The Second Article (Redemption)

25] And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of

the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He

descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven,

and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge

the quick and the dead.

26] Here we learn to know the Second Person of the Godhead, so that we see what we have

from God over and above the temporal goods aforementioned; namely, how He hits

completely poured forth Himself and withheld nothing from us that He has not given us.

Now, this article is very rich and broad; but in order to expound it also briefly and in a

childlike way we shall take up one word and sum up in that the entire article, namely (as we

have said), that we may here learn how we have been redeemed; and we shall base this on

these words: In Jesus Christ, our Lord.

27] If now you are asked, What do you believe in the Second Article of Jesus Christ? answer

briefly: I believe that Jesus Christ, true Son of God, has become my Lord. But what is it to

become Lord? It is this, that He has redeemed me from sin, from the devil, from death, and

all evil. For before I had no Lord nor King, but was captive under the power of the devil,

condemned to death, enmeshed in sin and blindness.

28] For when we had been created by God the Father, and had received from Him all manner

of good, the devil came and led us into disobedience, sin, death, and all evil, so that we fell

under His wrath and displeasure and were doomed to eternal damnation, as we had merited

and deserved. 29] There was no counsel, help, or comfort until this only and eternal Son of

God in His unfathomable goodness had compassion upon our misery and wretchedness, and

came from heaven to help us. 30] Those tyrants and jailers, then, are all expelled now, and in

their place has come Jesus Christ, Lord of life, righteousness, every blessing, and salvation,

and has delivered us poor lost men from the jaws of hell, has won us, made us free, and

brought us again into the favor and grace of the Father, and has taken us as His own property

under His shelter and protection, that He may govern us by His righteousness, wisdom,

power, life, and blessedness.

31] Let this, then, be the sum of this article that the little word Lord signifies simply as much

as Redeemer, i.e., He who has brought us from Satan to God, from death to life, from sin to

righteousness, and who preserves us in the same. But all the points which follow in order in

this article serve no other end than to explain and express this redemption, how and

whereby it was accomplished, that is, how much it cost Him, and what He spent and risked

that He might win us and bring us under His dominion, namely, that He became man,

conceived and born without [any stain of] sin, of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, that

He might overcome sin; moreover, that He suffered, died and was buried, that He might

make satisfaction for me and pay what I owe, not with silver nor gold, but with His own

precious blood. And all this, in order to become my Lord; for He did none of these for

Himself, nor had He any need of it. And after that He rose again from the dead, swallowed up

and devoured death, and finally ascended into heaven and assumed the government at the

Father's right hand, so that the devil and all powers must be subject to Him and lie at His

feet, until finally, at the last day, He will completely part and separate us from the wicked

world, the devil, death, sin, etc.

32] But to explain all these single points separately belongs not to brief sermons for children,

but rather to the ampler sermons that extend throughout the entire year, especially at those

times which are appointed for the purpose of treating at length of each article—of the birth,

sufferings, resurrection, ascension of Christ, etc.

33] Ay, the entire Gospel which we preach is based on this, that we properly understand this

article as that upon which our salvation and all our happiness rest, and which is so rich and

comprehensive that we never can learn it fully.