2. Concept of saving grace.

2. Concept of saving grace.

The word grace (y&pic), pronounced by God in relation to sinful human beings, ' first of all denotes God's gracious disposition, which God, for Christ's sake, holds against sinful human beings and consists in the fact that in his heart, before his inner forum’’, he does not attribute sin to human beings but forgives it. *) God allows this gracious attitude to be

causa _libera. (God is the efficient Cause of our salvation. But He is without doubt a free Cause.] (Compend. ed. Walther III, 4.) A. von Ottingen: "As soon as this ‘necessity’ is conceived abstractly or combined with ‘absolute world causality’, we have breathed a speculative-logical, here religious-mystical breath into the pantheistic thought that underlies Hegelian and Schleiermacher's system. Hegelian determinism shows itself in its assertion that God necessarily and eternally moves in the process of self-development. And with God's becoming world goes hand in hand, so to speak, with the God to become man, which is necessary in itself. Basically, there can no longer be talked about a free, eternal love counsel of redemption. God has it eternally in himself’ to become man and in mankind ‘for himself’ too fine to grasp himself as spirit—as the God who is in and for himself—and to reach self- consciousness in the spirit of man (mens humana, as Spinoza said). Here the ethical motive of divine mercy—as well as the divinely justified will of wrath against sin— recedes completely. (Dogmatik, 1900, II, 1, 594.)

attributed grace, goodness, mercy etc. in relation to all creatures, Ps. 136; 145:9; Jonah 4:10. 11 etc. (Cf. L. uw. W. 31, 8 f.) A connection of this grace with the saving grace, which only refers to sinful people, is revealed in Matt. 24:14. The world and everything that is in it is still in existence because of the grace that is present towards sinful people and is proclaimed in the Gospel.

etc.: Xdpic, eAtoc, sipyvn a6 Geod matpdc Kat Xpiotov Inaov tov kvpiov NOV. witnessed '° to men in the Gospel and wants it to be believed by them on the basis of the testimony of the Gospel.! Gratia Dei salvifiya est gratuitus Dei favor propter Christum. Luther: Grace actually means God's grace or favor that He carries to us with Himself.!®’ — Grace in the sense of gratuitus Dei favor belongs in a class with a number of expressions that also describe God's attitude in Christ towards the lost world of sin, namely God's love (ayaan, Joh. 3:16; 1 Joh. 4:9), mercy and compassion (gAgoc, Tit. 3:5, oiktippot, Rom. 12:1), kindness and affability Tit. 3:4). All these expressions, though in various connotations (connotata) that must be carefully considered and brought to light on the basis of Scripture, denote a certainty or an affect in God, that is, the attitude according to which God wants to save by grace those condemned by the law without the works of the law.!°) The position next to eAgoc, mercy, indicates a gracious disposition in God. The same meaning has in the shorter greeting formula in the Pauline epistles: Xdptg vutv kat eipryvn KtA. [Grace be unto you and peace’], Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3 etc. RE.* s. v. "Grace": For Paul, yapic is first and foremost God's personal disposition, By the way, €tptjvn (peace) in this connection also refers to the personal disposition in God. The word here, if one wants to speak precisely, does not denote both the peace relationship in which we stand with God and the objective peace relationship in which God, through Christianity, stands by mankind and which man, in turn, enjoys, if he believes it. Xdpic, sAgoc, eipryvn, standing side by side, equally denote xist and are to be acquired through faith. Therefore, as grace is proclaimed so is peace in the gospel, Eph. 2:17 etc., and is called the gospel, as 10 evayyéMov Tic yapitoc (Acts 20:24 [Gospel of grace’’]), so To evayyeAiov Tic sipryvnc (Eph. 6:15 [Gospel of peace’’]). The meaning of what Cremer points to in the dictionary at Rom 5:1, has taken place in a whole series of scriptural passages.

tod Osod, Acts 20:24 [Gospel of the grace of God).

