Human wisdom gazes at the Law and seeks justification in it rather than the foolishness of Christ crucified for us...

The adversaries base justification on love because they everywhere teach and require the righteousness of the Law.  We cannot deny that love is the Law's highest work.  Human wisdom gazes at the Law and seeks justification in it.  So the scholastic doctors, great and talented men, proclaim love as the Law's highest work and base justification on this work.  Deceived by human wisdom, they did not look upon the uncovered, but upon the veiled face of Moses, just like the Pharisees, philosophers, and followers of Muhammad.  But we preach the foolishness of the Gospel, in which another righteousness is revealed: for Christ's sake as the Atonement, we are counted righteous when we believe that God has been reconciled to us for Christ's sake.  Neither are we ignorant about how far distant this teaching is from the judgement of reason and the Law.  Nor are we ignorant that the Law's teaching about love makes a much greater show.  For it is wisdom.  But we are not ashamed of the Gospel's foolishness.  We defend this truth for the sake of Christ's glory and ask Christ, by His Holy Spirit, to help up so that we may be able to make this clear and obvious.
~BOC, AP, V (III), 108-109

We will not overlook error or be silent, will not speak or write anything contrary to this Confession...

Our opponents have shameless mouths that have shouted allegations throughout the whole world against our churches and teachers.  They claimed that you cannot find two preachers who agree about each and every article of the Augsburg Confession, but that they are torn apart and separated from one another to such an extent that they themselves no longer know what the Augsburg Confession is and what its proper meaning is.  Therefore, we did not present this common Confession briefly or merely by signing our names, but we wanted to make a pure, clear, distinct declaration about all the disputed articles that have been discussed and argued among the theologians of the Augsburg Confession.  We did this so that everyone may see we do not want to hide or cover up all this in a cunning way or come to agreement only in appearance.  We want to remedy the matter thoroughly, and wanted to set forth our opinion on these matters in such a way that even our adversaries themselves must confess that in all this we abide by the true, simple, natural, and proper sense of the Augsburg Confession.  We desire, by God's grace, to persevere constantly in this confession until our end.  And as long as it depends on our ministry, we will not overlook error or be silent, lest anything contrary to the genuine sense of the Augsburg Confession is introduced into our churches and schools, in which the almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has appointed us teachers [Latin: doctors] and pastors.

...

In the sight of God and of all Christendom, we want to testify to those now living and those who will come after us.  This declaration presented here about on the controverted articles mentioned and explained above--and no other--is our faith, doctrine, and confession.  By God's grace, with intrepid hearts, we are willing to appear before the judgment seat of Christ with this Confession and give an account to it.  We will not speak or write anything contrary to this Confession, either publicly or privately.  By the strength of God's grace we intend to abide by it.  Therefore, after mature deliberation, we have, in the fear of God and by calling on His name, attached our signatures with our own hands.
~BOC, FSD, XII, 3-6, 40

We hallow the Lord's Day not merely by listening to God's Word, but also by learning it and honoring it...

It is not only the people who greatly misuse and desecrate the holy day who sin against this commandment (those who neglect to hear God's Word because of their greed or frivolity or lie in taverns and are dead drunk like swine).  But even that other crowd sins.  They listen to God's Word like it was any other trifle and only come to preaching because of custom.  They go away again, and at the end of the year they know as little of God's Word as at the beginning.  Up to this point the opinion prevailed that you had properly hallowed Sunday when you had heard a Mass or the Gospel read.  But no one cared for God's Word, and no one taught it.  Now that we have God's Word, we fail to correct the abuse  We allow ourselves to be preached to and admonished, but we do not listen seriously and carefully.

Know, therefore, that you must be concerned not only about hearing, but also about learning and retaining God's Word in memory.  Do not think that this is optional for you or of no great importance. Think that it is God's commandment, who will require an account from you about how you have heard, learned and honored His Word.
~BOC, LC, I, 96-98

Christ makes Himself present in the Lord's Supper not by our faith, but by His almighty power...

It is not our faith that makes the Sacrament, but only the true Word and institution of our almighty God and Savior, Jesus Christ.  His Word always is and remains effective in the Christian Church.  It is not invalidated or rendered ineffective by the worthiness or unworthiness of the minister, nor by the unbelief of the one who receives it.  This is just like the Gospel.  Even though godless hearers do not believe it, the Gospel is and remains nonetheless the true Gospel, only it does not work for salvation in the unbelieving.  So whether those who receive the Sacrament believe or do not believe, Christ remains nonetheless true in His words when He says, "Take, eat; this is My body."  He makes Himself present not by our faith, but by His almighty power.
~BOC, FSD, VII, 89

Worthiness to receive the Lord's Supper does not depend on the greatness or smallness, the weakness or strength of faith, but on Christ's merit...

It must be carefully explained who the unworthy guests of this Supper are.  They are those who go to this Sacrament without true repentance and sorrow for their sins, without true faith and the good intention of amending their lives.  By their unworthy oral eating of Christ's body, they load themselves with damnation (i.e., with temporal and eternal punishments) and become guilty of profaning Christ's body and blood.

Some Christians have a weak faith and are shy, troubled, and heartily terrified because of the great number of their sins.  They think that in their great impurity they are not worthy of this precious treasure and Christ's benefits. They feel their weakness of faith and lament it, and from their hearts desire that they may serve God with stronger, more joyful faith and pure obedience.  These are the true worthy guests for whom this highly venerable Sacrament has been especially instituted and appointed.  For Christ says:

Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. (Matthew 9:12)

[God's] power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him; ... for God has welcomed him. (Romans 14:1-3)

Whoever believes in [the Son of God, be it with a strong or with a weak faith] may have eternal life. (John 3:15)

Worthiness does not depend on the greatness or smallness, the weakness or strength of faith.  Instead it depends on Christ's merit, which the distressed father of little faith enjoyed as well as Abraham, Paul, and others who have a joyful and strong faith.
~BOC, FSD, VII, 68-71

The words of the Holy Supper institution cannot and must not be understood other than in their usual, proper, and common meaning...

All the circumstances of the Holy Supper institution testify that these words of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (which in themselves are simple, plain, clear, firm, and beyond doubt), cannot and must not be understood other than in their usual, proper, and common meaning.  For Christ gives this command at the table and at supper.  There is certainly no doubt that He speaks of real, natural bread and of natural wine.  Also, He speaks of oral eating and drinking, so there can be no metaphor (i.e., a change of meaning) in the word bread, as though Christ's body were a spiritual bread or a spiritual food of souls.  Christ is careful not to use metonymy either.  In other words, there is no change of meaning in the word body.  He does not speak about a sign for his body, or about the power of His body and the benefits that He has earned by the sacrifice of His body for us.  Instead, He speaks about His true, essential body (which He delivered into death for us) and about His true, essential blood (which He shed for us on the tree of the cross for the forgiveness of sins.
~BOC, FSD, VII, 48-49

The Holy Spirit carries out both offices together: He slays and makes alive...

The Law indeed says it is God's will and command that we should walk in a new life.  But it does not give the power and ability to begin and to do it.  The Holy Spirit renews the heart.  He is given and received, not through the Law, but through the preaching of the Gospel.  Thereafter, the Holy Spirit uses the Law in order to teach the regenerate from it and to point out and show them in the Ten Commandments what is the "will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2) in what "good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk" (Ephesians 2:10).  He encourages them  to this.  When they are idle, negligent and rebellious in this mater because of the flesh, He rebukes them through the Law.  So the Spirit carries out both offices together: He slays and makes alive.  He leads into hell and brings up again.  For His office is not only to comfort, but also to rebuke.  For it is written, "when [the Holy Spirit] comes, He will convict the world [which includes also the old Adam] concerning sin and righteousness and judgment" (John 16:8).  Sin is everything that is contrary to God's Law.  St. Paul says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof" (2 Timothy 3:16), and to rebuke is the Law's special office.  Therefore, as often as believers stumble, they are rebuked by the Holy Spirit from the Law.  By the same Spirit they are raised up and comforted again with the preaching of the Holy Gospel.
~BOC, FSD, VI, 11-14

Renewal, sanctification, love, virtue, and good works cannot and should not be drawn into, or mixed in with, the article of justification before God...

Here belongs also what St. Paul writes in Romans 4:3.  Abraham was justified before God through faith alone, for the sake of the Mediator, without the cooperation of his works.  This was true not only when Abraham was first converted from idolatry and had no good works, but also afterward, when he had been renewed by the Holy Spirit and adorned with many excellent good works.  Paul asked the following question in Romans 4:1-3:  At that time, on what did Abraham's righteousness before God rest for everlasting life, by which he had a gracious God and was pleasing and acceptable to Him?

He answers:

To the one who does not work but trusts Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works. (Romans 4:5-6)

Therefore, even though people who are converted and believe in Christ have the beginning of renewal, sanctification, love, virtue, and good works, these cannot and should not be drawn into, or mixed in with, the article of justification before God. This is so the honor due to Christ may remain with Christ the Redeemer and tempted consciences may have a sure consolation, since our new obedience is incomplete and impure.
~BOC, FSD, III, 33-35

The natural free will according to its perverted disposition and nature is strong and active only to do what is displeasing and contrary to God...

In spiritual and divine things the unregenerate person's intellect, heart, and will are utterly unable, by his natural powers, to understand, believe, accept, think, will, begin, effect, do, work, or concur in working anything.  They are entirely dead to what is good.  They are corrupt.  So in mankind's nature since the fall, before regeneration, there is not the least spark of spiritual power remaining or present.  No person can prepare himself for God's grace or accept the grace God offers.  A person is not capable of grace for and of himself.  He cannot apply or accommodate himself to it.  By his own powers he is not able to aid, do, work, or agree in working anything toward his conversion.  He cannot do this fully, halfway, or even in part--not the smallest or most trivial part.  he is sin's servant and the devil's captive, by whom he is moved.  Therefore, the natural free will according to its perverted disposition and nature is strong and active only to do what is displeasing and contrary to God.
~BOC, FSD, II, 7

Original sin makes our heart, feeling, and thought hostile toward God, especially in divine and spiritual things...

