David, good point. The words inherit and bore certainly have different meanings, but I didn't intend to imply Jesus inherited our history of sin and guilt. Like you, I also believe Jesus voluntarily bore the sins of the world, beginning in Gethsemane and ending on Golgotha, as our vicarious substitute.

However, it seems logical to me that in order for Jesus to be our substitute it was necessary for Him to become a human being because as purely God He was incapable of experiencing the wrath of God on our behalf. Since it was necessary for Him to become human in order to experience the wrath of God it stands to reason that He also had to inherit Adam's fallen flesh nature.

Thus, it would seem that Jesus had to possess sinful flesh nature in order to be tempted like us and in order to bear our sins on the cross. That's why I suggested the passages Paul and Peter wrote are similar. I cannot imagine Jesus vicariously bearing our sin on the cross if He hadn't inherited our fallen sinful flesh nature.

In other words, Jesus was able to bear our sins in His body because He inherited sinful flesh nature. He was born bearing our sins in His body, in His sinful flesh nature. He had to resist the sinful clamorings of His fallen flesh nature everyday of His life. During His 40 days and nights in the wilderness of temptation Jesus was keenly and acutely aware of the sinfulness of His fallen flesh nature. Jesus volunteered to bear our sins in His body before He became a human being, way before the Garden of Gethsemane.

But it wasn't until He hung nailed to the cross that He, for the first time, endured the wrath of God against the sin He bore in His body. It was there all along, from birth, but it wasn't until the cross that God caused Jesus to suffer the wrath of God against the sin in His flesh. God didn't wait until the cross to lay our sins upon Jesus, rather they became a part of Jesus when He was born. But what changed at the cross was that Jesus experienced, for the first and last time, the wrath of God against the sin He had been bearing in His body since birth.

That's also how it works for mankind. We are born bearing the sins of our fathers in our fallen flesh natures, and we go through life being tempted to sin and sinning, but not until we stand before the great white throne of judgment do we suffer the wrath of God against the sins we have committed. Hopefully we will accept Jesus as our Saviour and avoid having to stand before God to receive condemnation and wrath for the sins we ourselves have committed. Of course, we will never suffer for the sins our fathers committed in spite of the fact we were born with a record of their sins in our fallen flesh natures.

In fact Jesus still bears our sins for us in the heavenly sanctuary, but instead of bearing them "in" His body, He now bears them "on" His body. When Jesus lived and died the perfect life and death He became the lawful owner of our sin and second death. Our sins are with Jesus in the most holy place right now where they are safely contained or quarantined, which is also why they do not crush us to death the second we commit a sin. If we die saved or are sealed alive among the 144,000 Jesus will transfer all of our sins upon the head of Satan who will die in the lake of fire with them after the millennium. Satan will die our second death in our place.

[ February 18, 2003, 02:45 PM: Message edited by: Mike Lowe ]

David wrote:

"Does anyone have any thoughts on why sin is in the plural in the above text? Would there be a difference, if it was "sin," or "sins" here?"

I doubt the different spelling makes any real difference in this case. Peter and Paul seem to use them interchangeably in the same context.

2 Cor 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.

Rom 8
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

I believe the phrase "condemned sin in the flesh" could be translated "condemned the sin in His flesh." Which He did by resolutely resisting the unholy thoughts and feelings it generated and communicated, and by ultimately crucifying them on the cross.

Thankyou for your clarifications above Mike.

I hope it's OK for me to ask another question?

You mentioned above how we are all born "bearing the sins of our fathers;" and I wanted to know if you have any Bible texts that would show the differences between Jesus "bearing our sins;" and us "bearing the sins of our fathers?"

Sin bearing in each of these two cases are two very different things; I would say.

Are you perhaps trying to portray what we are told in Galatians?

Ga 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

Did Jesus "bear our sins" simply by undergoing the Incarnation?

As I see it we bear the sins of our fathers in our sinful flesh natures. We are not guilty of these sins, nor are we guilty of the sinful thoughts and feelings generated and communicated by our fallen flesh natures.

What Jesus experienced beginning in Gethsemane and ending on Golgotha was the wrath of God against the sin He inherited when He assumed Adam's fallen nature. Otherwise, the difference in how we bear the sins of our fathers and how Jesus bore the sin of mankind is not all that different - He and we bear them in our sinful flesh nature.

I believe this thought is developed by Paul in Romans 7 and 8, where he talks about the sinful clamorings of fallen flesh nature both in born again believers and in Jesus. Compare Rom 7:17-20 and 8:3. Of course, Jesus never cherished or acted out the unholy clamorings of His fallen flesh nature, thus He never developed sinful old man habits of character like we have.

What are your thoughts?

Interesting Study So Far Mike:

So are you trying to say that Jesus "bearing our sins" is different than Jesus atoning for our sins?

Notice in the text we started with:

1 Peter 2:24 "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,"

Does the Bible say that Jesus beared our sins in any other way, but on the cross? I would be interested to see the texts.

What is the relationship of Jesus on the cross; and Him bearing our sins there?

Sometimes, when I think of the Song: "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?," I like to try and place myself there at the crucifixion scene - but in the shoes of the different people who were there, when Jesus was dying.

It is logical to see how each of the different ones may have viewed the death of Jesus...take the soldiers who cast lots for His clothes, and compare to Mary, the mother of Jesus. How would each of the faces about the cross have viewed His imminent death there?

As we see by our text which promted this thread; Peter obviously saw the aspect of Christ "bearing our sin." Why might this be?

Please reread EGW's description of Jesus in the wilderness of sin, there she plainly says that Jesus was bearing our sins then.

Quote by David above:

"Notice in the text we started with:

1 Peter 2:24 "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,"

Does the Bible say that Jesus beared our sins in any other way, but on the cross? I would be interested to see the texts.

What is the relationship of Jesus on the cross; and Him bearing our sins there?"

I was also wondering Mike, does the above which you are referring me to answer my questions, or are you making a different point?

Do you know of any Scripture to back up your point?