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