Couldn’t God Have Created Us Without the Ability to Sin?

My boys recently asked me a question that I imagine pretty much every believer has asked at one point or another: Couldn’t God have created us without the ability to sin? On the one hand, it’s a very awkward question; outside of the things that God has revealed about Himself (e.g., He “cannot lie” from Titus 1:2), I don’t exactly feel comfortable declaring what God can’t do. On the other hand, it’s a very logical question; when you realize just how bad sin is (which honestly may be something no one ever totally understands), you can’t help but think that life would be better if it simply weren’t an option. So, couldn’t God in His greatness and glory just have left it out of the mix when He created man?

I’d be the first to admit that this is not an easy question! However, since it’s one that genuinely troubles some people (including my own boys!), I think it’s one worth considering. While there are definitely some “secret things” that “belong to the Lord” on this subject (Deuteronomy 29:29), the Bible definitely gives us some things to think about.  
As an initial response, I think it’s worthwhile to point out something that hopefully isn’t an earth-shattering revelation: we’re not the only ones who realize how bad sin is. Not only does God hate sin (e.g., Proverbs 6:16-19), but He, like us, also hates the consequences of sin. Ezekiel pled on behalf of God, “‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways!’” (Ezekiel 33:11). So, if we envision God as being presented with two options, to create a sin-free existence for humans or to create one in which sin was all but inevitable, and choosing the latter, we’re not being fair to what Scripture reveals about God.

I think at least part of the reason that sin exists as a possibility lies in what it is to be made “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27). At the very least, being in the image of God implies eternality; Adam (and by extension his progeny) was given “a living soul” (Genesis 2:7 KJV, ASV; 1 Corinthians 15:45 KJV, ASV) that was destined “to return to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). However, I also believe that being made in the image of God implies the ability to exert one’s will, which requires freedom of choice. And, if there’s no option to choose anything other than what God chooses, there effectively is no freedom of choice. So, sin had to be an option in order for us to have free will.

As I was talking with my boys about this point (as simply as I could mind you; this article says a lot more than I said to them), my boys balked. “But God can’t sin!” they said in response to the idea that being made in the image of God created the possibility of sin. Of course, in a sense, they’re right. James wrote, “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone” (James 1:13). But there’s a reason why translators like those behind the ESV would reflect on at least one of those “cannot” statements and translate it a bit differently: “God, who never lies” (Titus 1:2 ESV). I asked my boys, “Could Jesus have chosen sin when he was on this earth?” They said yes. And again, they were right: Jesus is a High Priest who can “sympathize with our weaknesses” and “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Had sin not been at least a possibility for Jesus, He could neither sympathize with us nor be an example to us (1 Peter 2:21-24).

So how do we reconcile these two thoughts: God, who cannot be tempted or sin, and Jesus, in whom “dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9) who could sin but didn’t? As best as I can understand it, when the Bible speaks about God not sinning, it’s not speaking about His lack of ability but rather His eternally steadfast nature. The God who said “I do not change” (Malachi 3:6) is so fixed in His position on sin that He simply will not do it. Further, He has created and abides in a realm in which sin simply does not exist; those who choose it remain “outside” (Revelation 22:14-15).

This of course brings us right back to the beginning. If Heaven is a realm where sin doesn’t exist, why can’t ours also be a realm where sin doesn’t exist? I’m convinced that a God who identifies Himself to us as Love (1 John 4:7-8, 16) created man with the goal of giving and, importantly, receiving love. God – the Father, the Son, and the Spirit – is Himself a being that abides in perfect unity and relationship (John 17:20-24). I believe that the goal of creating both angels and man was to extend that unity and relationship to others. God could have created robots who never sinned, but they could not truly be said to be made in His image nor could they have been truly capable of returning love. Love is not a feeling; it is a choice. And in order for it to be a choice, there simply must be a way not to choose it.  
Further, if God is love, then all that He does and all that He refuses to do is consistent with love. It’s biblical to conceive of any and all sin as a choice made out of hatred (note how John in particular portrays a failure to love as hatred in 1 John). Effectively then, before God can invite us into His realm, we have to choose to love as He loves, and, through Him, overcome the times when we have chosen to hate. Sometimes, I envision earth as a proving ground designed to see if we will embrace the family values God holds dear so that He can usher us into His house forever (John 14:1-3).

It’s worth pausing here to note this: the above thoughts have some pretty profound implications for us and our world. Philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz popularized an observation about our world, describing it as “the best of all possible worlds” for the proving and shaping of men’s souls. Though the statement might have been popularized by him, the concept behind it is one that I think believers have to embrace. When we try to envision a better world than the one God has given us, we are effectively trying to put ourselves in the seat of God, a seat we simply cannot take. And, as we come to love and trust God as our Father, we have to trust what He has chosen for our world.

This latter thought was also something that I talked about with my boys. We know that the family structure was designed at least in part to teach us something about our relationship with God (Ephesians 5:31-32). So what is God teaching us by over and over again referring to Himself as our Father? As a father, I can’t help but compare God’s decision to create us with my decision to become a father. My wife and I decided to have children in the aim of extending our relationship and unity with others. We desired to love and to be loved. We knew that this would come at a cost to us and, importantly, we knew that there would be times when our children would not return our love. In spite of this, we were determined to have children and to love them; having a robot programmed to love us simply would not be the same. Could it be the decision we make to have children in an admittedly imperfect and finite way somehow mirrors God’s own decision to create us?

I have to admit something: I don’t have the full answer to this question. Having said that, I have enough of an answer for me to be at peace with it… most of the time. I still have room to grow in this area for sure! I hope that the thoughts I have shared will inspire similar thoughts in you, perhaps better ones, and that you too will come to know peace in an eternal Father who created us in love and placed in the best possible environment to come to know both love and Him.
                 

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org