The Second Helvetic Confession Chapter 11
Of Jesus Christ, True God and Man, the Only Savior of
the World
Christ Is True God. We
further believe and teach that the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, was
predestinated or foreordained from eternity by the Father to be the Savior of
the world. And we believe that he was born, not only when he assumed flesh of
the Virgin Mary, and not only before the foundation of the world was laid, but
by the Father before all eternity in an inexpressible manner. For Isaiah said:
Who can tell his generation? (Ch. 53:8). And Micah says: His origin is from of
old, from ancient days (Micah 4:2). And John said in the Gospel In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, etc. (Ch. 1:1).
Therefore, with respect to his divinity the Son is coequal and consubstantial
with the Father; true God (Phil 2:11), not only in name or by adoption or by any
merit, but in substance and nature, as the apostle John has often said: This is
the true God and eternal life (I John 5:20). Paul also says: He appointed the
Son the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He reflects
the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding all things by
his word of power (Heb. 1:2 f.). For in the Gospel the Lord himself said:
Father, glorify Thou me in Thy own presence with the glory which I had with Thee
before the world was made (John 17:5). And in another place in the Gospel it is
written: The Jews sought all the more to kill him because he . . . called God
his Father making himself equal with God (John 5:18).
<No other doctrine of Scripture is more mysterious in
its nature or more important in its necessity to the whole of the revelation of
Gods plan of redemption. All
heresies of old and today revolve around the denial, or misconception of Jesus
Christ, fully God, fully man. In
other places the reformers state that the Son is eternally begotten of the
Father. This is as good as any
other term to explain what man cannot know.
The reformers were careful in their use of begotten to precede it with
eternally. Scripture as noted in
this paragraph clearly place Christ with, and being God from eternity.
As the Trinity cannot be properly explained or understood by the finite
mind of man, neither can being fully God and yet fully man.
References to the nature and spiritual or metaphysical still beg the
question. Mans logic cannot have anything that is two hundred
percent of itself. This we teach
the best we can, but the truth is established in the Bible and accepted by the
believer in faith alone. I cringe a
bit at the predestinated or foreordained used here.
While this is a truth as such, it would be easy to cause a separation
within the Trinity that cannot exist using this phraseology.
Christ existed before the thought of creation came to be within the
Godhead. The Holy Spirit existed
prior to any thought using the language of man.
In other words the three persons have always and always will exist,
co-equal, of one substance, yet each a distinct person and subsistence. >
The Sects. We therefore abhor the impious
doctrine of Arius and the Arians against the Son of God, and especially the
blasphemies of the Spaniard, Michael Servetus, and all his followers, which
Satan through them has, as it were, dragged up out of hell and has most
audaciously and impiously spread abroad in the world.
< The
Helvetic once more names names and denies the heresies of its day.
As noted all heresies begin with the corruption of the Trinity and end in
an improper Christology. >
Christ Is True Man, Having Real
Flesh. We also believe and teach that the eternal Son of the eternal God was
made the Son of man, from the seed of Abraham and David, not from the coitus of
a man, as the Ebionites said, but was most chastely conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the ever virgin Mary, as the evangelical history carefully explains
to us (Matt., ch. 1). And Paul says: He took not on him the nature of angels,
but of the seed of Abraham. Also the apostle John says that whoever does not
believe that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is not of God. Therefore, the
flesh of Christ was neither imaginary nor brought from heaven, as Valentinus and
Marcion wrongly imagined.
<
Fully
man, fully God, metaphysical and left within the mystery of God alone.
To try and find analogies and explanations for the most part fall
extremely short of this laudable goal, and lead to gross error long term.
The term Aever
virgin@ used
here is most regrettable in that it can be seen as giving credence to the Roman
Catholic error of the Immaculate Conception and that Mary remained a virgin
forever. Clearly Mary was human and
she did bear other children of a man as the Bible so states.
The intent was that Mary was indeed a virgin at the time of conception
and birth of Christ. Note that Christ is said here to take on the nature of the
seed of Abraham. This is a definite
reference from Scripture to the mystery of Christ being born of a woman, and
thus fully human, yet eternally also fully God. >
A Rational Soul in Christ. Moreover,
our Lord Jesus Christ did not have a soul bereft of sense and reason, as
Apollinaris thought, nor flesh without a soul, as Eunomius taught, but a soul
with its reason, and flesh with its senses, by which in the time of his passion
he sustained real bodily pain, as he himself testified when he said: My soul is
very sorrowful, even to death (Matt. 26:38). And, Now is my soul troubled (John
12:27).
