The Apology of the Augsburg ConfessionMelanchthon, Philipp
Religion
The Apology of the Augsburg Confession
Melanchthon, Philipp
Lutheran Church -- Catechisms
Another mode of justification is handed down by the scholastic
theologians when they teach that we are righteous through a habit
infused by God, which is love, and that, aided by this habit, we
observe the Law of God outwardly and inwardly and that this
fulfilling of the Law is worthy of grace and of eternal life. This
doctrine is plainly the doctrine of the Law. For that is true which
the Law says: Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, etc., Deut. 6, 5.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor Lev. 19, 18. Love is, therefore, the
fulfilling of the Law.
But it is easy for a Christian to judge concerning both modes,
because both modes exclude Christ, and are therefore to be rejected.
In the former, which teaches that our works are a propitiation for
sin, the impiety is manifest. The latter mode contains much that is
injurious. It does not teach that, when we are born again, we avail
ourselves of Christ. It does not teach that justification is the
remission of sins. It does not teach that we attain the remission of
sins before we love but falsely represents that we rouse in ourselves
the act of love, through which we merit remission of sins. Nor does
it teach that by faith in Christ we overcome the terrors of sin and
death. It falsely represents that, by their own fulfilling of the
Law, without Christ as Propitiator, men come to God. Finally, it
represents that this very fulfilling of the Law, without Christ as
Propitiator, is righteousness worthy of grace and eternal life, while
nevertheless scarcely a weak and feeble fulfilling of the Law occurs
even in saints.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account