Can any mere creature pay for us?

No. In the first place, God will not punish another creature for the sin which man has committed. Furthermore, no mere creature can sustain the burden of God’s eternal wrath against sin and deliver others from it.

Scripture proofs King James Version

Ezek. 18:4, 20 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. ... The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Heb. 2:14-18 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
Ps. 130:3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
Nah. 1:6 Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

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Edition & Source Public domain

Source: The Heidelberg Catechism
Translation: English translation as published by apuritansmind.com; Scripture proofs: King James Version
Published: First published 1563
Original URL: apuritansmind.com/creeds-and-confessions/the-heidelberg-catechism-by-zacharias-ursinus/
Copyright: Public domain.
License: Public domain
Attribution: Public domain. Text transcribed from apuritansmind.com, which reformed.org's historic-documents index links to. Compared automatically with the PDF at heidelberg-catechism.com, which is the same translation family: 217 of 258 questions and answers matched. Of the 41 that did not, I checked 18 by hand: Q12, Q18, Q27, Q56 and Q61 differ in wording, and the others were page-layout noise in the PDF; the remaining 23 were not checked by hand. Not yet proofread against a printed edition. Part divisions are the standard ones (Q1–2 introduction; Q3–11 misery; Q12–85 deliverance; Q86–129 thankfulness). The question 23 creed text had verse-number markers removed. Scripture proof texts are the King James Version, from the public-domain Project Gutenberg edition, added with tools/add_kjv.py. A few references could not be matched to verses (whole-chapter references such as ‘Genesis 1 throughout’, and typing slips in the source) and are shown without text.

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Cite as The Heidelberg Catechism. First published 1563. https://www.apuritansmind.com/creeds-and-confessions/the-heidelberg-catechism-by-zacharias-ursinus/