Original sin (in human nature) is not just this entire absence of all good in spiritual, divine things.  Original sin is more than the lost image of God in mankind; it is at the same time also a deep, wicked, horrible, fathomless, mysterious, and unspeakable corruption of the entire human nature and all its powers.  It is especially a corruption of the soul's highest, chief powers in the understanding, heart, and will.  So now, since the fall, a person inherits an inborn wicked disposition and inward impurity of heart, an evil lust and tendency.  We all by disposition and nature inherit from Adam a heart, feeling, and thought that are, according to their highest powers and the light of reasons, naturally inclined and disposed directly against God and His chief commandments.  Yes, they are hostile toward God, especially in divine and spiritual things.  For in other respects, regarding natural, outward things that are subject to reason, a person still has power, ability, and to a certain degree understanding--although very much weakened.  All of this, however, has been so infected and contaminated by original sin that it is of no use toward God.
~BOC, FSD, I, 11-12

Faith, not love, justifies...

From these statements we hope that it is clear both what faith is and that we are justified,  reconciled, and regenerated through faith.  We are compelled to hold on to these teachings because we want to teach the righteousness of the Gospel, not the righteousness of the Law.  For those who teach that we are justified by love teach the righteousness of the Law.  They do not teach us in justification to trust in Christ as Mediator.  These things are also clear.  We overcome the terrors of sin and death not through love, but through faith.  For we cannot set up our love and fulfilling of the Law against God's wrath, because Paul says, "Through [Christ] we have also obtained access [to God] by faith" (Romans 5:2).  We often emphasize this sentence so that we are understood. The sentence shows most clearly our whole argument and, when carefully considered, can teach abundantly about the whole matter.  It can console good minds.  So, it is helpful to have it at hand and in sight, that we may be able to set it against the doctrine of our adversaries.  They teach that we come to God not through faith, but through love and merits, without Christ as Mediator.  This sentence also helps us when we fear, so that we may cheer ourselves and exercise faith.  This is also clear.  We cannot keep the Law without Christ's aid.  He Himself says, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).  So, before we keep the Law, our hearts must be born again through faith.
~BOC, AP, V (III), 192-194

We must not enact traditions, in addition to the Gospel, as if they are acts of forgiveness or righteousness...

We must keep in the Church the doctrine that we receive the forgiveness of sins freely for Christ's sake, through faith.  We must also keep the doctrine that human traditions are useless services and, therefore, neither sin nor righteousness should be placed in meat, drink, clothing, and like things.  Christ wished the use of such things to be left free, since He says, "It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person" (Matthew 15:11); and Paul says, "The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking" (Romans 14:17).  Therefore, the bishops have no right to enact traditions in addition to the Gospel, so that people must merit the forgiveness of sins, or that they think are services that God approves as righteousness. They must not burden consciences (as though it were a sin to leave such observances undone).  All this is taught by that one passage in Acts 15:9, where the apostles (Peter) say that hearts are cleansed through faith.  Then they prohibit the imposing of a yoke and show how great a danger this is, and multiply the sin of those who burden the Church.  "Why do you tempt God?" they say.  Our adversaries are not terrified even by this thunderbolt.  They defend traditions and godless opinions with violence.
~BOC, AP, XXVIII (XIV), 7-8

Offerings are for the benefit of the Church...

They themselves should remember that riches have been given to bishops as alms for the administration and advantage of the churches. As the rule says, "The benefit is given because of the office." Therefore, they cannot with a good conscience possess these alms and defraud the Church.  The Church has need of this money to support ministers, aid education, care for the poor, and establish courts, especially for marriage   So great is the variety and extent of marriage controversies that there is need for a special court, for which the endowments of the church are needed.  Peter predicted that there would be godless bishops who would abuse the alms of the Church for luxury and neglect the ministry.  Therefore, let those who defraud the Church know that they will pay God the penalty for this crime.
~BOC, PPP, 79-82

The errors of the kingdom of the pope detract from Christ's glory and bring destruction to souls...

In this our consciences are excused well enough, for the errors of the kingdom of the pope are clear.  Scripture with its entire voice cries out that these errors are a teach of darkness and of Antichrist.  The idolatry in the abuse of the Masses is clear.  The Masses are used for the most shameful moneymaking.  The doctrine of repentance has been utterly corrupted by the pope and his followers.  They teach that sins are forgiven because of the value of our words.  Then they tell us to doubt whether the forgiveness takes place.  They nowhere teach that sins are forgiven freely for Christ's sake, and that by this faith we obtain forgiveness of sins.

So they hide Christ's glory and rob consciences of firm consolation.  They abolish true divine services (i.e., the exercises of faith struggling with despair).

They have clouded over the doctrine about sin.  They have invented a tradition about the listing of offenses, producing many errors and despair.

In addition, they have invented satisfactions, with which they have also hidden Christ's benefit.

From these, indulgences have been borne.  These are pure lies, fabricated for the sake of making money.

How many abuses and what horrible idolatry the invocation of saints has produced!

What shameful acts have arisen from the tradition of celibacy!

What darkness the doctrine of vows has spread over the Gospel!  They pretend that vows are righteousness before God and merit the forgiveness of sins.  So they have transferred the benefit of Christ to human traditions and have completely snuffed out the doctrine about faith.  They have pretended the most silly traditions are services of God and perfection.  They have preferred these to the works of the callings that God requires and has ordained.  These errors should not be treated lightly.  They detract from Christ's glory and bring destruction to souls.  They cannot be passed by unnoticed.
~BOC, PPP, 42-48

The authority to administer the Gospel lies with the Church....

Wherever the Church is, there is the authority to administer the Gospel.  Therefore, it is necessary for the Church to retain the authority to call, elect, and ordain ministers.  This authority is a gift that in reality is given to the Church.  No human power can take this gift away from the Church.  As Paul testifies to the Ephesians, when "He ascended...He gave gifts to men" (Ephesians 4:8).  He lists among the gifts specifically belonging to the church "pastors and teachers" (4:11), and adds that they are given for the ministry, "for the building up of the body of Christ" (4:12).  So wherever there is a True Church, the right to elect and ordain ministers necessarily exists.  In the same way, in a case of necessity even a layman absolves and becomes the minister and pastor of another.  Augustine tells the story of two Christians in a ship, one of whom baptized the catechumen, who after Baptism then absolved the baptizer.
~BOC, PPP, 67

The Church is those who hear the voice of their Shepherd...

We do not agree with them that they are the Church.  They are not the Church.  Nor will we listen to those things that, under the name of Church, they command or forbid.  Thank God, today a seven-year-old child knows what the Church is, namely, the holy believers and lambs who hear the voice of their Shepherd.  For the children pray, "I believe in one holy Christian Church."  This holiness does not come from albs, tonsures, long gowns, and other ceremonies they made up without Holy Scripture, but from God's Word and true faith.
~BOC, SA, III, XII, 1-3

The cause of our sin is our own will...

Our churches teach that although God creates and preserves nature, the cause of sin is located in the will of the wicked, that is, the devil and ungodly people.  Without God's help, this will turns itself away from God, as Christ says, "When he lies, he speaks out of his own character" (John 8:44).
~BOC, AC, XIX

Repentance holds contrition and faith...

We have declared why we assigned these two parts, contrition and faith, to repentance.  We have done this willingly.  Many writings about repentance are published that cite the fathers in a butchered way,  The adversaries have distorted these to put faith out of sight.  Among these are, "Repentance is to lament past evils, and not to commit again deeds that ought to be lamented."  Again, "Repentance is a kind of vengeance of him who grieves, thus punishing in himself what he is sorry for having committed."  In these passages, no mention is made of faith.  Not even in the schools, when they interpret them, is anything added about faith.  Therefore, in order that the doctrine of faith might be clearer, we have named it among the parts of repentance. For experience shows that those passages are dangerous that require contrition or good works, and make no mention of justifying faith.  Caution can justly be desired in those who have collected these centos of the Sentences and decrees.  Since the Fathers speak in some places about one part of repentance, and in other places about another part, it would have been good to select and combine their judgement not only about one part but about both, that is, about contrition and faith.

...

Therefore, there are sentences written by the Fathers not only about contrition and works, but also about faith.  But the adversaries, since they understand neither the nature of repentance nor the language of the Fathers, select passages about a part of repentance, namely, about works.  They overlook the declarations made elsewhere about faith, since they do not understand them.
~BOC, AP, XII (V), 91-93, 97

That the works of God might be displayed in us...

Job is excused though he was not troubled by past evil deeds.  Therefore, troubles are not always punishments or signs of wrath.  Indeed, terrified consciences should be taught that there are more important purposed for afflictions, so that they do not think God is rejecting them when they see nothing but God's punishment and anger in troubles.  The other more important purposes are to be considered, that is, that God is doing His strange work so that He may be able to do His own work, as Isaiah 28 teaches in a long speech.  When the disciples asked about the blind man who sinned, Christ replies that the cause of his blindness is not sin, but that "the works of God might be displayed in him" (John 9:2-3).  In Jeremiah it is said, "If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it..." (49:12).  So the prophets, John the Baptist, and other saints were killed.  Therefore, troubles are not always punishments for certain past deeds, but they are God's works, intended for our benefit, and that God's power might be made more apparent in our weakness.
~BOC, AP, XII (VI), 61-63

Absolution, a Sacrament of repentance...

Furthermore, the Power of the Keys administers and presents the Gospel through Absolution, which is the true voice of the Gospel.  We also include Absolution when we speak of faith, because "faith comes from hearing," as Paul says in Romans 10:17.  When the Gospel is heard and the Absolution is heard, the conscience is encouraged and receives comfort.  Because God truly brings a person to life through the Word, the Keys truly forgive sins before God.  According to Luke 10:16, "The one who hears you hears Me."  Therefore, the voice of the one absolving must be believed no differently than we would believe a voice from heaven.  Absolution can properly be called a Sacrament of repentance, as even the more learned scholastic theologians say.  Meanwhile, in temptations this faith is nourished in a variety of ways: through the declaration of the Gospel and the use of the Sacraments.  For these are signs of the New Testament, that is, signs of the forgiveness of sins.  They offer the forgiveness of sins as the words of the Lord's Supper clearly testify, "This is My body, which is given for you.  This is the cup of the New Testament," and so on.  So faith is conceived and strengthened through Absolution, through the hearing of the Gospel, through the use of the Sacraments, so that it may not give in to the terrors of sin and death while it struggles.  This method of repentance is plain and clear.  It increases the worth of the Power of the Keys and of the Sacraments. It illumines Christ's benefit and teaches us to make use of Christ as Mediator and the Atoning Sacrifice.

