“Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”
Who committed no sin
Jesus never committed an act of sin (2 Cor 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 1 Jn 3:5). Jesus was perfectly sinless. The tense indicates that Jesus never sinned – not even one time.
Why then should he suffer? All the suffering that came to Christ was totally undeserving. Jesus said,
“Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? (John 8:46). We could say this of no other man who ever lived. Jesus never confessed any sin because he never had the sin to confess. It is remarkable when we think of the sin that he had to bear.
Nor was deceit found in His mouth
There was no deception ever found in his speech (Isa 53:9). Jesus never used cunning with his words. “Deceit” means a bait and comes to mean fraud, snare, or guile (cf. 2:1; 3:10). It means to deceive by using trickery and falsehood as the Trojan horse or the robe of Penelopé. What you see is what you get with Jesus. The Bible characterizes him as the “truth” (John 14:6).
“Found” is the failure to find something after careful scrutiny. Jesus’ enemies were cunning in their approach, but there was no trace of guile or trickery in Jesus. He confronted them with the truth (Lk 23:41; Jn 8:46; Heb 4:15). He truly was a suitable sacrifice for our sins.
There is no double talk with the Lord Jesus. We will never find him operating with duplicity. Even under extreme incitement, Jesus did not reply with rancor. He never led people astray with his words. He was always on the level. Everything he said was exact and accurate.
PRINCIPLE:
Sin usually shows itself first by sins of the tongue.
APPLICATION:
Our speech reveals our hearts. God’s people are not sinless, but they sin less, having come to Christ as their Savior. Once a person comes to Christ, there is a blessed life-long process whereby the Christian grows more like Christ (2 Cor. 3:18).
It is possible for Christians to retard this process by stiffening ourselves to the will of God. In this situation, we have a case of arrested spiritual development. We then are a heartache to our loving Father. We do not go on with the Lord. We are Christians, but we do not advance our spiritual condition. We become a religious shadow-boxer.
One of the sad facts of life is that people in this condition are generally not aware of it. Their wife or husband may see it clearly. Their friends can see it, but they are oblivious to their situation. Sometimes it takes a financial disaster to get their attention. It may take an accident or some physical illness. God always does something to make our hearts tender and sensitive to him. In any case, it will be something to blast the rebellion out of our hearts.
God wants our spirit to be like it was when we first came to Christ – our first love. When this happens, we think of the wasted years and confess our sins. Then the joy-bells will ring, and peace returns to our hearts. Others will see the censoriousness go and the bitterness and criticism leave our life. This will fill your heart with light and joy. You are back in fellowship.
It is a sad thing when people have to take what we say with a grain of salt. Do people believe what you say? If you promise something and do not deliver, can people trust you? Do you promise to show up somewhere and fail to show up without ample notification? People will get the impression that they cannot rely upon you and that you are not dependable.
Are you trustworthy? God expects his people to be reliable and people of their word. God forbid that we develop a reputation for not being reliable or undependable.
