Virtue and Purity; The Impeccability of Christ
The statement in 1 John 2:28, "Now, little children, abide in Him," is the controlling statement for interpreting everything in this section. We have seen that the term to abide, the Greek word meno [menw] is used by our Lord in the upper room discourse and by the apostle John, not as a reference to eternal salvation or being united with Christ in positional truth, but is a term for fellowship. It is a term for the believer who is staying in fellowship, the believer who is walking by means of the Holy Spirit, the believer who is continuing in his path of obedience, learning the Word and applying it in his life. Notice that this command is restated in 1 John 3:24 NASB "The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us." In between we have some unusual statements.
Notice that the concept of abide is often linked with the prepositional phrase "in Him." There are some places such as verse 5 where there is the phrase "in Him" we don't have the use of the word "abide" but it is clearly implied. Where we see the phrase "in Him" in this section John is talking about abiding in Him; we can't separate the two.
John says several things about abiding. For example, in 1 John 2:5 he states that "we know that we are [abiding] in Him" by keeping His commandments. If abiding in Him is salvation then that would imply that we know we are saved by keeping His commandments, and that would be a works salvation. So consistent obedience to the mandates of Scripture is what characterises the person who is abiding. Furthermore, in 1 John 2:6 John says the one who abides in Him walks as He walked. That is, he lives like Jesus lived. What exactly does that mean? Not only does that have to do with external obedience but it has to do with the means by which Jesus lived. He lived a life in dependence upon God the Holy Spirit. John also says that no one who abides in Jesus sins, 1 John 3:6. Does that means that the believer can live a sinless life? If abiding in Him was salvation then that would mean that whoever is a believer doesn't sin. That seems to be a contradiction to what John says 1 John 1:7, that if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves. So John clearly states that the believer can and does sin. So in verse 6 abiding must mean something more than simply being a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ; it must imply an additional kind of relationship with Jesus and when that relationship is in effect we don't sin. Once we do sin we are out of fellowship. In 1n John 3:24 John says, "The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him." So there is a level of obedience, a level of righteousness, that characterises abiding in Christ.
1 John 3:3 NASB "And everyone who has this hope {fixed} on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." So to understand what it means to purify ourselves we have to understand the comparative there: that it is as
Jesus is pure. Then in verse 5 NASB "You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin." Furthermore, in verse 6 we have the statement that whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. We are to practice righteousness. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Then in verse 7, "the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous." Notice, we are to be pure as He is pure, there is to be no sin as there is no sin in Him; we are to be righteous as He is righteous. Then in verse 9 we are told "whoever has been born of God does not sin, for his seed [of Christ in terms of our regeneration] abides in Him," so again it emphasises the concept of not sinning. That seems to be a contradiction. Is this somehow John getting confused here, that he forgets what he said in 1:7 that if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves? So we have to look at this very carefully in order to understand exactly what is going on here because John almost seems to be hitting the high points and it almost seems like he is just summarising something that he has already taught in detail to this congregation; that they know what he is talking about, that they have a frame of reference and as it were he is using almost a verbal shorthand to hit them with the basic commands, reminding them of he has taught them already. We have to understand that background, believed to be the upper room discourse, before we can fully grasp what he says here.
But the background for this doctrinally is the purity of Christ. We are to be pure as He is pure; we are to be practicing righteousness as he is righteous.
The doctrine of the impeccability of Jesus Christ
A. The reality of His purity
1. Impeccability refers to the sinlessness of Jesus Christ. A formal definition would read: Impeccability is that doctrine of Christology which recognises the fact that during the entire course of the dispensation of the Messiah, between the time of our Lord's incarnation and His death on the cross, our Lord Jesus Christ did not sin, though He was tempted in His humanity and the temptations were real. The term "impeccability" comes from the Latin root peccare which means to sin. So impeccable means sinless.
2. In church history this doctrine has never been challenged, it has always been affirmed since the earliest days of the church.