Hpocepympe®a. ov peta mappyoiacs tp Spdvo) THs yaprtoc. [Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace.]

peccatores.... Dicitur alias misericordia, amor, benignitas Dei etc. (Comp. II, 4.) (Here the term ‘divine grace’ is to be understood as the benign favor of God toward sinners.... It is called in other places the compassion, love, goodness, etc., of God. The reason why it is important to understand the synonyms of the word grace in their subordinate terms is that we can see how God's heart in Christ Then the word "grace" also denotes something in man, namely a good constitution (ability) and the good that God works in believers as a result of His gracious disposition. stands toward a lost world of sinners. They "lead out into the Father's heart", God should be "made sweet" to us, and it is fitting "that one falls asleep and gets up with these words". (Luther XI, 1096. 1084. 1103.) Lenker's English translation in_The precious and sacred writings of Martin Luther,... v.12, pp. 350-371; also new publication in Am. Ed. Vol. 77 (Church Postil IID, p. 365-381, see full sermon in this Preview, p. 365 ff.]: Luther on God's "Grace", "Kindness", "Affableness" etc: XII, 128 ff. With regard to the conceptual difference between these expressions, it must be said that God's grace in Christ places Scripture in sharp contrast to the works of man. Where the grace of God is mentioned as the motive for divine action, human works are excluded as motive, Rom. 11, €1 6g yapitt ov«étt & Epyov KtA. And just as the grace of God is completely independent of human works and human merit, so it is not bound by human guilt, Rom. 5:20: ob ImAeovaosv 1 apLaptia, vtepemepionsvoev 1 yaptc. — God's mercy looks at the misery of human beings, which goes to God's heart and moves him to action, not as causa meritoria (papists), but as causa impulsiva externa sive TpPOKATAPKTIKN, according to Eph. 2:1-3; cf. v. 4. (L. u. W. 31, 65 f. 68.) Trench to yapic unb edgoc: "St. Paul sets yapic and eAgoc over against one another in sharpest antithesis, showing that they mutually exclude one another, it being of the essence of that which is owed to yaptc that it is unearned and unmerited, as Augustine urges so often: Gratia nisi gratis sit non est gratia... But while ydptc has thus reference to the sins of men, and is that blessed attribute of God which these sins call out and display, His free gift in their forgiveness, eAgoc, has special and immediate regard to the misery which is the consequence of these sins... We may say, then, that the ydptc of God is extended to men as they are guilty, His eAsoc as they are miserable." (Synonyms of the N. T., p. 203 sqq.) Trench also points out how high the divine mercy revealed in Scripture stands above the pagan concept of mercy. Cicero: Misericordia est aegritudo ex miseria alterius injuria laborantis. Nemo enim parricidae aut proditoris supplicio misericordia commovetur. [Pity is the illness of suffering from the misery of another's injury. For no one is moved by pity at the execution of a parricide or a traitor. ] (Tusc. IV, 8.) God is merciful to those who suffer through their own fault. — The love of God expresses that God's heart is attached to the lost world of sinners, strives for union with it and for this purpose has given His only begotten Son to death, Jn 3:16; Rom 5:8 (Luther XII, 1097 f. XII, 2086 ff.]) — God is the greatest philanthropist, Rom 3:4 [sic: Titus 3:4]: 7 oUavOparia éxe~avy tod L@tipos HU®V tod Osod [But after that the kindness and love (j ptavOperia) of God, our Savior, toward man appeared.’]. About this Luther XII, 129 f.: It must be noted that such affability " affects all that is called man, no matter how small it may be. For God loves not the person, but the nature, and is not called person-loving, but affable... just as avarice would be called love of money, and David, 2 Kings 1, calls lust for women love of women. So the natural masters call some animals people-loving or affable, such as dogs, horses, dolphins. For the same animals Nomen gratiae per metonymiam effectus pro causa pro donis ex benevolentia Dei in nos collatis sumitur. *°) (The term ‘grace’ is used, by way of metonymy (effect for cause), for the gifts conferred on us through the benevolence of God.’] If 1 Peter 4:10-11 exhorts Christians to prove themselves as good stewards or stewards moikiAns yapitos Yeod, it is not grace, according to which God forgives them their sins, but rather an ability and activity given to Christians and inherent in them, according to which Christians speak what is right and serve one another in a right mind: si ttc AAAI, dc Ady1a Oeod Ei Tic SiaKkovel, dc && ioybos Tc yopNyet 6 Osdc. Likewise, Rom. 15:15-16 and more often the direction of the preaching ministry and Petr. 2:19 the patient suffering of Christians is called one given by God. Grace in this sense is donum gratiae, gratia inhaerens, gratia infusa. *') When the cause is spoken of, whereby God is moved to call, justify and save sinful people, God's grace always refers to God's gracious disposition in Christ (favor Dei), to the exclusion of the meaning that grace also includes the graces given to Christians have natural desire and love for people, they also associate with them and like to serve them, etc. Such a name and love is suitable here for the apostle (through the word @avOparia, human love) of "our God". — God's goodness or kindness (yprotétys) stands in contrast to the sharpness or severity (Gotopia, Rom. 11:22) and expresses that God does not act with us as a strict judge, but as a friendly lord, invitans ad familiaritatem sui, dulcis alloquio [inviting to his familiarity, with a sweet address’] (Jerome on Gal. 5:22). Luther: Xpnototyg is the friendly, loving walk of a good life, that everyone likes to be with the same person and that his company is almost sweet, that tempts everyone to favor and love, that makes people feel good, that despises no one, that chases away no one with sour, hard, strange gestures or wisdom...... So God has shown himself to us through the Gospel as well, very sweet and friendly, adapts Himself to all, no one despises, all our vices hold us too well, chases no one away with severity. (XII, 128-129) — All the terms mentioned, not only ydptc, are in contrast to human merit according to Scripture, as can be seen from the context Eph. 2, Tit. 3, Joh. 3, Rom. 11 etc. — The extent to which we must also say of God, on the basis of Scripture, according to the human species, that he is moved by his grace, mercy etc. (not univoce (in identical manner), but also not aequivoce (in an altogether different manner), but analogice, (in a similar manner), Isaiah 49:15), is shown in The Doctrine of God.