<Being
in the flesh of the very nature or natural being of man, Christ fully and
personally experienced the human condition and thereby His sacrifice of Himself
was the perfect sacrifice. No
humanity, no atonement. Humanity
alone and the presence of the Holy Spirit in maintaining the sinlessness
required is not possible for man alone. The
coming of the Spirit in fullness is key here and also points to the humanity of
Christ, for what purpose would the Holy Spirit come upon Himself if Christ were
of the divine essence only? Where
one is the whole of the Godhead resides in that they cannot be divided in any
way whatsoever. Yet the Holy Spirit
did come upon Jesus Christ. I am
sure this attempt is no better and perhaps less than many others who have tried
to explain this concept in the words of man alone. I simply point to the mystery of God and the truth of
scripture that says these things are true. However I believe the Bible is clear
that Christ was in all ways fully human and at the same time fully God. To deny
any of this is to deny the Bible and heresy. >
Two Natures in Christ. We
therefore acknowledge two natures or substances, the divine and the human, in
one and the same Jesus Christ our Lord (Heb. 2). And we say that these are bound
and united with one another in such a way that they are not absorbed, or
confused, or mixed, but are united or joined together in one person ‑ the
properties of the natures being unimpaired and permanent.
<The hypostasis, the natures remain separate, yet one,
even as the Godhead itself does. Again,
the Bible says so and mans inability to duplicate this in science, nature, or
in any other way in no way lessens the Word of God that this is as it is.>
Not Two but One Christ.
Thus we worship not two but one Christ the Lord. We repeat: one true God and
man. With respect to his divine nature he is consubstantial with the Father, and
with respect to the human nature he is consubstantial with us men, and like us
in all things, sin excepted (Heb. 4:15).
<A Biblical truth well stated. This needs no commentary.
The statement is supported clearly from the Bible and stands as the
answer to the heresies of all ages. >
The Sects. And indeed we
detest the dogma of the Nestorians who make two of the one Christ and dissolve
the unity of the Person. Likewise we thoroughly execrate the madness of Eutyches
and the Monothelites or Monophysites who destroy the property of the human
nature.
The Divine Nature of Christ Is Not
Passable, and the Human Nature Is Not Everywhere. Therefore, we do not in any
way teach that the divine nature in Christ has suffered or that Christ according
to his human nature is still in the world and thus everywhere. For neither do we
think or teach that the body of Christ ceased to be a true body after his
glorification, or was deified, and deified in such a way that it laid aside its
properties as regards body and soul, and changed entirely into a divine nature
and began to be merely one substance.
<In other words, God does
not pass some attributes along to any other (Note God includes the whole
Godhead). The humanity of Christ
does not become God, and Christ does not abdicate His Godhood for humanity.
How can this be? Beats me, but with God all things are possible.
No other exegesis of the Scripture fits.
Because of the mysterious nature of this, man has from the beginning
attempted explanations that became the heresy of their day.
Mans ignorance and inabilities do not negate the Word of God.>
The Sects. Hence we by no
means approve or accept the strained, confused and obscure subtleties of
Schwenkfeldt and of similar sophists with their self‑contradictory
arguments; neither are we Schwenkfeldians.
Our Lord Truly Suffered. We believe, moreover,
that our Lord Jesus Christ truly suffered and died for us in the flesh, as Peter
says (I Peter 4:1). We abhor the most impious madness of the Jacobites and all
the Turks who execrate the suffering of the Lord. At the same time we do not
deny that the Lord of glory was crucified for us, according to Paul's words (I
Cor. 2:8).
Impartation of Properties. We
piously and reverently accept and use the impartation of properties which is
derived from Scripture and which has been used by all antiquity in explaining
and reconciling apparently contradictory passages.
<Much confusion and lack of
words because of the limitation of the language of man comes to the forefront
here. Man is indifferent toward, or
ignores completely that which he does not understand. Then the ego of the man comes into play and our holy teachers
attempt to have an answer for every question put to them.
Much better to yield to the mystery of God and admit that with God all
things are possible than to weaken the doctrine of the bible with human verbiage
to explain what God did not choose to reveal to us. >
Christ Is Truly Risen from the
Dead. We believe and teach that the same Jesus Christ our Lord, in his true
flesh in which he was crucified and died, rose again from the dead, and that not
another flesh was raised other than the one buried, or that a spirit was taken
up instead of the flesh, but that he retained his true body. Therefore, while
his disciples thought they saw the spirit of the Lord, he showed them his hands
and feet which were marked by the prints of the nails and wounds, and added: See
my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see, for a spirit has
not flesh and bones as you see that I have (Luke 24:39)
<While no one can fault the author here and this has
been and is the doctrine of the true church through the ages, we need to be
careful here. If we are talking
about the appearance of Christ on earth after the resurrection, fine, this is as
it should be. There are places
where we see feats that are not of the natural man such as passing through walls
etc. However we see this also while
Christ was alive as man during His ministry, walking on water, passing through
crowds etc. We also note the
apostle was carried by the spirit to the Ethiopian in the desert supernaturally
too. However to maintain the flesh
is in heaven seems a bit above the text of Scripture.
