Here the scholastics have followed the philosophers; and when they attempt to define, how man is justified before God, they teach only the righteousness and piety, of a correct external deportment before the world, and of good works, and in addition devise the dream, that human reason is able without the aid of the Holy Ghost, to love God above all things. For it is true, undoubtedly, that when the human heart is at ease and free from trouble and temptation, and does not feel the wrath and judgement of God, it may imagine that it loves God above all things and does much good and many works for God’s sake; but this is mere hypocrisy. Yet in this manner our adversaries have taught, that men merit the remission of sins, if they do as much as lies in their power; that is, if reason regrets sin, and elicits also a willingness to love God.

Since men are naturally inclined to the idea, that their merits and works are of some value in the sight of God, this false principle has bought forth innumerable, perverted methods of worship in the church: for example, monastic vows, the abuse of masses, and the like, without number; new modes of worship being constantly devised out of this error. And in order that such confidence in our merits and works might be still farther disseminated, they impudently maintained, that the Lord God must of necessity give grace unto those who do such good works; not indeed, that he is compelled, but because this is the order, which God will not transgress or alter.

In these opinions, in this very doctrine, many other gross, pernicious errors, and horrid blasphemies against God are embraced and hidden; to state all of which now, would require too much time. (Henkel Translation, p. 158).

All the Scriptures, both of the Old and New testaments, are divided into, and teach, these two parts, namely, the law and the divine promises. In some places they present to us the law, and in others they offer us grace through the glorious promises of Christ; for example, the Old Testament, when it promises the coming Christ, and through him offers eternal blessings, eternal salvation, righteousness, and eternal life; or the New, when Christ, after his advent, promises in the Gospel, the remission of sins, eternal righteousness and life.

In this place, however, we call the law the Ten Commandments of God, wherever they appear in the Scriptures. It is not our purpose here to speak of the ceremonies and judicial laws.

Now, of these two parts our adversaries choose the law. For since the natural law, which agrees with the law of Moses or the Ten Commandments, is inborn and written in the hearts of all men, and human reason is therefore able, in some measure, to comprehend and understand the Ten Commandments, it imagines that the law is sufficient, and that remission of sin can be obtained through it.

But the Ten Commandments require not only an honorable life, or good works, externally, which reason can to some extent produce; they demand much higher things, beyond all human power and the reach of reason: namely, the law requires us to fear and love God with all sincerity, and from the bottom of our hearts; to call upon him in every time of need, and place our trust in nothing else.

Again, the law demands, that we neither doubt nor waver, but conclude with the utmost certainty in our hearts, that God is with us, hears our prayers, and grants our petitions; it demands, that in the midst of death we expect life and all manner of consolation from God; that in all our troubles we conform entirely to his will; that we shall not flee from him in death and affliction, but be obedient to him, and bear and suffer willingly, whatever may befall us. (This text is from The Henkel Translation of the Book of Concord, which is the only English translation based on the authoritative German Dresden Edition of 1580, p. 157-158).

The adversaries condemn the doctrine taught in the forth, fifth, sixth, and twentieth articles of our Confession, that believers obtain the remission of their sins through Christ, by faith alone, without any merit of their own; and insolently reject these two tenets; first, that we deny that man can obtain remission of his sins through his own merit; and secondly, that we hold, teach, and confess that no one is reconciled to God, or obtains remission of his sins, but through faith in Christ alone.

Now, since this controversy concerns the principal and most important article of the whole Christian doctrine, and as much indeed depends upon this article, which contributes especially to a clear, correct apprehension of all the holy Scriptures, and which alone shows the way to the unspeakable treasure and the true knowledge of Christ; yea, which is the only key to the whole Bible, and without which the poor conscience can have no true, invariable, fixed hope, nor conceive the riches of the grace of Christ;—we therefore pray your Imperial Majesty, graciously to hear us concerning these great, momentous, and all-important subjects, as the nature of the case demands. For, as our adversaries do not understand or know, what is meant in the Scriptures by remission of sin, by faith, grace and righteousness, they have miserably defiled this noble, indispensable, and leading article, without which no one can know Christ; they have entirely suppressed the invaluable treasure of the knowledge of Christ, of his kingdom, and of his grace; and robbed our poor consciences of this noble and great treasure and of this eternal comfort, so valuable and important to them.

But in order to confirm our Confession, and to refute what our adversaries have adducted, we shall, in the first place, show the foundation and reasons upon which both doctrines rest, so that each may be more clearly understood.  (This text is from The Henkel Translation of the Book of Concord, which is the only English translation based on the authoritative German Dresden Edition of 1580, p. 156-157).