benevolentiam seu misericordiam, aliquando vero etiam dona ipsa, quae ex benevolentia conferuntur, significat. [The term "grace" in Scripture often signifies favor, benevolence, or mercy, but sometimes also the gifts themselves, which are conferred out of benevolence. (Examen, p. 138 [Examination Part 1, p. 494]) — Cf. Grimm's compilation of the scriptural passages in which yapic refers to gifts of grace. the gratia infusa. 7) This is clearly evident from the fact that Scripture, when it is the cause of the call, justification and salvation, sets the grace of God against all the works of men. It says 2 Tim. 1:9 of the transfer to the Christian state: God has made us blessed and called ob Kata t& Epya NUdvV AAG Kate idiav Tpd8Eow Kai yaptv Ti SoPEiowv piv év Xpiotd Inood mpo Ypovov aimviov; Rom. 3:24-28, of justification: dtkarovpevor d@peEdy (giftwise,, yopic VOLOv) TH avTOV YaptTL, 616 TNS AMOAVTPHOEWS TS EV Xpiotw® Inood, and especially Rom. 11:6: ei de yaputt, obdKEétt & Epyov, émel H Yapic obKETI yivetot yapic. 7) Even the faith itself, although it is a gift of God in man—for it is not the Holy Spirit but man who believes— does not make justified and saved, inasmuch as it is a work, a good quality in man and produces good attributes (good works) in man, but merely as an instrument by which man, who is ungodly in himself, refers to himself or appropriates to himself the gracious disposition of God. * This is what Scripture teaches, that in the attainment

sive meritoriis justificationis et salutis ex parte nostra agitur, accipi hoc vocabulum (gratiae) pro dono infuso. [It is false, wherever the instrumental or meritorious causes of justification and salvation are treated on our part, to take this term (grace) as an infused gift.] (Praelect. F. C., p. 542.)

distinguenda est significatio vocabuli gratiae in articulo renovationis et justificationis. Et constituendum est, quae sit propria et genuina ejus significatio in articulo justificationis, hoc est, in his et similibus sententiis, Rom. 3, 24:, Justificamur gratis per ipsius gratiam, Eph. 2, 5. 8:,,Gratia salvati estis.’ Ibi enim non significat dona renovationis per Spiritum Sanctum seu novas qualitates, quasi propter illas justificemur et salvemur, sed significat gratuitam Dei bonitatem, favorem, benevolentiam et misericordiam Dei, qua non secundum opera et dignitatem nostram, sed ex mera misericordia propter Christum peccatores, qui poenitentiam agunt et fide confugiunt ad mediatorem, recipit in gratiam, acceptat ad vitam aeternam, remissis peccatis et imputata justitia Christi.[ Google]

