"We teach moreover," continued he, "that we cannot be justified before God by our own strength, our merits, and our works; but that we are justified by Christ through grace, through the means of faith,[565] when we believe that our sins are forgiven in virtue of Christ, who by his death has made satisfaction for our sins: this faith is the righteousness that God imputes to the sinner. [565] Quod homines non possint justificari coram Deo, propriis viribus, meritis, aut operibus, sed gratis, propter Christum, per fidem.--(Ibid. p. 484.) "But we teach, at the same time, that this faith ought to bear good fruits, and that we must do all the good works commanded by God, for the love of God, and not by their means to gain the grace of God." The Protestants next declared their faith in the Christian Church, "which is," said they, "the assembly of all true believers and all the saints,"[566] in the midst of whom there are, nevertheless, in this life, many false Christians, hypocrites even, and manifest sinners; and they added, "that it was sufficient for the real unity of the Church that they were agreed on the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments, without the rites and ceremonies instituted by men being everywhere the same."[567]--They proclaimed the necessity of baptism, and declared "that the body and blood of Christ are really present and administered in the Lord's Supper to those who partake of it."[568] [566] Congregatio sanctorum et vere credentium.--(Ibid. p. 487.) [567] Ad veram unitatem Ecclesiæ, satis est consentire de doctrina Evangelii et administratione sacra mentorum, nec necesse est, &c.--(Ibid. p. 486.) [568] Quod corpus et sanguis Christi, vere adsint et distribuantur vescentibus in cœna Domini.--(F. Urkund. i. p. 488.) [Sidenote: THE CONFESSION--FAITH.] The Chancellor then successively confessed the faith of the Evangelical Christians, touching confession, penance, the nature of the sacraments, the government of the Church, ecclesiastical ordinances, political government, and the last judgment. "As regards Free-will," continued he, "we confess that man's will has a certain liberty of accomplishing civil justice, and of loving the things that reason comprehends; that man can do the good that is within the sphere of nature--plough his fields, eat, drink, have a friend, put on a coat, build a house, take a wife, feed cattle, exercise a calling; as also he can, of his own movement, do evil, kneel before an idol, and commit murder. But we maintain that without the Holy Ghost he cannot do what is righteous in the sight of God."