Global Anglican Commentary

Article 5. Proclaiming and Submitting to Christ

By Fr Hunter Van Wagenen

Article 5

We gladly proclaim and submit to the unique and universal Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humanity’s only Saviour from sin, judgement and hell, who lived the life we could not live and died the death that we deserve. By his atoning death and glorious resurrection, he secured the redemption of all who come to him in repentance and faith.

Stained glass window of Christ the King in the transept of St. John’s, Ashefield, Diocese of Sydney.

Why we proclaim and submit

The essays thus far have highlighted the importance of a rule of faith. We follow this rule by submitting ourselves to Scripture, the Creeds and Councils of the Universal Church, and the Thirty-Nine Articles of our own tradition. But why does doctrine matter? Why were our forebearers in the faith so exacting? It is precisely because they sought to be obedient to the Lordship of Jesus Christ as he is revealed in the Scriptures.

To accept the Gospel and receive its benefits is a matter of allegiance; it will not do for us to serve another lord or master, nor may we trust in another gospel, lest we fall into slavery to sin. Only the true Lord Jesus can say, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). It is through the labor of obedience to Christ, through taking his yoke and learning from him in his gentleness and lowliness of heart,1 that he leads us out of captivity to vain philosophy, human tradition, and the elemental spirits of this world,2 so we can say with Richard Hooker, “His yoke is easy and His burden is light, not because He exacteth less, but because to love Him maketh obedience sweet.”3

Unique and universal Lordship of Jesus Christ

Why is allegiance such a core issue for Christians? Because there is, in fact, much competition for human attention, worship, and allegiance. Though we confess one God, we acknowledge with St. Paul that there are many “gods” and “lords” in heaven and earth that seek to steal what rightfully belongs to God alone.4 The false promises of religions that cannot save are myriad: Rabbinic Judaism rejects Jesus as the Messiah, Islam rejects the divinity and work of Christ, Buddhism promises union through atomization, Hinduism demands the worship of false gods, etc. These and other false religions are incompatible with the claims of Christ Jesus.

Christ’s competitors are not only to be found in temples, mosques, and shrines, but also in stadiums, concert venues, political offices, and on screens in our homes and pockets. There are political leaders who claim authority over many; there are celebrities and athletes who draw away the attention of many; there are principalities and powers at work in the unseen realm that direct the course of this world in many ways. But there is no other way to God. To give our ultimate allegiance to any of these idols rather than to God’s Christ alone is to incur his wrath.5

Though these idols are many, though they wield great power and would divert us from standing firm,6 Jesus Christ—by his Resurrection—is sovereign over them all.7 Indeed, they would have no authority were it not the will of God.8 Though they masquerade as angels of light,9 they will die like men.10 In his death Jesus proclaimed humanity’s victory over the angels,11 in his Resurrection he demonstrated his power over the devil,12 and in his Ascension he exalted those who trust in him to dwell with him in the heavenly places.13 His authority is of an entirely different kind, being the One to whom every knee, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will bend.14

Son of God and Son of Man

Our Lord’s exaltation, however, is that of authority made perfect in weakness.15 The uniqueness of Christ’s lordship lies not only in its scope but in its origin and nature. Though he was the only-begotten Son of God—God of God and light of light—he chose to empty himself by assuming our humanity into his Godhead.16 Through the Incarnation, in the person of Jesus Christ, humankind is united with the One by whom all things were made. In this union, heaven and earth meet; God initiates his restoration of all things. The human nature that fell into sin, that failed the test of obedience in the Garden, has now been united with the One who has the power to restore all things in himself. As E.L. Mascall says, “the ultimate purpose of the Incarnation is not just the re-creation of human nature in Jesus, but the re-creation of the whole human race into him; and this involves that, as its representative, he shall in his human nature himself undergo the pains that both the physical and the moral constitution of the universe involve for the fallen human race as a consequence of its defection from the condition in which, and for which, it was first created.”17 For this reason the Son of God and Son of Man is humanity’s only means of salvation.

Only Savior from sin, judgment, and hell

Just as there are many “gods” and “lords” in heaven and earth, so there are many that claim the title “savior.” From Caesar Augustus to modern public officials, political leaders have often claimed to be saviors from poverty, military defeat, ignominy, and chaos. Revolutionaries have claimed to be saviors from oppression. Doctors, self-help gurus, and others have claimed to be saviors from disease, mental anguish, and spiritual malaise. Without dismissing the God-given authority of leaders (Romans 13:1) or the aid of physicians (Sirach 38:1-8), we must recognize that there is no merely human cure for sin and hell. Only through the Incarnation do we have the cure: “For God alone is able, and man alone ought to make satisfaction; it is necessary that a God-man should make it.”18

For a time God has been patient with the ignorant who seek cures apart from him, but he now commands men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). Once ignorant of God, we now know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2).

  • Only the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse the repentant from sin (1 John 1:7-9).
  • Only Jesus Christ, the King and Judge, can prepare us for the day of Judgment (John 5:22-24).
  • Only Jesus Christ can give mankind the grace to walk the narrow path of salvation and avoid the broad and easy road to everlasting condemnation (Matthew 7:13-14).

