Article XX
The Harmony of Justice and Mercy
God demonstrates his perfect justice and mercy by sending his Son to bear our punishment and secure our eternal life through his death and resurrection.
We believe that God, who is perfectly merciful and also perfectly just, sent his Son to take on the very nature in which disobedience had been committed, so that in that nature he might bear the punishment for sin through his most agonizing death and suffering. God therefore displayed his justice toward his Son, who bore the burden of our sins, and poured out his goodness and mercy on us, even though we were guilty and deserved condemnation. In perfect love, he gave his Son over to death and raised him for our justification, so that through him we might have immortality and eternal life.
Read the original Latin
Nous croyons que Dieu étant très parfaitement miséricordieux et aussi très juste, a envoyé son Fils prendre la nature en laquelle la désobéissance avait été commise, pour porter, en elle, la punition du péché par sa très rigoureuse mort et passion Dieu donc a déclaré sa justice envers son Fils, chargé de nos péchés, et a répandu sa bonté et miséricorde sur nous, coupables et dignes de damnation, nous donnant son Fils à la mort, par un très parfait amour, et le ressuscitant pour notre justification; afin que par lui nous eussions immortalité et vie éternelle.
The Belgic Confession companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit