Could Jesus Have Sinned?

One of the great questions when it comes to the life of Jesus is this: could Jesus have sinned had He wanted to. The question is a little tougher to answer than it may first seem. Jesus being fully human should be able to sin, yet being fully God in nature, would not be able to sin. Is this a contradiction? Can we harmonize these divergent aspects? The answer is yes to the latter.

Jesus was tempted in every way just like we are (Hebrews 4:15). In fact He experienced greater tempting than most of us ever will. How many of us have ever had Satan come to tempt us in person? Although He was tempted, Jesus could not have had the possibility of sinning. God cannot be tempted by evil (James 1:13) and we already know that Jesus is God.

Some have argued that Jesus had the ability to sin but chose not to. This goes against the idea that God cannot act against His nature. Jesus was, in fact, not able to sin. Those who argue for the possibility of Jesus sinning, cite Hebrews 4:15, which says that He was, "tempted in every way." Those who hold this viewpoint argue that Jesus could not have been truly tempted and could not really be a sympathetic High Priest if He was unable to sin. The problem with this view is that it diminishes the full divinity of Jesus. It stresses His humanity over His divinity in a way that is unacceptable. When Philippians 2 says that Jesus "became nothing" or "emptied himself" it means that Jesus voluntarily limited His Godly attributes. He had acces to them through the work of the Holy Spirit only. This means that He was limited temporarily, but He was never wrong and He could never act in opposition to His divine nature.

The reality of testing has nothing to do with the moral nature of the one tested. The possibility of sympathizing does not depend on a one-to-one correspondence in the problems faced. Just because an army can be attacked does not necessarily mean that it could be conquered.
Jesus was a man, and so, was prone to sin. He was also God, and so, could not sin. Jesus had two natures but He was one person. He could limit some of His attributes but He could never stop being God. Regardless of where He went or what He did, both of His natures were present. His divine nature was unchangeable (Hebrews 13:8). It was impossible for Him to sin as God (James 1:13), although as a man, He could be genuinely tempted.

By being tested, Jesus demonstrated the fact that He was sinless. Jesus was not allowed to be tempted to see if He could keep from sinning, but to show that He could not and did not sin. His temptation showed that He was unique and was qualified to pay the penalty that mankind has incurred. God already knows everything about us so He did not need to be tempted in order to sympathize with us. The fact that He was tempted allows us to feel that He can sympathize with us because He experienced it. The fact is, He could sympathize without the temptation, but knows how skeptical the human mind is, and so He went through testing for us, not for Him. In being tested and not sinning, He demonstrates for us the perfect example of gaining victory over even the most difficult of tests.