rds a striking proof of the love of the Father, who "sent his
only begotten Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins," and
lays a firm foundation for our trust in Christ. Without the
appointment of his Father, his work would not have been valid in law
for our redemption; but this appointment assures us, that the whole
work of his mediation is most acceptable to God, and affords us the
highest encouragement to rely upon his finished work for our eternal
salvation.

II. The Father, from all eternity, gave to Christ a people to be his
seed, and to be by him brought to glory. That a definite number of
mankind, who were chosen by God in the exercise of rich and
sovereign grace, were given to Christ, is manifest from the
distinction made between them and the world. Christ designates them
"the men that were given him out of the world," and declares that he
prayed "not for the world, but for them whom the Father had given
him." John 17:6, 9. In these passages the world is opposed to those
that were given to Christ, and this must convince every unprejudiced
mind that the persons given to Christ are a definite number,
selected by God from the world of mankind. They were given to Christ
to be his seed. It was not left uncertain whether Christ, as the
reward of his mediatory work, would have a people to serve him; it
was stipulated that he should have a seed, in whom he would see the
travail of his soul.—Isaiah 53:10, 11. They were given to him that
he might redeem them, and bring them to glory. He was not merely to
procure for them a possibility of salvation, but to secure for them
a full and final salvation; and none that were given to him shall be
lost. "This is the Father's will which has sent me," says Christ,
"that of all which he has given me I should lose nothing, but should
raise it up again at the last day." John. 6:39.

SECTION 2. The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being
very and eternal God, of one substance, and equal with the Father,
did, when the fullness of time was come, take upon Him man's nature,
with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof,
yet without sin; being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, in
the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance. So that two whole,
perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were
inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion,
composition, or confusion. Which person is very God and very man,
yet one Christ, the only Mediator between God and man.

Exposition of 8.2

This section relates to the constitution of the person of the
Mediator. In opposition to Socinians and Unitarians, who maintain
that Christ was merely a man, and had no existence before he was
born of Mary; and in opposition to Arians, who, though they admit
the pre-existence of Christ, maintain that he is a creature, and
existed prior to his incarnation only as a super-angelic spirit; our
Confession teaches, that Christ not only existed before his
incarnation, but was from all eternity the Son of God, of one
substance, and equal with the Father; and that, in the fullness of
time, he assumed a complete human nature into union with the divine,
so that he is both very God and very man, having two distinct
natures, yet but one person.

I. Jesus Christ not only existed prior to his incarnation, but is
the eternal Son of God, of one substance and equal with the Father.
The pre-existence of Christ is confirmed by numerous testimonies of
Scripture. That he existed before John the Baptist, is affirmed by
John himself, who "bare witness of him," saying, "He who comes after
me is preferred before me: for he was before me." John 1:15. That he
existed before Abraham is affirmed by Christ himself, who told the
Jews, "Before Abraham was, I am." John 8:58. That he existed before
the flood is evident from the words of the Apostle Peter, who
affirms, that by the Spirit Christ "went and preached unto the
spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the
longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was
a-preparing." 1 Peter 3:19–20. That he existed before the foundation
of the world is no less evident, for the Scripture teaches us that
all things were created by him, and in his valedictory prayer he
thus expressed himself: "Now, O Father, glorify you me with your own
self with the glory which I had with you before the world was." John
17:5. Christ also declares that he "came down from Heaven," and
speaks of his "ascending up where he was before" (John 3:15; 6:62);
which clearly imports, that he had a residence in Heaven before he
took our nature.

