Brief Exposition · 2 of 4

The Doctrinals of the Protestants

9.THE DOCTRINALS OF THE PROTESTANTS CONCERNING JUSTIFICATION, FROM THE FORMULA CONCORDIAE. The book from which the following extracts are collected, is called the Formula Concordiae, and was composed by men attached to the Augsburg Confession; and as the pages will be cited where the quotations are to be met with, it is proper to observe, that I have made use of the edition printed at Leipzig in the year 1756.

10.From the Formula Concordiae, concerning original sin. (a) That since the fall of Adam, all men naturally descended from him are born with sin, which condemns, and brings eternal death upon those who are not born again, and that the merit of Christ is the only means whereby they are regenerated, consequently the only remedy whereby they are healed (pp. 9, 10, 52, 53, 55, 317, 641, 644, and Appendix, pp. 138, 139). (b) That original sin is such a total corruption of nature, that there is no spiritual soundness in the powers of man either as to his soul or body (p. 574). (c) That it is the source of all actual sins (pp. 317, 577, 639, 640, 942; Appendix, p. 139). (d) That it is a total absence or privation of the image of God (p. 640). (e) That we ought to distinguish between our nature, such as God created it, and original sin which dwells in our nature (p. 645). (f) Moreover, original sin is there called the work of the devil, spiritual poison, the root of all evils, an accident and a quality; whereas our nature is there called the work and creature of God, the personality of man, a substance, and an essence; and that the difference between them is the same as the difference between a man infected with a disease and the disease itself.

11.Concerning justification by faith. The general principles are these. (a) That by the Word and the sacraments the Holy Spirit is given, who effects faith when and where He pleases, in those who hear the Gospel. (b) That contrition, justification by faith, renovation, and good works, follow in order; that they are to be properly distinguished; and that contrition and good works contribute nothing to salvation, but faith alone. (c) That justification by faith alone, is remission of sins, deliverance from damnation, reconciliation with the Father, adoption as sons, and is effected by the imputation of the merit or justice of Christ. (d) That hence faith is that justice itself, whereby we are accounted just before God, and that it is a trust and confidence in grace. (e) That renovation, which follows, is vivification, regeneration, and sanctification. (f) That good works, which are the fruits of faith, being in themselves works of the Spirit, follow that renovation. (g) That this faith may be lost by grievous evils. The general principles concerning the Law and the Gospel are these. (h) That we must carefully distinguish between the Law and the Gospel, and between the works of the Law and the works of the Spirit, which are the truths of faith. (i) That the Law is doctrine which shows that man is in sins, and therefore in condemnation and the wrath of God, thus exciting terror; but that the Gospel is doctrine which teaches atonement for sins, and the deliverance from damnation by Christ, and thus of consolation. (k) That there are three uses of the Law, namely, to keep the wicked within bounds, to bring men to acknowledgment of their sins, and to teach the regenerate a rule of life. (l) That the regenerate are in the Law, but not under the Law, for they are under grace. (m) That it is the duty of the regenerate to exercise themselves in the Law, because, during their life in the world, they are prompted to sin by the flesh; but that they become pure and perfect after death. (n) That the regenerate are also reproved by the Holy Spirit, and endure various afflictions, but that nevertheless they do the Law spontaneously, and thus being the sons of God, they live in the Law. (o) That with those who are not regenerated, the veil of Moses still remains before their eyes, and the old Adam bears rule; but that with the regenerate the veil of Moses is taken away, and the old Adam is put to death.

