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Heidelberg Catechism, Question 16

Question 16

Why must he be very man, and also perfectly righteous?

Because the justice of God requires that the same human nature, which hath sinned, should likewise make satisfaction for sin (Ex. 32;33); and one, who is himself a sinner, cannot satisfy for others (Heb. 7;26, 27).

Scripture references for paragraph 1

Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.

Exodus 32:33

33The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot out of My book.

1 Corinthians 15:21

21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.

Romans 5:15

15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many!

Hebrews 2:17

17For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 7:26

26Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

Hebrews 7:27

27Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself.

1 Peter 3:18

18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,

Jeremiah 33:15

15In those days and at that time I will cause to sprout for David a righteous Branch, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land.

Isaiah 53:11

11After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities.

2 Corinthians 5:21

21God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Source and edition

Heidelberg Catechism. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879

Public Domain (historic text); CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikisource transcription). Source transcription.

Transcription licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.

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