~BOC, AP, XII (V), 39-43

Our righteousness rests alone on Christ the Lord...

In our churches it is acknowledged among the theologians of the Augsburg Confession that all our righteousness is to be sought outside the merits, works, virtues, and worthiness of ourselves and all people.  Our righteousness rests alone on Christ the Lord.  Therefore, how Christ is called our Righteousness in this matter of justification must be carefully considered.  I mean, that our righteousness rest on one or the other nature in Christ, but on Christ's entire person, who as God and man is our Righteousness in His only, entire, and complete obedience.
~BOC, FSD, III, 55

Renewal and sanctification also do not belong in the article or matter of justification...

In the same way, renewal and sanctification also do not belong in the article or matter of justification before God, even though it is a benefit of the Mediator, Christ, and a work of the Holy Spirit.  Sanctification follows justification since, on account of our corrupt flesh, sanctification is not entirely perfect and complete in this life.  Dr. Luther write well about this in his beautiful and large commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, in which he says the following:

We concede that good works and love must also be taught; but this must be in its proper time and place, that is, when the question has to do with works, apart from this chief doctrine.  But here the point at issue is how we are justified and attain eternal life.  To this we answer with Paul:  We are pronounced righteous solely by faith in Christ, not by the works of the Law or by love.  This is not because we reject works or love, as our adversaries accuses us of doing, but because we refuse to let ourselves be distracted from the principal point at issue here, as Satan is trying to do so.  So since we are now dealing with the topic of justification, we reject and condemn works; for this topic will not allow of any discussion of good works.  On this issue, therefore, we simply cut off all laws and all works of the Law. (LW 26:137)
~BOC, FSD, III, 28-29

Not every thing that belongs in conversion also belongs in the article of justification...

If the article of justification is to remain pure, the greatest attention must be given with special diligence.  Otherwise, what comes before faith, and what follows after it, will be mixed together or inserted into the article of justification as necessary and belonging to it.  For it is not one and the same thing to talk about conversion and to talk about justification.

Not every thing that belongs in conversion also belongs in the article of justification.  Only God's grace, Christ's merit, and faith belong and are necessary to the article of justification.  Faith receives these blessings in the promise of the Gospel, by which Christ's righteousness is credited to us.  From this we receive and have forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, sonship, and are made heirs of eternal life.
~BOC, FSD, III, 24-25

The Holy Spirit brings to us the treasures of forgiveness, sonship, and inheritance of eternal life...

We unanimously believe, teach, and confess the following about the righteousness of faith before God, in accordance with the comprehensive summary of our faith and confession presented above.  A poor sinful person is justified before God, that is, absolved and declared free and exempt from all his sins and from the sentence of well-deserved condemnation, and is adopted into sonship and inheritance of eternal life, without any preceding, present, or subsequent works, out of pure grace, because of the sole merit, complete obedience, bitter suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ alone. His obedience is credited to us for righteousness.

These treasures are brought to us by the Holy Spirit in the promise of the Holy Gospel.  Faith alone is the only means through which we lay hold on, accept, apply, and take them for ourselves.  This faith is God's gift, by which we truly learn to know Christ, our Redeemer, in the Word of the Gospel and trust in Him.  We trust that for the sake of His obedience alone we have the forgiveness of sins by grace, are regarded as godly and righteousness by God the Father, and are eternally saved.
~BOC, FSD, III, 9-11

The Gospel promise gives troubled hearts sure consolation...

Troubled hearts should have a firm, sure consolation.  Also, due honor should be given to Christ's merit and God's grace.  Therefore, the Scriptures teach that the righteousness of faith before God stands only in the gracious reconciliation or the forgiveness of sins, which is presented to us out of pure grace, only for the sake of the merit of Mediator, Christ.  This is received through faith alone in the Gospel promise.
~BOC, FSD, III, 30

Use God's name in the service of truth...

Besides this you must also  know how to use God's name rightly.  For when He says, "You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain," He wants us to understand at the same time that His name is to be used properly.  For His name has been revealed and given to us so that it may be of constant use and profit. So it is natural to conclude that since this commandment forbids using the holy name for falsehood or wickedness, we are, on the other hand, commanded to use His name for truth and for all good, like when someone takes an oath truthfully when it is needed and demanded.  This commandment also applies to right teaching and to calling on His name in trouble or praising and thanking Him in prosperity, and so on.  All of this is summed up and commanded in Psalm 50:15, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me." For all this is bringing God's name into the service of truth and using it in a blessed way.  In this way His name is hallowed, as we pray in the Lord's Prayer.
~BOC, LC, I, 63-64

God is as an eternal fountain that gushes forth abundantly nothing but what is good...

We are to trust in God alone and look to Him and expect from Him nothing but good, as from one who gives us body, life, food, drink, nourishment, health, protection, peace, and all necessaries of both temporal and eternal things.  He also preserves us from misfortune.  And if any evil befall us, He deilvers and rescues us.  So it is God alone (as had been said well enough) from whom we receive all good and by whom we are delivered from all evil. ...It is as though He were an eternal fountain that gushes forth abundantly nothing but what is good.  And from that fountain flows forth all that is and is called good.

Even though we experience much good from other people, whatever we receive by God's command or arrangement is all received from God.  For our parents and all rulers and everyone else, with respect to his neighbor, have received from God the command that they should du us all kinds of good.  So we receive these blessings not from them, but through them, from God.  For creatures are only the hands, channels, and means by which God gives all things.  So He gives to the mother breasts and milk to offer to her child, and He gives corn and all kinds of produce from the earth for nourishment.  None of these blessings could be produce by any creature of itself.
~BOC, LC, I, 24-26

The power of God is in His Word...

Now, for this reason alone you ought to gladly read, speak, think, and use these things, even if you have no other profit and fruit from them than driving away the devil and evil thoughts by doing so.  For he cannot hear or endure God's Word.  God's Word is not like some other silly babbling, like the story about Dietrich of Berne, for example.  But as St. Paul says in Romans 1:16, it is "the power of God."  Yes, indeed, it is the power of God that give the devil burning pain and strengthens, comforts, and helps us beyond measure.
~BOC, LC, LP, 11

Justifying faith is the promise, grace, and Christ's merits as the price and atonement...

Whenever we speak of justifying faith, we must keep in mind that these three objects belong together:  the promise, grace, and Christ's merits as the price and atonement.  The promise is received through faith.  Grace excludes our merits and means that the benefit is offered only through mercy.  Christ's merits are the price, because there must be a certain atonement for our sins.  Scripture freely cries out for mercy; the Holy Fathers often say that we are saved by mercy.  Therefore, whenever mercy is mentioned, we must keep in mind that faith, which receives the promise of mercy, is required there.  Again, whenever we speak about faith, we want an object of faith to be understood, namely the promised mercy.  For faith justifies and saves, not because it is a worthy work in itself, but only because it receives the promised mercy.
~BOC, AP, IV (II), 53-56

The Holy Spirit bestows, increases, and strengthens faith as He makes us holy as we abide in faith...

But the Holy Spirit carries on His work without ceasing to the Last Day.  For that purpose He has appointed a congregation upon earth by which He speaks and does everything.  For He has not yet brought together all His Christian Church or granted all forgiveness.  Therefore, we believe in Him who daily brings us into the fellowship of this Christian Church through the Word. Through the same Word and the forgiveness of sins He bestows, increases, and strengthens faith.  So when He has done it all, and we abide in this and die to the world and to all evil, He may finally make us perfectly and forever holy.  Even now we expect this in faith through the Word.
~BOC, LC, II, 61-62

The worship and divine service of the Gospel is to receive gifts from God...

But because Christ's righteousness is given to us through faith, faith is righteousness credited to us.  In other words, it is that by which we are made acceptable to God on account of the credit and ordinance of God, as Paul says, "Faith is counted as righteousness" (Romans 4:3,5).  Although, because certain hard-to-please people, we must say technically:  Faith is truly righteousness, because it is obedience to the Gospel.  For it is clear that obedience to the command of a superior is truly a kind of distributive justice.  This obedience to the Gospel is credited for righteousness. So, only become of this--because we grasp Christ as the Atoning Sacrifice--are good works, or obedience to the Law, pleasing.  We do not satisfy the Law, but for Christ's sake this is forgiven us, as Paul says, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). This faith gives God the honor, give God that which is His own.  By receiving the promises of God, it obeys Him.  Just as Paul also says, "No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God" (Romans 4:20).  So the worship and divine service of the Gospel is to receive gifts from God.  On the contrary, the worship of the Law is to offer and present our gifts to God.  However, we can offer nothing to God unless we have first been reconciled and born again. This passage, too, brings the greatest comfort, as the chief worship of the Gospel is to desire to receive the forgiveness of sins, grace, and righteousness.
~BOC, AP, V (III), 186-189

All confidence is empty, except confidence in mercy...

In the Lord's Prayer the saints ask for the forgiveness of sins.  Therefore, even the saints have sins.  The innocent shall not be innocent.

"For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a Jealous God." (Deuteronomy 4:24)

"Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord." (Zechariah 2:13)

"All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.  The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it." (Isaiah 40:6-7)

Namely, flesh and righteousness of the flesh cannot endure God's judgment.  Jonah 2:8 also says, "Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hopes of steadfast love," that is, all confidence is empty, except confidence in mercy.  Mercy delivers us; our own merits, our own efforts, do not.  So Daniel also prays:

"For we do not present our pleas before You because of our righteousness, but because of Your great mercy.  O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive.  O Lord, pay attention and act.  Delay not, for Your own sake, O my God, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name." (Daniel 9:18-19)

So Daniel teaches us in praying to seize mercy, that is, to trust in God's mercy not our own merits before God.
~BOC, AP, V (III), 208-210

Works pursued for righteousness obscure Christ's glory, bring terror, and obscure knowledge of God...

