“We should not become despondent or despair because of our sin and because we are great sinners; for God has caused the forgiveness of sins to be publicly proclaimed to all who honestly recognize and confess their sins and to be offered to everybody, no one excluded. Nor will he change his mind. He remains true in his word forever and ever and keeps faith with men.”[i]
Justification by grace through faith is the central doctrine in Christendom.[ii] The Augsburg Confession clearly states, “Men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works but are freely justified for Christ’s sake through faith when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven on account of Christ.” The word “justify” means to declare righteous, free from sins and from the eternal punishment of these sins. Human justification occurs because of the righteousness of Christ.[iii] “Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.” (Rom.8:33-34) The Apology states “Justification is regeneration,”[iv] “that is, justification before God is regeneration, just as St. Paul uses the terms discriminately when he states, ‘He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing in the Holy Spirit’” (Titus3:5)[v]
“As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (Gal.3:27) Luther explains justification as the concept of marriage to Christ.[vi] In Luther’s Palm Sunday sermon, he preached about “two kinds of righteousness, saying “The first is alien righteousness. This is the righteousness of Christ by which he justifies through faith. Just as a bridegroom possesses all that is his bride’s and she all that is his – for the two have all things in common because they are one flesh (Gen.2:24) – so Christ and the church are one spirit. The second kind of righteousness is our proper righteousness, not because we alone work it, but because we work with that first and alien righteousness. In the first place, in slaying the flesh and crucifying the desires with respect to the self, in the second place, this righteousness consists in love to one’s neighbor, and in the third place, in meekness and fear toward God.”[vii]
[i] Martin Luther, What Luther Says: an Anthology (Saint Louis (Miss): Concordia Publishing House, 1986), 1321. Table talk 6, no.6664
[ii] Theodore Tappert, The Book of Concord (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1989), 540.6
[iii] Ibid., 541.7
[iv] Ibid., 117.78
[v] Ibid., 542.19
[vi] See also. The Book of Concord, 539.2
[vii] Martin Luther, Luther's Works, Volume 31: Career of the Reformer I (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1957), 297, 299.
Justification by grace through faith is the central doctrine in Christendom.[ii] The Augsburg Confession clearly states, “Men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works but are freely justified for Christ’s sake through faith when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven on account of Christ.” The word “justify” means to declare righteous, free from sins and from the eternal punishment of these sins. Human justification occurs because of the righteousness of Christ.[iii] “Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.” (Rom.8:33-34) The Apology states “Justification is regeneration,”[iv] “that is, justification before God is regeneration, just as St. Paul uses the terms discriminately when he states, ‘He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing in the Holy Spirit’” (Titus3:5)[v]
“As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (Gal.3:27) Luther explains justification as the concept of marriage to Christ.[vi] In Luther’s Palm Sunday sermon, he preached about “two kinds of righteousness, saying “The first is alien righteousness. This is the righteousness of Christ by which he justifies through faith. Just as a bridegroom possesses all that is his bride’s and she all that is his – for the two have all things in common because they are one flesh (Gen.2:24) – so Christ and the church are one spirit. The second kind of righteousness is our proper righteousness, not because we alone work it, but because we work with that first and alien righteousness. In the first place, in slaying the flesh and crucifying the desires with respect to the self, in the second place, this righteousness consists in love to one’s neighbor, and in the third place, in meekness and fear toward God.”[vii]
[i] Martin Luther, What Luther Says: an Anthology (Saint Louis (Miss): Concordia Publishing House, 1986), 1321. Table talk 6, no.6664
[ii] Theodore Tappert, The Book of Concord (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1989), 540.6
[iii] Ibid., 541.7
[iv] Ibid., 117.78
[v] Ibid., 542.19
[vi] See also. The Book of Concord, 539.2
[vii] Martin Luther, Luther's Works, Volume 31: Career of the Reformer I (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1957), 297, 299.