There is only one name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved: Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).

Atonement, Resurrection, and Redemption

We call the means of this salvation through Jesus Christ atonement. The word was coined by William Tyndale to express the cosmic reconciliation accomplished through the cultic system of the Old Covenant.19 Through the sacrifice, man was restored to at-one-ment with God; man was reconciled to God. Just as the high priest placed the sins of all people on the scapegoat to carry their iniquity out of the camp, so Christ took the iniquity of the whole world on himself and bore it “out of the camp” that we might be restored to the fellowship of God within the camp.20

Indeed, as Christ descended, he bore the sins of the world out of the world and put sin itself in the grave. He delivered those captive to death by the blood of his covenant and led them into life in triumphal procession.21 Rather than suffering defeat under death’s dominion, he suffered and was subjected to death, that he might form a new congregation.22 Just as the high priest slew the atonement sacrifice each year and cleansed the Temple from the stain of sin with its blood, so by the blood of Jesus Christ is the new Temple, the Church, made a clean and fit dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. By raising Jesus from the dead and exalting him to the heavenly throne, God has confirmed the acceptable and sufficient nature of this sacrifice. So Jesus is the great High Priest of the New Testament forever.

Likewise, because the Passover lamb was sacrificed in Egypt and then yearly as a sacred meal to signify Israel’s association with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, therefore, by Christ’s blood Christians are marked as belonging to the same God.23 Thus we are saved from death, thus the debt of slavery to sin is redeemed, and the wages of sin—death—has been paid out in full. Like the Israelites, we celebrate and make present this saving reality with the regular meal of the New Passover, Holy Communion.24

The Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins

In the New Passover of the Lord’s Supper we celebrate the memorial of Christ’s one oblation of himself once offered for the forgiveness of sins that we might dwell in Christ and he in us. This reconciling atonement is available to all those who sincerely repent and with true faith turn unto and submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we bid all Christians of good will (and all Anglicans especially!) to turn and repent. Repent of your sins that you might be restored to the fellowship of atonement with God.

  • Repent of following after the spirit of the age, or other gods and lords, to the neglect of God’s Word, and instead hold fast to Christ as the way, the truth, and the life.
  • Repent of denying sin’s presence in your life, and instead come to Christ for cleansing.
  • Repent of denying the reality of God’s judgment, and instead come to Christ for forgiveness.
  • Repent of walking or leading others on the wide way to destruction, and instead seek the narrow way of salvation through Christ, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures.

Submit to the Lord Jesus Christ—for his yoke is easy and his burden is light—and you will be saved.

  1. Matthew 11:29 ↩︎

  2. Colossians 2:8 ↩︎

  3. Richard Hooker, Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, V.67.9 ↩︎

  4. 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 ↩︎

  5. Psalm 2:12 ↩︎

  6. Ephesians 6:10-12 ↩︎

  7. Ephesians 1:21-23, 1 Peter 3:21-22 ↩︎

  8. Deuteronomy 32:8, John 19:11 ↩︎

  9. 2 Corinthians 11:14 ↩︎

  10. Psalm 82:6-7 ↩︎

  11. 1 Peter 3:19 ↩︎

  12. Romans 1:4, Hebrews 2:14 ↩︎

  13. Psalm 68:18, Colossians 3:3, Hebrews 1:3 ↩︎

  14. Philippians 2:9-11 ↩︎

  15. 2 Corinthians 12:9 ↩︎

  16. Philippians 2:6-9 and “The Athanasian Creed,” Book of Common Prayer (2019), pg. 771. ↩︎

  17. E.L. Mascall, Christ, the Christian, and the Church, ed. Gerald McDermott (Hendrickson Publishers: Peabody, MA: 2017), pg.69. ↩︎

  18. St. Anselm, Cur Deus Homo II.7. ↩︎

  19. Alistair McGrath in The Word of God in English: Criteria for Excellence in Bible Translation by Leland Ryken (Crossway: Wheaton, IL, 2002), pg. 61. ↩︎

  20. Leviticus 16:21-22; Hebrews 13:12 ↩︎

  21. Zechariah 9:11, Ephesians 4:8 ↩︎

  22. Romans 6:9, Psalm 22:22 ↩︎

  23. See these lines from the Exsultet in the Liturgy for the Great Vigil of Easter: “It is truly right and good, always and everywhere, / with our whole heart and mind and voice to praise you, / the invisible, almighty, and eternal God, / and your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ our Lord; / who paid for us the debt of Adam’s sin, / and by his blood delivered your faithful people; / for he is the true Paschal Lamb, the very Lamb of God, / whose blood marks the doorposts of believers / and makes us holy.” (Book of Common Prayer 2019, 584) ↩︎

  24. See the excellent passage from Melito of Sardis: “So come all families of people, adulterated with sin, and receive the forgiveness of sins. For I am your freedom. I am the Passover of salvation, I am the lamb slaughtered for you, I am your ransom, I am your life, I am your light, I am your salvation, I am your resurrection, I am your King. I shall raise you up by my right hand, I will lead you to the heights of heaven, there shall I show you the everlasting Father." (On Pascha, 103). ↩︎