101. 7. Through this process God became human and a human became God in one person. From all the previous sections in this chapter it follows that Jehovah God became human and a human became God in one person. It especially follows from two of those sections: "Jehovah, the Creator of the universe, came down and took on a human manifestation in order to redeem people and save them" (82-84); and "Through acts of redemption the Lord united himself to the Father and the Father united himself to him mutually and reciprocally" (97-100). From the reciprocal nature of that union it is obvious that God became human and a human became God in one person. The same thing also follows from the fact that their union was like the one between a soul and a body. This fits with the modern-day church's belief based on the Athanasian Creed (see 98 above). It also fits with the Lutheran belief expressed in the section called the Formula of Concord in the volumes containing the Lutheran orthodoxy. There it is strongly established from both Sacred Scripture and the church fathers, as well as through argumentation, that Christ's human nature was raised to divine majesty, omnipotence, and omnipresence; and that in Christ, God is human and a human is God; see pages 607 and 765. That section also offers convincing proof that the Word refers to Jehovah God's human manifestation as "Jehovah," "Jehovah God," "Jehovah Sabaoth," and "the God of Israel. "

Paul says, "All the fullness of divinity dwells physically in Jesus Christ" (Colossians 2:9). John says that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20). We showed above (92-93 ) that the phrase "the Son of God" properly refers to his human manifestation. For another thing, Jehovah God calls both himself and his human aspect "Lord. " We read, "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand" (Psalms 110:1). In Isaiah we read, "A Child is born to us, a Son is given to us, whose name is God, Father of Eternity" (Isaiah 9:6).

In David the word "Son" also refers to the Lord in his human manifestation: "I will announce a decision. Jehovah said, 'You are my Son. Today I fathered you. ' Kiss the Son or he will be angry and you will perish on the way" (Psalms 2:7, 12). This does not mean an eternally begotten Son; it means the Son born in the world. It is a prophecy of the Lord to come. That is why it is called a decision that Jehovah is announcing to David. In the same Psalm it says before that, "I have anointed my King over Zion" (Psalms 2:6); and afterward it says, "I will give him the nations as an inheritance" (Psalms 2:8). Therefore "today" in this passage means "in time," not "from eternity. " To Jehovah the future is present.

343. III. A person acquires faith by approaching the Lord, learning truths from the Word, and living by them.

Before starting to show the origin of faith, which is approaching the Lord, learning in addition truths from the Word, and living by them, I must first present a summary of faith, which will allow a general idea to be formed on each detail of faith. For this will make more readily intelligible not only what is said in this chapter about faith, but also what will be said later on about charity, free will, repentance, reformation and regeneration, and imputation. For faith enters into each and every part of a theological system like the blood into the parts of the body, and gives them life. The teaching of the present day church about faith is widely known in the Christian parts of the world, and particularly among the ordained clergy of the church; for the libraries of the theologians of the church are full of books about nothing but faith, and about faith alone. Indeed hardly anything but that is regarded as really theological at the present time. But before the doctrines of the present-day church regarding its faith are taken up, scrutinised and evaluated (which will be the subject of an appendix), I present the general doctrines of the new church on the subject of its faith, as follows.