Was Jesus human flesh fallen?

Romans 8:3—God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. By sinful flesh he means fallen human nature. So what is the meaning of likeness? Some say Paul is undermining the reality of Christ’s true humanity, perhaps suggesting that his flesh is only a facsimile of ours, but not the real thing. However, v. 8b (“in the flesh”) indicates otherwise. Others argue the word likeness is Paul’s way of saying that Jesus never committed an act of sin. But Paul is talking about character, not conduct.

The best solution is that Paul used likeness to avoid saying that Christ assumed fallen human nature. He took flesh like ours, because really flesh, but only like ours, not identical with it, because unfallen. He uses the word likeness because he feels compelled to use the phrase sinful flesh instead of merely flesh. Had he omitted sinful he also would have omitted likeness. The question remains, “Why does he include the word sinful?” Murray comments:

“He is concerned to show that when the Father sent the Son into this world of sin, of misery, and of death, he sent him in a manner that brought him into the closest relation to sinful humanity that it was possible for him to come without becoming himself sinful. He himself was holy and undefiled—the word likeness guards this truth. But he came in the same human nature. And that is the purpose of saying sinful flesh. No other combination of terms could have fulfilled these purposes so perfectly”.

Just what is a fallen human nature? Is the mere possession of fallen flesh a sin requiring repentance, or can one have fallen flesh and not sin? Did Jesus have sexual desires (cf. Adam)? Did Jesus ever experience lust? Must Jesus possess a fallen human nature in order to fully understand our struggles and temptations?

Hebrews 2:14—Here we are told that Jesus “Himself likewise also partook” of “blood and flesh”, as explicit a reference to human nature as is found in the NT (cf. Eph. 6:12). The word translated “likewise” means in identical fashion, complete similarity, without any difference. How does this compare with Rom. 8:3?

1 John 4:1–6—Here we find that it is confession of the reality of the incarnation by which the Spirit of God and the spirit of antichrist are discerned. The best translation indicates that the object of one’s confession is: “Jesus” as “Christ come in the flesh.” In other words, the confession is that the man Jesus of Nazareth is himself the incarnate Christ or Son.




The heretics whom John opposed in this epistle asserted that “Jesus” was merely a man upon the “Christ” descended at his baptism and from whom he departed before the crucifixion. Thus the heresy consisted of a denial of the permanent assumption of human nature by the eternal Son, the Word of God. John’s point, then, is that Jesus of Nazareth is himself the Christ, the eternal Son of God, incarnate.







Storms, S. (2006). Christology. Oklahoma City, OK: Sam Storms.