12.Particulars from the Formula Concordiae, concerning justification by faith without the works of the Law. (a) That faith is imputed for justice without works, on account of the merit of Christ which is laid hold of by faith (pp. 78, 79, 80, 584, 689). (b) That charity follows justifying faith, but that faith does not justify as being formed by charity, as the Papists say (pp. 81, 89, 94, 117, 688, 691; Appendix, p. 169). (c) That neither the contrition which precedes faith, nor the renovation and sanctification which follow after it, nor the good works then performed, have anything to do with justification by faith (pp. 688, 689). (d) That it is folly to dream that the works of the second table of the Decalogue justify before God, for with that table we act with men, and not properly with God; and in justification we act with God and appease His wrath (p. 102). (e) If any one, therefore, believes he can obtain the remission of his sins, because he has charity, he brings a reproach on Christ; because he has an impious and vain confidence in his own justice (pp. 87, 89). (f) That good works are utterly to be excluded, in treating of justification and eternal life (p. 589). (g) That good works are not necessary as a meritorious cause of salvation, and that they do not enter into the act of justification (pp. 589, 590, 702, 704; Appendix, p. 173). (h) That the position, that good works are necessary to salvation, is to be rejected, because it takes away the consolation of the gospel, gives occasion to doubt of the grace of God, instills an opinion of one’s own justice, and because they are accepted by the Papists to support a bad cause (p. 704). (i) The expression that good works are necessary to salvation, is rejected and condemned (p. 591). (k) That expressions implying that works are necessary unto salvation, ought not to be taught and defended, but rather exploded and rejected by the churches as false (p. 705). (I) That works which do not proceed from a true faith, are regarded as sins before God, that is, they are defiled with sin, because an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit (p. 700). (m) That faith and salvation are neither preserved nor retained by good works, because these are only evidences that the Holy Spirit is present, and dwells in us (pp. 590, 705; Appendix, p. 174). (n) That the decree of the Council of Trent is deservedly to be rejected, which affirms that good works preserve salvation, or that justification by faith, or even faith itself, is maintained and preserved, either in the whole, or in the least part, by our works (p. 707).

13.Particulars from Formula Concordiae, Concerning the fruits of faith. (a) That a difference is to be observed between the works of the Law, and the works of the Spirit, and that the works which a regenerate person performs with a free and willing mind are not works of the Law, but works of the Spirit, which are the fruits of faith; because they who are born again are not under the Law, but under grace (pp. 589, 590, 721, 722). (b) That good works are the fruits of repentance (p. 12). (c) That the regenerate receive by faith a new life, new affections, and new works, and that these are from faith in repentance (p. 134). (d) That man after conversion and justification begins to be renewed in his mind, and at length in his understanding, and that then his will is not inactive in performing daily exercises of repentance (pp. 582, 673, 700). (e) That we ought to repent as well on account of original sin, as on account of actual sins (p. 321; Appendix, p. 159). (f) That repentance with Christians continues until death, because they have to wrestle with the remains of sin in the flesh throughout life (p. 327). (g) That we must enter upon, and advance more and more in the practice of the Law of the Decalogue (pp. 85, 86). (h) That the regenerate, although delivered from the curse of the Law, ought nevertheless still to exercise themselves in the Divine Law (p. 718). (i) That the regenerate are not without the Law, though not under the Law, for they live according to the Law of the Lord (p. 722). (k) That the Law ought to be considered by the regenerate as a rule of religion (pp. 596, 717; Appendix, p. 156). (l) That the regenerate do good works; not by compulsion, but spontaneously and freely, as though they had received no command, had heard of no threats, and expected no reward (pp. 596, 701). (m) That with them faith is always occupied in some good work, and he who does not thus perform good works, is destitute of true faith, for where there is faith, there are good works (p. 701). (n) That charity and good fruits follow faith and regeneration (pp. 121, 122, 171, 188, 692). (o) Faith and works agree well together, and are inseparably connected; but faith alone lays hold of the blessing without works, and yet it is not alone; hence it is that faith without works is dead (pp. 692, 693). (p) That after man is justified by faith, his faith being then true and alive is operative by charity, for good works always follow justifying faith, and are most certainly discovered with it; thus faith is never alone, but is always accompanied by hope and charity (p. 586). (y) We confess that where good works do not follow faith, in such case it is a false and not a true faith (p. 336). (r) That it is as impossible to separate good works from faith, as heat and light from fire (p. 701). (s) That as the old Adam is always inherent in our very nature, the regenerate have continual need of admonition, doctrine, threatenings, and even of chastisements of the Law, for they are reproved and corrected by the Holy Spirit through the Law (pp. 719, 720, 721). (t) That the regenerate must wrestle with the old Adam, and that the flesh must be kept under by exhortations, threatenings, and stripes, because renovation of life by faith is only begun in the present life (pp. 595, 596, 724). (u) That there remains a perpetual wrestling between the flesh and the spirit, in the elect and truly regenerate (pp. 675, 679). (z) That the reason why Christ promises remission of sins to good works, is, because they follow reconciliation, and also because good fruits must necessarily follow, and because they are the signs of the promise(pp. 116, 117). (y) That saving faith is not in those who have not charity, for charity is the fruit which certainly and necessarily follows true faith (p. 688). (z) That good works are necessary on many accounts, but not as a meritorious cause (pp. 11, 17, 64, 95, 133, 589, 590, 702; Appendix, p. 172). (aa) That a regenerate person ought to cooperate with the Holy Spirit, by the new powers and gifts which he has received, but in a certain way (pp. 582, 583, 674, 675; Appendix, p. 144). (bb) In the Confession of the Churches in the Low Countries, which was received in the Synod of Dort, we read as follows: “Holy faith cannot be inactive in man, for it is a faith working by charity; and works, which proceed from a good root of faith, are good and acceptable before God, like fruits of a good tree; for we are bound by God to good works, but not God to us, inasmuch as it is God that doeth them in us.”