We are not left to conjecture what that nature was in which Christ
subsisted prior to his incarnation. We are assured that "he was in
the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God,"
that "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God." Philippians 2:6; John 1:1. But the supreme Deity
of Christ has been established in a preceding chapter, and we shall
not now resume that subject. It will be proper, however, in this
place, to offer a few remarks concerning the Sonship of Christ. The
title of sons of God is applied in Scripture to various orders of
beings, but Christ is styled the Son of God in a sense altogether
peculiar to himself; hence he is called God's own Son—his proper
Son—the only begotten of the Father. His Sonship is not founded upon
his mission, nor upon his miraculous conception, nor upon his
resurrection, as is supposed by many; but he is the Son of God by an
eternal, necessary, and ineffable generation. This truth is
confirmed by many passages of Scripture, the application of which to
the eternal generation of the Son of God has been vindicated by many
learned divines. We can only refer the reader to Psalm 2:7; Proverbs
8:24, 25; Micah 5:2; John 1:14. The denial of our Lord's eternal
Sonship tends to subvert the doctrine of the Trinity; it also throws
a veil over the glory of the work of redemption; for the grace of
the second person in becoming incarnate, obeying, and suffering—the
love of the first in sending him, and delivering him up to
sufferings and death for us—and the infinite value of his atonement,
are all in Scripture made to turn upon his essential dignity as the
Son of God. We cannot pretend to explain the manner of the eternal
generation of the Son; but to deny it upon the ground that it is
incomprehensible by us would be preposterous; for, upon the same
ground, we might as well deny the subsistence of three distinct
persons in one Godhead. Though the eternal generation of the Son be
to us an inconceivable mystery, yet of one thing we are certain,
that it necessarily implies the Son's equality with the Father. The
Jews understood our Lords claim to Sonship as a claim to equality
with the Father, and consequently to proper Deity; and he sanctioned
the interpretation which they put upon his words, by declaring, "I
and my Father are one." John 10:30, 33.

II. In the fullness of time, the Son of God assumed a complete human
nature into union with his divine person. This article of our faith
has been opposed by heretics of various descriptions, and the
statements of our Confession are intended to meet the heresies which
have been broached in different periods.

1. The Son of God took upon him man's nature—a real and perfect
humanity. In the primitive times of the Christian Church this was
denied by various sects, called Docetae, who held that Christ had
not a real, but a mere shadowy body; while others, in later times,
affirmed that Christ had a body, but not a soul. But the Scriptures
declare that "the Word was made flesh,"—that "God sent forth his
son, made of a woman"—and that, "forasmuch as the children are
partakers of flesh and blood, he himself likewise took part of the
same." It would be impossible to find language that could more
explicitly assert the reality of Christ's human nature. His
apostles, who were admitted to familiar converse with him, were
certain that it was not a mere phantom which they beheld, and were
as fully persuaded of the reality of his body as of their own. "We
have looked upon, and our hands have handled the Word of life." 1
John 1:1. That Christ had a human soul is equally unquestionable. He
"increased in wisdom and stature;" the one in respect of his body,
the other in respect of his soul. In his agony, he said, "My soul is
exceeding sorrowful, even unto death;" and on the cross, he
committed it to his Father, saying, "Father, into your hands I
commit my spirit."

2. Christ was subject to the common infirmities of our nature, but
was altogether without sin. He was subject to hunger and theft, to
weariness and pain, and other natural infirmities. On this account,
he is said to have been sent into the world "in the likeness of
sinful flesh." Romans 8:3. But it was only the likeness of sinful
flesh, for he had no sin in reality; hence he is called "the holy
one," "the holy child Jesus," and "a lamb without blemish and
without spot." The perfect purity of our Lord's human nature was
necessary to qualify him for his mediatory work; for if he had been
himself a sinner, he could not have satisfied for the sins of
others. "such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, and separated from sinners." Hebrews 7:26.

3. The human nature of Christ was conceived by the power of the Holy
Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and was formed of her
substance. The body of Christ was not created out of nothing,
neither did it descend from Heaven, but was formed, by the agency of
the Holy Spirit, of the substance of the Virgin; hence Mary is
called the mother of Jesus, and he is called "the fruit of her
womb," and "the seed of the woman." Luke 1:42, 43; Genesis 3:15.