In this way good works ought to follow faith.  Yet people who cannot believe and be sure that they are freely forgiven for Christ's sake, and that freely they have a reconciled God for Christ's sake, use works in a far different way.  When they see the works of saints, they judge in a human way that saints have merited forgiveness of sins and grace through these works.  So they imitate them, thinking that through similar works they merit forgiveness of sins and grace.  They think that through these works they appease God's wrath and are counted righteous for the sake of these works.  We condemn this godless opinion about works.  In the first place, it hides Christ glory when people offer to God these works as a price and atonement.  This honor, due to Christ alone, is credited to our works.  Second, they do not find peace of conscience in these works.  in true terrors, heaping up works upon works, they eventually despair because they find no work important and precious enough.  The Law always accuses and produces wrath.  Third, such persons never attain the knowledge of God, who judges and afflicts them. They never believe that they are heard.  But faith shows God's presence, since it is certain that God freely forgives and hears us.
~BOC, AP, V (III), 82-84

Christian righteousness is the faith that believes that sins are freely forgiven for Christ's sake...

Not only the people, but also those teaching in the churches, have generally been persuaded to believe in making distinctions between meats, and similar human traditions.  They believe these are useful works for meriting grace and are able to make satisfaction for sins.  From this there developed that new ceremonies, new orders, new holy days, and new fastings were instituted daily.  Teachers in the Church required these works as a necessary service to merit grace.  They greatly terrified people's consciences when they left any of these things out.  Because of this viewpoint, the Church has suffered great damage.

First, the chief part of the Gospel--the doctrine of grace and of the righteousness of faith--has been obscured by this view.  The Gospel should stand out as the most prominent teaching in the Church, in order that Christ's merit may be well known and faith, which believes that sins are forgiven for Christ's sake, be exalted far above works.  Therefore, Paul also lays the greatest stress on this article, putting aside the Law and human traditions, in order to show that Christian righteousness is something other than such works.  Christian righteousness is the faith that believes that sins are freely forgiven for Christ's sake.  But this doctrine of Paul has been almost completely smothered by traditions, which have produced the opinion that we must merit grace and righteousness by making distinctions in meats and similar services.  When repentance was taught, there was no mention made of faith.  Only works of satisfaction were set forth.  And so repentance seemed to stand entirely on these works.
~BOC, AC, XXVI, 1-7

It is the passion of Christ, not the act of a Mass, that forgives, justifies...

An opinion was added that infinitely increased private Masses.  It states that Christ, by His passion, made satisfaction for original sin and instituted the Mass as an offering for daily sins, both venial and mortal.  From this opinion has arisen the common belief that the Mass takes away the sins of the living and the dead simply by performing the outward act.  Then they began to argue about whether one Mass said for many is worth as much as special Masses for individuals.  This resulted in an infinite number of Masses.  With this work, people wanted to obtain from God all that they needed, and in the meantime, trust in Christ and true worship were forgotten.

Our teachers have warned that these opinions depart from the Holy Scripture and diminish the glory of the passion of Christ.  For Christ's passion was an offering and satisfaction, not only for original guilt, but also for other sins, as it is written, "We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, (Hebrews 10:10).  Also, "By a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14).  (It is an unheard-of innovation in the Church to teach that by His death Christ has made satisfaction only for original sin and not for all other sin.  So it is hoped that everybody will understand that this error has been rebuked for good reason),

Scripture teaches that we are justified before God, through faith in Christ, when we believe that our sins are forgiven for Christ sake. Now if the Mass takes away the sins of the living and the dead simply by performing it, justification comes by doing Masses, and not of faith.  Scripture does not allow this.
~BOC, AC, XXIV, 21-29

Without faith we can do no good for nothing in man is harmless...

Therefore, it is easy to see that this doctrine is not to be accused of banning good works.  Instead, it is to be commended all the more because it shows how we are enabled to do good works.  For without faith, human nature cannot, in any way, do the works of the First or Second Commandment.  Without faith, human nature cannot call upon God, nor expect anything from Him, nor bear the cross.  Instead human nature seeks and trusts in human help.  So when there is no faith and trust in God, all kinds of lusts and human intentions rule in the heart.  This is why Christ says, "Apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). That is why the Church sings: "Lacking Your divine favor, there is nothing in man.  Nothing in him is harmless."
~BOC, AC, XX, 35-40

Without faith one cannot believe in the forgiveness of sins...

The person who knows that he has a Father who is gracious to him through Christ truly knows God.  He also knows that God cares for him.  In a word, he is not without God, as are the heathen.  For devils and the ungodly are not able to believe this article: the forgiveness of sins. Hence, they hate God as an enemy and do not call Him and expect no good from Him.  Augustine also warns his readers about the word faith and teaches that the term is used in Scriptures, not for the knowledge that is in the ungodly, but for the confidence that consoles and encourages the terrified mind.
~BOC, AC, XX, 24-26

The Lord's Supper cures and brings life to both body and soul...

Here [the Lord's Supper] He offers to us the entire treasure that He has brought for us from heaven.  With the greatest kindness He invites us to receive it also in other places, like when He says in St. Matthew 11:38, "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."  It is surely a sin and a shame that He so cordially and faithfully summons and encourages us to receive our highest and greatest good, yet we act so distantly toward it.  We permit so long a time to pass without partaking of the Sacrament that we grow quiet cold and hardened, so that we have no longing or love for it.  We must never think of the Sacrament as something harmful from which we had better flee, but as a pure, wholesome, comforting remedy that grants salvation and comfort.  It will cure you and give you life both in soul and body.  For where the soul has recovered, the body is also relieved.
~BOC, LC, V, 66-68

The Gospel is not a preaching of repentance or rebuke...

The doctrines of the Law and the Gospel may not be mixed and confused with each other.  What belongs to the one may not be applied to the other.  When that happens Christ's merit and benefits are easily hidden and the Gospel is again turned into a doctrine of the Law, as happened in the papacy.  For then Christians are deprived of the true comfort they have in the Gospel against the Law's terrors, and the door is again opened in God's Church to the papacy. Therefore, the true and proper distinction between the Law and the Gospel must be taught and preserved with all diligence.  Whatever causes confusion between the Law and Gospel should be diligently prevented (i.e., by which the two doctrines, Law and Gospel, may be confused and mixed into one doctrine).  It is, therefore, dangerous and wrong to convert the Gospel (properly so called, as distinguished from the Law) into a preaching of repentance or rebuke.  Otherwise, if understood in a general sense of the entire doctrine, the Apology says also several times that the Gospel is a preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of sins.  Meanwhile, the Apology also shows that the Gospel is properly the promise of the forgiveness of sins and of justification through Christ, and the Law is a doctrine that reproves sins and condemns.
~BOC, FSD, V, 27

We can only understand the Law by and with and through Christ...

Concerning the revelation of sin, Moses' veil hangs before the eyes of all people as long as they hear the bare preaching of the Law, and nothing about Christ.  Therefore, they do not learn from the Law to see their sins correctly.  They either become bold hypocrites (who swell with the opinion of their own righteousness) like the Pharisees, or they despair like Judas.  Therefore, Christ takes the Law into His hands and explains it spiritually.  In this way God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all sinners, so that they see how great it is.  In this way they are directed back to the Law, and then they first learn from it to know their sins correctly--a knowledge that Moses could never have forced out of them.
~BOC, FE, V, 8

The Holy Spirit lays hold of a person's will and works in him the new birth and conversion...

Dr. Luther has written that a person's will in his conversion is purely passive, that is, that it does nothing at all.  This is to be understood with respect to divine grace in the kindling of the new movements, that is, when God's Spirit, through the heard Word or the use of the holy Sacraments, lays hold of a person's will and works in him the new birth and conversion.  When the Holy Spirit has worked and accomplish this, and a person's will has been changed and renewed by His divine power and working alone, then the new will of that person is an instrument and organ of God the Holy Spirit.  So that person not only accepts grace, but he cooperates with the Holy Spirit in the works that follow.

~BOC, FE, II, 18

The old Adam counts God as his enemy...

Likewise, we believe, teach, and confess that the unregenerate will of mankind is not only turned away from God, but also has become God's enemy.  So it only has an inclination and desire for that which is evil and contrary to God, as it is written in Genesis 8:21, "The intention of man's heart is evil from his youth."
~BOC, FE, II, 3

Human nature drives us to look more upon ourselves than upon Christ's Word and lips...

But whoever would gladly receive grace and comfort should drive himself and allow no one to frighten him away [from the Lord's Supper].  Say, "I, indeed, would like to be worthy.  But I come, not upon any worthiness, but upon Your Word, because You have commanded it.  I come as one who would gladly be Your disciple, no matter what becomes of my worthiness."  This is difficult.  We always have this obstacles and hindrance to encounter:  we look more upon ourselves than upon Christ's Word and lips.  For human nature desires to action in such a way that it can stand and rest firmly on itself.  Otherwise, it refuses to approach [the altar for the Lord's Supper].
~BOC, LC, V, 62-63

The Lord's Supper is the food of souls...

On this account it is indeed called a food of souls, which nourishes and strengthens the new man.  For by Baptism we are first born anew.  But, as we have said before, there still remains the old vicious nature of flesh and blood in mankind.  There are so many hindrances and temptations of the devil and of the world that we often become weary and faint, and sometimes we also stumble.

Therefore, the Sacrament is given as a daily pasture and sustenance, that faith may refresh and strengthen itself so that it will not fall back in such a battle, but become ever stronger and stronger. The new life must be guided so that it continually increases and progresses.  But it must suffer much opposition.  For the devil is such a furious enemy.  When he sees that we oppose him and attack the old man, and that he cannot topple us over by force, he prowls and moves about on all sides.  He tries every trick and does not stop until he finally wears us out, so that we either renounce our faith or throw up our hands and put up our feet, becoming indifferent or impatient.  Now to this purpose the comfort of the Sacrament is given when the heart feels that the burden is becoming too heavy, so that it may gain here new power and refreshment.
~BOC, LC, V, 24-27

The Sacrament is not founded upon people's holiness, but upon God's Word...

