Was John the Baptist sinless?

Question

According to the Bible, John the Baptist was holy (Mark 6:20, first link). I've been told that "holy means sinless" (second link). Does that mean that John the Baptist was sinless?

http://bible.cc/mark/6-20.htm
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Avzwt9JRYDoqQ8gsArrzAlnsy6IX?qid=20070407170851AAgcuBK

Answer 1

No.

Holy does not refer to sinless. "Holy" is from the Greek word that means "separated," and in this case it means separated from sin and therefore consecrated to God, or set apart for a sacred purpose.

Answer 2

these people are constructing theology on shaky grounds. If they are going to insist on a dubious distinction between 'holy' and 'sinless' then they have to deal with Rev. 15:4: 'thou alone art holy'. So how do they reconcile that with Mark 6:20 which you point out, and which also says John was righteous? So they will have to say John was righteous and holy, but sinful, and at the same time not holy.

In any case it is not a matter of concern to the Evangelists. John is holy and righteous in an unrighteous generation. The Gospels do not record any sins that he might have committed (nor those of other righteous people). We know he was visited by the Holy Spirit before he was born, so we can assume he shared humanity's lot in original sin (which is why he deferred to Jesus), but was can piously believe he was sanctified and preserved from actual sin by the Holy Spirit from before his birth.

Answer 3

I agree with Schneb (hi!)

No one but Jesus was sinless.

We are made holy through His precious blood that He shed to pay the penalty for our sin.

Each one of us (including John the Baptist and excluding Jesus) is born with a sin nature. Praise the Lord that we have a way of salvation.

"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21

Answer 4

As Jesus was crucified for us, so He was Baptized for us, bearing sins that were not His own. They were ours. As He borrowed our death at the cross, so He borrowed our Baptism at the Jordan. In that water He took up the cross as surely as when Pilate's shoulders laid a crossbeam on His shoulders some three years later. At the Jordan the sinless Son of God was already made to be sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). There in His Baptism, the Lord of life stepped heroically into death. For since the wages of sin is death, the Baptism of Jesus pointed relentlessly to His cross and death. But by that death we live

Answer 5

Holy does not mean sinless, it simply means, "Set Apart" to do Gods work. John The Baptist was a sinner in need of a Savior just like you and me. Remember what he said to Jesus, when Jesus approached him to be Baptised?
When we become children of God, we become Holy in Gods eyes. Through the blood of Jesus, we can appear spotless and pure before God Almighty.
Only through Christ Jesus can we be found to be Holy and sinless. God says He will forget our sin and cast them into the deepest depths of the sea, never to be remembered by Him. We are all sinners but God chooses to see us as sinless by the blood shed at Calvary by Christ Jesus.
God Bless You....Peace.

Answer 6

John the Baptist was a sinner, though some argue that he may have been cleansed from all sin at his birth... I think from the way he acted (fasting and wearing a hair shirt ect...) that he was a sinner, but probably only Venial Sins and not Mortal Ones.

Answer 7

It is my belief that only Jesus was sinless. Did you know that John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins? Cool, huh?

Answer 8

According to the bible no one is sinless every one is born with sin becuase of adam eating the apple

Answer 9

No. Holy means "set apart". There was only One who was without sin, that is the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8

Answer 10

No...He sinned
Holy means set apart