# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_Februar 1861_S44
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

44 Referat on the Right Preaching of the Doctrine of Justification.

Third, how it is accordingly, as it were, the summary substance of the heavenly doctrine.

I.

The doctrine of justification consists in this: that it be set forth from God's Word how God, as by a judicial act, for the poor sinner who truly believes in Christ, does not reckon the guilt of sin unto condemnation — solely out of grace, for the sake of Christ's merit — but rather reckons Christ's righteousness for the forgiveness of sins, absolution from guilt, and a declaration of righteousness before Him, unto eternal life. Romans 3:25-26, 28; 4:6.

Now from this explanation it is evident that in the transaction of justification the contribution and cooperation of all human works is, altogether and absolutely, excluded and remains excluded. For were any such thing to take place even in the smallest part, then in that part grace would be abolished and man's work set in its place, contrary to Ephesians 2:9. And were there room anywhere in this transaction for human merit, then Christ's merit would there be crowded out, and Christ himself in the end reduced to a mere stop-gap and helper in emergencies. But it is impossible that such a patchwork of mixture and mending, current as it is among the papists and the enthusiasts, could comfort a conscience broken and terrified by the Law, or guard it against the fear of death, the accusation of Satan, and the terrors of judgment and of hell. For this only the grace of God can do — the work of reconciliation and redemption, perfectly accomplished for all sinners by our Lord Jesus Christ, which alone is comprehended in the Gospel, and is alone grasped, appropriated, and held fast by the faith kindled through hearing it.

II.

As for the connection in which the doctrine of justification stands, backward and forward, with the foremost articles of Christian doctrine, it is as follows:

1. The next link backward is the doctrine of the means of grace, and especially of the preaching of the Gospel; for it is by this that the Holy Spirit kindles faith in the heart of the sinner who longs for salvation, and grants the forgiveness of sins out of grace.

2. But since the content of the Gospel is Christ's merit — the reconciliation and redemption of the human race perfectly accomplished by Christ — it is clear that the doctrine of this work of Christ is the second link. For as the sun must first be present so that men may see, and food must first be present so that men may eat, so Christ's work of reconciliation and redemption must first be present, in order that it may afterward, through the Gospel and by means of faith, be appropriated to man and he be justified.

3. But since this work could be accomplished only by One who