1. What is the signification of the word to justify as used in this article?
It means the same as to release from sin and the eternal punishment of sins, or to declare righteous; in which sense this word is sometimes used in the Scriptures.
Prov. 17:15. He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the righteous, even they both are abomination to the Lord.
Isa. 5:23. Woe unto them which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him.
Rom. 8:33. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth (i.e., who releases from sins). (Form of Concord, Epitome, Art. iii, 7; Sol. Dec., Art. iii, 17.)
2. How do you define man’s justification before God?
Justification is a work of God, by which, out of pure grace, or gratuitously, he releases from sin the sinner who believes in Christ; grants him forgiveness of the same, and so imputes the righteousness of Christ to him, that being most fully reconciled and adopted as a son, he is freed from the guilt and punishment of sin, and obtains eternal blessedness.
3. How many parts does our righteousness before God include?
Two; one of which is privative. For God removes that which exists in us, i.e., out of mere grace, without any regard to our works, he forgives sins. Another is positive. For God gives us what does not exist or inhere in us, i.e., he imputes to us the righteousness of Christ’s obedience. Both of which parts are expressed in Scripture by the one word, imputation. Rom. 4:2-6. Hence our righteousness is called imputative.
Rom. 4:2-6. For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.
4. In order to understand these things more fully I desire to know what you consider the causes of our justification?
There are three causes of our justification:
- The grace of God;
- The merit of Christ;
- Faith, which in the promise of the Gospel accepts these divine blessings. (Form of Concord, Sol. Dec., Art. iii, 25.)
5. What do you understand by the grace of God?
Not an infused condition of love, as the Papists imagine; but the gratuitous and truly paternal favor of divine mercy, and the immense love of God, through which he, moved by no merit whatever of ours, was led to pity us; and determined, on account of the merit or obedience alone of the Son, appropriated by faith, to receive believers into grace, to pardon their sins, and at length to save them eternally. (Form of Concord, Sol. Dec., Art. iii, 30, 62.)
6. Does Scripture also define the grace of God in this same manner?
Precisely.
Eph. 2:4, 5, 7. God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved), that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us.
2 Tim. 1:9. Who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.
Titus 3:5. According to his mercy he saved us.
Rom. 3:24. Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
7. Why do you refer to the merit of Christ as one of the causes of justification?
For two reasons:
First. Because grace and the mercy of God have their source in Christ, and without this merit of Christ they are applied to no one.
Secondly. Because Christ alone trod the wine-press of divine wrath, Isa. 63:3; and liberated us from the power of death and hell, Hos. 13:14; from the curse of the law, Gal. 4:5; from the servitude of death, and the dominion of him who has the power of death, namely, the devil; because by his obedience he made us righteous, Rom. 5:19; 10:4; and, finally, because the merit of Christ has satisfied divine justice.
Isa. 63:3. I have trodden the wine-press alone; and of the people there was none with me.
Hos. 13:14. I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.
Gal. 4:4, 5. God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that they might receive the adoption of sons.
Rom. 5:19. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Rom. 10:4. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Gal. 3:13. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.
8. What do you understand by the merit of Christ?
I understand the obedience of Christ, not only that in which by means of his entire passion and death, he obeyed the Father, but also that, in which for our sake, he of his own accord subjected himself to the law of God, and fulfilled it; so that God, on account of this entire obedience which, both by his actions and sufferings, Christ afforded for us, forgives our sins, accounts us as good and righteous, and bestows upon us eternal salvation.
Rom. 5:19. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Form of Concord.)
Therefore that righteousness which God out of pure grace imputes to faith or believers, is the obedience, suffering and resurrection of Christ, by which he satisfied the law on our behalf, and atoned for our sins. For since Christ is not only man, but also God, in one undivided person, in himself he was no more subject to the law than he was to death, inasmuch as he was the Lord of the law. On this account, his obedience (including not only that in which he obeyed his Father in all his suffering and death, but also that in which on our behalf he subjected himself to the law, and fulfilled it) is imputed to him for righteousness, so that God, on account of the entire obedience which Christ, in laboring and suffering, in life and death, afforded his heavenly Father for us, forgives our sins, accounts us as good and righteous, and bestows upon us eternal salvation. (Form of Concord, Art. iii, 14-16.)
9. Is Christ our righteousness according to his divine nature only, or according to his human nature only, or according to both?
Not according to his divine nature only, as Osiander imagined; neither according to his human nature only, as Stancarus fancied. But Christ is our righteousness, according to both natures, because he is our righteousness, in his sole, entire and perfect obedience, as God and man. For his human nature alone without his divine, neither by its obedience, nor by its suffering, could have made satisfaction to an eternal and almighty God for the sins of the whole world, and thus have appeased his infinite wrath. A divine nature, too, alone, without a human nature, could not have fulfilled the office of a mediator between God and man.
For even if Christ had been conceived by the Holy Ghost and been born without sin, and in his human nature alone had fulfiled all righteousness, and yet had not been true and eternal God, the obedience and suffering of his human nature could not be imputed to us for righteousness; and, on the other hand, if the Son of God had not become man, his divine nature alone could not be our righteousness. Wherefore, we believe, teach, and confess, that the entire obedience of the entire person of Christ, which he afforded on our behalf, even to the most ignominious death upon the cross, is imputed to us for righteousness. (Form of Concord, Art. iii, 56.)
10. Show from the Scriptures that Christ is our righteousness according to both natures?
Isa. 35:4. Your God will come with a vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you.
Jer. 23:6. The Lord our righteousness.
Rom. 8:32. God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.
Gal. 4:4. God sent forth his Son, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.
1 John 3:8. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
2 Cor. 5:19. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.
Col. 1:20. God in Christ, having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.
1 Tim. 2:5. One mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
11. Why do you mention faith among the causes of justification?
Because faith alone is that means and instrument by which we can appropriate and receive the grace of God, the merit of Christ, and that righteousness found in him which alone can endure God’s judgment. (Form of Concord, Sol. Dec., Art. iii, 10.)
For faith does not justify because it is such a good work, or such an excellent virtue, but because in the promise of the Gospel, it apprehends and embraces the merit of Christ; for if we wish to be justified by this merit, it should be applied to us through faith. (Form of Concord, Sol. Dec., Art. iii, 13.)
Neither contrition, nor love, nor any other virtue, but faith alone, is the only means and instrument, by which we can apprehend and receive the grace of God, the merit of Christ, and the forgiveness of sins, all of which blessings are offered us in the promise of the Gospel. (Art. iii, 31.)
12. What is justifying faith?
Justifying faith is not mere historical knowledge of Christ; but it is a great gift of God, by which, in the Gospel, we correctly recognize Christ as our Redeemer, and trust in him, that alone on account of his obedience, we obtain the gratuitous forgiveness of sins, are considered holy and righteous in the sight of God the Father, and obtain eternal salvation. (Form of Concord, Epitome, Art. iii, 6.)
13. Do the Holy Scriptures speak in the same manner of justifying faith?
They do. For that faith is not mere historical knowledge or only a general assent (which is afforded, likewise, by the children of the world, yea, even by the devils themselves, who are not on this account justified), is clearly evident from one passage, James 2:19. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe and tremble. (Augsburg Confession, Art. xx.)
14. Ought not justifying faith therefore to be defined by knowledge?
It should. For this very knowledge or general assent is an essential requisite presupposed in saving faith.
Isa. 53:11. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many.
15. How do you prove that in addition to this, faith is likewise a firm trust?
That justifying faith is likewise a trust apprehending the promise of the Gospel, is evident from the fact that Scripture calls it πληροφορία, i.e., a sure conviction of the mind concerning our salvation.
Rom. 4:21. And being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Col. 2:2. That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of the understanding.
Heb. 6:11. We desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope to the end.
In other passages it is called πεποίθησις, full trust.
Rom. 8:38. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor principalities, nor powers, etc., . . . shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
2 Cor. 3:4. Such trust have we through Christ to Godward.
Eph. 3:12. In whom we have boldness and access, with confidence, by the faith of him.
Likewise, παρρησία, a trust of divine grace and mercy without any fear or timidity.
Eph. 3:12. (Above.)