14.Concerning merits, from the Formula Concordiae. (a) That it is false that our works merit remission of sins; false, that men are accounted just by the justice of reason; and false, that reason of its own strength can love God above all things, and do the law of God (p. 64). (b) That faith does not justify because it is in itself so good a work, and so excellent a virtue, but because it lays hold of the merit of Christ in the promise of the gospel (pp. 76, 684). (c) That the promise of remission of sins, and justification for Christ’s sake, does not involve any condition of merit, because it is freely offered (p. 67). (d) That a sinner is justified before God, or absolved from his sins, and from the most just sentence of damnation, and adopted into the number of the sons of God, without any merit of his own, and without any works of his own, whether past, present, or future, of mere grace, and only on account of the sole merit of Christ, which is imputed to him for justice (p. 684). (e) That good works follow faith, remission of sins, and regeneration; and whatever of pollution or imperfection is in them, is not accounted sinful or defective, and that for Christ’s sake; and thus that the whole man, both as to his person and his works, is rendered and pronounced just and holy, out of mere grace and mercy in Christ, shed abroad, displayed, and magnified towards us; wherefore we cannot glory on account of merit (pp. 74, 92, 93, 336). (f) He who trusts in works, thinking he can merit anything thereby, despises the merit and grace of Christ, and seeks a way to heaven without Christ, by human strength (pp. 16, 17, 18, 19). (g) Whosoever desires to ascribe something to good works in the article of justification, and to merit the grace of God thereby, to such a man works are not only useless, but even pernicious (p. 708). (h) The works of the Decalogue are enumerated, and other necessary works, which God vouchsafes to reward (pp. 176, 198). (i) We teach that good works are meritorious, not indeed of remission of sins, grace, and justification, but of other temporal rewards, and even spiritual rewards in this life, and after this life, because Paul says, “Every one shall receive a reward according to his labor”; and Christ says, “Great will be your reward in the heavens”; and it is often said, that “it shall be rendered unto every one according to his works”; wherefore we acknowledge eternal life to be a reward, because it is our due according to promise, and because God crowns His own gifts, but not on account of our merits (pp. 96, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138). (k) That the good works of believers, when they are performed on account of true causes, and directed to right ends, such as God requires from the regenerate, are signs of eternal salvation; and that God the Father accounts them acceptable and pleasing for Christ’s sake, and promises to them excellent rewards of the present life, and of that which is to come (p. 708). (That although good works merit rewards, yet neither from their worthiness nor fitness do they merit the remission of sins, or the glory of eternal life (pp. 96, 135, 139, seq.; Appendix, p. 174). (m) That Christ at the Last Judgment will pass sentence on good and evil works, as the proper effects and evidences of men’s faith (p. 134; Appendix, p. 187). (n) That God rewards good works, but that it is of grace that He crowns His own gifts, is asserted in the Confession of the Churches in the Low Countries.