4. The Son of God assumed the human nature into union with the
divine, so that two distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood,
are inseparably joined together in one person. This is asserted in
opposition to certain errors which were broached in the fifth
century. The Nestorians held that in Christ, "there were two
persons, of which the one was divine, even the eternal Word; and the
other, which was human, was the man Jesus." A strong aversion to
this error led the Eutychians into the opposite extreme. They taught
that in Christ "there was but one nature;" his human nature being
absorbed by the divine. That the Godhead and the manhood are united
in the one person of Christ, is confirmed by all those passages of
Scripture which speak of two natures as belonging to our
Savior.—Isaiah 9:6; Romans 9:5; Matthew 1:18. The human nature of
Christ never had a separate subsistence or personality of its own,
but, from its first formation, was united to, and subsisted in, the
person of the Son of God. This is called the hypostatic or personal
union. Though this is an intimate union, yet the two natures are not
confounded, but each retains its own essential properties. But, in
consequence of this union, the attributes and acts which are proper
to one nature are ascribed to the person of Christ. He could only
obey and suffer in the human nature, but his obedience and
sufferings are predicated of him as the Son of God—as the Lord of
glory.—Hebrews 5:8; 1 Corinthians 2:8. To represent our Savior as
having a human person distinct from his Godhead, is to divest his
obedience and sufferings of their inherent value, and consequently,
to subvert the grand doctrine of the redemption of the Church by his
blood. It is, therefore, a most important article of our faith, that
our blessed Savior is "very God and very man, yet one Christ." To
this it is subjoined, that he is "the one mediator between God and
man." The Papists would associate saints and angels with Christ in
the work of mediation. They allow, indeed, that Christ is the only
mediator of redemption, but they allege that there are other
mediators of intercession. But the Scripture makes no such
distinction; on the contrary, it expressly asserts that there is
only one mediator, as there is only one God.—1 Timothy 2:5.

SECTION 3. The Lord Jesus, in His human nature thus united to the
divine, was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit above
measure; having in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; in
whom it pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell: to the
end, that being holy, harmless, undefiled, and full of grace and
truth, he might be thoroughly furnished to execute the office of a
Mediator and Surety. Which office He took not unto himself, but was
thereunto called by His Father; who put all power and judgment into
his hand, and gave him commandment to execute the same.

Exposition of 8.3

This section relates to the qualification of Christ for his
mediatory work. The Father, who called him to this work, furnished
him with all requisite qualifications for its performance. Not only
did he "prepare a body for him," that he might be capable of
suffering and dying; he also conferred upon his human nature the
gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit in an immeasurable degree, that
he might be thoroughly furnished to execute his mediatorial office.
"God gives not the Spirit by measure unto him." John 3:34. In his
miraculous conception, his human nature was formed by the Holy
Spirit with initial grace in its highest degree of perfection; and
when about to enter upon his public ministry in our nature, to seal
his commission, and to qualify him in that nature for his work, the
Spirit descended upon him in a bodily shape.—Luke 3:21, 22.

SECTION 4. This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake;
which that he might discharge, he was made under the law, and did
perfectly fulfill it; endured most grievous torments immediately in
His soul, and most painful sufferings in His body; was crucified,
and died; was buried, and remained under the power of death, yet saw
no corruption. On the third day he arose from the dead, with the
same body in which he suffered; with which also he ascended into
Heaven, and there sits at the right hand of His Father, making
intercession; and shall return to judge men and angels at the end of
the world.

Exposition of 8.4

It demands our special attention, that Christ "engaged his heart to
approach unto God" as the surety of sinners—not, indeed, of mankind
sinners universally, but only of those whom the Father gave to him,
and whom he received as his spiritual seed. The present section is
closely connected with the preceding, and affirms that Christ
willingly undertook the office, not only of a mediator, but also of
a surety. A surety is one who engages to pay a debt, or to suffer a
penalty, incurred by another. Such a surety is our Lord Jesus
Christ. He undertook, in the everlasting covenant, to be responsible
to the law and justice of God for that boundless debt which his
elect were bound to pay. And having become their surety, by his
Father's appointment and his own voluntary engagement, their guilt
was legally transferred to him, and all his obedience and sufferings
in their nature were vicarious, or in the room of those whom he
represented before God. "Our Lord's suretyship is denied by the