3. In the Middle Ages further understanding of this doctrine developed the terminology that is often used posse non peccarre and non posse peccarre—able not to sin; not able to sin. In Christ's deity He was not able to sin. God is immutable, He could not change; therefore He was not able to sin. In His humanity He was able to sin but in His life He was able not to sin.
4. The doctrine of the impeccability of Christ is related to understanding the nature and reality of His temptations. Hebrews 4:15 NASB "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as {we are, yet} without sin." The Greek here for tempt, peirazo [peirazw], means both to test and to tempt. A temptation is in fact a test, so we should translate it "One who has been tested." Jesus Christ did not have a sin nature but He had a test, a test of His volition. The test was going to be positive; it was outside of Him and was a test as to whether He would obey. Hebrews 7:26 NASB "For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens." He is that because He passed the tests in His humanity.
5. The Old Testament precedent was the type of the lamb that was without spot or blemish. Exodus 12:5; 29:1. In John 1:29 John the Baptist is specifically relating Jesus to the Old Testament type of the lamb that was without spot or blemish. Then in 1 Peter 1:18, 19 NASB "knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, {the blood} of Christ."
6. Jesus had to demonstrate as a Man that He could pass the test that Adam failed. That is the analogy. It is not that He had to pass the tests that you and I have because we have a sin nature; but He had to pass the test that Adam failed because He is the second Adam; He is the ideal Man, and by passing the same category of tests again and again that Adam failed He qualified as the representative for our sins. a) The first Adam was both peccable and temptable—able to be tempted and able to sin. In the garden of Eden he could be and was tempted, and he was capable of sinning through the use of his own volition in response to that temptation. Like the last Adam he is tempted from the outside; it is a test, Adam did not have a sin nature, there was nothing inside of Adam that was a temptation to cause him to sin. The doctrine of total depravity is that we are born with a bent toward sin that we can't fight; we are born enslaved to sin. There was only one way Adam could sin and that was by eating the forbidden fruit; b) The word for temptation in Greek is peirazo [peirazw] which means both to test and to tempt. Adam was tested in the garden; c) The problem we always run into in understanding this is that we want to read into temptation the idea of being predisposed to something, being attracted to something. Jesus is not tempted in that way; He is not drawn to something, not predisposed to something from an internal predisposition to sin called the sin nature. It is an external test, but that doesn't make it any less real or any less of a difficulty. James uses the word "tempt" in that secondary subjective sense in James 1:14, 15 NASB "But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth [temporal] death." That focuses on the response of the sin nature that is drawn to a particular behaviour. Our conclusion is that Hebrews 4:15 must refer to an external test just like Adam's test related to the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil. So Jesus is going to duplicate Adam's test and will succeed, where as Adam failed. By succeeding Jesus is then qualified as the second Adam to go to the cross and died on the cross as a substitute for our sins. Jesus Christ, in summary, was pure.
7. The last Adam is Jesus Christ in hypostatic union. The hypostatic union describes the union of two natures, divine and human, in the one person of Jesus Christ. There are two natures; not two persons. One nature is undiminished deity, the other is true humanity just as Adam was true humanity. We are fallen humanity, distorted humanity, because of sin; we are not true humanity, we have been warped, distorted from the original pattern that Adam had. With Jesus these two natures are united together at the incarnation in one person. Whatever He does it is as one person. The question has come up: How can His deity have been separated from God the Father on the cross. It is not ontologically separated. By that is meant in terms of His essence He is not essentially in His core being separated from the Father, He is judicially separated. It was impossible for His deity to be essentially separated from the Father. He said: "I and the Father are one." That is an unbreakable unity. But it was judicially separated during that time when sin was poured out on Him; one person, Jesus Christ, suffered. That does not mean that deity suffered because deity can't suffer; the person suffered. Certain things that Jesus did were evidence of His true humanity; other things that He did were evidence that He was God. In the hypostatic union the two natures are inseparably united without loss or mixture of separate identity. There is no blending back and forth where deity crosses over to humanity or deity to humanity. Such would mean that the humanity would not longer be true humanity and the deity would no longer be true deity. And He has to maintain true humanity in order to die on the cross as the substitute for mankind.
