{"id":1429,"date":"2022-09-06T03:03:21","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T11:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/?p=1429"},"modified":"2022-09-18T18:59:27","modified_gmt":"2022-09-19T02:59:27","slug":"1429","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/2022\/09\/1429\/","title":{"rendered":"Sinless Jesus; Holy Outlaw"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Was Jesus sinless? Christian teaching claims that he was\u2014but what does that mean?<\/strong> In my last article<\/a>,<\/span> I discussed the opposing viewpoints that sin is either a quality inherited from our sinful ancestors or an individual decision. In this article, I will ask whether Jesus was sinless if we understand sin as a decision to break divine law. In my next article, I will ask if Jesus bore the stain of original sin. And my final article in this series is\u2026well, a surprise.<\/p>\n

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StJohnsAshfield_StainedGlass_GoodShepherd_Face.jpg:\u00a0Toby Hudson<\/a><\/span>
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
Alterations made with permission<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Sinless High Priest?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Hebrews 4:15<\/span><\/a> claims that Jesus was a sinless high priest.<\/strong> In the old days, when the priest would go up to the altar to make sacrifices for the people, he first had to offer a sacrifice for his own sins. In this way, he would be clean when he entered the presence of God. But Jesus did not need to make a sacrifice for his own sins as he was already holy. This scripture says that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are tempted, yet without sin. But it\u2019s not claiming that Jesus never sinned. <\/em>It\u2019s actually referring to the wilderness temptation.<\/p>\n

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Wilderness temptation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I grew up in a church that taught that Jesus never committed a single sin.<\/strong> We learned that the wilderness temptation was proof that if Jesus could withstand such great temptations, then certainly he could resist small ones. We saw the wilderness temptation as Satan\u2019s attempt to foil the absolutely sinless Jesus. Only a sinless Messiah could be the sacrifice for our sins, we were told\u2014so if the Devil could make him sin, he would keep Jesus from fulfilling his mission.<\/p>\n

Since I reject the theory of penal substitutionary atonement<\/a><\/span>, I also reject the need for Jesus as a perfect, spotless lamb. <\/strong>So, the story of Jesus\u2019 temptation wasn\u2019t a satanic attempt to disqualify Jesus as the Messiah. Instead, it was Jesus facing up to his own inner desires that might prevent him from becoming a servant to humanity. If Jesus hadn\u2019t wanted these things, they wouldn\u2019t have been real temptations. And if he hadn\u2019t been capable of sin, then the temptations would have been futile.<\/p>\n

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A Holy Outlaw<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Instead of being of unimpeachable character, Jesus was more of a holy outlaw. The gospels record several incidents where Jesus broke the law of Moses, and even demonstrated character flaws. In fact, Jesus is guilty of both sins of commission (things you do), and also sins of omission (things you should do, that you don\u2019t.)<\/p>\n

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Sins of Commission<\/strong><\/h2>\n