15.Concerning free-will, from the Formula Concordiae. (a) That man has plenary impotence in spiritual things (pp. 15, 18, 219, 318, 579, 656, seq.; Appendix, p. 141). (b) That man by the fall of his first parents is become so totally corrupt, that he is by nature blind with respect to spiritual things which relate to conversion and salvation, and judges the Word of God to be a foolish thing; and that he is and continues to be an enemy to God, until by the power of the Holy Spirit, through preaching and hearing of the Word, he is of mere grace, without any the least cooperation on his part, converted, gifted with faith, regenerated and renewed (pp. 656, 657). (e) That man is altogether corrupt and dead to what is good, so that in the nature of man, since the fall, and before regeneration, there is not so much as a spark of spiritual strength subsisting or remaining, whereby he can prepare himself for the grace of God, or apprehend it when offered, or of and by himself be capable of receiving it, or understand, believe, embrace, think, will, begin, perfect, act, operate, cooperate in spiritual things, or apply or accommodate himself to grace, or contribute anything towards his conversion, either in the whole, the half, or the least part (pp. 656, 658). (d) That man in spiritual and Divine things, which regard salvation, is like the statue of salt into which Lot’s wife was turned, and like a stock or a stone without life, which have neither the use of eyes, mouth, nor any of the senses (pp. 661, 662). (c) That still man has a locomotive power, by virtue whereof he can govern his outward members, attend public assemblies, and hear the Word and the Gospel; but that in his private thoughts he despises it as a foolish thing; and in this respect is worse than a stock, unless the Holy Spirit is efficacious in him (pp. 662, 671, 672, 673). (f) That still it is not with man in his conversion, as in the forming of a stone into a statue, or the stamping of an impression upon wax, which have neither knowledge, sense, nor will (pp. 662, 681). (g) That man in his conversion is a merely passive subject, and not an active one (pp. 662, 681). (h) That man in his conversion does not at all cooperate with the Holy Spirit (pp. 219, 579, 583, 672, 676; Appendix, pp. 143, 144). (i) That man since the fall retains and possesses the faculty of knowing natural things, as also free-will in some measure to choose natural and civil good (pp. 14, 218, 641, 664; Appendix, p. 142). (j) That the assertions of certain fathers, and modern doctors, that God draws man, but draws him in a manner consistent with his will, are not consonant with Holy Scripture (pp. 582-583). (k) That man, when he is born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, cooperates, though in much weakness, from the new powers and gifts, which the Holy Spirit has begun to operate in him at his conversion, not indeed forcibly, but spontaneously (pp. 582, seq., 673-675); Appendix, p. 144). (l) That in the regenerate, not only the gifts of God, but likewise Christ Himself dwells by faith, as in His temples (pp. 695, 697, 698; Appendix, p. 130). (m) There is an immense difference between baptized and not baptized men; for it is the doctrine of Paul, that all who have been baptized, have put on Christ, and are truly regenerate, having thereby acquired a freedom of will, that is to say, being again made free, as Christ testifies, whence they not only hear the Word of God, but are likewise enabled, though in much weakness, to assent to it and embrace it by faith (p. 675). It is proper to observe, that the foregoing extracts are taken from a book called Formula Concordiae, which was composed by men attached to the Augsburg Confession; but that nevertheless the like doctrines concerning justification by faith alone are maintained and taught by the Reformed in England and Holland; wherefore the following treatise is intended for all; see below (n. 17, 18).