The Christian Church has always held that Christ was absolutely free from sin. This is in accordance with the explicit teachings of Scripture, which states that he was in all things "as we are, yet without sin." (Heb. 4:15.) He is also described as the Holy One, the Just and Righteous (Acts 3:14, 22:14; I Peter 3:18; I John 2:29; 3:7). See also I Peter 2:21,22; I Peter 1:19; II Cor. 5:21 and other passages. One of the earliest of Church councils (A.D. 451) formulated the doctrine of his sinlessness thus: "Truly man, with a rational soul and body, with like essence with us as to his manhood, and in all things like us, with sin excepted," and this has remained unchanged as the accepted Christological doctrine of the Christian Church. Whether he could not sin has been much discussed. Doubtless he could have yielded; but the fact remains that he did not yield to temptation and continued to the end an example of perfect purity and sinlessness--the condition of man before his fall.
