I have a question about Jesus. The Bible says everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Jesus came down as a man to be just like us -- so wouldn't he be included in "everyone"? -- and yet he didn't sin. Also the Bible says he was tempted in every way, yet didn't sin. But was he really capable of sinning? The whole concept of fully God and fully man is hard to understand. -- Bethany Jones (Boston)
Jesus is excluded from the "everyone" of Romans 3:23. See Hebrews 2:18 and Hebrews 4:15. I, for one, believe he was capable of sinning, because Hebrews 5:7-9 says that he learned obedience through suffering. That is, it wasn't easy for him! Although he never messed up, he still had to undergo the arduous discipline of suffering as he forced his will to be aligned with the Father's. And I agree with you: the concept of "fully God and fully man" is not easy to understand -- which is why the church grappled with this for centuries. Despair not! You have the rest of your life to wrestle with this.
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