy in character and so we object to this biblical truth and try and water it down. And I think we can do this in one or two ways.

Firstly, we agree with 10-year-old Bruce Ware and argue that Jesus was without sin, only because he was God! Now, in response to that I want to suggest to you this morning that when we say 'Jesus was made like us in every respect except sin' we must not think of this exception as Jesus in some way flicking between two modes. Mode 1: Human. Mode 2: God. So, for example, when Jesus was being tempted by the Devil in the wilderness for 40 days, he didn't push some kind of emergency button that took him out of human mode and into 'God mode' so that he could resist and do the supernatural stuff! Jesus is mysteriously fully human at one and the same time as being fully God. But this Article is highlighting the truth that when the Bible talks about Jesus being without sin it does so through the lens of his humanity. Hebrews 4.15 again:

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.

He could not have been tempted in every respect as we are if he was being tempted as God! In fact, James affirms that God cannot be tempted with evil. And so we need to proceed with extreme caution. We cannot go beyond what Scripture does not make clear. The whole idea of Jesus being both fully God and fully man is one of the biggest brain twisters that the Bible has to offer! No one understands it fully. That said, there is a way to make sense of this dilemma and that is this: that in his uniquely fully human and fully God nature, Jesus chose to respond to temptation in his humanity. In other words, he did not rely on the strength of his divine nature to make life easy for him! Is there not great comfort in that? Oh Christian brother and sister – is there not great comfort in knowing that whatever temptation you are struggling with, if you pause and reflect on the truth of these words you will see that you are not alone! Clearly Jesus has not faced the specifics of 21st Century temptation, but he has, nonetheless, been tempted as we are in every respect. Where Adam failed – Jesus didn't!

The second objection is to overstate the claim in the other direction and some may say Jesus can't have been fully human, because sin is part of being human - 'To err is human' it is said. In other words, it is argued that if Jesus really were fully human he would have to sin. It is one of our unavoidable defining traits! But that popular saying, 'To err is human', lifted from an 18th century poem, is actually an oversimplified truth. What we actually mean when we say that is… 'To err is a common characteristic of fallen human beings.' It actually applies to fallen humanity, but not to humanity per se. And so we need to remember that there is a difference between creation, which is inherently good, and the corrupted state of creation, after the fall, which is inherently bad. And when we look at God's creation we see the true ideal for humanity that God ordained. And when we look at Jesus we see that ideal perfected in flesh and blood. And the fact that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit allows for a pure untainted human being to come in the midst of human history, one who is unaffected by Adam's original sin. Why am I labouring Jesus' sinless nature so much? Why is it so important that we get this truth anyway? Answer: because if we can't accept that the human Jesus was sinless, it makes the next teaching point of Article 15 redundant. And so the third biblical truth the article affirms is:

3. Jesus: The Only True Saviour

He [Jesus] came to be the Lamb without blemish who, by the sacrifice of himself once made, should take away the sins of the world.

In other words, to believe that Jesus was sinful would be to deny the fact that he could be the innocent lamb, sent by the Father, who alone could be a sacrifice for the sins of the world. In short, no sinless Jesus = no rescue. No salvation. No good news. But let's back up a bit to try and understand this reference to the lamb without blemish.

We heard read earlier (in the Old Testament reading) the story of the Passover when the people of Israel were to take a lamb without defect, kill it, and put some of the lamb's blood on their doorposts. Then when the Spirit of the Lord came to kill all the first born in the land, he would see the blood and literally 'pass-over' those families. God ordained that rescue would come through the blood of a spotless lamb. Then later in the Old Testament God ordained that atoning sacrifices were similarly required to be without fault, innocent and perfect. Once a year the High Priest would offer a sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. Make no mistake this was a messy, gruesome affair. The blood of the perfect animal was symbolically sprinkled on both the mercy seat (the lid of the Ark of the Covenant which symbolised God's presence) and the assembled people of Israel and such symbolism meant that the Holy God of Israel would once again dwell among his people for the following year. In other words, the lifeblood of the innocent animal was deemed acceptable to open up a way for them to be together.

But all of this was just show and temporary. It was show because it didn't really deal with the sin of the people. The perfect nature of the animal wasn't transferred to the people. It was just God's grace. And, it was also temporary because it had to be done again and again on an annual basis! This is what our New Testament reading was about. Hebrews 10, verses 1 and 4:

For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near…. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

But it was a shadow of what was to come. The elements and the principle were established. The effect of sin – separation from God. The penalty of sin – death. The solution – grace, through sacrifice, a swap, an exchange.

The story is told of a father telling his young daughter all about Abraham and Isaac. He related how God had finally told Abraham not to kill Isaac and had provided a sacrificial lamb instead. But the little girl looked up with a sad impression and said, "I don't like killing lambs." Now, the father was speechless for a moment and then he realised just how traumatic and memorable such sacrifices were. Friends, if the killing of a small white lamb seems horrendous, how immeasurably more was the crucifixion of the lamb of God! If you have seen Mel Gibson's big screen portrayal of the death of Jesus, you'll know just how gruesome and horrific he made it. And I remember coming away from the film thinking "They've overplayed that a bit, did that really happen like that?" I went straight back to the Bible and re-read the gospels and I found that actually, in the main, that part of the film was entirely consistent with those accounts. I was surprised because I had read those passages time and again throughout my life and never really picked up on the full severity of what Christ endured. It took a visual representation of that full horror for me to begin to fully comprehend the nature of that sacrifice. That pain, that beating, that separation from God, that death – is what I deserve because of my sin.