Paul says that the living are transformed in the resurrection.
The spiritual world is not a place for bodies and flesh, as we know it.
Many theologians use of the word Anature@
in explaining this as being of both heaven and earth.
However note that Job says, Ain
this body, and with these eyes, and none other I will...@ So saying it is in the flesh is not
wrong, just outside our understanding of things in this natural world of the
flesh. Likewise we see the souls of
the saints in the book of Revelation being given white robes.
If no body, on what do these robes rest?
As Paul said, if Christ be not risen we are yet in our sin and our
worship most vain. >
Christ Is Truly Ascended Into
Heaven. We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ, in his same flesh, ascended
above all visible heavens into the highest heaven, that is, the
dwelling‑place of God and the blessed ones, at the right hand of God the
Father. Although it signifies an equal participation in glory and majesty, it is
also taken to be a certain place about which the Lord, speaking in the Gospel,
says: I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:2). The apostle Peter also says:
Heaven must receive Christ until the time of restoring all things (Acts 3:21).
And from heaven the same Christ will return in judgment, when wickedness will
then be at its greatest in the world and when the Antichrist, having corrupted
true religion, will fill up all things with superstition and impiety and will
cruelly lay waste the Church with bloodshed and flames (Dan., ch. 11). But
Christ will come again to claim his own, and by his coming to destroy the
Antichrist, and to judge the living and the dead (Acts 17:31). For the dead will
rise again (I Thess. 4:14 ff.), and those who on that day (which is unknown to
all creatures [Mark 13:32]) will be alive will be changed in the twinkling of an
eye, and all the faithful will be caught up to meet Christ in the air, so that
then they may enter with him into the blessed dwelling‑places to live
forever (I Cor. 15:51 f.). But the unbelievers and ungodly will descend with the
devils into hell to burn forever and never to be redeemed from torments (Matt.
25:46).
<Same comments... that is that there will be a
resurrection of this earthly body even as Christ was the first fruit of.
Christ is in heaven, and in taking to Himself humanity did not become
different than the other two person of the Trinity.
Again what is the nature of the body in heaven?
I do not know, but God does. Yet,
it will be this body and none other that I see the coming of my Lord in and
with. Christ says He has now sat down with His Father in His throne and that we
too will so sit with Him. Christ has ascended in the body of man just like the
Bible says. I tire easily at the foolish questions that have raged through the
centuries concerning this. Nonetheless our foolish adversaries needed answered
in the reformation and so still need firm handling today. >
The Sects. We therefore
condemn all who deny a real resurrection of the flesh (II Tim. 2:18), or who
with John of Jerusalem, against whom Jerome wrote, do not have a correct view of
the glorification of bodies. We also condemn those who thought that the devil
and all the ungodly would at some time be saved, and that there would be and end
to punishments. For the Lord has plainly declared: Their fire is not quenched,
and their worm does not die (Mark 9:44). We further condemn Jewish dreams that
there will be a golden age on earth before the Day of Judgment, and that the
pious, having subdued all their godless enemies, will possess all the kingdoms
of the earth. For evangelical truth in Matt., chs. 24 and 25, and Luke, ch. 18,
and apostolic teaching in II Thess., ch. 2, and II Tim., chs. 3 and 4, present
something quite different.
<So much for much of the modern Reformed church that
teach a post-tribulation coming of Christ, appealing to the ancient fathers for
support. Clearly an a-mil has more
chance here than the post variety, and the pre-mil is nowhere in sight.
Berkhof paid scant attention to other positions concerning the coming of
Christ for just this reason, and boldly pronounced himself a-mil. >
The Fruit of Christ's Death and
Resurrection. Further by his passion and death and everything which he did
and endured for our sake by his coming in the flesh, our Lord reconciled all the
faithful to the heavenly Father, made expiation for our sins, disarmed death,
overcame damnation and hell, and by his resurrection from the dead brought again
and restored life and immortality. For he is our righteousness, life and
resurrection, in a word, the fullness and perfection of all the faithful,
salvation and all sufficiency. For the apostle says: In him all the fulness of
God was pleased to dwell, and, You have come to foulness of life in him (Col.,
chs. 1 and 2).
<Christs death was the atonement and brought to end
the Old Testament and opened the gates to salvation to all nations.