For the Sacrament is not founded upon people's holiness, but upon God's Word.  Just as no saint on earth, indeed, no angel in heaven, can make bread and wine be Christ's body and blood, so also no one can change or alter it, even though it is misused.  The Word by which it became a Sacrament and was instituted does not become false because of the person or his unbelief.  For Christ does not say, "If you believe or are worthy, you receive My body and blood." No, He says, "Take, eat and drink; this is My body and blood." Likewise, He says, "Do this" (i.e., what I now do, institute, give, and ask you, take).  That is like saying, "No matter whether you are worthy or unworthy, you have here His body and blood by virtue of these words that are added to the bread and wind."  Note and remember this well.  For upon these words rest all our foundation, protection, and defense against all errors and deception that have ever come or may yet come.
~BOC, LC, V, 16-19

The Word makes the Sacrament...

It is the Word, I say, that makes and sets this Sacrament apart.  So it is not mere bread and wine, but is, and is called, Christ's body and blood.  For it is said, "When the Word is joined to the element or natural substance, it becomes as Sacrament."  This saying of St. Augustine is so properly and so well put that he has scarcely said anything better.  The Word must make a Sacrament out of the element, or else it remains a mere element.  Now it is not the word or ordinance of a prince or emperor.  But it is the Word of the grand Majesty, at whose feet all creatures should fall and affirm it as He says, and accept it with all reverence, fear, and humility.
~BOC, LC, V, 10-11

A truly Christian life is nothing other than a daily Baptism...

Lastly, we must also know what Baptism signifies and why God has ordained just this outward sign and ceremony for the Sacrament by which we are first received into the Christian Church.  The act or ceremony is this: we are sunk under the water, which passes over us, and afterward are drawn out again.  These two parts, (a) to be sunk under the water and (b) drawn out again, signify Baptism's power and work.  It is nothing other than putting to death the old Adam and affecting the new man's resurrection after that.  Both of these things must take place in us all our lives.  So, a truly Christian life is nothing other than a daily Baptism, once begun and ever to be continued.  For this must be done without ceasing, that we always keep purging away whatever belongs to the old Adam.  Then what belongs to the new man may come forth.

~BOC, LC, IV, 64-65

Baptism, as with the entire Gospel, is an outward, verbal preaching...

Now these "new spirits" are so crazy that they separate faith and the object to which faith clings and is bound, even if it is something outward.  Yes, it shall and must be something outward, so that it may be grasped by our senses and understood, and by them be brought into the heart.  For indeed, the entire Gospel is an outward, verbal preaching.  In short, what God does and works in us He intends to work through such outward ordinances.  Therefore, wherever He speaks--indeed, no matter what direction or by whatever means He speaks--faith must look there.  It must hold to that object.  Now here we have the words "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mark 16:16).  What else can these words refer to but Baptism, that is, to the water included in God's ordinance?  Therefore, it makes sense that whoever rejects Baptism rejects God's Word, faith, and Christ, who directs us to Baptism and binds us to Baptism.
~BOC, LC, IV, 30-31

Baptism gives faith the outward thing upon which it stands and rests...

Our would-be "wise spirits" assert that faith alone saves, and that works and outward things do nothing.  We answer, "It is true, indeed, that nothing in us is of any use but faith, as we shall hear still further."  But these blind guides are unwilling to see this:  faith must have something that it believes, that is, of which it takes hold and upon which it stands and rests.  So faith clings to the water and believes in Baptism, there is pure salvation and life.  This is not through the water (as we have stated well enough), but through the fact that it is embodied in God's Word and institution, and that God's name abides in it.  Now, if I believe this, what else is it than believing in God as the One who has given and planted His Word into this ordinance and offers to us this outward thing by which we may gain such a treasure?
~BOC, LC, IV, 28-29

We are baptized by God Himself...

To be baptized in God's name is to be baptized not by men, but by God Himself.  Therefore, although it is performed by human hands, it is still truly God's own work.
~BOC, LC, IV, 10

Certitude in the promise and immovable Word of the Holy Gospel...

We believe, teach, and confesss that many weaknesses and defects cling to the true believers and truly regenerate, even up to the day they are buried.  Still, they must not on that account doubt either their righteousness, which has been credited to them through faith, or the salvation of their souls.  They must regard it as certain that for Christ' sake, according to the promise and immovable Word of the Holy Gospel, they have a gracious God.
~BOC, FE, III, 9

The work of the old Adam...

In short, the old Adam encourages us to have all kinds of evil lusts, which cling to us by nature and to which we are moved by the society, the example, and what we hear and see of other people. They often wound and inflame even an innocent heart.
~BOC, LC, III, 102

Standing one day and falling the next is the nature of our life...

Although we have received forgiveness and a good conscience and are entirely acquitted, yet our life is of such a nature that we stand today, and tomorrow we fall.  Therefore, even though we are godly now and stand before God with a good conscience, we must pray again that He would not allow us to fall again and yield to trials and temptations.
~BOC, LC, III, 100

Our need for the comfort of the Gospel...

...the purpose of this prayer is that we may recognize and receive such forgiveness.  The flesh in which we daily live is of such a nature that it neither trusts nor believes God.  It is ever active in evil lusts and devices, so that we sin daily in word and deed, by what we do and fail to do.  By this the conscience is thrown into unrest, so that it is afraid of God's wrath and displeasure.  So it loses the comfort and confidence derived from the Gospel.  Therefore, it is always necessary that we run here and receive consolation to comfort the conscience again.
~BOC, LC, III, 88-89

The devil's will and purpose and all our enemies shall and must fail...

We have this comfort and confidence: the devil's will and purpose and all our enemies shall and must fail and come to nothing, no matter how proud, secure, and powerful they know themselves to be.  For if their will were not broken and hindered, God's kingdom could not remain on earth nor His name be hallowed.
~BOC, LC, III, 70

The devil chafes and rages as a fierce enemy against us with all his power and might...

No one can believe how the devil opposes and resists these prayers.  He cannot allow anyone to teach or to believe rightly.  It hurts him beyond measure to have his lies and abominations exposed, which have been honored under the most fancy, sham uses of the divine name.  It hurts him when he himself is disgraced, is driven out of the heart, and has to let a breach be made in his kingdom.  Therefore, he chafes and rages as a fierce enemy with all his power and might.  He marshals all his subjects and, in addition, enlists the world and our own flesh as his allies.  For our flesh is in itself lazy and inclined to evil, even though we have accepted and believe God's Word.  The world, however, is perverse and wicked.  So he provokes the world against us, fans and stirs the fire, so that he may hinder and drive us back, cause us to fall, and again bring us under his power.  Such is all his will, and mind, and thought.  He strives for this day and night and never rests a moment.  He uses all arts, wiles, ways, and means that he can invent.

~BOC, LC, III, 62-64

The eternal inestimable treasure in God's kingdom come to us...

From this you can see that we do not pray here for a crust of bread or a temporal, perishable good.  Instead, we pray for an eternal inestimable treasure and everything that God Himself possesses.  This is far too great for any human heart to think about desiring, if God had not Himself commanded us to pray for the same.  But because He is God, He also claims the honor of giving much more and more abundantly than anyone can understand.  He is like an eternal, unfailing fountain.  The more it pours forth and overflows, the more it continues to give.
~BOC, LC, III, 55-56

God arranges the words and form of our prayers, places them on our lips...

...God expects us and He Himself arranges the words and form of prayer for us.  He places them on our lips for how and what we should pray, so that we may see how heartily He pities us in our distress, and we may never doubt that such prayer is pleasing to Him and shall certainly be answered.
~BOC, LC, III, 22

God commands us to pray because He desires that we call upon Him...

Indeed, the human heart is by nature so hopeless that it always flees from God and imagines that He does not wish or desire our prayer, because we are sinners and have earned nothing but wrath.  Against such thoughts, we should always remember this commandment and turn to God, so that we may not stir up His anger more by such disobedience.  For by this commandment God lets us plainly understand that He will not cast us away from Him or chase us away.  This is true even though we are sinners.  But instead He draws us to Himself, so that we might humble ourselves before Him, bewail this misery and plight of ours and pray for grace and help.
~BOC, LC, III, 10-11

Even just studying the Creed will give us a lifetime of learning...

Let this be enough about the Creed to lay a foundation for the simple, so that they may not be burdened.  Then, if they understand the substance of it, they themselves may afterward drive to gain more, refer to these parts whatever they learn in the Scriptures, and may ever grow and increase in richer understanding.  For as long as we live here, we shall daily have enough to preach and to learn this.
~BOC, LC, II, 70

The Holy Spirit reveals the treasure of Christ...

Neither you nor I could ever know anything about Christ, or believe in Him, and have Him for our Lord, unless it were offered to us and granted to our hearts by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel.  The work of redemption is done and accomplished.  Christ has acquired and gained the treasure for us by His suffering, death, resurrection, and so on.  But if the work remained concealed so that no one knew about it, then it would be useless and lost.  So that this treasure might not stay buried, but be received and enjoyed, God has caused the Word to go forth and be proclaimed.  In the Word He has the Holy Spirit bring this treasure home and make it our own.  Therefore, sanctifying is just bringing us to Christ so we receive this good, which we could not get ourselves.
~BOC, LC, III, 38-39

Christ connects the promise of the forgiveness of sins to good works...

Christ often connects the promise of the forgiveness of sins to good works, yet not because He means that good works are an atoning sacrifice (for they follow reconciliation).  Christ makes this connection for two reasons.  One is because good fruit must necessarily follow.  He reminds us that if good fruit does not follow, the repentance is hypocritical and fake.  The other reason is that we have need of outward signs of so great a promise.  A conscience full of fear has need of much consolation. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are signs that continually remind, cheer, and encourage despairing minds to believe more firmly that their sins are forgiven.  So the same promise is written and portrayed in good works, in order that these works may remind us to believe more firmly. Those who produce no good works do not encourage themselves to believe, but despise these promises. On the other hand, the godly embrace them and rejoice that they have the signs and testimonies of so great a promise.  So they exercise themselves in these signs and testimonies.  Therefore, just as the Lord's Supper does not justify us by the outward act (ex opere operato) without faith, so alms do not justify us by the outward acts (ex opere operato) without faith.
~BOC, AP, V (III), 155-156

Works can never make a conscience peaceful...

