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Heidelberg Catechism, Question 33

Question 33

Why is Christ called the only begotten Son of God, since we are also the children of God?

Because Christ alone is the eternal (John 1;1), and natural Son of God (Heb. 1;2, 3); but we are children adopted of God, by grace, for his sake (Gal. 3;26).

Scripture references for paragraph 1

Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.

John 1:1

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Hebrews 1:8

8But about the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.

John 17:5

5And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world existed.

1 John 1:1-3

1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life.

2And this is the life that was revealed; we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us.

3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

John 8:58

58“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

Colossians 2:9

9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.

Hebrews 1:2

2But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.

Hebrews 1:3

3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

John 5:18

18Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

John 3:16

16For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 8:32

32He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?

1 John 5:20

20And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

John 1:14

14The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 5:26

26For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.

Colossians 1:15

15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Galatians 3:26

26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

John 1:12

12But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—

Ephesians 1:3-6

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

4For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love

5He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,

6to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.

Romans 8:14

14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Romans 8:15

15For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

1 John 3:1

1Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.

Romans 8:17

17And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.

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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