3. The Postulates of Justification by Faith Without Works.
It was already explained in more detail in the doctrine of the reconciling work of Christ that justification by faith or subjective justification presupposes the so-called objective justification or reconciliation of the whole human world. '4 There could simply not be any talk of justification by faith without the works of the law if the justification of the whole human world was not already present in the heart of God and proclaimed in the Gospel for the vicarious satisfaction of Christ. All those who deny objective justification, or, what is the same, objective reconciliation, must, if they remain consistent, also deny that subjective justification is by faith. If forgiveness is not objectively present through Christi satisfactio vicaria, faith is still somehow understood as a complement to the merit of Christ, that is, as a human achievement. But the fact that objective reconciliation or justification is scriptural doctrine was made clear in the doctrine of Christ's resurrection and in the passage
outburst" of polemic, in which Philippians' letters are written in such a "soft and intimate tone". He therefore adopts a lost Philippians letter in which the apostle "probably went into great detail and with all the fire of fierce polemics to warn the readers about the Judaic false teachers". Wiesinger, on the other hand, rightly remarked that it cannot be assumed that the apostle borrowed from another letter "peculiar expressions" and "outbursts" that did not fit into the context of this sweetbread. "Objective and subjective reconciliation". '42! The Lutheran Confessions also base justification by faith on the fact that God is reconciled with the world through Christ and that the forgiveness of sins is now presented as a promise (res promissa) in the Gospel. '4?) Another necessary condition for justification by faith is general grace (gratia universalis). If not all people are fully reconciled to God through Christ, and if the forgiveness of sins is not offered to all people without distinction in the Gospel, then faith cannot appropriate the forgiveness of sins from the Gospel either. The denial of the general grace causes the one who is frightened by his sin to base the forgiveness of sins on the "poured out grace" (gratia infusa) and thus to step into Roman territory. This has already been explained in the Doctrine of Grace and Faith. 142°) Justification by faith without the works of the law also presupposes sola gratia at the time of the origin of the faith. If we do not carefully keep away from all human participation (semi-pelagianism, synergism) in the formation of faith, faith itself becomes a partial human work for us. But with that the doctrine of the scriptures is then abandoned from the justifying faith, because the scripture in justification opposes faith to all human works (Rom. 3. 4). Synergism in all its shades has the effect of turning the biblical doctrine of justification into Roman pagan works, even while retaining the expression "sola fide". This is why Luther said that Erasmus, as the patron of liberum arbitrium (the facultas applicandi se ad gratiam), defended the very foundation of the papacy. This, too, has been explained earlier.!474)
faith, believing that God has reconciled us for Christ's sake (placatum). Also, 102, 84 [Trigl. 145, ibid., 84.)]: "Forgiveness of sins is promised for Christ's sake (res promissa propter Christum). Therefore no one can obtain it except by faith alone. For the promise cannot be grasped or shared in but by faith alone." [Trig/. 147, Art. IV II], 87;
Finally, it must be emphasized that the doctrine of justification by faith cannot be held without the biblical teaching on the means of grace. The situation is this: If we do not take the assurance of the forgiveness of sins from the objective means of grace, we make the forgiveness dependent on our subjective state: on our feeling, our dignity, in short, on our own condition, yes, even on the condition and state of those who administer the means of grace.!*) Inasmuch as the consistent Reformed speak of an immediate, that is, a revelatory and working activity of the Holy Spirit detached from the means of grace,!*7° and newer Lutherans want to base their faith on the "person of Christ", the "historical reality of Christ", instead of solely on the forgiveness of sins promised in the Word of the Gospel,!*? they base justification on the gratia infusa and see themselves pushed into the Roman camp in the doctrine of justification. Of course, the enthusiasts never tired of calling Luther's insistence on the external word and the objective means of grace the letter worship and Papist leaven. But by their rejection of God's ordered means of grace they were led back into the midst of Papism, and Luther did not go too far when he said that Papist and enthusiast were one thing, insofar as both point the sinner to the "poured out grace. '*?8) Scripture is particularly keen to insist that justification is effected by the word of the Gospel, not only in the sense that the word of the Gospel teaches us about the mode of justification, which is indeed the case, but also in the specific sense that the divine act of justification is present in the word of the Gospel and is there—in the word—-grasped or appropriated by faith. The written axiom is to be regarded as the Scriptural axiom: As close as the word of the gospel is to us, so close is the divine judgment of justification to us each time. Paul teaches this particularly emphatically Rom. 10:5 ff. where he compares righteousness from the law (tv dtucatoobvynv THY é« TOV vonov) and righteousness from faith (tv ék tiotews Sukatoobvnv) in terms of their attainment on the part of man.
