How did Jesus manage to remain sinless?
Upvote:-3
Being half-God could have give him a unique ability to resist sin that us mere mortals do not have.
Upvote:1
The following is a Trinitarian answer. Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarian, or LDS (Latter Day Saints) will have a different answer, so I will edit / delete this answer when scope is added to the Question.
Trinitarian answer
Jesus managed to remain sinless because his human nature is "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14b), possible because he was first God's Logos (John 1:1-2) who "became flesh" (John 1:14a), meaning that God's essence took on human form in the person of Jesus. Jesus as God is of course sinless, and because the grace of Jesus as God (i.e. the Logos) flows in full to Jesus's human nature. Jesus's human nature empowered by the full grace of the Holy Spirit was then capable of being sinless, meaning that Jesus had the perfect will to conform to God's goodness at all times while on earth.
But our will is not as perfect, being marred by the Fall; our psychology is messed up since birth. Although Jesus DID face all kinds of temptations that we also face (including high spiritual temptation recounted in Matt 4:1-11) he didn't succumb into sin, even when at the prospect of crucifixion he was tempted to withdraw from fulfilling His mission to save us on the cross (Matt 26:36-46). For this reason Jesus was deemed fit by God to save us if we are at least WILLING to be united with Jesus through faith, enabling Jesus's divine life to help us fix our brokenness.
For more on this, hear the segment "Could Christ have sinned" from the Church Grammar interview with Fr. Thomas Joseph White on Tough Christology Questions minutes 19:50 - 25:28.
P.S. It's wrong to say that Jesus is "half-God". Most Christians see Jesus as fully God and fully Man, according to Chalcedonian Definition.
More post
- 📝 How do Protestants counteract the Witnesses stance on Blood Transfusions?
- 📝 Does Christianity allow allegorical readings of creation and the deluge?
- 📝 On what basis do Evangelical apologists argue that Muhammad committed sin?
- 📝 What does Paul mean by "Love believes all things?"
- 📝 What are the reasons for having special names for God/ Jesus?
- 📝 Is the Old Testament a Jewish book?
- 📝 Is procreation a sin?
- 📝 What does it mean to say "Jesus died for our sins"?
- 📝 What is the purpose of the ten Hail Marys in the Rosary if you should not focus on them?
- 📝 Which scripture was Paul quoting in 1 Corinthians 15:45?
- 📝 What would be the implications of a selfless act that saved others but resulted in damnation for the doer?
- 📝 Mere Christianity Book I Chapters 1 and 2: How would Lewis explain morality being inherently known but also taught?
- 📝 When is the first time in church history we find a prayer ending with "in Jesus' name, amen"?
- 📝 What was the early-Christendom position on attributing pagan names to Christian concepts (mainly god)? Was there opposition to doing this?
- 📝 Did the LDS ever recognize non-LDS polygamous marriages?
- 📝 What is the sin of St.Peter that made St.Paul opposed him in Galatians2:11?
- 📝 What Scripture passages do Latter-day Saints use to refute the Trinity?
- 📝 What does "see" in "the Holy See" mean?
- 📝 Since there is only one God who is not formed then how can the Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that Jesus is a created god?
- 📝 Does Christianity solve personal problems?
- 📝 Is Mary Our Mother? Evangelicals please explain John 19:26–27
- 📝 Why do we explicitly need to ask for help through prayer?
- 📝 Does the Bible say anything in regards to religious adaptations and fiction?
- 📝 Any mentions of Environmental protection in Bible?
- 📝 Which kind of relations are considered incestous in Christianity?
- 📝 Did early Christians believe the world was about to end?
- 📝 Is there any evidence to support a preference for second-career pastors coming disproportionately from IT?
- 📝 Does the Bible say that it is better to have been born after Christ?
- 📝 Examples for passages of the Bible which teach us how to be kind and not judge people for their own misery?
- 📝 Why was Ezra included in the canon?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How did Jesus manage to remain sinless?
- 📝 A problem with Purgatory: How could Jesus say what he did to the repentant criminal on a cross next to him if Purgatory existed?
- 📝 How do Christians respond to the criticism that Jesus of Nazareth did not bring world peace?
- 📝 How did the Born Again teaching be associated with one first believing in Jesus Christ?
- 📝 If Jesus was Sinless and had Free Will, how is the rest of creation not a mistake?
- 📝 Did Jesus know how to read and write?
- 📝 How much did the Cross of Jesus weigh?
- 📝 How can Jesus be both root and offspring of David if he was only a man and did not pre-exist his incarnation?
- 📝 Did only Jesus human body remain in the grave for the three days?
- 📝 How did the Virgin Birth of Jesus prove to be a “sign” as prophesied in Is 7:14?
- 📝 How did Jesus reconcile his teachings with Judaism?
- 📝 How can apologists argue that if Jesus did not rise again then Christianity and the Church would not have lasted, when other religions have?
- 📝 How did Thomas More manage to save his family?
- 📝 How did the early Christians and Apostles Get into the temple? Shouldn't they have been stoned by the Jews for preaching Jesus as God?
- 📝 How did John the Baptist or Jesus fulfill Malachi 3:3?
- 📝 How do deniers of Jesus' divinity explain that the angel at Revelation 22:9 did not include Jesus in the list of beings that can be worshipped?
- 📝 If flesh & blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God how did the Lord Jesus show His "hands and feet" after the resurrection?
- 📝 How long did Jesus know Judas?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, how many times did Jesus "rise again"?
- 📝 According to those holding to Chalcedonian theology, how did Jesus increase in wisdom?
- 📝 How do Catholics respond to Matthew 1:25 meaning that Mary did not remain a perpetual virgin?
- 📝 How did Jesus get heard by 5000 families at once?
- 📝 How much time did Jesus spend in Gethsemane?
- 📝 Sin Nature and the Sarx, how can Jesus be sinless if all flesh is evil
- 📝 According to Catholicism, how did Jesus go in secret (disguise) to the Feast of Tabernacles?
- 📝 Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith claimed that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him. How did he know it was really the Father and the Son?
- 📝 What did Papias mean when he wrote how Mark did not write "in order" about what Jesus said or did?
- 📝 How did Jesus select the Apostles to witness the Transfiguration?
- 📝 How did the Apostolic Church manage to integrate different Tribes and Clans under its ambit?
- 📝 How many times did Jesus rise and come back down?