Christ Was Made Sin and Yet Knew No Sin?
Hi Mike,
Firstly, let me apologise for sounding like Nicodemus. I speak as a natural man who is not given eyes to see or ears to hear. If Christ was made flesh, it is inconceivable that he never sinned after been made flesh. It is also hard to believe he never had those attributes described in 1Jn 2:16 in his life. Am I missing something here?
M____
Hi M____,
There is no need to apologize “for sounding like Nicodemus”. Christ chided Nicodemus for his lack of faith, but in doing so, He was chiding all mankind who are all very lacking in faith concerning the things of the spirit.
I make no apologies for the statements of scripture. To all who find the need for faith a dilemma, I always remind them that if they must see to believe, then they simply have the wrong religion because no one yet has ever demonstrated in a laboratory how a virgin can conceive and bear a child without the agency of male sperm.
I thank God for Nicodemus and His questions to Christ, and I thank you for your question. We are all Nicodemus, and we all have his questions at some point in our lives. It is through the questions that Nicodemus asked Christ that we have affirmed to us that “He that is born of the spirit is spirit and is [ invisible] like the wind”.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [ of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
“You cannot tell from where it came or where it is going”. Put those words with the words found in 1Co 15, and it is clear that Christ appearing in His mutilated body of flesh after his resurrection does not make Christ’s resurrected body a body of flesh. It was rather, a “spiritual body” which had the ability to appear as flesh for the benefit of His unbelieving apostles.
1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [ was made] a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that [ was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man [ is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [ is] the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As [ is] the earthy, such [ are] they also that are earthy: and as [ is] the heavenly, such [ are] they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Christ tells us that He is “the first and the last”.
Rev 1:11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send [ it] unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
Rev 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
“Neither does corruption inherit incorruption”. Therein lies the answer to your dilemma and the dilemma of millions of others. Not even Christ’s flesh could “inherit the kingdom of God”.
You say:
If Christ was made flesh, it is inconceivable that he never sinned after being made flesh. It is also hard to believe he never had those attributes described in 1Jn 2:16 in his life. Am I missing something here?
Yes, it is inconceivable for the natural man to believe that Christ never sinned, and the faith to believe that is true is not given to everyone. Nevertheless that is what the scriptures teach:
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him [ to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Now I just cut and pasted that verse out of my KJV e- sword. Do you see those two words ‘to be’ which are in brackets? Those two words are in brackets for the express purpose of letting us know that they are added by the translators. What that verse really says is “For he made Him sin for us who knew no sin…”
I will be the first to admit that it is hard to understand how one can be sin without sinning. But the answer to that dilemma is to be found in Christ’s answer to Nicodemus along with what Paul reveals to us in 1Co 15, what Jeremiah reveals about the work of the Potter’s hand, and what King David reveals to us in Psa 51:5. Let’s just line those verses up and see what we can glean from them. Here they all are:
Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make [ it].
Joh 3:6& That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
The natural man cannot receive any of those verses. Those who think themselves to be spiritual often cannot receive the truths of those verses. Who today believes that we are all “shapen in iniquity, and conceived in sin”? Who today believes that “the vessel He made of clay was marred in the Potter’s hand”? Who today believes that “that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit”? Who today believes that flesh is corruption?
The answer to all of those questions is, very few indeed! None of orthodox Christianity believes that we are all shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin. They certainly don’t believe those words apply to our Lord. All of orthodox Christianity believes that Christ was raised with a body that was both flesh and spirit. They have no concept of spirit simply being capable of materializing at will or when needed. Orthodox Christianity cannot relinquish the flesh, and believes that our bodies of flesh will endure for all eternity in what many openly call “a spiritual body of flesh”. So much for God’s Word which plainly declares that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God…” Why do they do this? The answer in that the natural man will vehemently argue that “Flesh and blood are not of themselves sin. It is the carnal mind which causes our bodies of flesh to commit sin”. Is that true?
It is apparent that the whole world truly has been blinded to the fact that our minds are carnal by nature, and that the word ‘carnal’ means ‘fleshly’. God does not call it a carnal mind because flesh is good. To the contrary, God calls the carnal mind carnal because flesh is opposed to spirit by nature. Yet the whole orthodox Christian world will argue that our bodies of flesh are no more sin than a ball bat and that our fleshly bodies, in and of themselves, are not sin. But all lies to the contrary, the scriptures declare that our bodies are “shapen in iniquity… conceived in sin… made sin”, and so was Christ’s body of flesh, “made sin”.
