First of all our Lord's manhood was perfectly unique. He was a true Man, but stands in vivid contrast to mankind in general. We were born of sinful parents, born in sin and shapen in iniquity (Psa. 51:55Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. (Psalm 51:5)). Our Lord was born sinless of the Virgin Mary as overshadowed by the Holy Spirit of God (Luke 1:3535And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)). W. Kelly well writes, " The incarnation was no mere emanation of Divinity, neither was it a Person once Divine, who ceased to be so by becoming man (itself an impossible absurdity), but One, who, to glorify the Father, and in accomplishment of the purposes Of grace to the glory of God, took humanity into union with Godhead in His Person." (Exposition of the Gospel of John, p. 60).
And still further, we have the august testimony of the Father Himself to His beloved Son. At His baptism at the hands of John the Baptist, as He came up out of the water, a voice from heaven was heard,
Again, at the end of His earthly life, in full view of the cross, we read,
The holy God, who expelled our first parents from the Garden of Eden for one single sin, would not have uttered these testimonies to His beloved Son, had He not been perfectly sinless, and altogether pleasing to Him in every thought, word and deed.
The Levitical offerings, typical of our Lord in His Person, in His life, in His death, emphasize His sinlessness in a remarkable way. The meat offering particularly does this in detail. We read,
The oblation was to be baked in the oven, setting forth °that our Lora was truly tested in His pathway. This was particularly seen in the terrible temptation in the wilderness that our Lord endured at the hands of Satan. Scripture speaks of " the furnace of affliction " (Isa. 48:1010Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. (Isaiah 48:10)).
The bread was to be unleavened. Leaven is always in Scripture typical of evil. We read,
The unleavened cakes were to be made of fine flour. They were not to be made of rough or gritty meal. With the ripest and most mature of God's saints there is at times unevenness and grit in their lives. With our Lord everything was perfect. No failure whatever in His life. To use the figure of speech used in the type, the fine flour of His life was perfectly smooth.
The unleavened cakes were to be mingled with oil. Of what is the oil typical? In Scripture it is typical of the Holy Spirit of God. The New Testament bears this out when we read of the Holy Spirit of God as " The Anointing " (1 John 2:2727But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. (1 John 2:27)). Mingled sets forth the fine flour and the oil being thoroughly mixed together. This type was clearly fulfilled when our Lord was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit of God at His birth of the Virgin Mary, and further we read, " For He whom God bath sent speaketh the words of God; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him." (John 3:3434For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. (John 3:34)).
This abundance of the Spirit surely marked our Lord all the days of His earthly life. Equally clearly was the type of the " wafers anointed with oil " fulfilled on the occasion of our Lord's baptism at the hands of John the Baptist, marking, as it did, His entrance into public service. We read, "And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matt. 3:16, 1716And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:16‑17)).
Thus typically was the sinlessness of our Lord prophetically intimated in the ordering of the Levitical offerings,. and in 'due time fulfilled by our Lord.
One further word as to the testimony of our Lord's Manhood. It is commonly taught in Christendom today that our Lord perfectly kept the law in His holy life on earth, which is blessedly true; but it is further taught in many quarters that His keeping the law perfectly atoned for our sins. This is a most serious perversion of the meaning of the death of Christ by which atonement was made, and made in no other way. It is the contradiction of Scripture, which plainly says, " WITHOUT SHEDDING OF BLOOD IS NO REMISSION." (Heb. 9: 22).
Even in the types we read that the animals to be offered were to be " without blemish," but, mark it well, it was in view of their being offered up in sacrifice, that they were to be " without blemish," perfectly suitable for sacrifice. So we are reminded of the Apostle Peter's words, that believers are redeemed to God by " The precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." (1 Peter 1: 19).
If the perfect life of our Lord had been sufficient to atone for our sins, then His death would have been bereft of all its true significance, and would have been a useless tragedy, instead of being, as it was, an absolute necessity.
This false teaching is a subtle attack of the enemy to weaken the full appreciation of the atoning death of our Lord. We cannot think too highly of our Lord's perfect life on earth, but if there is attributed to it a measure of atoning value, we can only see in such teaching the trail of the serpent, the Judas kiss of the traitor.
Unitarian beliefs, once confined to Unitarian chapels, now alas! permeating largely other sections of the professing church, go still further in their denial of the plain statements of Scripture. They deny the Deity of our Lord, they allow Him to have been a good man, but only a man. They deny the atoning value of His death, but hold Him up as a great example to the human race. Christians are indeed exhorted to follow in the footsteps of Christ as an Example (1 Peter 2:2121For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: (1 Peter 2:21)), but, it is as SAVED PERSONS, they are thus exhorted.
There is a very illuminating passage of Scripture, which reads, " For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." (Rom. 5:1010For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Romans 5:10)).
Notice carefully, believers are already reconciled to God by the death of His Son, and as such are saved by His life. It is very clear this does not refer to our Lord's life as lived on this earth, but to His RISEN life in glory. By the Lord's atoning death on the cross believers receive the forgiveness of their sins, and the salvation of their souls, and are thus privileged to enjoy the ministrations of our Lord as their Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14-1614Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14‑16)), supporting, succoring, sympathizing, and are thus saved by His life amid all the temptations and trials of this life. We read,