Thank you Rosangela. It's nice to be here!

Hi all

As a matter of interest, seeing that we have said here that Jesus laid aside His prerogative to use in His own right His powers of Deity (at least this is what I believe), what is the consensus of opinion regarding whether He could have sinned or not? There is also the question of if this was possible and He had sinned, what would have happened to Him?

I am just wondering what the overall opinion of SDA’s is on this one. It would be very interesting to know. I hope a lot of people contribute.

I am also hoping it was ok to continue this thread with this question and not start another thread. It just seemed a natural follow on from what has been said already.

Regards

Terry

What Ellen White says:

He could have sinned:

"Be careful, exceedingly careful as to how you dwell upon the human nature of Christ. Do not set Him before the people as a man with the propensities of sin. He is the second Adam. The first Adam was created a pure, sinless being, without a taint of sin upon him; he was in the image of God. He could fall, and he did fall through transgressing. Because of sin, his posterity was born with inherent propensities of disobedience. But Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God. He took upon Himself human nature, and was tempted in all points as human nature is tempted. He could have sinned; He could have fallen, but not for one moment was there in Him an evil propensity. He was assailed with temptations in the wilderness, as Adam was assailed with temptations in Eden." {13MR 18.1}

What would have happened if He had sinned:

He would have lost His deity:

"Though Christ humbled Himself to become man, the Godhead was still His own. His Deity could not be lost while He stood faithful and true to His loyalty." {ST, May 10, 1899 par. 11}

The wrath of God would have come upon Him and He would have been without hope:

"He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and was in all points tempted like as we are. And yet He knew no sin. He was the Lamb 'without blemish and without spot' (1 Peter 1:19). Could Satan in the least particular have tempted Christ to sin, he would have bruised the Saviour's head. As it was, he could only touch His heel. Had the head of Christ been touched, the hope of the human race would have perished. Divine wrath would have come upon Christ as it came upon Adam. Christ and the church would have been without hope." {1SM 256.1}

From Scripture we are told that Christ was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. If Christ could not have sinned, He could not have been tempted. There is no temptation without the possibility of giving in.

Regarding the results of such (had Christ sinned), not only would Christ and the church have been without hope, the results would have been even more far reaching than that. Since God had no greater to swear by, He swore by Himself to Abraham in His promises to him, which were contingent upon Christ's success.

"I am the resurrection, and the life." He who had said, "I lay down my life, that I might take it again," came forth from the grave to life that was in Himself. Humanity died: divinity did not die. In His divinity, Christ possessed the power to break the bonds of death. He declares that He has life in Himself to quicken whom He will. {5BC 1113.6}

"Was the human nature of the Son of Mary changed into the divine nature of the Son of God? No; the two natures were mysteriously blended in one person--the man Christ Jesus. In Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. When Christ was crucified, it was His human nature that died. Deity did not sink and die; that would have been impossible. Christ, the sinless One, will save every son and daughter of Adam who accepts the salvation proffered them, consenting to become the children of God. The Saviour has purchased the fallen race with His own blood. {5BC 1113.2}

Good quotes, MM.

I agree that divinity cannot die or cease to be but that is a nature not a person. It was the PERSON of the Son of God who died at Calvary. He died in His humanity. It was also the PERSON of the Son of God who would have gone out of existence if He had sinned. He would have been lost in His humanity. Divinity as a nature would have remained.


“Who can estimate the value of a soul? Go to Gethsemane, and there watch with Jesus through those long hours of anguish when he sweat as it were great drops of blood; look upon the Saviour uplifted on the cross; hear that despairing cry, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Look upon that wounded head, the pierced side, the marred feet. Remember that Christ risked all; "tempted like as we are," he staked even his own eternal existence upon the issue of the conflict.”(Ellen G. White, General Conference Bulletin 1st December 1895 ‘Seeking the Lost’)

“He became subject to temptation, endangering as it were, His divine attributes. Satan sought, by the constant and curious devices of his cunning, to make Christ yield to temptation.” (Ellen G. White, Letter 5, 1900, as quoted in the Seventh-day Adventists Bible Commentary Volume 7 page 926)

“To the honor and glory of God, His beloved Son -- the Surety, the Substitute -- was delivered up and descended into the prisonhouse of the grave. The new tomb enclosed Him in its rocky chambers. If one single sin had tainted His character the stone would never have been rolled away from the door of His rocky chamber, and the world with its burden of guilt would have perished.” (Ellen G. White, Ms. 81, 1893, p. 11, Diary entry for Sunday, July 2, 1893, Wellington, New Zealand)

Terry

Terry, interesting quotes. How did you come up with the idea that Jesus' "person" would have died but not His "nature"?

Hi again Mountain Man

May I first correct what you say in your question.

I did not say that the nature of Jesus did not die. I said that at Calvary the divine nature did not die, also if He had sinned and in consequence gone out of existence, His divine nature would have remained. Ok so a few words of explanation are needed.

“Jesus person” was the incarnate pre-existent divine Son of God. He was the same “person” as He was in His pre-existence but whereas in His pre-existence He had one nature (divinity) because of the incarnation He was the same person but was now a man of two natures (divinity and humanity). The incarnation did not change who He was – He was still the same divine Son of God as He had been in His pre-existence.

Christ (the Son of God) and God (the Father) must share the same divine life (divinity) else we must come up with two types of divinity. If in His pre-existence Christ was God then His nature must have been divine. If in His pre-existence His nature was divine He must have been God. At least that it is the way that I see it. Perhaps I am wrong.

We must be careful not to confuse nature with person. Divinity (a nature) cannot die. A divine person can die. At Calvary, it was the person of the Son of God that died in His humanity. It was human nature that died at Calvary not divine nature. Divine nature cannot die.

If Christ had sinned, then as a person He would have lost His existence. Not though His divine nature. That is the life of God.

Unnecessary to say is that the incarnation is beyond our understanding. We can barely scratch the surface of its mystery.

Hope some of this helps.

Terry

TerryH: If Christ had sinned, then as a person He would have lost His existence. Not though His divine nature. That is the life of God.

MM: Nature is life? If Jesus had sinned and died what would have happened to His nature? Can nature exist independently?