The promise should always be in sight.  Because of His promise.  God wishes to be gracious and to justify for Christ's sake, not because of the Law or our works.  In this promise timid consciences should seek reconciliation and justification.  By this promise they should sustain themselves and be confident that they have a gracious God for Christ's sake, because of His promise. So works can never make a conscience peaceful.  Only the promise can.
~BOC, AP, V (III), 59

Faith is conceived in the terrors of conscience...

In fact, we also say this:  Our love for God, even though it is small, cannot possibly be separated from faith.  For we come to the Father through Christ.  When the forgiveness of sins has been received, then we are truly certain that we have a God, that is, that God care for us.  We call upon Him, we give Him thanks, we fear Him, we love Him as 1 John 4:19 teaches, "We loved because He first loved us."  In other words, we love Him because He gave His Son for us and forgave us our sins.  In this way John shows that faith comes first and love follows.  Likewise, the faith of which we speak exists in repentance. I mean that faith is conceived in the terrors of conscience, which feels God's wrath against our sins and seeks forgiveness of sins, seeks to be freed from sin. In such terrors and other troubles, this faith ought to grow and be strengthened.
~BOC, AP, V (III), 20-21

Reason never satisfies the Law...

Yet the adversaries do not give up on Christ completely.  They require a knowledge of the history about Christ.  They credit Him by writing that from His merit a way of life is given to us or, as they say, "first grace" (prima gratia).  They understand this as a habit, inclining us to love God more readily.  Yet, what they credit to this habit is of little importance.  For they imagine that the human will's acts are the same before and after this habit.  They imagine that the will can love God; but, nevertheless, this habits stimulates it to love more cheerfully.  They tell us, "First, merit this habit by your earlier merits."  Then they tell us we should merit an increase of this habit and life eternal by the works of the Law.  In this way they bury Christ, so that people may not benefit from Him as a Mediator and believe that they freely receive forgiveness of sins and reconciliation for His sake.  They let people dream that by their own fulfillment of the Law, they merit forgiveness of sins, that by their own fulfillment of the Law, they are counted righteous before God.  However, the Law is never satisfied since reason does nothing except certain civil works.  In the meantime, a person neither fears God nor truly believes that God cares.  Although they speak about this habit, God's love cannot exist in a person without the righteousness of faith, nor can His love be understood.
~BOC, AP, IV (II), 17-18

The consolation in God's power made apparent in our weakness...

Job is excused though he was not troubled by past evil deeds.  Therefore, troubles are not always punishments or signs of wrath.  Indeed, terrified consciences should be taught that there are more important purposes for afflictions, so that they do not think God is rejecting them when they see nothing but God's punishment and anger in troubles.  The other more important purposes are to be considered, that is, that God is doing His strange work so that He may be able to do His own work, as Isaiah 28 teaches in a long speech.  When the disciples asked about the blind man who sinned, Christ replied that the cause of his blindness is not sin, but that "the works of God might be displayed in him" (John 9:2-3).  In Jeremiah it is said, "If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it..." (49:12).  So the prophets, John the Baptist, and other saints were killed.  Therefore, troubles are not always punishments for certain past deeds, but they are God's works, intended for our benefit, and that God's power might be made more apparent in our weakness.
~BOC, AP, XII (VI), 61-62

Absolution is the very voice of the Gospel...

It is well known that we have made clear and praised the benefit of Absolution and the Power of the Keys.  Many troubled consciences have derived comfort from our teaching.  They have been comforted after they heard that it is God's command, no, rather the very voice of the Gospel, that we should believe the Absolution and regard it as certain that the forgiveness of sins is freely granted to us for Christ's sake.  We should believe that through this faith we are truly reconciled to God.  This belief has encouraged many godly minds and,  in the beginning, brought Luther the highest praise from all good people.  This believe shows consciences sure and firm comfort.  Previously, the entire power of Absolution had been kept under warps by teachings about works.
~BOC, AP, XI, 59

The Holy Spirit fights our flesh and produces new spiritual motives...

The flesh distrusts God, trusts in present things, seeks human aid in trouble, even contrary to God's will.  It flees from suffering, which it ought to bear because of God's commands.  It doubts God's mercy and so on.  The Holy Spirit in our hearts fights against such tendencies in order to suppress and kill them and to produce new spiritual motives.
~BOC, AP, V (III), 49-50

Reason can produce civil works, but not spiritual works...

The Ten Commandments require outward civil works, which reason can in some way produce.  But they also require other things placed far above reason: truly to fear God, truly to love God, truly to call upon God, truly to be convinced that God hears us, and to expect God's aid in death and in all afflictions. Finally it requires obedience to God, in death and all afflictions, so that we may not run from these commandments or refuse them when God lays them upon us.
~BOC, AP, IV (II), 8

We are simply to believe and cling to the Word...

In the Creed we confess, "I believe...in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who...was crucified, died and was buried.  He descended into hell."  In this Confession, Christ's burial and descent to hell are distinguished as different articles.  We simply believe that the entire person (God and man) descended into hell after the burial, conquered the devil, destroyed hell's power, and took from the devil all his might.  We should not, however, trouble ourselves with high and difficult thoughts about how this happened.  With our reason and our five senses this article can be understood as little as the preceding one about how Christ is place at the right hand of God's almighty power and majesty.  We are simply to believe it and cling to the Word. So we hold to the substance and consolation that neither hell nor the devil can take captive or injure us and all who believe in Christ.
~FSD, IX, 1-3

The doctrine of election provides glorious consolation under the cross and amid temptations...

Furthermore, this doctrine provides glorious consolation under the cross and amid temptations.  In other words, God in His counsel, before the time of the world, determined and decreed that He would assist us in all distresses.  He determined to grant patience, give consolation, nourish and encourage hope, and produce an outcome for us that would contribute to our salvation.  Also, Paul teaches this in a very consoling way.  He explains that God in His purpose has ordained before the time of the world by what crosses and sufferings He would conform every one of His elect to the image of His Son.  His cross shall and must work together for good for everyone, because they are called according to God's purpose.  Therefore, Paul has concluded that it is certain and beyond doubt that neither "tribulation, or distress" neither "death nor life," or other such things "will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (See Romans 8:28, 29, 35, 38, 39.)
~BOC, FSD, XI, 48-49

Christ is the surest "interpreter" of His words of institution...

Surely there is no interpreter of Jesus Christ's words as faith and sure as the Lord Christ Himself.  He understand best His words and His heart and opinion.  He is the wisest and most knowledgeable for explaining them.  He does not use allegory to make His last will and testament and His ever-abiding covenant and union.  He does not use allegory elsewhere in presenting and confirming all articles of faith, and in the institution of all other signs of the covenant and of grace or Sacraments (e.g., circumcision, the various offerings in the Old Testament, and Holy Baptism). He does not use allegorical words, but entirely proper, simple, believable, and clear words.  In order that no misunderstanding can take place, He explain them more clearly with the words, "Given for you," "shed for you."  He also lets His disciples rest in the simple, proper sense, and commands them that they should teach all nations to keep what He had commanded them, the apostles.
~FSD, VII, 50-51

Faith must be the mother and source of works good and pleasing to God...

Faith must be the mother and source of works that are truly good and well pleasing to God, which God will reward in this world and in the world to come.  This is why St. Paul calls them true fruit of faith, also fruit of the Spirit.  For, as Dr. Luther writes in the Preface to St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans:

"Faith, however, is a divine work in us that changes us and makes us to be born anew of God, John 1[:12-13].  It kills the old Adam and makes us altogether different men, in heart and spirit and mind and powers; it brings with it the Holy Spirit.  O, it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith.  It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly.  It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked, it has already done them, and is constantly doing them.  Whoever does not do such works, however, is an unbeliever.  He gropes and looks for faith and good works, but knows neither what faith is nor what good works are.  Yet he talks and talks, with many words, about faith and good works.

Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that the believer would stake his life on it a thousand times.  This knowledge of and confidence in Gods grace makes men glad and bold and happy in dealing with God and all creatures.  And this is the work that the Holy Spirit performs in faith. Because of it, without compulsion, a person is ready and glad to do good to everyone, to suffer everything, out of love and praise to God, who has shown him this grace. That it is impossible to separate works from faith, quite as impossible as to separate heat and light from fire." (LW, 35:370-71)
~FSD, IV, 9-13

Human will is capable of nothing divinely good...

Second, God's Word testifies that the intellect, heart, and will of the natural, unregenerate person in divine things are not only turned entirely away from God, but also are turned and perverted against God to every evil.  Also, a person is not only weak, incapable, unfit, and dead to good, but is also sadly perverted, infected, and corrupted by original sin so that he is entirely evil, perverse, and hostile to God by his disposition and nature.  He is very strong, alive, and active in everything that is displeasing and contrary to God.
~BOC, FSD, II, 17

Distinct, unchanged natures in Christ and in the Sacrament...

In addition to Christ's and St. Paul's expressions (the bread in the Supper is the body of Christ or the communion of the body of Christ), the following forms are also used:  under the bread, with the bread, in the bread.  With these words, the papistic transubstantiation may be rejected and the sacramental union of the bread's unchanged essence and Christ's body may be shown.  In the same way, the expression "the Word became flesh" (John 1:14) is repeated and explained by the equivalent expressions, "The Word...dwelt among us" (John 1:14); likewise, "in Him the whole fullness of the deity dwells bodily" (Colossians 2:9); likewise, "God was with Him" (Acts 10:38); likewise, "in Christ God was" (2 Corinthians 5:19), and the like.  These show that the divine natures, unchanged, are personally united.  Many eminent ancient teachers, such as Justin, Cyprian, Augustine, Leo, Gelasius, Chrysostom, and others, use this comparison about the words of Christ's testament, "This is My body."  Just as in Christ two distinct, unchanged natures are inseparably united--the natural bread and Christ's true natural body--are present together here on earth in the appointed administration of the Sacrament.
~BOC, FSD, VII, 35-37

No mere outward blemish...