If Christ was not made sin by simply being made flesh, then the argument that He was merely made a “sin offering” by virtue of being placed upon the cross for our sins would be a valid argument. The only thing wrong with that point of view is that it is demonic and antichrist, and it denies that Christ had any physical connection with the seed of Adam, which clearly was “shapen in iniquity… conceived in sin… marred in the Potters hand”.
1Jn 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
1Jn 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1Jn 4:5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
What is the spirit of antichrist? What do the scriptures say? The scriptures teach that anyone who denies that Christ’s flesh was in any way not of ” the flesh” of Adam, is antichrist. So the only question remaining to be answered is, Was Christ related in any way to Adam and the flesh of Adam? That is a simple question, and it has a very simple Biblical answer. If indeed Abraham and King David are descended from Adam, as the scriptures plainly declare, then Christ too, was a direct descendant of Adam. Was Christ’s flesh the same flesh into which Abraham and David were born? What do the scriptures teach concerning the flesh that our Lord had in His physical body? From whom did Christ’s flesh descend? We all know and recognize that He had no physical father.
Mat 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost [ Greek, holy spirit].
But not being born of a physical father does not make Christ any less a fleshly son of Adam than Adam himself who was lacking both a physical father and a physical mother. So who do the scriptures declare to be the physical ancestors of Christ’s flesh? Here is the Biblical answer to all those questions:
Act 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him [ King David], that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
Act 3:25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
Act 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
Rom 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
Luke’s gospel eliminates all doubt and traces Christ’s genealogy from Joseph as Mary’s husband…
Luk 3:23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was [ the son] of Heli,
… back through King David…
Luk 3:31 Which was [ the son] of Melea, which was [ the son] of Menan, which was [ the son] of Mattatha, which was [ the son] of Nathan, which was [ the son] of David,
Luk 3:32 Which was [ the son] of Jesse, which was [ the son] of Obed, which was [ the son] of Booz, which was [ the son] of Salmon, which was [ the son] of Naasson,
… back through Abraham…
Luk 3:33 Which was [ the son] of Aminadab, which was [ the son] of Aram, which was [ the son] of Esrom, which was [ the son] of Phares, which was [ the son] of Juda,
Luk 3:34 Which was [ the son] of Jacob, which was [ the son] of Isaac, which was [ the son] of Abraham, which was [ the son] of Thara, which was [ the son] of Nachor,
… specifically and directly back to Adam.
Luk 3:35 Which was [ the son] of Saruch, which was [ the son] of Ragau, which was [ the son] of Phalec, which was [ the son] of Heber, which was [ the son] of Sala,
Luk 3:36 Which was [ the son] of Cainan, which was [ the son] of Arphaxad, which was [ the son] of Sem, which was [ the son] of Noe, which was [ the son] of Lamech,
Luk 3:37 Which was [ the son] of Mathusala, which was [ the son] of Enoch, which was [ the son] of Jared, which was [ the son] of Maleleel, which was [ the son] of Cainan,
Luk 3:38 Which was [ the son] of Enos, which was [ the son] of Seth, which was [ the son] of Adam, which was [ the son] of God.
It is most revealing that God does not deny that Adam is His son, while the whole world wants to deny that Adam, “according to the flesh” via His mother’s genealogy, is an ancestor of Christ.
To bolster this demonic, “antichrist” doctrine, which teaches that Christ’s flesh was not “shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin”, the orthodox Christian world, is more than willing to deny that Christ’s “vessel of clay was marred in the Potter’s hand”, and they are more than willing to deny that Christ was “made sin” by being “made of a woman, made under the law”. This is all done in support of a false “antichrist” doctrine which has concocted many variations of a so- called “immaculate conception” for either the mother of our Lord or for our Lord Himself.
So all of the various forms of an “immaculate conception” are nothing more or less than demonic doctrines which purport to defend Christ’s purity at the expense of the Truth of God’s word which declares that Christ “was made sin for us…” by being “shapen in iniquity… conceived in sin… marred in the hand of the Potter… come in corruptible flesh… [ and come as] the son of… Adam”.
So how is it possible to be “made sin” and at the same time “know no sin”? Here is the Biblical answer to that question. Here is how Christ who “was made sin” did not commit sin, therefore “knew no sin”.