comparing people with each other. So Moses describes the righteousness of the law: "Whoever does it" (avté, the commandment in the law) "will live by it", v.6. But between the righteousness of the law and man lies the action of the law on the part of man. And because this doing is not possible for man (ovdé yop dvwvata vaoTdooEotat TO VOU, Rom. 8:7), righteousness from the law has moved into a great, actually unattainable distance. Between human beings and righteousness under the Law a high, insurmountable mountain piles up, namely the demanded perfect fulfillment of the Law (Gal 3:10-12). But the situation is different with regard to righteousness of faith. The apostle personifies the righteousness of faith and thus lets it speak to man: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?... or, "Who will descend into the deep? This means: Do not think that you have to fetch me—the righteousness of faith—from afar by extreme effort! The situation is quite different. There is no need for a journey, neither to heaven nor to the depths, but—so righteousness by faith continues to speak—"Near to you is the word, in your mouth and in your heart; this is the word of faith that we proclaim. The thought clearly expressed here is this: as close as the word of faith, that is, the Gospel, is to us, so close is the divine judgment of justification each time. If we have an evangelical word in our mouth, for example the word: "So God loved the world" etc., then the divine justification judgment is thus in our mouth, and it is appropriated by us if we believe the word. If we move an evangelical word in our heart, for example the word: "The blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanseth us from all sin", then the divine justification is in our heart, and it is appropriated by us if we believe the word. In our time, the word "read" has been used in the question of "Christian certainty". The question has been asked: "Where can man read his justification? The answer has to be: From the Word of the Gospel, which promises ywpic épyov vOuov forgiveness of sins. '*??) To the further question,
baptism, the Lord's Supper and the Word. Yea, he has how the forgiveness of sins came into the Word, we also know the answer. Our forgiveness of sins must of course come from heaven and also be brought up from the depths. But that has happened through Christ. Christ, the Son of God, came down from heaven through His incarnation. He also descended into the depths, into death and the grave. But through this, God has done a wonderful work of grace and mercy: he has reconciled the world with himself and then raised up the word of the reconciliation that has taken place among us. Wherever the gospel is, there is the divine forgiveness of sins, and whoever believes the gospel. put in the mouth of every Christian man, when he comforts you, promises you God's grace through the merit of Jesus Christ, that you should not accept or believe otherwise, for if Christ himself had promised you with his mouth, you would not have done otherwise. Lectures on the dosvie of sification by. Py, St Lous [see also 1916 edition here, but this exact quote could not be located; perhaps it is in the 1891 hand-written edition]: "He who seeks grace from afar, namely in the way of his own works, goes astray and does not attain it. If someone travels around the world, if he goes on pilgrimages all his life, if he travels to Spain or to Rome or to Palestine, he does not come one step closer to grace in this way, he does not obtain grace in this way. If someone torments and tortures his body all his life, if he worries in his soul about grace all his life: it is all in vain! Grace is in the word of the Gospel, and a person has grace when a Gospel passage is put before him and he believes it. — Now this is the art that every Christian must learn for himself: to seek grace not in the distance, by the way of works, but in the nearness, in the Gospel. And this is the art which you, as evangelical preachers, should once teach others by your own authority. By nature man cannot do this art; by nature he always seeks grace in the distance, by the way of works. And Christians never learn this art, no matter how much they still have flesh and blood in them and mix the law and the Gospel. We too have not yet learned this art. How dear and valuable absolution would be to us at any time, how would we listen to it with a heart that flutters with joy every time we believed that in it all grace would be given to us! How diligently would we listen, read and contemplate the Word of God, if we were really always present, so that through this Word all the grace that Christ has acquired is offered to us! How dear and dear to us would each and every Gospel saying be, if we held fast to the truth that out of it all grace and with it heaven and happiness shine towards us! How diligent we would be to memorize and memorize evangelical passages, so that we could recite them to ourselves on our travels, at work, in our solitude, when we were holding fast: In every gospel proverb lies all that we need as poor sinners!" he has the forgiveness of sins. This is what the apostle inculcates in us when, in this strange place, in contrast to the human effort for righteousness, he says: "Near to you is the word, in your mouth and in your heart. And this is now, as Luther constantly reminds us, the art that every Christian must learn anew for himself: to seek justice not in the distance, that is, by the way of works, but in the nearness, that is, in the Gospel.!°° Rome with its doctrine of works, the enthusiasts with their denial of the means of grace, all the more recent theologians with their denial of satisfactio vicaria send men on journeys to far-off places, as if the Son of God had not come down from heaven, had not come up again from the depths and had placed the forgiveness of sins in the word of the Gospel. The Christian teachers, on the other hand, point all frightened sinners to the near word of the gospel, which promises every sinner the forgiveness acquired by Christ. — No teacher since the time of the apostles has taught the truth that God forgives sin only through the word of the gospel, and that faith must take the forgiveness of sins from the word, as powerfully as Luther. Again and again he rejects the erroneous idea of "two keys", according to which the frightened sinner thinks: "The people here on earth, who cannot see into my heart, preach the gospel to me and give me absolution, but God, who knows the hearts, may still be angry with me. Against this, Luther explains: "There are not two keys, but only one. God, of course, is the Absolver in every case. No man can forgive sin. But the keys of heaven are, according to divine order on earth, in the Word of the Gospel. God in heaven forgives sins on earth through the Word of the gospel, which is God's own word and voice in every concrete case, regardless of how and from whom the gospel comes to us.!44 Luther calls the idea of two keys "utterly
than by the oral word, if he has commanded us men. If you do not seek forgiveness in the Word, you will gape in vain into heaven for grace or, as they say, for inner forgiveness.
under the section "Orientation of Christ's prophetic ministry in the state Pelagian, Turkish, heathenish, Jewish, Anabaptistic, fanatical and Anti- Christian", because this thought is based on the premise that the forgiveness of sins is not fully acquired by Christ and presented in the Gospel, but is still wholly or partly based on human repentance and dignity. '*3)