salvat, quia ipsa sit opus per se dignum, sed tantum, quia accipit misericordiam promissam. [For faith justifies and saves, not on the ground that it is a work in itself worthy, but only because it receives the promised mercy.‘] Luther is even sharper when he states that faith is donum Dei, but does not justify as donum Dei: Nos dicimus, fidem esse opus promissionis seu donum Spiritus Sancti. Et tamen ne hoc quidem respectu fides justificat, quatenus est donum Spiritus. Sancti, sed simpliciter quatenus habet se correlative ad Christum. Non enim hoc principaliter quaeritur, unde sit fides aut quale sit opus aut quomodo caeteris operibus antecellat, quia fides non per se aut virtute aliqua intrinseca justificat. [We say that faith is a work of promise or a gift of the Holy Spirit. And yet not even in this respect does faith justify, in so far as it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, but simply in so far as it has a correlative relation to Christ. For this is not principally asked, whence comes faith, or what kind of work it is, or how it precedes other works, because faith does not justify by itself or by any intrinsic virtue.] (E. A. 58, 353.) in that it opposes not only the grace of God but also faith to works in the attainment of justification and salvation, Rom. 4:5: tT 6& un Epyacopévo MLOTEvOVTL SE EI TOV SUKALODVTA TOV GoEPT AoyiCetat N Tiotic adTOD sic dtkatoobvnv [But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness’]. According to Scripture 616 ti\¢ niotews, Ek Miotewc, miotet [by faith] is as much as ovK e& Epyov vOnov, yapic épyov vouov [without the deeds of the Law] etc. > This sharp distinction between grace (favor Dei) and the gift of grace (gratia infusa), when it comes to obtaining justification and salvation, is of the utmost importance. It is at this point, however, that Christianity and paganism separate. As soon as one makes grace, in the sense of gratia infusa, the cause or co-cause of justification and salvation, one teaches only apparent Christian. In reality one teaches under the name grace a justification and salvation from the Law and human works, and the Christian doctrine of salvation by grace is thus abandoned, as the Apostle expressly declares Gal. 5:4: katnpynOnte ano Xptotod oitivEs év vou SucatodoOe Tic yapitoc éeméoate [Christ is become of no effect unto you. whosoever of you are justified by the Law; ye are fallen from grace). That grace, in the sense of gratia infusa or good quality in man, is put in place of the gratuitus Dei favor or at least connected with it, is the fundamental error of all those who, within external Christianity, deviate from pure Christian doctrine. The Roman Church, in her opposition to the Christian doctrine of grace, goes so far as to anathematize those who define justifying grace as God's gracious disposition in Christ and who exclude the gratia infusa from the cause of justification. 7° The Calvinist Reformed, while correctly defining the saving grace as God's gracious disposition, are thrown back, by denying the gratia universalis, to the gratia infusa as the cause of justification and salvation. If it is denied that grace exists for

sole imputation...]): Si quis dixerit homines justificari vel sola imputatione justitiae Christi vel sola peccatorum remissione, exclusa gratia et caritate, quae in cordibus eorum per Spiritum Sanctum diffundatur atque illis inhaeret; aut etiam gratiam qua Justificamur esse tantum favorem Dei, anathema sit.

divinae erga nos benevolentiae firmam certamque cognitionem, quae gratuitae in Christo promissionis veritate fundata per Sp. S. et revelatur mentibus nostris et cordibus obsignatur. all men in Christ and is offered in the Gospel, then one is forced to refer those who ask for the certainty of grace to the effects of grace in man, to regeneration and good works, that is, to gratia infusa, instead of to the objective promise of grace in the means of grace. The same is the case with all those who accept a revealing and working activity of the Holy Spirit outside the ordered means of grace (word and sacrament), whether they call themselves reformed or otherwise. 2® In fact, in seeking the immediate and secret revelations and effects of the Spirit within themselves, they always turn their eyes and hearts away from the objective graciousness of God, which is present in Christianity and is revealed in the means of grace for the awakening of faith and the seizure by faith. 7 It is also clear that all those who accept human participation in the formation of faith base salvation, instead of the gratuitus Dei favor in evangelio revelatus, on aliquid in homine [something in man’], that is, on a mixum compositum of the gift of grace and human achievement. This is the case with the Arminians, the Arminian sects and the synergistically teaching Lutherans. They do not see the fides justificans and salvans as the antithesis of human achievement, not as a mere instrument by which the gracious attitude of God in Christ or the forgiveness of sins on the basis of the promise of the Gospel is believed, but as a good quality in man under different names. The Arminians explicitly say that justifying faith does not exclude good works but includes them. *° The synergistic

autem latine cum gratiae nomine utor pro venia, scilicet indulgentia et gratuito beneficio), ita donum istud ad solum spiritum pervenit. Dux autem vel vehiculum spiritui non est necessarium, ipse enim est virtus et latio, qua cuncta feruntur, non qui ferri opus habeat; neque id unquam legimus in scripturis sacris, quod sensibilia, qualia sacramenta sunt, certo secum ferent spiritum. (C. f. Karl Miiller, Die Bekenntnisschriften der ref. Kirche. 1903, p. 86.)

