Could Jesus have sinned?

The Bible states clearly that Jesus never sinned. But could Jesus have sinned when he was tempted by the devil?

One concern that people have when they try to address this question is that if Jesus could not sin, then his temptations, which he undertook as the second Adam and our substitute, were not real. How could the temptations Jesus experienced be part of his work of destroying the work of the devil if he and Satan were just play-acting and these were not real temptations that could lead to a fall? On the other hand, people argue that since Jesus is God and God cannot sin, Jesus could not sin.

We can say that the Bible does not explicitly answer this hypothetical question. In fact, it never shows any interest in this question. Its only interest is in the assertion that Jesus, our substitute, did not sin.

What the Bible says

The Bible does, however, make several statements that enable us to attempt an answer to the question.

Christ was a real man. His temptations were real.

• “Because he suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18).
• “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

Jesus was true God. God cannot sin.

• “All the fullness of God’s being dwells bodily in Christ” (Colossians 2:9).
• “God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one” (James 1:13).

The Bible, therefore, asserts two truths: Jesus’ temptations caused him a painful struggle, but he remained without sin. As true God, Jesus could not sin, yet his temptations were very real. Jesus rejected all the temptations of Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13) and all the other temptations that Satan sent his way, such as the temptations that came through Peter (Matthew 16:22,23) and in Gethsemane.

The mystery of the incarnation

To us, these two truths seem to be in tension or even contradictory. That tension exists because we cannot understand the mystery of the incarnation. How can Jesus be God who knows everything and yet can say he did not know the day of judgment? How can a baby lying in a manger be God who fills the universe? How can Jesus, who is already everywhere, be present in a special way in the Lord’s Supper? How can Jesus, who is eternal, die?

Lutheran theologians have made detailed efforts to answer such questions. This is not harmful as long as they say clearly that they are drawing conclusions from statements of Scripture rather than quoting statements of Scripture. It is sound logic to say, “Jesus is God. God cannot sin. Jesus could not sin.” If that explanation satisfies our reason, that’s good. But we should not claim that we can ever fully understand or explain the divine mystery of the incarnation: All the acts of Jesus are the acts of one person who is both God and man. In all his acts, both the divine and human natures participate. None of his acts are performed by only one nature to the exclusion of the participation of the other nature. All acts are done by the person.

That statement is important enough (and difficult enough) to say it again. Everything Jesus did, he did as one person with two natures: divine and human. In every action of Jesus, both natures participate.

We can say, “Jesus is God. God cannot die. Jesus could die because he had a human nature. The person who died on the cross was God.”

• “You killed the Author of Life, whom God raised from the dead. We are witnesses of this” (Acts 3:15).
• “We speak God’s wisdom that has been hidden in mystery—before the ages, God foreordained that this wisdom would result in our glory. None of the rulers of this world knew it. (If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory)” (1 Corinthians 2:7,8).
• “Always keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).

The Author of life was killed. The Lord of glory was crucified. God purchased the church with his own blood. Our reason struggles with these statements. A classic Lutheran hymn about Jesus’ burial stated this truth in its most shocking form: O grosser Not. Gott selbst ist tot (“What great distress. God himself is dead”). Later versions watered it down and lessened the shock: “O sorrow dread! God’s Son is dead.”

The best answer

We can try to explain these paradoxes, but sometimes the best answer to an unanswerable question is silent wonder at the mystery and a tight embrace of the truth. “Undeniably, great is the mystery of godliness: He was revealed in flesh, was justified in spirit, was seen by messengers, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16). That is all we need to know.

As true God, Jesus could not sin, yet his temptations were very real.

In the case before us, all that we can say is: “Jesus was really tempted. Jesus did not sin. God cannot sin.” Everything we say beyond that is based on conclusions rather than on direct statements of Scripture. As puzzling as it is to us, the dilemma raised by Jesus’ temptation is less of a challenge to our understanding than many similar paradoxes, especially the thought of God dying.

A more important task than trying to explain how Jesus remained without sin is understanding how Jesus was guilty of sin—not his own sins, of course, but our sins that were charged to him. “God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus had no sin, but he became sin. His work of defeating Satan’s temptations was one small part of his work that makes us sinless in God’s judgment. At every step of this process, we say, “It’s impossible! It’s too good to be true. We can’t believe it. But we do.”

Scripture references used in this article are from the Evangelical Heritage Version.

Author: John Brug
Volume 112, Number 03
Issue: March 2025