Heb. 3:6. But Christ as a Son over his own house, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
1 John 2:28. And now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall appear we may have confidence.
Likewise, ὑπόστασις and ἔλεγχος, an immovable basis and foundation, an argument without doubt, by which the believer is convinced in his conscience of the certainty of those things which he believes.
Heb. 11:1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
16. What is the true and proper object of justifying faith?
The special promise of the Gospel concerning the gratuitous forgiveness of sins, through and on account of the merit of Christ, appropriated by firm trust; or, what is essentially the same, the object of justifying faith is the merit of Christ offered in the promise of the Gospel. (Form of Concord, Sol. Dec., Art. iii, 13.)
17. Prove from Scripture that man is justified by faith?
Rom. 3:28. We conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Gal. 2:16. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law.
Phil. 3:9, 10. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through faith; the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection.
Eph. 2:8, 9. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Apology, Art. ii.)
18. But may not these passages, perhaps, mean that faith affords a beginning of justification, which afterwards is perfected and completed through works?
By no means. For that this is not so, is clearly evident from the fact that Paul writes that Abraham was justified before God, by faith alone without works, and through a mediator. This, too, is said of him, not only when he had just been converted from idolatry, and had not as yet any good works, Gen. 11:31; but even afterwards, when, renewed by the Holy Ghost, he was endowed with many excellent gifts.
Gen. 15:6. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it for righteousness.
Rom. 4:3-6 (see above, Q. 3.)
Heb. 11:8, sqq. By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place, which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed, etc. (The Apostle here shows this by a number of examples.) (Form of Concord, Sol. Dec., Art. iii, 33.)
The apostle then raising the question, On what then did Abraham’s righteousness before God rest? replies in these words, To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also says, Blessed is the man to whom the Lord grants acceptable righteousness without works. (Form of Concord, Sol. Dec., Art. iii, 34.)
19. As in this article, there is a frequent use of exclusive particles, by faith alone, only through FAITH, etc., I desire to know for what reason their use should be retained?
Especially for three reasons:
- To entirely exclude from this article all our works, whether preceding or following our justification, or contemporaneous with it, with all their worth, and all trust in them.
- That this office and characteristic may be peculiar to faith alone, and may remain so, viz., that faith alone, and nothing else whatever, may be that means and instrument by which we appropriate, receive and apply to ourselves the grace of God, and the merit of Christ, promised in the Gospel.
- That neither renovation, nor sanctification, nor any other powers, be so confounded in the article concerning justification, as by any reason, pretext or name, to be considered either as a form, or a part, or a cause of justification, or as in any way necessary or belonging to this work. (Form of Concord, Sol. Dec., Art. iii, 37-39.)
20. Can faith, therefore, exist without works?
It cannot. For faith and good works are not separated from one another in such a manner, as that faith can exist for any length of time, or even at any time, in connection with a wicked purpose; but there is a distinction between the two with respect to order, to causes and effects, to antecedents and consequences. (Form of Concord, Sol. Dec., Art. iii, 41.)
21. Explain this more plainly?
Good works do not precede faith, but follow it. For when a person has already been justified, then he is also renewed and sanctified by the Holy Ghost; from which renewal good works immediately follow as the fruit. Therefore, just as Luther says, faith and works harmoniously agree, and are inseparably connected; nevertheless, faith alone without works appropriates the blessing, although it is never alone. (Form of Concord, Sol. Dec., Art. iii, 41.)
22. Still one difficulty troubles me, and that is, that James 2:22 declares that man is not justified by faith, but by works. How do you explain it?
James does not contradict Paul: this admits of two proofs. For, in the first place, Paul considers faith in the sight of God, as alone apprehending the merit of Christ, and thus being reckoned by God as righteousness. But James is considering the question as to in what manner, or by what sign, man could recognize and distinguish, either in himself or others, a true and living from a dead and hypocritical faith. On this account James calls that faith dead, which is not followed by good works and the fruits of the Spirit. (Apology of Augsburg Confession, Art. iii.)
23. What is the other cause of the diversity between Paul and James?
It consists in this, that Paul treats of men who are to be justified before God, in whose case faith alone, appropriating the grace of God and merit of Christ, can avail anything: but James treats of men who have already been justified through faith, but who are to be recognized in this world by means of their good works.