#40 Art. IV “Justification” of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession.

Let no one, however, suppose, that Paul’s declaration—“Man is justified by faith alone”—was made inadvertently; for he teaches this doctrine at length in the fourth chapter to the Romans, verses 4 and 5, and repeats it in all his epistles. In the fourth chapter he says, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt; but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” It is evident, from these words, that faith is the same thing that he calls the righteousness of God; and he adds, that it is reckoned of grace, and that it could not be counted to us of grace, if works or merit had any thing to do with it. For this reason, undoubtedly, he excludes all works and all merit, not only Jewish ceremonies, but all other good works also; for if we were justified before God by these works, faith would not be counted to us for righteousness without works, as Paul explicitly says. And he adds, “We say that Abraham’s faith was counted unto him for righteousness.”  (Henkel Translation, p. 175).