This article and the one which follows are very important, as they speak about the labor of Christ as Surety and Mediator for His church. From eternity Christ represented His church, and He alone could restore God's attributes, which is such a comfort for the church. If this satisfaction for the church were not possible, they would then have to provide it themselves, which would only be possible in their eternal damnation, as we cannot work out our own salvation. God could not renounce His attributes, of which two are mentioned in this article of our confession.

The Lord reveals something of Himself in His attributes, and they are not different and distinct from each other. It seems to be so in our comprehension when we see the several manifestations of God's perfections towards the creatures. However, they never contradict each other! They form a unity in Him.

God's justice and mercy are spoken of in this article, as related with Christ's suffering and death. All people are sinners, deserving temporal and eternal punishment. Although we have learned this under the administration of the Holy Spirit, the question still lives in the heart, "Is there no way by which we may escape that punishment, and be again received into favor?" How could that be possible? Will the Lord forget sins? We know the answer given in our catechism, "God will have His justice satisfied." Full satisfaction has to be provided, but it is not possible for man to do so. It can only be fulfilled by the Mediator, of Whom was previously spoken.

Our article reads: "We believe that God, Who is perfectly merciful and just, sent His Son to assume that nature, in which the disobedience was committed, to make satisfaction in the same, and to bear the punishment of sin by His most bitter passion and death."

Here we are told – that which is impossible with man is possible with the Lord. This is explained in many ways in the Word of God, even from the very beginning. It is very clear in this article that the Lord is just in all His ways. God's justice and mercy do not form a contradiction. In this same way the Lord revealed Himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity … etc." In many other places of Scripture the Lord Himself speaks of these attributes.

The justice of God is the Divine perfection by which He hates and punishes sin. The mercy of God is His goodness toward a miserable, elect sinner, by which He daily restores him in the state of grace through the Mediator Jesus. You can understand that God's mercy is related to the salvation of the church, which will be saved only out of grace. But God's justice is also related to it!!

There have always been many wrong interpretations about the mercy of God. It is sometimes explained as some kind of weakness in God whereby He is moved with compassion towards man. This would be similar to Eli, the high priest, who did not become angry when his children sinned. Others do not want to hear about the justice of God, and speak only about His mercy. How foolish man is to deceive himself for eternity, since such a God does not exist. They wander in this way to the end, only to find out that they made the biggest mistake of their life.

Many concerned consciences are silenced by priests and false doctrines which teach that God is only love. May the Lord open their eyes, for then it will be different. They will see that the Lord is just and hates sin. Such sinners have love for all God's attributes. In the beginning God's people will try to make satisfaction for all the debts they have made, but in a hard way they will learn that this is impossible. The Holy Spirit will make it known to them that this is only possible in Christ.

What a wonder it is that the Lord gave His only begotten Son to this end – to make satisfaction, to restore God's attributes and to open a way for the church. The debt of His people was laid upon Him to satisfy God's justice so that the Lord could be merciful to a lost sinner in himself. Let us never forget the justice of the Lord, which is so often forgotten in our days; by nature we want to be saved without giving satisfaction to this attribute. In man's opinion, the Lord should see this as a shortcoming and no more; we cannot help it that we have become so evil.

But each transgression makes us worthy of death before the Lord, because it is a sin against the most High Being, Who cannot have communion with sin. He hates sin and will certainly punish them, as He has made known already in Paradise: "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." If the Lord would not now do this, He would not be God any longer. He must punish sin because of His holy nature, because He is Lawgiver and Judge, and because of the nature of the law. Cursed is everyone who transgresses against the law.

You will ask, How then can the Lord be merciful? This is explained in the passion weeks when the Lord Jesus has done everything to the salvation of His people. He was obedient to the law, but also underwent the punishment of sin. Have we already learned the necessity of this satisfaction of Christ? We all know this historically, but it is so necessary to experience it in our personal life, which can only be by the administration of the Spirit. The first work of the Spirit in the life of God's children is to reprove them of sin, whereby they become so unhappy, realizing how sinful they have been and still are. The three thousand on the day of Pentecost are an example of it.

The Lord still works in this way. When we try to give satisfaction to the Lord, we will find out that it is impossible, because we increase our sin daily. How wonderful are the ways of the Lord, as in this way the need of Christ and His satisfaction are revealed in the soul. In Him we are safe, but outside of Him we are not. May the Lord instruct us!

Since He underwent the punishment for sin, the Lord cannot and will not punish sin again in His elect. Thus it is expressed in this article, where it reads,

We believe that God, Who is perfectly merciful and just, sent His Son to assume that nature, in which the disobedience was committed, to make satisfaction in the same, and to bear the punishment of sin by His most bitter passion and death.