This being even as it was promised Abraham that he would be a blessing to
all nations. The resurrection proof
of Gods acceptance for the then completed work of Christ. The fruit thereof
the manifestation of the salvation of God as it has been from the beginning of
the curse and condemnation of all in Adam.
Use care that two methods of salvation are not created, one for the Old
Testament and another for the New Testament.
Remember Christ was a Jew and under the Old Testament law.
The New Testament only coming into being with the death of the testator,
even Jesus Christ. Thus the Old can
be seen as the shadow or sign pointing to the New when it is all made visible in
Christ. There is no separate or
different program of salvation for the Old Testament, or the nation of Israel.
Some use the word dispensation to mark the dividing line between the two
Testaments. I differ and prefer
administration. Same covenant, same
God, same law, different administration, from the temple and its ceremonial
services to the very Word of God and the sacraments commanded by Christ.
One Lord, One Spirit, One Baptism etc., etc. >
Jesus Christ Is the Only Savior
of the World, and the True Awaited Messiah. For we teach and believe that
Jesus Christ our Lord is the unique and eternal Savior of the human race, and
thus of the whole world, in whom by faith are saved all who before the law,
under the law, and under the Gospel were saved, and however many will be saved
at the end of the world. For the Lord himself says in the Gospel: He who does
not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a
thief and a robber ... I am the door of the sheep (John 10:1 and 7). And also in
another place in the same Gospel he says: Abraham saw my day and was glad (ch.
8:56). The apostle Peter also says: There is salvation in no one else, for there
is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. We
therefore believe that we will be saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, as our fathers were (Acts 4:12; 10:43; 15:11). For Paul also says: All
our fathers ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink.
For they drank from the spiritual Rock which followed them, and the Rock was
Christ (I Cor. 10:3 f.). And thus we read that John says: Christ was the Lamb
which was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8), and John the
Baptist testified that Christ is that Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the
world (John 1:29). Wherefore, we quite openly profess and preach that Jesus
Christ is the sole Redeemer and Savior of the world, the King and High Priest,
the true and awaited Messiah, that holy and blessed one whom all the types of
the law and predictions of the prophets prefigured and promised; and that God
appointed him beforehand and sent him to us, so that we are not now to look for
any other. Now there only remains for all of us to give all glory to Christ,
believe in him, rest in him alone, despising and rejecting all other aids in
life. For however many seek salvation in any other than in Christ alone, have
fallen from the grace of God and have rendered Christ null and void for
themselves (Gal. 5:4).
<We are not a people of
faith, but followers of Christ. Christianity
is an exclusive religion. How
different than the rest of the world of old and today.
Today we speak of people of faith and consider world religions as if they
too will in some way bring about the salvation of another faith. FALSE!
Jesus Christ or nothing but the fires of hell, there has not, is not, and
will not be any other way except that of faith in Jesus Christ.
The church today is not that different than the early Jewish church
before Christ. They awaited the
coming of the Messiah; we await His second coming in glory.
The saints of the Old and New Testaments both are saved by grace through
faith and that not of themselves, but the gift of God.
With the length of the above paragraph and the amount of Scripture quoted
I see no room for argument, just foolish babble by those who do not know Christ.
>
The Creeds of Four Councils
Received. And, to say many things with a few words, with a sincere heart we
believe, and freely confess with open mouth, whatever things are defined from
the Holy Scriptures concerning the mystery of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and are summed up in the Creeds and decrees of the first four most
excellent synods convened at Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon
‑ together with the creed of blessed Athananasius,[1] and all similar
symbols; and we condemn anything contrary to these.
<It is to be noted that the central concern of these
councils was the attempt to define the Christology of the church.
This is why we see the Helvetic spends so much time here.
Understanding and defending this key doctrine of the church has been and
is crucial to the church. The necessity of the doctrine and the mysterious
nature of it when using the limited language and ability of man have taken a lot
of the thought and energy of the church in all ages. >
The Sects. And in this way
we retain the Christian, orthodox and catholic faith whole and unimpaired;
knowing that nothing is contained in the aforesaid symbols which is not
agreeable to the Word of God, and does not altogether make for a sincere
exposition of the faith.
<Amen and Amen!
It would do all well to be most familiar with these early documents and
the necessity of the councils that created them.
The attempt here in writing a commentary is to once more draw attention
to these same confessions and creeds from our heritage in the church of God. I
pray with a usage of language that all have access to and understand. It is not
just for the clergy but all of the faithful to know what they believe and be
able to present a ready defense of their beliefs. >
1. The
so‑called Athanasian Creed was not written by Athanasius but dates from
the ninth century. It is so called the "Quicunque" from the opening
word of the Latin text.
