The Incarnation

So then we confess that God fulfilled the promise made to the early fathers by the mouth of his holy prophets¹ when he sent his only and eternal Son into the world at the time appointed.² The Son took the form of a servant and was made in human likeness,³ truly assuming a real human nature, with all its weaknesses, except for sin;⁴ being conceived in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, without male participation.⁵ And Christ not only assumed human nature as far as the body is concerned but also a real human soul, in order that he might be a real human being. For since the soul had been lost as well as the body, Christ had to assume them both to save them both together.

Therefore we confess, against the heresy of the Anabaptists who deny that Christ assumed human flesh from his mother, that he "shared the very flesh and blood of children";⁶ that he is "fruit of the loins of David" according to the flesh;⁷ "born of the seed of David" according to the flesh;⁸ "fruit of the womb of the virgin Mary";⁹ "born of a woman";¹⁰ the seed of David;¹¹ a shoot from the root of Jesse;¹² the offspring of Judah,¹³ having descended from the Jews according to the flesh; from the seed of Abraham—for he "assumed Abraham's seed" and was "made like his brothers except for sin."¹⁴ In this way Christ is truly our Immanuel—that is, "God with us."¹⁵