From this, we now see what our greatest joy should be and for what, above all, we ought to give thanks to God, namely, that He has enlightened us inwardly through His Word and Spirit and has brought us to a saving knowledge of Christ. The Lord Christ, as “Wisdom” (1 Cor. 1:24), understood best what an inexpressible blessing that was, which is why He rejoiced over it so earnestly and gave thanks to His heavenly Father for it so intensely. We do not understand or ponder it with such seriousness, which is why our spiritual joy and thanksgiving are also so much colder. But this is certain: The more the light of the saving knowledge of God increases, the more the spiritual joy and praise of God also grows within you. Indeed, if the natural light causes us to rejoice when it rises after the dark night, or when we are brought out of the dark dungeon to the very light of day, should not the heavenly, spiritual light of divine knowledge that the Lord God has kindled in our hearts, darkened by nature, cause us to rejoice much more, yes, immeasurably more? The natural light illumines us for a short time in this fleeting life and causes us to participate “with the saints in the light” (Col. 1:12).

As high as heaven is above the earth, so much more precious and noble should we also esteem the heavenly light of divine knowledge than the natural light. The one for whom that heavenly light has not yet appeared and arisen still sits in darkness and will be cast out into the outermost darkness, and the natural light of the sun or of his own understanding will not be able to prevent it; only the heavenly light will do. If we want to come to this light, then we must not place too much trust in the natural light of our understanding, which is deceptive and misleading. We must not consider ourselves wise, but we should recognize that the natural light is darkness before God, and the world’s wisdom is foolishness. Many people fool themselves in this regard; they think that the true, heavenly light of the saving knowledge of God has arisen in their heart, but it is only a slender ray of the natural light which does not go or lead beyond nature. O heavenly Light, shine on us and drive out the darkness from our hearts! O bright Morning Star, arise in our heart! Teach us, O divine Wisdom! We will gladly be infants and willingly yield to Your enlightening!

(Sermon for St Matthias-February 24, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 51-52)

From this, third, springs forth a genuine love for God, as Christ says here, “Her many sins are forgiven, because she loved much.” For if anyone rightly considers and believes with the whole heart that the Lord God has removed his great debt of sin by grace, he cannot help but love this faithful Father from the heart. On the other hand, when we still think of God in our hearts as a harsh debt collector, we cannot yet truly love Him. He is love itself (1 John 4:16,19). Therefore, He expects us to love Him in return; He cannot preserve this love among us without first forgiving us all our sins by grace, nor is there a better way for Him to preserve it. With this removal of debt, it is intended only that we should love Him. When that happens, then we finally begin again to experience that blessed fellowship that man had with the Lord God before the fall, a fellowship that consisted in love and love requited. Therefore Christ says in John 14:23, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him.”

From this love springs the praise of God, and also willing obedience toward God and His commandments. As it says, “His commandments are not difficult” (1 John 5:3), that is, not difficult for the one who has received the forgiveness of sins through faith and has been renewed by the Holy Spirit, so that he serves the Lord God with willing obedience, from genuine love. This is why it says about such a man who loves God that “his works are done in God” (John 3:21), for they flow from faith in Christ and from love for God. May the faithful God also work this in us by the power of His Spirit. Amen.

(Sermon for Mary Magdalene-July 22, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 113-114)

For this is, second, the fruit of true, sincere repentance, that by it we obtain forgiveness of sins and peace of conscience. This is why it is called “repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18), and “repentance and the forgiveness of sins” are placed together as pointing to one another (Luke 24:47, Acts 2:38). For true faith in Christ is also a part, and, to be sure, the chief part, of repentance, by which we are justified before God and our conscience is placed at ease. Romans 5:1, “Now that we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

When the heart, distressed by sin, grasps with true faith the promise of the forgiveness of sins that has been won for us by Christ, then peace and tranquility of conscience follow. Then a person tastes how friendly the Lord is (Psa. 34:9). Yes, a beginning of eternal life is made, since this is nothing other than the fullness of joy in God.

(Sermon for Mary Magdalene-July 22, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 113)

Therefore, the Lord Christ commands all men, in every place, to repent. But when Christ here compares all sins with debts, as He also does in Matthew 6:12 in the Lord’s Prayer, where He calls them debts, He points us to the tablets of the divine Law, where it is written with eternal, indelible letters how much we have received from God and how great is the debt we have incurred. These tablets are made of stone; therefore, the debt is engraved deeply and permanently. Nor is the lender to whom we are indebted to be taken lightly. He has great power and gives close attention to the accounting. He places our “unknown sins in the light before His divine sight” (Psa. 90:8) and will hold a strict reckoning in due time (Mat. 18:34). Therefore, it is highly recommended that we come forth during the time of grace and humbly seek from Him the removal of our debts through Christ, take refuge in Christ, who has repaid them for us (Psa. 69:5) and has given His precious blood for us as the redemption price. With our own repayment, all is lost. We are indebted to the Lord God with all that we have. How, then, could we repay Him with it? Let us run to Christ with true faith, lay hold of His feet and not leave Him until He blesses us and absolves us from our debt of sin. And since there are so many things that would drive us away from Christ or keep us from Him, let us cling to Him all the more tightly. He will speak to us kindly in the end.