Holy Spirit from the means of grace cf. F. Pieper, Lehre von der Rechtf 1889, p. 88 ff.

justificari, nos non excludere opera, quae fides exigit et tanquam [One must know that when we say that we are justified by faith, we do not exclude the works which faith produces and like a fecund mother brings forth, but that we include them.] Lutherans define justifying faith as a moral act, self-decision, good behavior etc. As a practical result it is inevitable that when they ask about the grace of God, they do not direct their hearts towards God's gracious disposition in Christ, but towards a performance in man and the gratia infusa. 3" Finally, even within the rightly teaching Church, the gratia infusa is practically substituted for favor Dei, as often as the forgiveness of sins is based on the feeling of grace instead of on God's promise of grace in the objective promise of the Gospel. Therefore, in order to keep Christian doctrine pure, not only something but everything depends on the fact that the justifying and saving grace is understood and recorded as favor Dei propter Christum. Only in this way can the doctrine of the perfect reconciliation of the world with God, brought about by the vicarious satisfaction of Christ and not first brought about or completed by human action, remain valid. Only in this way do the means of grace retain their scriptural meaning, that they a. are certain signs and testimonies of God's gracious will toward us, that is, to bring about and grant the forgiveness of sins (vis dativa mediorum gratiae), and thereby foecunda mater producit, sed ea includere. Justifying faith to the Arminians is obedience to the whole Word of God, including the Law. It has as its object non tantum ipsius (Christ) propitiationem, sed et praecepta, promissa et minas. [not merely the propitiation of Christ, but also the precepts, promises, and threats’] (Limborch /. c. VI, 4, 29.)

"catholic", because it bases its justification on inner transformation and good works. Neither can synergistic Lutherans complain about their conception of faith as a moral act, good behavior etc. when modern Roman polemicists accuse them of having given up Luther's doctrine of grace. (Gan8, Luther's Latest Biographer, 1902, p. 10 5qq-)

and the source of great distress of conscience. But it is a false practice, for "God does not want us to suffer to rely on anything else or to cling with our hearts to anything that is not Christ in his Word, unless it be holy and full of the Spirit. Faith has no other reason to insist... What is it that you run hither and thither, tormenting yourself with frightened and saddened thoughts, as if God no longer wanted you to have grace, and as if no Christ could be found, and would not rather be content to find him in yourselves, and feel holy and without sin; nothing comes of it: it is vainly lost effort and work". b. generate and strengthen faith (vis operativa mediorum gratiae). *) Only in this way can the doctrine of faith, as the organ which receives the forgiveness of sins and salvation, remain untouched, since the object of justifying and saving faith is the gracious disposition of God (vorem sive misericordiam Dei), as witnessed in the Gospel promise, and not the gratia infusa. *» Only in this way is certainty of God's grace possible, because grace, as gratuitus Dei favor, does not "divide and separate itself," but rather "reckons us fully and for fully justly for God" for the sake of Christ (Luther), while the gratia infusa [or gift] is not yet perfect [Luther, St. L. XIV: 98] and therefore doubt must immediately take its place as soon as it is made the causa or concausa [concurring cause] of justifying grace. Only in this way does the scriptural teaching on sanctification and good works remain, because sanctification and good works are always only the fruit and consequence of the divine mercy in Christ, already recognized in faith, Rom 12:1: Hapaxord odv dudc aderooi 1a tHV OiKTIPUAV TOD Mod, TNAPAOTHOAL TA CMpata Dudv Pvoiav... TH Ose. [I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God Good works are never done in order to obtain grace, but are always only thanksgiving sacrifices for the grace and salvation already obtained through faith. Luther: Dear man, you must have heaven and have salvation before you do good works. 3» In short, the gratuitus Dei favor propter Christum, pronounced in the Gospel, is the immovable heaven of grace which stretches out over the Christian, under which Christians dwell and work by faith. By looking at

