Let this suffice concerning the righteousness of reason, or of the self-righteousness, as taught by our opponents. When we shall come presently to speak of the piety and righteousness which are acceptable to God and proceed from faith, the subject will of itself lead to the quotation of more passages from the Scriptures, which will equally serve to overthrow the above-named errors of our adversaries.

Since no man is able, then, by his own strength to keep the law of God, and all under sin are doomed to eternal wrath and death, we cannot, through the law, be released from sin or become just in the sight of God; but remission of sins and righteousness are promised through Christ, who was given for us to atone for the sins of the world, and is the only Mediator and Redeemer. Now this promise is not: through Christ ye shall have grace, salvation, &c., if ye merit it; but through grace alone he offers the remission of sins, as Paul says, Rom. 11:6:“If the remission of sins be of works, then it is no more grace.” And in another place, Rom. 3:21:“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifest;” that is, remission of sins is offered gratuitously, or without price.

Therefore it is not through our merit, that we are reconciled to God; for if depended upon our merit, and if reconciliation to God and remission of sin came of the law, then were all lost, and slightly indeed should we be united and reconciled to God. For we do not keep the law, nor have we power to keep it; consequently we should never obtain the promised grace and reconciliation.

For thus Paul concludes, Rom. 4:14:“For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect.” Now, were the promise founded upon our merit and the law, it would follow, since we cannot keep the law, that the promise would be vain. (Henkel Translation, p. 164-165).

Finally, it is extremely foolish and improper, on the part of our adversaries, to contend that even those, who deserve eternal wrath, obtain forgiveness of sin through love, or actum elicitum dilectionis, self-selected works of love; whereas it is clearly impossible to love God until the heart has taken hold of the remission of sins through faith.

For the heart, filled with anxiety, and truly feeling the wrath of God, can never love him, until he gives it relief and comfort, and assures it of his grace. For while he terrifies and assails us, as if he would cast us off in eternal wrath, into everlasting death, our poor, feeble nature must lose all courage and hope, and tremble before the great anger, which terrifies, and punishes so fearfully; and it cannot feel a spark of love, until God himself comforts and relieves it.

The idle and inexperienced may indeed devise for themselves a dream of love; hence they contend so frivolously, that one who is guilty even of mortal sin, can yet love God above all things; for they have never fully realized what a burden sin is, or how great a torment it is to feel the wrath of God.

But pious hearts that have experienced this, in real strife against Satan, and in real distress of conscience, know well that such words and thoughts are nothing but fancies and dreams. Paul, Rom. 4:15, says: “The law worketh wrath.” He does not say that men obtain remission of their sins through the law; for the law always accuses the conscience and terrifies.

The law, therefore, justifies no one in the sight of God; for an alarmed conscience flees from God and his judgments. Hence those are in error, who would merit the remission of their sins by their works, or the law. (Henkel Translation, p. 163-164).

Our adversaries consider only the commandments of the second table of Moses which treats of external honesty, a virtue which human reason more readily comprehends; and they imagine, that by these external good works they keep God’s law. But they do not consider the first table which requires us to love God with our whole heart, firmly to believe that God is wroth on account of sin, sincerely to fear God, and to be fully assured that God is near us and hears our prayer, &c.

Now we are all so constituted from Adam, previous to our being born again through the Holy Ghost, that our hearts, in their security, despise God’s wrath, judgment, and threats, and hate and oppose his judgments and penalties. Now if all the children of Adam are born so deeply in sin, that we naturally despise God, and doubt his Word, his promises, and his threats; then indeed must the best of our good works, performed previous to our being born anew through the Holy Ghost, be sinful and condemned in God’s sight, although to the world they may appear lovely; for they proceed out of a bad, ungodly, and impure heart; as Paul says, Rom 14:23; “Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin.” For all such self-righteous men perform works without faith, despise God in their hearts, and believe as little as Epicurus, that God takes care of them. Their contempt of God within, must necessarily make their works impure and sinful, although they may appear beautiful before men; for God searches the heart. (Henkel Translation, p. 163).