The Heidelberg Catechism Part II: Deliverance God the Son, Part 2 Lord’s Day 12
Question 31: Why is He called “Christ,” meaning “anointed”?
Answer 31: Because He has been ordained by God the Father and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit [1] to be our chief prophet and teacher [2] who fully reveals to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our deliverance; [3] our only high priest [4] who has delivered us by the one sacrifice of His body, [5] and who continually pleads our cause with the Father; [6] and our eternal king [7] who governs us by His Word and Spirit, and who guards us and keeps us in the freedom He has won for us. [8]
Supporting Scripture:
[1] Luke 3:21-22 NKJV When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. (22) And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."
Luke 4:14-19 (Isaiah 61:1) NKJV Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. (15) And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. (16) So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. (17) And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: (18) "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; (19) to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
Hebrews 1:9 (Psalm 45:7) NKJV You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions."
[2] Acts 3:22 (Deuteronomy 18:15) NKJV For Moses truly said to the fathers, 'The LORD your GOD will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.
[3] John 1:18 NKJV No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
John 15:15 NKJV No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
[4] Hebrews 7:17 (Psalm 110:4) NKJV For He testifies: "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."
[5] Hebrews 9:12 NKJV Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
Hebrews 10:11-14 NKJV And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. (12) But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, (13) from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. (14) For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
[6] Romans 8:34 NKJV Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Hebrews 9:24 NKJV For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
[7] Matthew 21:5 (Zechariah 9:9) NKJV "Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.' "
[8] Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (19) Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
John 10:28 NKJV And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
Revelation 12:10-11 NKJV Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. (11) And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
Q32: But why are you called a Christian?
A32: Because by faith I am a member of Christ [1] and so I share in His anointing. [2] I am anointed to confess His name, [3] to present myself to Him as a living sacrifice of thanks, [4] to strive with a free conscience against sin and the devil in this life, [5] and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for eternity. [6]
[1] 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 NKJV For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. (13) For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. (14) For in fact the body is not one member but many. (15) If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? (16) And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? (17) If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? (18) But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. (19) And if they were all one member, where would the body be? (20) But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. (21) And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." (22) No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. (23) And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, (24) but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, (25) that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. (26) And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. (27) Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
[2] Acts 2:17 (Joel 2:28) NKJV 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.
1 John 2:27 NKJV But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
[3] Matthew 10:32 NKJV "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
Romans 10:9-10 NKJV that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Hebrews 13:15 NKJV Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
[4] Romans 12:1 NKJV I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
1 Peter 2:5, 9 NKJV you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ… (9) But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
[5] Galatians 5:16-17 NKJV I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (17) For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
Ephesians 6:11 NKJV Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
1 Timothy 1:18-19 NKJV This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, (19) having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck,
[6] Matthew 25:34 NKJV Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 2 Timothy 2:12 NKJV If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
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