This satisfaction consists of a twofold fulfillment of the Law, namely, the perfect keeping of the Law and the undergoing of the punishment of the Law. We know that Christ kept the Law, because He could say, "Who reproves Me of sin?'' He underwent the punishment of sin in soul and body. Neither angel nor man could give that satisfaction, but only that Mediator Who is very God and real, righteous man. He could give eternal value to His suffering of short duration; short, that is, when we consider that we deserved an eternal punishment. If Christ had been only very man, He could never have borne God's wrath, nor have said, "It is finished."

However, the Mediator could say this because He had all attributes necessary to this end. This mediatorial work of Christ was not an offence against God's justice and the Law; Christ had freely and willingly accepted this suretyship, and He fulfilled everything which He had promised. In Christ the handwriting, which was against the church, is blotted out, for Christ underwent the punishment instead of His children.

This doctrine is rejected by the Arminians and by Rome. The Arminians say that God accepted it as satisfaction, but that in reality it did not have the same value as the eternal suffering which we deserve. Rome acknowledges the infinite value of Christ's suffering, but they say that one drop of Christ's blood would have been of the same value, and therefore that which He has done was excessive. This reserve is then given to the Pope. For this they found a text in 1 Timothy 1:14, "And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.''

Against these mentioned errors the Reformed and Luther say that the satisfaction of Christ is sufficient for the salvation of the whole human race, but whether Christ had to give satisfaction for one or for the whole human race, it would not make any difference in the suffering itself; it would not be more or less. Christ had to undergo the punishment of the wrath of God, which cannot be divided. The wrath of God is against the whole human race by sin, and that wrath Christ has felt; but He underwent this punishment for His church, whom He represented already in the making of the Covenant of Grace.

We know that Christ is given to a fall and rising again of many. What will He be for us? If we are no partakers of His merits, then, because the Lord is just, we must pay ourselves. This was also in force for Christ, for this article says, "God therefore manifested His justice against His Son, when He laid our iniquities upon Him."

It is a question for many whether Christ merited the absolute salvation for His church, so that they certainly will be saved, or whether Christ merited only the possibility to be saved. Christ is a complete Saviour, Who merited salvation and also applies it. It is not a universal reconciliation of the whole human race with God, but only of the elect. Thus the work of a Triune God is glorified in the children of God; Christ gave satisfaction, the Father is completely satisfied in the work of His Son, and the Holy Spirit applies it as the Spirit of Christ. Salvation is sure in a Triune God. There was no other way to give satisfaction to God's justice than by Christ; He was the only One, Who could do this.

"And poured forth His mercy and goodness on us, who were guilty and worthy of damnation, out of mere and perfect love, giving His Son unto death for us." This love of God is not shown to friends, but to enemies, a guilty people, who show that they have no desire in the service of God. The more we see our guilt and sin, the greater the miracle becomes that the Lord looks down upon such a sinner. When it is not merely in our head and mind, then the Holy Spirit will show us some of the goodness and mercy of the Lord over us.

James has said, "Mercy rejoiceth against judgment." How necessary to experience it in our life. From our side there is no hope and expectation, but God is able to quicken the dead sinner. Then faith is implanted, hope is worked in the heart, and love is poured out. The opening of God's Word gives light in the soul, and thereby we more and more see our misery. The Lord discovers our sins that we might seek refuge under the wings of Christ. The Law is a schoolmaster to Christ, so that in our lost condition a door of hope may be opened. What a wonder it becomes that such a sinner can yet be saved. What room there is in Christ for a lost sinner who has a debt which cannot be calculated and who has no farthing to pay. They can be saved without injuring the attributes of God, and this because of the work of Christ.

There are then moments that they may taste of that love of God, even though they are not reconciled with God; they yet miss the application of the work of Christ in their hearts. This is very well possible, and it happens so often, that God's children come into great darkness and doubts through the attacks of Satan. At that time they cannot believe that the Lord is their God for time and eternity. Therefore it is necessary to come to the change of state with knowledge of ourselves, and this will be experienced in the way of descending and decreasing. In the deeper discovery we learn not only our actual sin, but also our original sin. There we lose all our hope and expectation, and confess that the Lord is just if He reject us forever. But at the same time we will cry with Ruth, "Spread Thy wings over me." With all that has happened, they miss the application of Christ's merits in their hearts.

What a blessed moment when the death-awaiting and expecting sinner, at God's time, may come to the assurance that Christ is given to him for time and eternity, as it is expressed in this article, "And raising Him for our justification, that through Him we might obtain immortality and life eternal." Here the Pearl of Great Price becomes our possession.