Belgic Confession, Article 20: The Justice and Mercy of God in Christ
This excerpt from Article 20 of the Belgic Confession presents a classical Reformed understanding of Christ's substitutionary atonement, emphasizing how God's justice and mercy converge in Christ's passion and resurrection for the justification of believers. The text articulates the forensic nature of salvation—Christ bearing the punishment due to sin so that sinners might receive imputed righteousness and eternal life—making it essential reading for understanding core Protestant Reformed soteriology.
Article 20: The Justice and Mercy of God in Christ We believe that God—who is perfectly merciful and also very just—sent the Son to assume the nature in which the disobedience had been committed,in order to bear in it the punishment of sin by his most bitter passion and death.So God made known his justice toward his Son,who was charged with our sin,and he poured out his goodness and mercy on us,who are guilty and worthy of damnation,giving to us his Son to die,by a most perfect love,and...