Now, there are some who would argue that all this death and blood are just too gruesome for a loving God. There are those who argue that God could have chosen to forgive us another way. It's a bit like parents forgiving their children, they argue. So for example when one of my son's breaks the nature of our relationship through lying, I can still forgive him of that without demanding that blood must be shed. If we can do that – surely God must be able to too! But God is not simply a heavenly Father and we his children. The nature of our relationship with him is not less than that, but it is certainly more! Because he is also the judge of all the earth; he is the creator and source of all morality and he is the one to whom we must give a final account!

Ok the argument continues; 'that may be so, but any sacrifice would do then, it didn't need to be sinless one, let alone his own son'. Again no, the sacrifice had to be sinless and perfect. If not there is only partial salvation. Because, yes Jesus could have died in our place and paid the price, but we would not be made righteous – and I think we can often forget that part of our salvation. The divine exchange is a two-way thing! We often say that Jesus pays the penalty for our sin – He does and praise God for that, but according to Paul's letter to the Romans, his righteousness, his perfectness, his sinlessness is then wonderfully counted as our own! Romans 5.19:

For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

2 Corinthians 5.21:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

So Jesus being without sin is an essential part of him being the only way we can be made right with God again. He, himself, is the innocent victim, pure, unblemished and undeserving of death. Were he sinful, he would not have been qualified to be the victim. And you know what? Wonderfully, as our reading from Hebrews showed, his sacrifice was final. It is a sufficient and finished work! Hebrews 10.12: "But … Christ … offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins", and according to verse 14, by this single offering "he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified". So what is needed now, is not a repetition again and again of the sacrifice, but a reception by faith of those benefits! And who receives by faith? Those who know they are not right before God. And that's why the Article's last teaching point is a call for:

4. True Self-Assessment

But all the rest of us, even though baptized and born again in Christ, still offend in many ways. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

These sentences are there to remind us that we are different to Jesus; that there is a contrast to be highlighted. But sadly sometimes we deny and deceive ourselves into thinking that we are without fault too. The warning is straight out of 1 John 1. And it is one of the most vital truths for Christian living, is it not? Whether we look at this through the lens of what scripture teaches, or whether indeed we look through the lens of our own experience: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Friends we need a true self-assessment. Not in an introspective "woe is me, I'm so useless" self-focussed kind of attitude. But an honest realisation that we stand before a holy God and ponder the enormity, the gravity, the grievous nature of our sin before him. An honest self-assessment of our sin shows us that we cannot look lightly on Jesus' sacrifice. Romans 3.23: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". All have sinned.

And if you are here this morning and you don't get that, if you don't understand why it was so important that Jesus was sinless and that he spilt his blood for everyone, may I humbly suggest you are in a very precarious position. Now it may be that I haven't explained it well enough. But it may also be that you haven't grasped or previously given thought to just how serious sin is. It is so serious that God sent his only son, to be executed in your place, so that when the judgement day comes his perfect nature will be counted as yours. But this isn't automatic. It is received by faith. And if you are here this morning and you haven't received salvation by faith, then friends don't delay. Say sorry to God for your sin and ask for his help to live for him and under his command, from this point on in your life. 19th Century theologian John Duncan once memorably said that the best expression of the gospel he ever heard was the simple and rather unforgettable statement of a black American Christian:

Either I die, or He die. He die, me no die.

So that is what the Article teaches – Jesus' true humanity, his true sinlessness, his role as the true and only saviour and the need for us to have a true and honest assessment of ourselves. How do we respond to these truths? To conclude I offer four brief thoughts for you to go away and ponder over lunch! Praise, Rest, Value & Tell! Firstly, I think:

1. We Are To Praise
Since Jesus alone is without sin, and since Jesus alone has made the final and complete sacrifice for our sins and the sins of the whole world, what other response can there primarily be other than to offer him praise and thanksgiving for who he is and what he has done! Praise God for his love revealed through the Son's leaving the glory of heaven and becoming a man – all for our benefit – to make us right! Praise Jesus for choosing not to sin, so that by faith his perfection becomes our perfection in the sight of God. Praise Jesus for enduring the physical, emotional and spiritual pain as he was separated from the Father so that we don't have to be! Praise the Spirit for empowering us to live a life of obedience in response! Praise God! Secondly, we need to rest. We need to:

2. Rest In The Sufficiency Of What Jesus Has Done
Jesus sacrifice is how we are made right with God. It is completely adequate – there is nothing we can add to it, nothing we can do instead of it! It alone forms the basis of our assurance and that is wonderfully liberating – our salvation is not down to our performance! Rest, JPC, in the sufficiency of what Jesus has done once and for all! Thirdly, I think we need to value. We need to:

3. Value The Dignity Of Our Human Nature
We must remember that we were made in God's image and likeness. And Jesus came and assumed our nature into himself. He didn't come as a physical lamb, or bull or any other created thing. He came as a human, the crowning pinnacle of God's creation. And we must consider how we value humanity, and how we influence others to value humanity from the womb to the grave. How well do we treat our brothers and sisters? How well do we protect those unable to protect themselves? Jesus gave his life to redeem our humanity. And then lastly, and probably most urgently, we need to tell. We need to:

4. Tell Others Of The Rescue Plan
We can't keep the gravity nor the joy of this good news to ourselves can we? If sin is really that serious, if Jesus is really that unique, if salvation is found in no one else, then we need to tell others. Let's pray that we would take every opportunity God gives us to invite people to come to Jesus in faith and to enjoy the benefits of his sacrifice.