FOR US

and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate

We continue our meditation of the object of Christ’s death by which God made him “for us” to be the wisdom and power of God unto salvation in the place of all who believe (Rom.1:16-17; 1Cor.1:18, 21, 30-31). Believers are the object of Christ’s joy in his death and resurrection (Heb.12:2). Therefore, let that sink into your soul so that the joy of salvation wells up into your spirit to live worthy of the calling of the newness of life in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. How does a vile, filthy, hell-deserving sinner become the object of God’s joy? It depends on you now to recognize “the shame” that Christ despised in his death and sufferings and to face that shame before you arise to face it in the face of God without the Advocacy of Jesus Christ (Ps.73:20 NKJV; Rev.20:11; 2Cor.5:9-11; 1Jn.1:5-2:1; Ps.17:15 NKJV).

By way of review, I want to dive deeper into the previous statement “Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man” before we march on to this next statement about “the work” God has done “for us” in the face of Jesus Christ and compare it with the Apostles’ Creed to draw out more of the spiritual roots of our fathers according to the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).

The Nicene Creed refers to Christ’s virgin birth as an incarnation, whereas the Apostles’ Creed speaks of it as a conception. Both are true and are really saying the same thing at the core of the faith. But conception is critical to note (and emphasize) because of what it materially highlights in the incarnation. The Christ of the Old Testament was a “pre-incarnation,” which did not require a conception for that season of time, space, and matter according to the basic principles of the world (science) (Col.2:8, 20). The pre-carnation is Christ in angelic form (Judg.13 /emphasis: vs.20-23); in other words, his resurrected body entering into the dimension of history from the perfections of the eternal perspective of that history (Gen.1:31-2:4a; Heb.4:3-5). Therefore, the term conception distinquishes the type of body he had entered into the world through by the virgin Mary (Rom.8:3; Phil.2:5-8). The angelic form is the perfected flesh and spirit of the (incorruptible) soul (1Cor.15:36-40; 1Pet.1:23; Jn.1:14; 1Pet.3:4; 1Cor.15:50, 54; Rev.22:8-9), but the human form is the sinful flesh of Adam’s corruption of the (corruptible) soul (1Cor.15:45).

But Jesus of Nazareth was not conceived of a corruptible soul but of the Holy Spirit (Ps.51:5-6, 9-12), joining the incorruptible soul of the eternal co-existence of the self-sustaining life of himself in the co-equal Being of God’s Triune Spirit (Jn.5:26), of the promised Christ (Gen.3:15; Col.1:15-20), to “her” seed of faith (Jn.4:21-24; Lk.1:38), in the form of the sinful flesh of her contribution as the judgment of Adam’s corruption of the soul and body (1Cor.11:10-12; Gen.1:26 mast), whereby “the likeness” of the spiritual image is perfected through the contribution of the heavenly man (Rom.5:14; Matt.5:48; 1Cor.15:46-49; Eph.4:13; Col.1:28; Heb.2:10; 5:9; 7:19, 28; 10:1, 14; 11:40; 12:23; James 1:17). Therefore, Christ is “Truth” incarnate (Jn.1:14; 14:6), Who, in bodily form, was conceived not by two seeds but one seed that was sanctified through the predestination of the Father’s decree of election (Heb.10:5; Jn.10:36; Acts. 17:26; Heb.10:28-29; Dt.32:3-8 /emphasis: v.8; Jn.4:22-24; Gal.3:16).

That’s the conception of the incarnation, but the virgin faith of Mary carried this conception by faith full term to the “birth” of the promised seed as a demonstration of obedience to the power of the Word spoken (and promised) to her at every opposition that she would have been forced to face with an explanation of this virgin conception. Therefore, the consequences that she would face by the external reproach and shame that she would bear would have raped her soul in the inward parts to carry this holy promise full term and into the duration of her earthly life as the reproach would increase with sufferings without end until her natural death (Lk.2:34-35; Matt.1:18-25). But Mary did not “know” the sign by which the promise would come as Joseph was made to know (and understand) being the kin of David (Matt.1:22-24), which made her virgin faith truly unleavened through her untainted innocence of the Holy Spirit, but she did know God as God even though she knew not God as a man (Lk.1:34-35). She was just and upright in respect to her relationship to God through the law (Lk.1:6, 26-33). But this virgin faith would bring reproach on her through the law, making her vile in the eyes of men (1Pet.4:14; Heb.11:24-26; 13:13; Rom.7:1-6; 8:1-4; 15:3; Jn.3:6-8). Therefore, everyone who is born from above bears the reproach of this spiritual rape of the corruptible soul whereby the Holy Spirit ravishes it with the sovereignty of God’s irresistible grace and transforms it into an incorruptible soul by the gift of a new spirit of the same likeness of the Holy Spirit (Rom.9:20-24; Ezk.11:19).

But now we come to the statement, “and was crucified under Pontius Pilate.” Very similar to the Apostles’ Creed, there is a mention of the Roman crucifixion and suffering under the hand of evil, but this was all predestined through the Father’s loving decree by which God has foreknown the church in every aspect of our salvation (Rom.8:28-30; Acts 2:23). But the thrust of the point of both creeds is the historical and political mark of the identity of the man who purposely put the Christ to death. Regardless of what tradition has said about the importance of the mention of Pilate in the creeds, his identity holds great value as a testimony of the historical event in Roman history. It gives a reference point to the accuracy of the testimony of Scripture coming together for the most important event in world history. No one can deny that Pilate existed as much as no one can deny that Jesus of Nazareth existed, whereby the divine appointment of these two persons kissed with a holy kiss (Jn.19:19-22). Therefore, though Christ was made to suffer under sin through an excruciating death, sin had no possession of his incorruptible soul at any point in these sufferings. Therefore, sin never had dominion and control of Him because of His union to the Father’s will (Jn.19:7-11), learning obedience through his human sufferings (Heb.5:8), taking us captive for the glory of God in the face of his sufferings for us who are the object of His joy in the face of His shame and reproach for our sins (2Cor.3:18; 4:5-6; Eph.4:8). Therefore, Pilate is a significant instrument that God has used to bring salvation to us through a corruptible conscience.

According to Gallican usage there was no further declaratory creed in the baptismal service itself. One appeared, as we saw, in the usage of certain Eastern churches immediately after the renunciation of the devil, but it may be suspected that this is, as it were, a bridge between the rites of the catechumenate and of the baptism.

11 J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, Third Edition. (London; New York: Continuum, 2006), 40.