8. As deity Jesus was not temptable and He could not sin. We know this from James 1:13 NASB "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone." This is that internal subjective attraction to sin. But in His humanity Jesus had the potential of sin. There was a real and genuine test going on.
9. Jesus passed every test and during His first advent he was temptable but did not sin. What was the means by which He endured that testing?
10. Our Lord Jesus Christ during His first advent was not able to sin in His deity and was able not to sin in His humanity. He resisted sin, He did not sin; He stayed on positive volition and was completely obedient to the Father throughout the incarnation.
11. In His humanity Jesus Christ faced every category of testing that any human being will face, yet He refused to succumb to these external temptations by reliance on God the Holy Spirit. This demonstrates the unique spiritual life and soul fortress that was provided for us by God. This is the spiritual life that was pioneered by Jesus Christ.
B. The means of His purity
- How did Jesus in His humanity withstand the temptations? How was He able to pass all these tests? He did it to demonstrate to us that there is a special ability that God had given Him. He doesn't do it by relying on His deity, He is withstanding the temptations as a Man, so He is pioneering a new way for the spiritual life which is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. This is prophesied in the Old Testament in Isaiah 11:2, 3; 42:1; 61:1, 2. Jesus is going to live His life in dependence upon the Holy Spirit.
- The ministry of God the Holy Spirit supplied an enabling ability. The term "power" doesn't refer to strength in the sense of force but to an ability given on the basis of truth. Once again we see this connection between God the Holy Spirit and the revelation of truth. Cf. John 8:21; 17:17; 14:17; 15:26; 16:13. It is the truth that enables us to live the spiritual life. The power is in the fact that it is aligned to reality, not distorted by sin or human ability. So on the basis of the Holy Spirit we are able to come to a true understanding of Scripture and a true understanding of reality, and when our lives conform to that reality—part of which is the fact that Jesus saved us from the slavery to sin—then we can stay, continue living, inside that soul fortress, walking by means of God the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, this is why Jesus was sanctified. In John 17:19 he said NASB "For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth." He went through this testing process to purify sanctify/Himself. By making this statement He is clearly affirming the fact that He lived His life the way He did, surmounted and passed the tests, in order to provide a model or pattern for the believer in the church age. This ability is related to the understanding and application of Bible doctrine.
- The ministry of God the Holy Spirit is the same ministry available to the believer today in the soul fortress under the filling of the Holy Spirit and walking by means of the Holy Spirit. This is the same ability that Jesus Christ had.
- It was that walking by the Holy Spirit that enabled Jesus to maintain His purity. He was consistently dependent upon God the Holy Spirit.
- This is exemplified in Jesus' testing in Matthew 4:1. Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. There were three ways in which he was tested by Satan. His response in each of those temptations was to respond by the correct use and application of the Word of God. That is the connection. It is the Holy Spirit enabling us through the learning and application of Bible doctrine. It is the Word of God that has power because it is the Word of God that has the truth.
- Jesus operated in His humanity in relation to testing and fulfilling His humanity related to objectives in the power of the Holy Spirit. In that he sets the precedent for the spiritual life of the church age. This is seen in a number of passages: Matthew 12:18 NASB "BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL-PLEASED; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES." [28] "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.," indicating that some of His miracles, e.g. casting out demons, were done by the Holy Spirit. Luke 4:14 NASB "And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. [15] And He {began} teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all." This is when He quotes the passage from Isaiah 61. [18] "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED."
- Jesus maintained His purity and established a system for every believer to live in purity. That purity, then, only is possible when we are abiding in Him. That is what pulls it together.