We reject the teaching that original sin is only a slight, insignificant spot on the outside, smeared on human nature, or a blemish that has blown upon it, beneath which the nature has kept its good powers even in spiritual things.
~BOC, FE, I, 14

Every mote of our existence is from God...

For although the whole world should work together, it could not add an hour to our life or give us a single grain from the earth.
~BOC, LC, I, 166

Consolation for the conscience plagued by works...

Until now, consciences were plagued with the doctrine of works.  They did not hear consolation from the Gospel.  Some people were driven by conscience into the desert and into monasteries, hoping to merit grace by a monastic life.  Some people came up with other works to merit grace and make satisfaction for sin.  That is why the need was so great for teaching and renewing the doctrine of faith in Christ, so that anxious consciences would not be without consolation but would know that grace, forgiveness of sins, and justification are received by faith in Christ.
~BOC, AC, XX, 19-22

Human righteousness is hypocrisy before God...

The entire notion that a person is righteous is mere hypocrisy before God.  We must acknowledge that our heart is, by nature, destitute of fear, love, and confidence in God.  For this reason, the prophet Jeremiah says, "After I was instructed, I slapped my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded" (31:19). Likewise, "I said in my alarm, 'All mankind are liars'" (Psalm 116:11). That is, they do not think correctly about God.
~BOC, AP, II (I), 33-34

Without His grace, all our willing and running, our planting, sowing and watering--are all nothing...

Also Romans 10:17 says, "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."  It is God's will that His Word should be heard and that a person's ears should not be closed.  With this Word the Holy Spirit is present and opens hearts, so that people pay attention to it and are converted only through the Holy Spirit's grace and power, who alone does the work of converting a person.  For without His grace, and if He does not grant the increase, all our willing and running, our planting, sowing, and watering--are all nothing.  As Christ says, in John 15:5 "Apart from me you can do nothing."  With these brief words the Spirit denies free will its powers and ascribes everything to God's grace, in order that no one may boast before God.
~BOC, FE, II, 5-6

The understanding and reason of mankind are completely blind and without understanding of spiritual matters...

This is our teaching, faith, and confession on this subject:  in spiritual matters the understanding and reason of mankind are completely blind and by their own powers understand nothing, as it is written in  I Corthinians 2:14, "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."
~BOC, FE, II, 2

The Living Word awakens within us understanding, pleasure, and devoutness...

On the other hand, the Word is so effective that whenever it is seriously contemplated, heard, and used, it is bound never to be without fruit.  It always awakens new understanding, pleasure, and devoutness and produces a pure heart and pure thoughts.  For these words are not lazy or dead, but are creative, living words.  And even though no other interest or necessity moves us, this truth ought to urge everyone to the Word, because thereby the devil is put to flight and driven away.
~BOC, LC, I, 101-102

Original sin precludes belief in, fear of, and love for God, as well as seeks fleshly things...

We are right in our description of original sin when we say that it is not being able to believe God and not being able to fear and love God.  We are right when we say that it includes concupiscense, which seeks fleshly things contrary to God's Word.  This means when it seeks not only the pleasures of the body, but also fleshly wisdom and righteousness.
~BOC, AP, II (I), 26

The Sacraments and Word are effective because of Christ's institution and command...

Strictly speaking, the Church is the congregation of saints and true believers.  However, because many hypocrites and evil persons are mingled within them in this life, it is lawful to use the Sacraments administered by evil men, according to the saying of Christ, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat" (Matthew 23:2). Both the Sacraments and Word are effective because of Christ's institution and command, even if they are administered by evil men.
~BOC, AC, VIII, 1-2

The Law without Christ makes either proud people or those in utter despair...

Merely preaching the Law, without Christ, either makes proud people, who imagine that they can fulfill the Law by outward works, or forces them utterly to despair.  Therefore, Christ takes the Law into His hands and explains it spiritually.  He reveals His wrath from heaven on all sinners and show how great it is. In this teaching sinners are directed to the Law, and from it they first learn to know their sins correctly--a confession that Moses could never wrestle out of them.  For as the apostle testified, even though Moses is read, the veil he put over his face is never lifted.  So they cannot understand the Law spiritually, and what great things it requires of us, and how severely it curses and condemns us because we cannot keep or fulfill it.  "But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed." (2 Corinthians 3:16).
~BOC, FSD, V, 10

We must ever remain students...

Can we finish learning in one hour what God Himself cannot finish teaching?  He is engaged in teaching this from the beginning to the end of the world.  All prophets, together with all saints, have been busy learning it, have ever remained students, and must continue to be students.
~BOC, LC, Longer Preface, 16

God overwhelms us with unspeakable, eternal treasures...

From here we see how the Father has given Himself to us, together with all creatures, and has most richly provided for us in this life.  We see that He has overwhelmed us with unspeakable, eternal treasures by His Son and the Holy Spirit, as we shall hear.
~BOC, LC, II, 24

The Holy Scriptures are the sole judge, rule, and norm for all teachings...

In this way, the distinction between the Holy Scriptures of the Old and of the New Testament and all other writings is preserved.  The Holy Scriptures alone remain the judge, rule, and norm.  According to them--as the only touchstone--all teachings shall and must be discerned and judged to see whether they are good or evil, right or wrong.

The other symbols and writings mentioned above are not judges like the Holy Scriptures. They are only a testimony of the faith.  They show how the Holy Scriptures have been understood and explained in regard to controversial articles in God's Church by those living at that time.  Also, they show how the opposite teaching was rejected and condemned.
~BOC, FE, Preface, 7-8

His Kingdom comes both here in time and in eternity...

His kingdom comes of itself, without our prayer.  Yet we still pray that it may come to us, that is, triumph among us and with us, so that we may be part of those people among whom His name is hallowed and His kingdom prospers....For the coming of God's kingdom happens in two ways: (a) here in time through Word and faith and (b) in eternity forever through revelation.
~BOC, LC, III, 50, 53

The chief office of the Law reveals original sin with all its fruit...

But the chief office of the Law or force of the Law is to reveal original sin with all its fruit.  It shows us how very low our nature has fallen, how we have become utterly corrupted.  The Law must tell us that we have no God, that we do not care for God, and that we worship other gods--something we would not have believed before and without the Law.  In this way, we become terrified, humbled, depressed.  We despair and anxiously want help, but see no escape.  We begin to be an enemy of God and to complain, and so on.  This is what Paul says, "The law came in to increase the trespass" (Romans 5:20).
~BOC, SA, III, II, 4

Our nature has no power or gifts to produce fear and trust in God...

"It is further taught that since Adam's fall all human beings, who are naturally conceived, are born in sin.  From their mother's wombs they are all filled with evil desire and the inclination toward evil.  By nature, they have no true fear of God and no true faith in God."

As this passage demonstrates, we teach that those who are born according to the fleshly nature have concupiscence.  This means that people not only lack fear and trust in God, but also do not have the power or gifts to produce fear and trust in God.  What fault can be found with this point?  Indeed, we think that we have explained and defended ourselves well enough to good men.  For in this sense the Latin description denies to nature the ability, gifts, and energy to produce fear and trust in God.  In adults, we deny the ability actually to do anything truly good.  So, when we mention concupiscence, we understand not only the acts or fruit, but also the constant inclination of nature.
~BOC, AP, II (I), 2-3

Do not bondage people to the Law with man-made traditions...

Those who establish such traditions* are acting contrary to God's command when they locate sin in foods, days, and similar things.  They burden the Church with bondage to the law, as if there needs to be something similar to the services commanded in Leviticus [chapters 1-7] in order to merit justification....It is necessary for the chief article of the Gospel be preserved, namely that we obtain grace freely by faith in Christ, and not by certain observances or acts of worship devised by people.
~BOC, AC, XXVIII, 39, 52

*ones for the purpose of making satisfaction of sins or to merit grace or righteousness (see 35)

Everything in the Christian Church is ordered toward this goal...

We further believe that in this Christian Church, we have forgiveness of sin, which is wrought through the holy Sacraments and Absolution and through all kinds of comforting promises from the entire Gospel.  Therefore, whatever ought to be preached about the Sacraments belongs here.  In short, the whole Gospel and all the offices of Christianity belong here, which also must be preached and taught without ceasing.  God's grace is secured through Christ, and sanctification is wrought by the Holy Spirit through God's Word in the unity of the Christian Church.  Yet because of our flesh, which we bear about with us, we are never without sin.

Everything, therefore, in the Christian Church is ordered toward this goal: we shall daily receive in the Church the forgiveness of sin through the Word and the signs, to comfort and encourage our consciences as long as we live here.  So even though we have sins, the grace of the Holy Spirit does not allow them to harm us, for we are in the Christian Church, where there is nothing but continuous, uninterrupted forgiveness of sins.  This is because God forgives us and because we forgive, bear with, and help one another.
~BOC, LC, II, 54-55

Christ's obedience is credited to us for righteousness...

Therefore, the righteousness that is credited to faith or to the believer out of pure Grace is Christ's obedience, suffering, and resurrection, since He has made satisfaction for us to the Law and paid for our sins.  Christ is not man alone, but God and man in one undivided person,  Therefore, He was hardly subject to the Law (because He was Lord of the Law), just as He didn't have to suffer and die for His own sake.  For this reason, then, His obedience (nor only in His suffering and dying, but also because He was voluntarily made under the Law in our place and fulfilled the Law by this obedience) is credited to us for righteousness. So, because of this complete obedience, which He rendered to His heavenly Father for us by doing and suffering and in living and dying, God forgives our sins.  He regards us as godly and righteous, and He eternally saves us.  This righteousness is brought to us by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel and in the Sacraments. It is applied, taken, and received through faith.  Therefore, believers have reconciliation with God, forgiveness of sins, God's grace, sonship, and are heirs of eternal life.
~BOC, FSD, III, 14-16

When weak and heavy-laden, when fearful and struggling, know the Lord's Supper is for you...

For Christ Himself says, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." ...He means those who are weary and heavy-laden with their sins, with the fear of death, temptations of the flesh, and of the devil. If, therefore, you are heavy laden and feel your weakness, then go joyfully to this Sacrament [Lord's Supper] and receive refreshment, comfort, and strength.
~BOC, LC, V, 71-73

The use and benefit of the Lord's Supper is why it was offered every holy day and when anyone desired it...