on the offering or giving; that is to say, by God's promise or gift of a Dei propter Christum, the forgiveness of sins, in the means of grace, the Holy Spirit calls forth faith in us. Rom. 10, 17:H aiottc e& axons. Luther: When the Word of God is preached publicly and clearly, such faith and hope, such strong confidence in Christ, begins to arise. (XII, 1506)

misericordiam promissam. [As often as we speak of faith, we wish an object to be understood, namely, the promised mercy (7rig/. 135, 137, Art. IV, I, 55).] It is therefore quite consistent that the Council of Trent, having cursed the Christian concept of justifying grace, the favor Dei, immediately after it (can. XII) also curses the Christian concept of justifying faith, namely that faith is the trust in Christ out of God's mercy: Si quis dixerit fidem justificantem nihil aliud esse quam fiduciam divinae misericordiae peccata remittentis propter Christum, vel eam fiduciam solam esse qua justificamur, anathema sit.

this heaven of grace, faith comes into being, faith is preserved, and faith is a living, busy, active, powerful thing, so that it does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before you ask, it has done them, and is always doing them. (Luther XIV, 99 [See also Trig/ 941, F. C., Sol. Decl., IV, 10.]) Christian dogmatics must therefore pay great attention to the scriptural concept of saving grace and by all means hold that saving grace is the gracious disposition of God, or the forgiveness of sins, which is present in the heart of God toward the whole world of sinners for Christ's sake, is testified to in the Gospel, and is to be believed by all men on the basis of the Gospel. By returning to the right concept of saving grace as favor Dei propter Christum in the difference from gratia infusa, the Church of the Reformation has returned to the apostolic purity of Christian doctrine.*°) Luther, in his refutation of Latomus (1521) and in fine preface to the Letter to the Romans (1522), sharpens the distinction between grace and gift of grace. > Already in the first edition of his Loci Melanchthon polemicizes very decidedly against the scholastic conception of saving grace as qualitas, quae sit in animis sanctorum [a quality which is in the souls of the saints’], and explains that by this the Church celebrates the Gospel stolen from her. He himself defines grace as condonatio seu remissio peccati. [forgiveness or remission of sin] *®’ Luther and Melanchthon are aware that at

sicut debet, non pro qualitate animi, ut nostri recentiores (the Scholastics) docuerunt. (Opp. v. a. V, 489. St. L. XVIII, 1162 f.) In the preface to the Letter to the Romans: Grace and gift are of a different nature, that grace actually means God's favor or good will, which he carries to us with himself, from which he is inclined to pour Christ and the Spirit with his gifts into us. Whether the gifts and the Spirit in us increase daily and are not yet perfect, so that evil lusts and sin remain in us, which fight against the Spirit, grace does so much that we are counted completely and justly for God. For His grace does not divide and divide as the gifts do, but receives us completely into the fold for Christ's sake, our Advocate and Mediator, and for which the gifts were begun in us. (XIV, 98.)

qui sacrosancto vocabulo gratiae tam foede abusi sunt, cum pro qualitate, quae sit in animis sanctorum, usurpant.... Nos simplifica- this point one must also remove Augustine's ambiguities, because Augustine does not bring to the fore both the gracious disposition of God in Christ and rather the renewal flowing from God's grace alone and makes it the ground of justification. *°) The Lutheran confession also repeatedly points out that the justifying and saving grace is not a habitus in man, but God's mercy etc.. 4°) Luther repeatedly states that both the papacy and paganism are built on the fundamental error of the gratia infusa. *) In particular, the later Martin, Chemnitz, strives to cissime nomenclaturam hanc facimus gratiae, secuti phrasin scripturae, ut sit gratia favor, misericordia, gratuita benevolentia Dei erga nos. Donum ipse Spiritus Sanctus, quem in eorum corda effundit, quorum est misertus. Fructus Spiritus Sancti fides, spes, caritas et reliquae virtutes. Et haec quidem de nomine gratiae. In summa, non aliud est gratia nisi condonatio seu remissio peccati. Donum est Spiritus Sanctus, regenerans et sanctificans corda. [Google Translate]