First let us establish scripturally that lust is sin:
Rom 7:7 What shall we say then? [ Is] the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
Now let us look at what James reveals to us about the sin of lust. If we are given to understand how Christ could be tempted “yet without sin” then we will understand how we too, can be “shapen in iniquity, conceived in sin… marred in the hand of the Potter”, and still be “free from sin”.
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
There we have the answer to our dilemma. We are clearly told “ Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. What is the outcome of that process? The outcome for all natural men is that sin, lust, “which is in our members… that is in our flesh”, causes us to commit, or “bring forth sin”, which in turn produces death.
This is the same process, described with the same Greek phrases, which were involved in the birth of our Lord.
Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
The “body of this death” (Rom 7:22), brings forth a dying, corruptible, body, which without a resurrection will decay and corrupt back into the dust from whence it came. Christ’s birth by the holy spirit did not negate the fact that Christ’s fleshly body could not inherit the kingdom of God any more than does our birth of the holy spirit. Being “born of the spirit” does not change the fact that we still must either die or be changed. The same is true of Christ’s flesh. If Christ had not been resurrected and “changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” then His body of flesh would have rotted and decayed, simply because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”, not even the flesh of Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Php 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
That is why we are thrice told regarding Christ’s resurrection:
Act 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Act 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
Act 13:35 Wherefore he saith also in another [ psalm], Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
What we are being told is that if God had left Christ’s body in hades, the Greek word translated as ‘hell’ here, then it would have “seen corruption”. But it was not left in the grave, because it was resurrected from among the dead as “the firstfruits of them that slept”.
1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
A very simple question is in order at this time. Was Christ a man? He certainly seemed to think so. He called Himself “the son of man” twice as often as He referred to Himself as “the son of God”.
Mat 8:20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Mat 9:6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
Mat 10:23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
The next logical question that should be in the mind of everyone who is seeking only to know what the scriptures teach is, was Christ tempted? Again, what do the scriptures teach?
Mat 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Obviously Christ was tempted by the tempter just as we all are. How is that possible? It is possible because Christ was “the son of… Adam” (Luk 3:23-38). Christ’s Adamic flesh revolted at the thought of enduring the cross, just as does the flesh of any man. The fact of this matter is that we are told in no uncertain terms that Christ was tempted just as we all are tempted:
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
This is the Biblical answer to your dilemma and the dilemma of millions of Christians who feel very righteous about defending Christ’s birth of the holy spirit while calling the words of the same holy spirit a lie by denying that Christ’s flesh was “made sin”, the same flesh that Adam had.
Was it really “the same” flesh that Adam and his descendants had? What do the scriptures teach?
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Here again are James inspired words concerning the sin of lust:
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
The only way Christ’s flesh could be sin without committing sin, is for these words of the holy spirit concerning all flesh to be true and “the same” for all men, including the flesh of our Lord.
Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
“In me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing…” How did Christ think those words applied to the flesh in which He dwelt while on this earth?
Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Mar 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
Will we dare to argue with Christ and declare that His flesh was good, but ours is not? I, for one, will not go there. I have no problem believing that Christ “was made sin… made of a woman, made under the law.” All three of those statements are saying the same thing; Christ was “made like unto His brothers… made of a woman, made under the law… took part of the same… flesh and blood… made sin, who knew [ committed] no sin.”
Heb 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Adam and Eve, the ancestors of our Lord according to Luk 3, were made sin before they ever touched the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What that means is that they were sin before they ever “knew sin”, before they knew what sin was.
Look at this very revealing verse of 1 John.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Now notice how these three forms of lust line up with the actions of “the mother of all living”.
Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree [ was] good for food [ lust of the flesh], and that it was pleasant to the eyes [ lust of the eyes], and a tree to be desired to make one wise [ pride of life], she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
What then separates the “first Adam” from “the last Adam”? For Christ to really be “in all points tempted like as we are, He would have to have had the same flesh with the same “lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” with which all of mankind is afflicted. But to “know no sin” Christ, by the strength of the holy spirit which God gave without measure to Him, by virtue of being born of the holy spirit from His mother’s womb, Christ never once allowed that innate lust to “bring forth sin”.
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Yes, this is as much or more of a miracle as the virgin birth. But this is the truth of how Christ was made sin, [ but] “knew no sin.”
I hope this has answered your question about how “If Christ was made flesh… he never sinned after being made flesh”? I also hope that this has helped you to see that Christ did “have those attributes described in 1Jn 2:16 in his life” and that it was those attributes that were in His flesh, just as they are in ours that makes it true that “He was in all ways tempted like as we are yet without sin”.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike
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