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Heidelberg Catechism, Question 35

Question 35

What is the meaning of the words, “He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary?

That God’s eternal Son, who is, and continues true and eternal God (1 John 5;20); took upon him the very nature of man, of the flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary (Gal. 4;4) by the operation of the Holy Ghost (Luke 1;34, 35); that he might also be the true seed of David (Acts 13;23); like unto his brethren in all things, sin excepted (Heb. 4;15).

Scripture references for paragraph 1

Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.

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.

Romans 9:5

5Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen.

Hebrews 1:10

10And: “In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

Hebrews 1:12

12You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed; but You remain the same, and Your years will never end.”

Hebrews 13:8

8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Galatians 4:4

4But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

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.

Isaiah 7:14

14Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.

Luke 2:7

7And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Hebrews 2:16

16For surely it is not the angels He helps, but the descendants of Abraham.

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.

1 Timothy 3:16

16By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, was taken up in glory.

Luke 1:34-35

34“How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.

Matthew 1:18

18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged in marriage to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

Acts 13:23

23From the descendants of this man, God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised.

Psalms 132:11

11The LORD swore an oath to David, a promise He will not revoke: “One of your descendants I will place on your throne.

Acts 2:30

30But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne.

Hebrews 4:15

15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.

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.

Philippians 2:7

7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Romans 1:3

3regarding His Son, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh,

Romans 1:4

4and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 John 3:5

5But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.

1 Peter 2:22

22“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”

John 8:46

46Which of you can prove Me guilty of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe Me?

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.

Luke 1:34

34“How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

Luke 1:35

35The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son 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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