HC 31

Q31. Why is He called Christ, that is, Anointed?

Because He has been ordained by God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Spirit, to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, who has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption; our only High Priest, who by the one sacrifice of His body has redeemed us, and who continually intercedes for us before the Father; and our eternal King, who governs us by His Word and Spirit, and who defends and preserves us in the redemption obtained for us.

Proof texts

• Ps. 45:7 — [7] you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
• Heb. 1:9 — [9] You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
• Isa. 61:1 — [1] The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
• Luke 4:18 — [18] “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
• Luke 3:21-22 — [21] Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, [22] and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
• Deut. 18:15 — [15] “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers — it is to him you shall listen —
• Acts 3:22 — [22] Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.
• John 1:18 — [18] No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.
• John 15:15 — [15] No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
• Ps. 110:4 — [4] The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
• Heb. 7:17 — [17] For it is witnessed of him, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
• Heb. 9:12 — [12] he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
• Heb. 10:11-14 — [11] And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. [12] But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, [13] waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. [14] For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
• Rom. 8:34 — [34] Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
• Heb. 9:24 — [24] For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
• 1 John 2:1 — [1] My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
• Zech. 9:9 — [9] Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
• Matt. 21:5 — [5] “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
• Luke 1:33 — [33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
• Matt. 28:18-20 — [18] And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
• John 10:28 — [28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
• Rev. 12:10-11 — [10] And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. [11] And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

For discussion

1. The Assembly cited Ps. 45:7 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
2. 22 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?
3. WSC Q20 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
4. WSC Q21 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?

Read alongside

WSC Q20 · WSC Q21 · WLC Q30 · WLC Q36 · WCF 7.1 · WCF 8.1 · BC 5.2 · BC 5.3 · BC 5.4 · BC 5.5 · BC 5.6 · 1689 7.1 · 1689 7.2 · 1689 7.3 · 1689 8.1