Question 23 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What offices does Christ fill as our Redeemer?“

The answer given is, “Christ as our Redeemer fills the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, in his states both of humiliation and exaltation.”

The specific offices mentioned will be further detailed in Questions 24 through 26, so these three terms will be covered in future posts.

It is worth noting that the title “Christ” that was given to Jesus is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” Both the Greek and Hebrew words literally mean “anointed one.”

In the Old Testament, we see that priests and kings were anointed with oil as they were appointed to their work. For examples see Exodus 28:41 (Aaron as priest) and 1 Samuel 15:13 (David as king).

It is clear from the Gospels that Jesus considered himself the long awaited anointed one spoken of in the prophets. When he read from Isaiah in the synagogue, he did not hesitate to apply the words of Isaiah 61 to himself when he read,

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Luke 4:18-19 (CSB)

Jesus is the only one who has demonstrated the ability and the authority to fulfill all three of these offices in combination in one person.

Question 22 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks: How did Christ, the Son of God, become man?

The answer given is: Christ, the Son of God, became man by taking to himself a body and a soul like ours, being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.

The first observation that I need to make is that there is mystery here. We must acknowledge that complete understanding of this is beyond our reach as humans.

Secondly, note the process that is mentioned. Christ became man. The eternal second person of the Trinity took a body and became man.

There is at least one group, that claims to be Christian, that has this teaching the other way round. They teach that man can become god through following the teaching of their church. This claim can be found no-where in Scripture.

Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary. Jesus was not a human child born of two human parents that somehow became the Messiah or upon whom was conferred deity. This is a heresy that was dealt with and rejected in the early church.

With regard to Jesus being sinless, I am reminded of one of the stand-out verses in the writing of the Apostle Paul. He states:

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 (NASB)

Jesus, who was born and lived without sin, took the punishment for our sin so that we might be viewed by God as having Christ’s righteousness.

Without Christ’s perfection, the idea of Christ being our substitute would fall flat and we would be left without hope.

Editor’s Note: It has been a while since a post in the Westminster Shorter Catechism series has been produced. It is my intention begin taking on one question per week and post them on Wednesdays. So we can perhaps call them “Westminster Wednesdays”?

Question 21 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks: Who is the redeemer of God’s chosen ones?

The answer given is: The only redeemer of God’s chosen is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, Who became man. He was and continues to be God and man in two distinct natures and one person forever.

There is a lot of content in the answer that the Westminster Divines gave to this question.

First, it clearly states the belief that Jesus provides the only means of salvation. This belief is foundational to Christianity.

Secondly, it identifies Jesus as the eternal Son of God who became man.

Thirdly, it clearly teaches that beginning with the incarnation, Jesus was and still is both God and man in one person.

In the last few months, I have been reading about the first Ecumenical Councils of the church in the 4th and 5th Centuries. It was at these councils that the nature of Jesus was clearly defined for all of Christendom. Many of the misunderstandings about Jesus that survive today were addressed by these councils. So an understanding of the events leading up to the councils and the results of those councils will help us avoid error today.

It would be good to consider the words of the Nicene Creed, first developed at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD and then adopted at the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD. The portion of the Creed which speaks to belief in Christ is quoted below.

[We believe] in one Lord Jesus Christ,
      the only Son of God,
      begotten from the Father before all ages,
           God from God,
           Light from Light,
           true God from true God,
      begotten, not made;
      of the same essence as the Father.
      Through him all things were made.
      For us and for our salvation
           he came down from heaven;
           he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
           and was made human.
           He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
           he suffered and was buried.
           The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
           He ascended to heaven
           and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
           He will come again with glory
           to judge the living and the dead.
           His kingdom will never end.

Question 20 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “Did God leave all mankind to die in sin and misery?”

The answer given is, “From all eternity and merely because it pleased Him God chose some to have everlasting life. These He freed from sin and misery by a covenant of grace and brought them to salvation by a redeemer.”

God chose.

God chose some.

God chose some to everlasting life.

The result is that the chosen are freed from sin and brought to the state of salvation.

This is the doctrine of election. The doctrine of God’s sovereign choice.

We like to think of ourselves as free moral agents with the ability to control our own destinies. We don’t want to have anyone tell us what we can or can’t do. We are taught that such freedom is our birthright and no-one should be able to take this away from us.

But, are we really free?

The Bible teaches us that we are not free apart from the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Experience seems to back this up. Who among us has not been exposed to someone who has been trapped in chemical dependence, perpetual anger or some other self-destructive behavior? Who among us has not struggled to overcome some habit or thought pattern that is contrary to what we know to be right?

The good news is that God did not leave us to flounder in our mess. He is the one who brings us into the state of being saved by a redeemer.

This knowledge should engender three things in us:

• Humility – we are dependent upon God for our salvation
• Gratitude – we should be thankful to God for saving us
• Confidence – since it is up to God and not us, we can’t mess it up