The Sum of Christian Religion 2, Part 2 · Subpart 18
WHICH WAS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY GHOST, BORNE OF THE virgin Mary.
In the conception three thinges to bee obſerued. 1 The forming of Chriſts fleſh.Firſt chriſt is ſaid here to hauehave bin conceiued by the holy ghoſt.
Whereby three thinges are ſignified. 1. That the maſſe of his humane nature was created or formed, in the wombe of the Virgin, miraculouſlie, and beſide the order of thinges diſpoſed of God in nature, by the immediate working & operation of the holy Ghoſt; without the ſeede and ſubſtance of man. Obiection. But we are alſo formed and made of God. Anſwere. We mediately, Chriſt immediately.2 The ſanctifieng of his fleſh. 2. That the Holy Ghoſt did in the ſame moment and by the ſame operation cleanſe this maſſe, and from the verie point of the conception ſanctifie it; that is, he cauſed, that originall ſinne ſhould not iſſue into it: and that for theſe cauſes. Firſt, that hee might bee a pure ſacrifice and a ſufficient ranſome for our redemption, 2. Cor. 5.12. He hath made him to be ſinne for vsus, which knew no ſinne, that we ſhould be made the righteouſnes of god in him. Secondly, That he might alſo ſanctify vsus by his ſanctitie and holyneſſe. For if Chriſt had beene a ſinner, hee could not hauehave ſatisfied for vsus, but himſelfe ſhould hauehave remained in death. Therefore could he not hauehave bin our ſanctifier, neither by merit, nor by his power and efficacie. Heb. 2.11. For he that ſanstifieth, and they that are ſanctified, are all of one. Heb. 7.26. Such an high Prieſt it became vsus to hauehave, which is holy, harmeleſſe, vndefiled, ſeparate from ſinners. Thirdly, Iohn was not agreeable vntounto the Word the eternall ſonne of god, to vnite perſonallie vntounto him humane nature being ſtained & defiled, where in hee dwelleth as in his owne temple. For God is a conſuming fire. Fourthly. That wee might know, that whatſoeuer this ſonne ſpeaketh, it is the will of God, and the truth. For whatſouer is borne of fleſh, which is ſinful, and not ſanctified, is fleſh, falſhood and vanitie. Obiection. But he was borne of a Mother which was a ſinner. Why then ſhould not Chriſt hauehave ſinne? Aunſwere. The Holy Ghoſt doth beſt know how to ſeuer ſinne from mans nature, for ſinne is not of the nature of man, but came elſe-whence, euen from the Diuel. Mary therefore was a ſinner, but that maſſe of fleſh which was taken out of her ſubſtaunce, was by the operation of the Holy Ghoſt at the ſame inſtant ſanctified when it was taken.
The third thing which is ſignified,3 The vniting of his fleſh vntounto his Godhead. in that Chriſt is ſaide to bee conceiued by the holie Ghoſt, is the vnion of the humane nature with the Woorde. For the fleſhe of Chriſt was together both created or formed, and alſo ſanctified and vnited to the Sonne, of the holy Ghoſt immediatelie, but of the Father and the Sonne by the ſpirite.
It is added furder in the Creede,Born of the Virgin. that he was borne of the Virgine Mary, that is, of the Virgins ſubſtance: and that cheifely for theſe cauſes.
1 That we might know, 1 The ſeede of Dauid.Chriſt our Mediatour to be the true ſeede of Dauid, that is, to be true man, and our brother, who hath humane fleſh, made not of nothing, neither elſewhence, but iſſued from the ſeede of Dauid, Iſaack, and Abraham, of whome alſo the virgine Mary hir ſelfe came, yea of the ſelfe ſame maſſe of Adam, whereof both they and we are.
2 That it may certainly appeare vntounto vsus, 2 Meſſias.That this Ieſus borne of the Virgine, is that Meſſias promiſed vntounto the Fathers. For it was foretolde by the Prophets, that the Meſſias, the redeemer of mankind, ſhould be born of the ſtocke of Dauid, and that by a miraculous conception & birth, hauing a Virgin for his Mother. Wherefore ſeeing both, that is, both the prophecies and the miracles are in this Ieſus fulfilled, there can bee no doubt but that this is the Meſſias, true Man, and true God, the reconciler of GOD and man.
3 That this Chriſtes birth of a Virgin might be a teſtimonie that he is pure and without ſinne, 3 Without ſinne.ſanctified in the wombe of the Virgin, by the vertue of the holy Ghost.
4 That it might bee a figure of our regeneration, 4 A figure of our new birth.which is not of blood, nor of the will of the fleſh, nor of the wil of man, but of God, Iohn. 1.13. Wherefore to beleeue in Christ which was conceiued by the Holie Ghost, …d borne of the Virgin Mary, is to beleeue, That this natura… Sonne of God, conceiued and borne after this maner, is made true man after a marueilous order, and the ſame to bee one Chriſt hauing two natures vnited by perſonall vnion one to another; which are his diuinity and his humanitie; and to beleeue farther, that he was holy from his mothers wombe, to redeeme & ſanctifie me, and that I for this Sonnes ſake ſo conceiued and born hauehave the right of the adoption of the Sonnes of God. For he cannot be Mediatour betweene God & men, who is not himſelfe man, who is not righteous, who is not vnited with the Woorde, that is, true, and by nature God & man, & of ſufficiencie and abilitie to beſtowe his purchaſed ſaluation for vsus, on vsus. Next after this article of the conception and Natiuitie of Chriſt, for the better vnderſtanding thereof, followeth not vnfitly the common place, Of the incarnation of the Sonne of God, or, Of the two natures in Chriſt.