Christ Alone

Augsburg Confession Article III

This week, let’s read the third article:

https://bookofconcord.org/augsburg-confession/son-of-god/

This article addresses the nature of the Son of God, also known as the Word (Logos).

Here is a summary of the key points:

  1. The Son of God assumed the human nature. This statement presupposes that the Son was not created, since he was with God in the beginning (for the Biblical basis of this statement, see John 1:1-18).
  2. Having been born of the Virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18; Luke 2:7) Jesus had two natures: one divine and one human, inseparably joined in one person. This is essentially a restatement of the Chalcedonian Creed (https://www.ccel.org/creeds/chalcedonian-creed.html).
  3. The article reaffirms that we believe everything taught in the Apostle’s Creed about Jesus — namely, that “he was born of the virgin Mary, truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, descended into hell, rose again, ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, from whence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.”
  4. The reason for Christ’s humiliation was that we might be reconciled to the Father (see 2 Corinthians 5:18-21; Romans 5:8-11).
  5. The reason for his exaltation was that he might “forever reign, have dominion over all creatures, and sanctify them that believe in Him, by sending the Holy Ghost into their hearts, to rule, comfort, and quicken them, and to defend them against the devil and the power of sin.”