Bible Readings for the Home Circle, 1916 and 1920 editions, pp. 173-174:

Under the section titled "A Sinless Life" we find these definitive questions and answers:

6. How fully did Christ share our common humanity?

"Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." [Hebrews 2] verse 17.

Note:—In His humanity Christ partook of our sinful, fallen nature. If not, then He was not "made like unto His brethren," and was not "in all points tempted like as we are," did not overcome as we have to overcome, and is not, therefore, the complete and perfect Saviour man needs and must have to be saved. The idea that Christ was born of an immaculate or sinless mother, inherited no tendencies to sin, and for this reason did not sin, removes Him from the realm of a fallen world, and from the very place where help is needed. On His human side, Christ inherited just what every child of Adam inherits,—a sinful nature. On the divine side, from His very conception He was begotten and born of the Spirit. And all this was done to place mankind on vantage-ground, and to demonstrate that in the same way every one who is "born of the Spirit" may gain the victories over sin in his own sinful flesh. Thus each one is to overcome as Christ overcame. Rev. 3:21. Without this birth there can be no victory over temptation, and no salvation from sin. John 3:3-7.

7. Where did God, in Christ, condemn sin, and gain the victory for us over temptation and sin?

"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." Rom. 8:3.

Note:—God, in Christ, condemned sin, not by pronouncing against it merely as a judge sitting on the judgment-seat, but by coming and living in the flesh, in sinful flesh, and yet without sinning. In Christ, He demonstrated that it is possible, by His grace and power, to resist temptation, overcome sin, and live a sinless life in sinful flesh (emphasis in original).

Harry Johnson; The Humanity of the Saviour; 1962:

The opening sentence of the essay [written by T.F. Torrence] shows that Christology is to be understood as vitally connected with the saving work of Christ, ‘for in Him the Word of God has become man in the midst of man’s estrangement from God, committing Himself to human understanding and creating communion between man and God.’ This incarnation ‘in the midst of man’s estrangement from God’ means, so Torrence maintains, the assuming of ‘fallen human nature.’ (p. 170)

[after referring to Philippians 2:5-8] The words ‘became flesh’ mean that without ceasing to be God, He took upon Himself not a human nature uncorrupted by man’s fall, but the selfsame human nature that is ours, that is a fallen human nature. It was with that altogether unpromising material—what Paul calls sarx hamartias: [Greek: "sinful flesh"] (Rom. 8:3)—that He wrought out His perfect obedience to the Father, being ‘in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.’ ‘Became flesh’ and ‘became poor’ are not adequately interpreted unless we go as far as this. (C.E.B. Cranfield). (p. 175)

There is no doubting Lesslie Newbigin’s meaning as the next passage shows: "He being ‘God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God,’ came down from heaven and took upon Him our sinful manhood, was born of a virgin, lived a perfect human life, died, rose again, and ascended into heaven. Taking upon Himself our sinful nature, so that He became subject to the fierce temptations of sin as we are subject, He lived a life of sinless perfection in the midst of sin . . . .Thus He met and overcame sin in our nature, from within the enemy’s territory." (p. 177)

If Christ assumed our ‘fallen human nature,’ He took upon Himself the very nature in which the power of death and sin were deeply entrenched. Thus throughout His incarnate life there was a struggle; these powers tired to make Him a sinner like the rest of mankind, but always they were held at bay and Christ lived a perfect life. On the Cross the final victory was won when these powers that were rooted in fallen human nature were finally defeated and eradicated. In this defeat was the victory of God in Christ, and, through faith in Christ, that victory becomes a reality in men’s lives. (p. 210)

. . . Now the gulf that separates man from God is the one created by sin, and if Jesus is really to be our representative He had to come to our side of the gulf. This immediately creates a problem. To make the prefect response to God, our representative must be perfect and sinless; yet the fact still remains that if He is to stand on our behalf He must stand with us. . . . [Christ] came to our side of the chasm because of the ‘fallen human nature’ that He had assumed, and yet, because He was sinless and never allowed this nature to gain control, He could make the perfect act as our representative. . . .If Christ was our representative simply as perfect man, between us and Him there would still be a deep and humanly impassable abyss, between us and Him would be the gulf created by sin. This has to be bridged before we can become united with our representative. To be an effective representative on our behalf, Christ must bridge the chasm which exists between man and God which has been created by sin; He must become identified with sinners, yet He Himself must remain sinless. This object is achieved if we accept the idea that Christ assumed ‘fallen human nature.’ Here is His real identification with the humanity which needs to be saved; yet because of His sinlessness He is able to be our perfect representative before God. (p. 211-212)

The hypothesis under investigation affirms that the Son of God assumed human nature as it was because of the Fall. It also maintains that Jesus lived a perfect life, always triumphing over the nature which He had assumed . . . .’The ultimate purpose of the Incarnation is not just the re-creation of human nature in Jesus, but the re-creation of the whole human race in Him.’ We are thus brought face to face with the question of how we are re-created in Christ. The victory was won by Him in His own person, but in what way was it made a reality for us? . . . The key to the answer may be found in the conception of ‘solidarity.’ The idea of ‘corporate personality’ is vital for the correct understanding of Hebraic thought, for in the Hebrew mind there is ‘fluidity of transition from the one to the many and vice versa; because of the solidarity of society one person can act on behalf of the many, and what that one person does is of significance for the many. . . . It means that what Christ did is effective for all men in so far as they are linked to Him. The whole point of redemption is that the results of the Fall should be reversed, that the power of sin should be broken, that ‘fallen human nature’ should be redeemed. Christian teaching is that this has been done in Jesus. It was a victory achieved by the One for the many [see Romans 5:15-19]. (p. 212-213)

James D.G. Dunn; Word Biblical Commentary; vol. 38; Romans 1-8: