Read the Westminster Standards in a year.

Larger Catechism

Q 52. How was Christ exalted in his resurrection?

A. Christ was exalted in his resurrection, in that, not having seen corruption in death, (of which it was not possible for him to be held,1) and having the very same body in which he suffered, with the essential properties thereof,2 (but without mortality, and other common infirmities belonging to this life,) really united to his soul,3 he rose again from the dead the third day by his own power;4 whereby he declared himself to be the Son of God,5 to have satisfied divine justice,6 to have vanquished death, and him that had the power of it,7 and to be Lord of quick and dead:8 all which he did as a public person,9 the head of his church,10 for their justification,11 quickening in grace,12 support against enemies,13 and to assure them of their resurrection from the dead at the last day.14


  1. Acts 2:24

    God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

    Acts 2:27

    For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
    or let your Holy One see corruption. (ESV)

    ↩︎
  2. Luke 24:39

    See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (ESV)

    ↩︎
  3. Romans 6:9

    We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.

    Revelation 1:18

    and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. (ESV)

    ↩︎
  4. John 10:18

    No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (ESV)

    ↩︎
  5. Romans 1:4

    and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, (ESV)

    ↩︎
  6. Romans 8:34

    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.

    Romans 3:25-26

    whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

    Hebrews 9:13-14

    For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (ESV)

    ↩︎
  7. Hebrews 2:14

    Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, (ESV)

    ↩︎
  8. Romans 14:9

    For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. (ESV)

    ↩︎
  9. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22

    For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

    Isaiah 53:10-11

    Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;
    when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
    the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
    Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
    by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
    make many to be accounted righteous,
    and he shall bear their iniquities. (ESV)

    ↩︎
  10. Ephesians 1:20-23

    that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

    Colossians 1:18

    And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. (ESV)

    ↩︎
  11. Romans 4:25

    who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. (ESV)

    ↩︎
  12. Ephesians 2:1

    2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

    Ephesians 2:5-6

    even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

    Colossians 2:12

    having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. (ESV)

    ↩︎
  13. 1 Corinthians 15:25-27

    For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.

    Psalm 2:7-9

    I will tell of the decree:
    The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
    today I have begotten you.
    Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
    and the ends of the earth your possession.
    You shall break them with a rod of iron
    and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” (ESV)

    ↩︎
  14. 1 Corinthians 15:20

    But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

    1 Thessalonians 4:14

    For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. (ESV)

    ↩︎


Please submit corrections or feedback.

follow on facebook · follow on twitter
subscribe by rss · subscribe by e-mail
subscribe to podcast:
readmachen.com · reformeddeacon.com · ulsterworldly.com

Copyright © Tim Hopper. Based on Calendar of Readings in the Westminster Standards by Dr. Joey Pipa. Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.