(Sermon for Mary Magdalene-July 22, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 112-113)

“But the one who is forgiven little loves little.” If a person does not recognize that he is loaded down with a great debt of sin and does not realize that he is in dire need of forgiveness for it, he also loves little. At this, Christ turns to the woman and says to her, “Your sins are forgiven,” and with this comforting absolution He assures her heart and conscience of the gracious forgiveness of sins. But the other table guests who were present said to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Does not that belong to the Lord God alone? Therefore, He says further to the woman, “Your faith has saved you,” by which you have grasped the evangelical promise about the forgiveness of sins. “Go in peace.”

From this, we learn first, that repentance is necessary, not only for those who fall into gross outward sins, but for all men in common. For Christ sets His heavenly Father before us in this parable as a rich Lord who has granted us all kinds of possessions and has summoned us to make an accounting. But we have incurred a debt which we are far too poor to pay off, as the parable expressly shows that even the one who owed only fifty denarii could not repay it. This is as much as to say: Not only those are debtors before God’s judgment who have committed outward sins, but also those who have sinned in their hearts have incurred a debt. In this situation, one person can boast as little as the next that he is debt-free, or that he has paid off his debt. This is why it says universally, “They are all sinners; there is no difference here” (Rom. 3:23).

(Sermon for Mary Magdalene-July 22, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 112)

The Lord God has hidden His wisdom from those who are wise according to the flesh; on the other hand, He has revealed it to infants. Here Christ calls “infants” those who lend faith to God’s Word in childlike simplicity, who become obedient students of the heavenly wisdom, and who are glad to be fools in this world, as St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:18, that they may be wise to God. The Lord God has revealed the knowledge of Him to those who are unwise and infants in the eyes of the world. He has revealed it not only outwardly, in the Word, as it is presented to all men, but also inwardly, in the spirit and in the heart. “Yes, Father,” says Christ further, “for so it was pleasing in Your sight.” It is altogether just, what happens to these wise and clever; if they are unwilling to lay aside their carnal wisdom, then they will also not come to the knowledge of the heavenly wisdom. This is God’s righteous judgment and His well-pleasing counsel. “Since the world, through its wisdom, did not know God in His wisdom, it pleased God, through foolish preaching, to save those who believe in it (1 Cor. 1:21), not as if He took pleasure in it when men perish, for He sees to it that they are all called through the Word. But if they are unwilling to follow, placing their carnal wisdom and desires ahead of His Word, then it certainly happens to them that the mysteries of divine wisdom remain hidden from them.

But in order that we might know that we should seek divine wisdom only in the Word revealed to us by the Son, Christ adds: “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father,” that is, just as the heavenly Father has delivered all things to Me as the Son of Man, having placed all authority in heaven and on earth and all creation under My feet (Psa. 8:7; Mat. 28:18; Eph. 1:22), so also to Me, as the appointed, sole Mediator, He has delivered this, that through the Word and the Spirit, I can and should give the true knowledge of God to men, enlighten their hearts, and be their only Master and Teacher. In this matter, nothing is accomplished with worldly wisdom. “No one knows the Son except for the Father, and no one knows the Father except for the Son.” That is, no man may come to the true knowledge of God by his natural powers, but it must be revealed by the Son, who is in the bosom of the Father (John 1:3). He alone knows the Father; therefore, He alone can also bring a person to the true, saving knowledge of God. By no means, however, is the Holy Spirit excluded thereby, for He is the One who is of one essence with the Father and the Son and who “searches the deep things of the divinity” (1 Cor. 2:10).

(Sermon for St Matthias-February 24, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 50-51)

When these seventy disciples returned with joy and brought Him a report of their work{Luke 10}, that even the devils were subjugated in the name of the Lord Christ, Jesus rejoiced in spirit and burst forth with a joyful heart into this thanksgiving and said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and clever and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.”

Here Christ calls the Lord His Father, since, according to His divine nature, He was begotten of Him from eternity (Psa. 2:7), wherefore Christ is His only-begotten, only, and most beloved Son (John 3:16). He also calls Him Lord of heaven and earth, since He not only created them and all their host in the beginning by means of His almighty Word, but still to this hour He powerfully preserves and rules them as a mighty Ruler, whose throne is heaven and whose footstool is the earth (Isa. 66:1).

The Lord Christ now gives thanks to this same One, to His heavenly Father and the Lord of all lords, that He has hidden the mystery of the Gospel from the wise and clever but has revealed it to infants. With “wise and clever” are understood the wise of this world; that is, those who are wise according to the flesh, as St. Paul calls them in 1 Corinthians 1:20, who place their worldly wisdom and carnal cleverness ahead of the heavenly wisdom that is revealed to us in the word of the Gospel. “They seek wisdom,” says the Apostle in the passage just cited. That is, they want the heavenly wisdom, set forth to us in the revealed Word, to harmonize with their own carnal wisdom. And when they do not find that such is the case, they would rather allow the heavenly, divine wisdom to depart than to allow their worldly wisdom and reason to be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5), since the wisdom of this world is foolishness to the Lord God (1 Cor. 3:19).

(Sermon for St Matthias-February 24, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 49-50)