Brief Thoughts on Peccability vs. Impeccability - Chad Phelps

In 2012 Chad allowed the youth group at Colonial Hills Baptist Church to ask him any and all questions that they had. The teens would submit a question to Chad via the website or a card they could fill out. Chad would then go through all the questions and on Wednesday night he would set aside some time to answer a few of the questions. He called this series "Ask the Youth Pastor."

Many excellent questions were raised by the teens. One teen asked this question: "Was Jesus not able to sin? Or was He able not to sin?" This compelling question has been batted around by theologians for centuries. Here's how Chad briefly answered that question.

"Terms:
Peccable: Jesus was able to sin, but he chose not to.
Im-Peccable: Jesus was not even able to sin & He did not sin.

Passages:

• Both sides agree that Jesus did not sin: (1 Cor. 5:21 – “He hath made him to be sin for us…”; I Peter 2:22 – “He commited no sin.)
• Peccable: Heb. 4:15 – “He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.”

Conclusion:
I do not believe that Jesus was able to sin, and let me tell you why.

1. If Jesus could have sinned, he would still be able to sin today since he remains forever God and man.
2. To believe that Jesus could sin is to believe that God could sin (Col. 2:19 – “For in Christ, all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form.”
3. Although Jesus was human like we are, he was not born with the same sinful nature that we are born with. He retained God’s nature.  He certainly was tempted as we are, but he was incapable of sinning because God is incapable of sinning (Matt. 4:1, Heb. 2:18, James 1:13).
4. Someone does not have to experience something in order to understand it.    

Posted by Caleb