Q: Why did Christ have to go all the way to death?
A: Because God's justice and truth demand it:1
only the death of God's Son could pay for our sin.2
1 Gen. 2:17
2 Rom. 8:3-4; Phil. 2:8; Heb. 2:9
Q: Why was he "buried"?
A: His burial testifies
that he really died.1
1 Isa. 53:9; John 19:38-42; Acts 13:29; 1 Cor. 15:3-4
Q: Since Christ has died for us, why do we still have to die?
A: Our death does not pay the debt of our sins.1
Rather, it puts an end to our sinning
and is our entrance into eternal life.2
1 Ps. 49:7
2 John 5:24; Phil. 1:21-23; 1 Thess. 5:9-10
Q: Why does the creed add, "He descended to hell"?
A: To assure me in times of personal crisis and temptation
that Christ my Lord,
by suffering unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul,
especially on the cross but also earlier,
has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell.1
1 Isa. 53; Matt. 26:36-46; 27:45-46; Luke 22:44; Heb. 5:7-10