Q. According to God's righteous judgment we deserve punishment both in this world and forever after: how then can we escape this punishment and return to God's favor?

A. God requires that his justice be satisfied.^1 Therefore the claims of his justice must be paid in full, either by ourselves or another.^2

^1 Ex. 23:7; Rom. 2:1-11

^2 Isa. 53:11; Rom. 8:3-4

Q. Can we pay this debt ourselves?

A. Certainly not. Actually, we increase our guilt every day.^1

^1 Matt. 6:12; Rom. 2:4-5

Q. Can another creature--any at all-- pay this debt for us?

A. No. To begin with, God will not punish another creature for what a human is guilty of.^1 Besides, no mere creature can bear the weight of God's eternal anger against sin and release others from it.^2

^1 Ezek. 18:4, 20; Heb. 2:14-18

^2 Ps. 49:7-9; Ps. 130:3

Q. What kind of mediator and deliverer should we look for then?

A. One who is truly human^1 and truly righteous,^2 yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is also true God.^3

^1 Rom. 1:3; 1 Cor. 15:21; Heb. 2:17

^2 Isa. 53:9; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 7:26

^3 Isa. 7:14; Isa. 9:6; Jer. 23:6; John 1:1

Q. Why must he be truly human and truly righteous?

A. God's justice demands that human nature, which has sinned, must pay for its sin;^1 but a sinner could never pay for others.^2

^1 Rom. 5:12, 15; 1 Cor. 15:21; Heb. 2:14-16

^2 Heb. 7:26-27; 1 Pet. 3:18

Q. Why must he also be true God?

A. So that, by the power of his divinity, he might bear the weight of God's anger in his humanity and earn for us and restore to us righteousness and life.^1

^1 Isa. 53; John 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:21

Q. And who is this mediator-- true God and at the same time truly human and truly righteous?

A. Our Lord Jesus Christ,^1 who was given us to set us completely free and to make us right with God.^2

^1 Matt. 1:21-23; Luke 2:11; 1 Tim. 2:5

^2 1 Cor. 1:30

Q. How do you come to know this?

A. The holy gospel tells me. God himself began to reveal the gospel already in Paradise;^1 later, he proclaimed it by the holy patriarchs^2 and prophets,^3 and portrayed it by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law;^4 finally, he fulfilled it through his own dear Son.^5

^1 Gen. 3:15

^2 Gen. 22:18; Gen. 49:10

^3 Isa. 53; Jer. 23:5-6; Mic. 7:18-20; Acts 10:43; Heb. 1:1-2

^4 Lev. 1-7; John 5:46; Heb. 10:1-10

^5 Rom. 10:4; Gal. 4:4-5; Col. 2:17

Q. Are all saved through Christ just as all were lost through Adam?

A. No. Only those are saved who by true faith are grafted into Christ and accept all his blessings.^1

^1 Matt. 7:14; John 3:16, 18, 36; Rom. 11:16-21

Q. What is true faith?

A. True faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in his Word is true;^1 it is also a deep-rooted assurance,^2 created in me by the Holy Spirit^3 through the gospel,^4 that, out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ,^5 not only others, but I too,^6 have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted salvation.^7

^1 John 17:3, 17; Heb. 11:1-3; James 2:19

^2 Rom. 4:18-21; Rom. 5:1; Rom. 10:10; Heb. 4:14-16

^3 Matthew 16:15-17; John 3:5; Acts 16:14

^4 Rom. 1:16; 10:17; 1 Cor. 1:21

^5 Rom. 3:21-26; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-10

^6 Gal. 2:20 ^7 Rom. 1:17; Heb. 10:10

Q. What then must a Christian believe?

A. Everything God promises us in the gospel.^1 That gospel is summarized for us in the articles of our Christian faith-- a creed beyond doubt, and confessed throughout the world.

^1 Matt. 28:18-20; John 20:30-31

Q. What are these articles?

A. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Q. How are these articles divided?

A. Into three parts: God the Father and our creation; God the Son and our deliverance; God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification.

Q. Since there is but one God,^1 why do you speak of three: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

A. Because that is how God has revealed himself in his Word:^2 these three distinct persons are one, true, eternal God.

^1 Deut. 6:4; 1 Cor. 8:4, 6

^2 Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:18-19; Luke 4:18 (Isa. 61:1); John 14:26; John 15:26; 2 Cor. 13:14; Gal. 4:6; Tit. 3:5-6