#22 Art. IV “Justification” of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession.Therefore, when we speak of justifying faith, (fide justificante,) it includes first, the divine promises; secondly, that they offer grace freely and without our merit; thirdly, that the blood of Christ and his merits are the treasure which atones for our sins. The promises are received through faith; but as they offer grace without merit, all our worthiness and merit fall to the ground, and grace and boundless mercy alone are praised. The merit of Christ is the treasure; for that must indeed be a treasure and a noble pledge, which pays for the sins of the whole world. All the Scriptures, of the Old and New Testaments, when speaking of God and faith, often use the expressions—goodness, mercy; and in all their writings the holy Fathers teach, that we are saved by grace, goodness, and forgiveness.
Now whenever we find the word mercy in the Scriptures, or in the writings of the Fathers, we must remember, that it refers to faith, which embraces the promise of such mercy.
Again, whenever the Scriptures speak of faith, they mean the faith which is based upon grace alone. For faith does not justify us before God, as though it were in itself our work, and our own, but solely because it receives the grace; promised and offered without merit and presented out of the rich treasures of mercy. (Henkel Translation, p. 167).