— Kirn on Augustine in RE.? sub voce "Grace": Augustine's doctrine of grace touches on the Pauline one, in that it leads salvation back exclusively from God. But it differs from it in that.....it does not see its essence both in the forgiveness of sins and in the communication of moral forces. Luther and Melanchthon on Augustine's doctrine of justification in the correspondence with Brenz, Corp. Ref. Il, 502 sq. (the numbers 984. 986. 992. 996); and the Quaestiones de justificatione coram Deo propositae a Ph. Melanchthone D. Martino Luthero a. 1536, Erl. Ed. 58, 347 ff. St. L. XXII, 448 ff. [English translation: L. Green, 1980, p 254 ff.] But Luther rightly points to such statements of Augustine, in which he, acting with God, consoles himself only of God's gracious disposition and the merit of Christ, Erl. Ed. 58, 352; St. L. XXII, 453. How it came about that Augustine brought out grace as gratia infusa and let the gratuitus Dei favor recede: L. u. W. 28, 344; Chemnitz, Loci II, 727.

opera placeant propter gratiam et quod sit confidendum gratiae Dei. Hic interpretantur gratiam habitum, quo nos diligimus Deum.... Cur non exponunt hic gratiam misericordiam Dei erga nos? Et quoties mentio hujus fit, addere oportet fidem. Non enim apprehenditur nisi fide promissio misericordiae, reconciliationis, dilectionis Dei erga nos. In hanc sententiam recte dicerent confidendum esse gratia. [Google]

they are all in error that they do not understand how sins are forgiven. For ask the Pope and all his Doctores, and they will not be able to tell you what absolution" (the forgiveness of sins expressed in the Word) "does. For the whole Papacy insists on this teaching: grace is poured into [infused] man through a put the scriptural concept of saving grace into the light. Chemnitz shows historically how Pelagius's concept of grace is wrong, but also how Augustine did not grasp it correctly, and then explains in great detail from Scripture, quod gratia in articulo justificationis intelligenda sit de sola gratuita misericordia, bonitate, benevolentia seu favore Dei complectentis sua gratia et recipientis in gratiam indignos propter Filium mediatorem. [Google Translate] Also the later dogmatists sharpen with Quenstedt more or less in detail and prove from the Scriptures Gratia per quam justificamur non notat donum vel effectum quoddam gratiae in nobis, sed affectum benevolentissimum in Deo seu gratuitum Dei favorem. *) [Google] The American Lutheran Church has also emphasized and upheld the difference between "grace" and "gift of grace" in relation to the Reformed sects and the newer Lutherans. Walther writes: How splendidly Luther contrasts forgiveness through the Word with the ‘inner light,’ the ‘enthusiasts’ to whom everyone who still builds the forgiveness of sins on the Word is an unconverted person, and who call only those converted who boast and build on so-called experiences. These experiences, or the special events and feelings in the soul and mind, are called the grace of God, while the Holy Scriptures understand grace as that which is in God's heart: His secret effect; anyone who wants to join us must repent, confess and do satisfaction.... So the Anabaptists also say: What should baptism do for the remission of sins? It's only a handful of water! The Spirit has to do it when we are to be cleansed of sin; the water cannot do it. So the forgiveness of sins also are separated from the Word."

gratuitus Dei favor, non infususus caritatis aut sanctitatis habitus aut qualitas nobis subjective inhaerens. - Distinguendum inter gratiam et donum gratiae, inter ipsum favorem et effectum favoris. Gratia per quam justificamur non notat donum vel effectum quoddam gratiae in nobis, sed affectum benevolentissimum in Deo seu gratuitum Dei favorem. Non diffitemur quidem quandoque gratiam Dei metonymice accipi pro donis gratiae, eam tamen gratiam qua justificamur aliam esse negamus quam gratuitum Dei favorem et misericordiam, - Gratiam Dei in articulo justificationis gratuitum Dei favorem significare, probatur... a gratiae infusae ab actu justificationis remotione. Gratia infusa est opus legis seu bonus motus voluntatis et appetituum, quae tamen ab actu justificationis removentur, Rom. 3:20 Quod igitur ab actu justificationis excluditur, id per vocabulum gratiae in articulo justificationis non denotatur. [Google Translate] favor, mercy and love, which is expressed in the word and should now be believed, and those, on the other hand, are called gifts. And these are indeed glorious gifts; but he who builds forgiveness on them has built on sand. (Die luth. L von der Rechif.. p. 85 £.)