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Objection 1: It would seem that there was sin in Christ. For it
is written (Ps. 21:2): "O God, My God . . . why hast
Thou forsaken Me? Far from My salvation are the words of My
sins." Now these words are said in the person of Christ Himself,
as appears from His having uttered them on the cross. Therefore it
would seem that in Christ there were sins.
Objection 2: Further, the Apostle says (Rm. 5:12) that
"in Adam all have sinned"---namely, because all were in Adam by
origin. Now Christ also was in Adam by origin. Therefore He
sinned in him.
Objection 3: Further, the Apostle says (Heb. 2:18) that
"in that, wherein He Himself hath suffered and been tempted, He is
able to succor them also that are tempted." Now above all do we
require His help against sin. Therefore it seems that there was sin
in Him.
Objection 4: Further, it is written (2 Cor. 5:21) that
"Him that knew no sin" (i.e. Christ), "for us" God "hath
made sin." But that really is, which has been made by God.
Therefore there was really sin in Christ.
Objection 5: Further, as Augustine says (De Agone Christ.
xi), "in the man Christ the Son of God gave Himself to us as a
pattern of living." Now man needs a pattern not merely of right
living, but also of repentance for sin. Therefore it seems that in
Christ there ought to have been sin, that He might repent of His
sin, and thus afford us a pattern of repentance.
On the contrary, He Himself says (Jn. 8:46): "Which of
you shall convince Me of sin?"
I answer that, As was said above (Question 14, Article 1),
Christ assumed our defects that He might satisfy for us, that He
might prove the truth of His human nature, and that He might become
an example of virtue to us. Now it is plain that by reason of these
three things He ought not to have assumed the defect of sin. First,
because sin nowise works our satisfaction; rather, it impedes the
power of satisfying, since, as it is written (Ecclus.
34:23), "The Most High approveth not the gifts of the
wicked." Secondly, the truth of His human nature is not proved by
sin, since sin does not belong to human nature, whereof God is the
cause; but rather has been sown in it against its nature by the devil,
as Damascene says (De Fide Orth. iii, 20). Thirdly, because
by sinning He could afford no example of virtue, since sin is opposed
to virtue. Hence Christ nowise assumed the defect of sin---either
original or actual---according to what is written (1 Pt.
2:22): "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His
mouth."
Reply to Objection 1: As Damascene says (De Fide Orth. iii,
25), things are said of Christ, first, with reference to His
natural and hypostatic property, as when it is said that God became
man, and that He suffered for us; secondly, with reference to His
personal and relative property, when things are said of Him in our
person which nowise belong to Him of Himself. Hence, in the seven
rules of Tichonius which Augustine quotes in De Doctr. Christ.
iii, 31, the first regards "Our Lord and His Body," since
"Christ and His Church are taken as one person." And thus
Christ, speaking in the person of His members, says (Ps.
21:2): "The words of My sins"---not that there were any
sins in the Head.
Reply to Objection 2: As Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. x,
20), Christ was in Adam and the other fathers not altogether as we
were. For we were in Adam as regards both seminal virtue and bodily
substance, since, as he goes on to say: "As in the seed there is a
visible bulk and an invisible virtue, both have come from Adam. Now
Christ took the visible substance of His flesh from the Virgin's
flesh; but the virtue of His conception did not spring from the seed
of man, but far otherwise---from on high." Hence He was not in
Adam according to seminal virtue, but only according to bodily
substance. And therefore Christ did not receive human nature from
Adam actively, but only materially---and from the Holy Ghost
actively; even as Adam received his body materially from the slime of
the earth---actively from God. And thus Christ did not sin in
Adam, in whom He was only as regards His matter.
Reply to Objection 3: In His temptation and passion Christ has
succored us by satisfying for us. Now sin does not further
satisfaction, but hinders it, as has been said. Hence, it behooved
Him not to have sin, but to be wholly free from sin; otherwise the
punishment He bore would have been due to Him for His own sin.
Reply to Objection 4: God "made Christ sin"---not, indeed,
in such sort that He had sin, but that He made Him a sacrifice for
sin: even as it is written (Osee 4:8): "They shall eat the
sins of My people"---they, i.e. the priests, who by the law ate
the sacrifices offered for sin. And in that way it is written (Is.
53:6) that "the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all"
(i.e. He gave Him up to be a victim for the sins of all men); or
"He made Him sin" (i.e. made Him to have "the likeness of
sinful flesh"), as is written (Rm. 8:3), and this on account
of the passible and mortal body He assumed.
Reply to Objection 5: A penitent can give a praiseworthy example,
not by having sinned, but by freely bearing the punishment of sin.
And hence Christ set the highest example to penitents, since He
willingly bore the punishment, not of His own sin, but of the sins of
others.
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