Is the saying that Christ was like us in every way except sin inaccurate?

By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10

The saying that Christ is "like us in every way except sin" is entirely accurate and is a cornerstone of Coptic Orthodox theology. This phrase is used liturgically in the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil, where we transition into the Institution Narrative by stating that He "took the form of a servant... and became man... and was like us in everything except sin alone."

To understand why this is accurate despite the reality of Original Sin, we must look at how the Coptic Church defines "humanity" and "sin."

1. Sin Is Not an Essential Part of Human Nature

In the Orthodox view, sin is an intrusion into human nature; it is not a part of how God originally designed us. When we say Christ was "like us in every way," we mean He possessed a full and real human nature: a human body, a human soul, a human mind, and human emotions.

• He grew as a child.
• He felt hunger and thirst.
• He wept out of grief.
• He suffered physical pain.

Because sin is a "sickness" or a "distortion" of nature, Christ’s sinlessness does not make Him less human; rather, it makes Him the only perfect human. He is what Adam was meant to be.

2. Likeness in Nature vs. Likeness in Condition

We must distinguish between Nature and Condition:

• Nature: Christ took our exact nature (consubstantial with us).
• Condition: We are born into a condition of spiritual death and separation from God due to the Fall. Christ was born into our physical condition (mortality, passibility) but remained in a state of perfect union with God.

As St. Cyril of Alexandria explains, the Word became flesh and "conversed with them on the earth as man and has been made in likeness as we, yet not along with us under sin." He took the consequences of the Fall (death and suffering) without taking the cause of the Fall (the rebellion or the "mutability of free choice").

3. The Miraculous Conception

The reason Christ is the exception to the rule of inherited sin is the Virgin Birth. By being born of the the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, He bypassed the natural law of procreation that transmits the fallen state.

4. The Theological Necessity

If the statement were inaccurate—if Christ were not like us in every way—He could not have saved us. The Patristic maxim is: "That which is not assumed is not healed."

• If He didn’t have a human body, our bodies wouldn't be redeemed.
• If He didn't have a human soul, our souls wouldn't be redeemed.
• However, if He had sin, He would have needed a savior for Himself.

Therefore, He had to be exactly like us to represent us, but without sin to redeem us. As Didymus the Blind notes, one who remains in Christ—who is righteousness—does not sin. Christ did not just "avoid" sin; He was, by His very nature as the Incarnate Word, incapable of sin, while still being fully and truly one of us.

So, when we pray the Liturgy, we affirm that He is "like us in everything except sin" because He took our humanity to the Cross to kill the sin within it, as St. John Chrysostom describes: "He died Himself and was buried in the Flesh, but we have done both to sin."