Jesus said to the blind man: “Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? and Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him.” John 9:35–38.
“Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed,” etc. John 20:28,29.
“In his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” 1 John 5:20,21. Rom. 9:5.
_Of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, God and man in one person, and the necessity of believing it._ Of this we confess: That it is necessary for all Christians to believe that the knowledge of the only Son of the Father, is, as one of the principal articles of our faith, in the highest degree essential unto salvation. It is therefore not sufficient to know Christ only after the flesh, or his humanity; as, that he was born of Mary, and became like unto us in all things, except sin; but we must also (which is the most important) know him after the Spirit, and his eternal Godhead; that is, that he before all time, in eternity, in an unspeakable manner, was born of or proceeded from the true God his Father, and that he is the true real Word and Wisdom, which proceeded from the mouth of the Most High, and which for this reason, was equal with his Father in brightness, glory, power, might and eternal Godhead, before the foundation of the world. And that this only Son of God, for our justification, became a visible man, that by his present, visible humanity--which is not of this tabernacle or sinful substance, but in essence far different from sinners--he might give us a holy, unblamable example in doctrine and conversation, in order thus to incite all men to follow him.
And that according to his divine power and might he was able to deliver us from the captivity of sin, hell, the devil, and death, and save us forever; seeing no other means or name in heaven or on earth is given unto men for salvation. To this end, Christ was made unto us, of God, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Hence neither Moses with his threatening and punishing law of commandments, nor Aaron with the entire Levitical priesthood, and all their sacrifices and offerings, which were made only for remembrance of sins, and consequently, passed by polluted mankind without affording them any help (for no corruptible man could redeem his brother, and reconcile him with God; as all human, sinful substance was not able to redeem the soul from eternal death); but this was fulfilled and accomplished by the slain Lamb, which was foreordained and was manifest in these last times. He restored that which he had not taken away. He, the innocent one, took the guilt of us all upon him, and only he was found worthy in heaven and earth, to open the book with its seven seals. And by his coming into this world (which can never be sufficiently praised), he opened the entrance to the kingdom of God, which was closed by sin, not by the blood of bulls and goats, or of any corruptible man, nor by corruptible silver or gold; but Christ paid and accomplished this by his own dear and precious blood, thereby obtaining an eternal redemption.
And as the sun in the heavens is endowed by God with a glorious splendor, so that it is the eye of the world, which illuminates the darkness, and spreads its beautiful light over all visible things, and receives nothing from any of them; so also Christ Jesus, the true Sun of righteousness, and what is still more, the Creator and Ruler of the sun, and of all things, did not take to his assistance any created substance, by which to accomplish the work of our salvation; but came with his most praiseworthy light from God out of heaven, and shone into this dark world, where he was received, and arose, as the beautiful day-star, in the hearts of many men; and was thus a Giver, but not a recipient. Hence, the praise and honor for this redemption must be ascribed to the only God of heaven and earth, and not to any created man; otherwise we would rob the Creator of his proper honor, and ascribe the same to sinful, created flesh like unto ourselves; thereby making flesh our arm, Redeemer, God and Savior; and thus departing with our hearts from God our Salvation, we should fall into damnable idolatry, seeking life from the dead, where it cannot be found.