The people are also advised about the dignity and use of the Sacrament [The Lord's Supper], about how it brings great consolation to anxious consciences, so that they, too, may learn to believe God and to expect and ask from Him all that is good. This worship pleases God. ...Because the Mass is for the purpose of giving the Sacrament, we have Communion every holy day, and if anyone desires the Sacrament, we also offer it on other days, when it is given to all who ask for it.
~BOC, AC, XXIV, 7-8, 34

We cannot yield or surrender anything of what we believe about the chief article...

Of this article [The chief article] nothing can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls.  "For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Act 4:12). "And with His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).  Upon this article everything that we teach and practice depends, in opposition to the pope, the devil, and the whole world.  Therefore, we must be certain and not doubt this doctrine.  Otherwise, all is lost, and the pope, the devil, and all adversaries win the victory and the right over us.
~BOC, SA, II, I, 5

Our hereditary evil is so great and horrible only for the sake of the Lord Christ can it be covered and forgiven...

This hereditary evil is so great and horrible that, only for the sake of the Lord Christ, can it be covered and forgiven before God in those baptized and believing.  Furthermore, human nature, which is perverted and corrupted by original sin, much and can be healed only by the regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.  However, this healing will not be perfect until the life to come.
~BOC, FSD, I, 14

The true honor of God's name...

For that is the true honor of His name, to look to it and call upon it for all consolation.  Then--as we have learned in the First Commandment--the heart by faith gives God the honor due Him first.  Afterward, the lips give Him honor by confession.  This is also a blessed and useful habit and very effective against the devil.  He is ever around us and lies in wait to bring us into sin and shame, disaster and trouble. But he hates to heard God's name and cannot remain long where it is spoken and called upon from the heart.
~BOC, LC, I, 70-71

Baptism produces, begins, and exercises new life...

For Baptism not only illustrates such a new life, but also produces, begins, and exercises it.  For in Baptism are given grace, the Spirit, and power to suppress the old man, so that the new man may come forth and become strong.
~BOC, LC, IV, 75-76

Only by revelation of Scripture can we understand the magnitude of Original Sin...

This heredity sin is such a deep corruption of nature that no reason can understand it.  Rather it must be believed by the revelation of Scripture.
~BOC, SA, III, I, 3

God does not allow prayers to be in vain or lost...

Furthermore, He will not allow our prayers to be in vain or lost.  For if He did not intend to answer your prayer, He would not ask you to pray and add such a severe commandment to it.
~BOC, LC, III, 18

Christ, as victim, removed the right of the Law to accuse and condemn those who believe in Him...

This means that the Law condemns all people. But Christ--without sin--has borne the punishment of sin. He has been made a victim for us and has removed that right of the Law to accuse and condemn those who believe in Him. He Himself is the Atonement for them. For His sake they are now counted righteous.
~BOC, AP, V (III), 58

Christ is our Righteousness according to both natures...

Against both the errors just mentioned, we unanimously believe, teach, and confess that Christ is our Righteousness neither according to His divine nature alone nor according to His human nature alone.  But it is the entire Christ who is our Righteousness according to both natures. In His obedience alone, which as God and man He offered to the Father even to His death, He merited for us the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. For it is written, "For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous."
~BOC, FE, III, 3

Through the Sacraments God moves hearts to believe...

...the Sacraments are not just marks of profession among people, as some imagine.  Rather, they are signs and testimonies of God's will toward us. Through them God moves hearts to believe.
~BOC, AP, XIII (VII), 1

Jesus Christ alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world...

The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification.  He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and God has laid upon Him the iniquities of us all.  All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works or merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood.  This is necessary to believe.  This cannot otherwise be gasped by any work, law, or merit.  Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us.
~BOC, SA, II, I, 1-4

Human nature cannot fear and trust in God...

All of these things are the reason why we made mention of concupiscense in our description of original sin, and why we deny to human nature the ability to fear and trust in God.  We wanted to show that original sin contains these diseases: ignorance of God, not having fear and trust in God, the inability to love God. These are the chief faults of human nature because they conflict with the First Table of the Ten Commandments.
~BOC, AP, II(I), 14

With God's grace, misery can heighten longing for the Lord's Supper and its gifts...

With God's grace, you may feel your misery more and become hungrier for the Sacrament [the Lord's Supper], especially since the devil doubles his force against you. He lies in wait for you without resting so that he can seize and destroy you, soul and body. You are not safe from him for one hour. How soon he can have you brought suddenly into misery and distress when you least expect it!
~BOC, LC, V, 84

Faith relies not on our contrition, love, or other virtues...

In the same way, also, in justification before God, faith relies neither on contrition nor on love or other virtues. Faith relies on Christ alone and on His complete obedience by which He has fulfilled the Law for us. This obedience is credited to believers for righteousness.
~BOC, FSD, III, 30

We receive the mercy promised in Him by faith...

It is certain that sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ as our Atoning Sacrifice, "whom God put forward as a propitiation" (Romans 3:25).  Furthermore, Paul adds, "by faith." Therefore, this atonement benefits us in this way: We receive the mercy promised in Him by faith and set it against God's wrath and judgement.
~BOC, AP, IV (II), 82

The natural person does not accept the things of God...

It [human will] has no power, without the Holy Spirit, to work the righteousness of God, that is, spiritual righteousness. For the "natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God" (I Cor. 2:14). This righteousness is worked in the heart when the Holy Spirit is received through the Word.
~BOC, AC, XVIII, 1-3

It is far higher to honor than to love...

He does not simply command us to love our parents, but to honor them.  Regarding our brothers, sisters, and neighbors in general, He commands nothing more than that we love them.  In this way He separates and distinguishes father and mother from all persons upon earth and places them at His side.  For it is a far higher thing to honor someone than to love someone, because honor includes not only love, but also modesty, humility, and submission to a majesty hidden in them.
~BOC, LC, I, 105-106

Holy Spirit begins and daily increases holiness...

You see, all this is the Holy Spirit's office and work.  He begins and daily increases holiness upon earth through these two things:  the Christian Church and the forgiveness of sin.  But in our death He will accomplish it altogether in an instant and will forever preserve us therein by the last two parts [of the Creed].
~BOC, LC, II, 59

The One who makes holy...

For there are many kinds of spirits mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, such as the spirit of man, heavenly spirits, and evil spirits.  But God's Spirit alone is called the Holy Spirit, that is He who has sanctified and still sanctifies us.  For just as the Father is called "Creator" and the Son is called "Redeemer," so the Holy Spirit, from His work, must be called "Sanctifier," or "One who makes holy."
~BOC, LC, II, 36

By faith alone...

Therefore, it is necessary that faith alone reconciles and justifies. We do not receive forgiveness of sins through other powers of the Law, or because of these: patience, chastity, obedience toward magistrates, and so on. (Nevertheless, these virtues ought to follow faith.) Therefore, we do not receive forgiveness of sins because of love for God, even though this must follow. Besides this way of speaking is well known. At times we use a word for something and use use the same word for the cause and effects of that thing (synecdoche). For example, in Luke 7:47, Christ says, "Her sins, which are many are forgiven--for she loved much." Christ Himself interprets this when He adds, " Your faith has saved you" (7:50). Christ did not mean that the woman had merited forgiveness of sins by that work of love That is why he adds, "Your faith has saved you." But faith is that which freely obtains God's mercy because of God's Word.
~BOC, AP, V (III), 30-32

All human holiness is just stench and filth beside the work of God's commandments...

Therefore, it is God's ultimate purpose that we let harm come to no one, but show him all good and love...But know now that the works of this commandment [you shall not murder] are the true, holy, and godly works. God rejoices in them with all the angels. In comparison with these works, all human holiness is just stench and filth. And besides, human holiness deserves nothing but wrath and damnation.
~BOC, LC, I, 193, 198

Jesus Christ, eternal Truth and Wisdom itself and Almighty God...

[Jesus] is not a mere man or angel, neither is He just true, wise, and mighty, but He is the eternal Truth and Wisdom itself and Almighty God.  He knows very well what and how He is to speak.  He can powerfully effect and do everything that He says and promises.
~BOC, FSD, VII, 43

Absolution as an aid against sin and consolation for anguished sinners...

Absolution, or the Power of the Keys, is an aid against sin and a consolation for a bad conscience; it is ordained by Christ in the Gospel.  Therefore, Confession and Absolution should by no means be abolished in the Church.  This is especially for the sake of timid consciences and untrained young people, so they may be examined and instructed in Christian doctrine.

But the listing of sins should be free to everyone, as to what a person wishes to list or not to list.  For as long as we are in the flesh, we will not lie when we say, "I am a poor man, full of sin"; "I see in my members another law"; and such (Romans 7:23).  Since private Absolution originates in the Office of the Keys, it should not be despised, but greatly and highly esteemed, along with all other offices of the Christian Church.
~BOC, SA, III, VIII, 1-2

Righteousness not found in self-chosen practices and acts of worship...

Paul teaches everywhere that righteousness is not to be sought in self-chosen practices and acts of worship, devised by people. Righteousness comes by faith to those who believe that they are received by God into grace for Christ's sake.
~BOC, AC, XXVII, 37

Christ's suffering, in His human nature, for us...

God's Son truly suffered for us.  However, He did so according to the attributes of the human nature, which He received into the unity of His divine person and made His own.  He did this so that He might be able to suffer and be our High Priest for our reconciliation with God....
~BOC, FE,VII, 14

Original Sin cannot be understood by reason...

On the other hand, we believe, teach, and confess that original sin is not a minor corruption.  It is so deep a corruption of human nature that nothing healthy or uncorrupt remains in man's body or soul, in his inward or outward powers....This damage cannot be fully described. It cannot be understood by reason, but only from God's Word.
~BOC, FE, I, 8

The master of more than a hundred thousand arts...

And what need is there for more words?  If I were to list all the profit and fruit God's Word produces, where would I get enough paper and time?  The devil is called the master of a thousand arts.  But shall we call God's Word, which drives away and brings to nothing this master of a thousand arts with all his arts and power?  The Word must indeed be the master of more than a hundred thousand arts.  And shall we easily despise such power, profit, strength, and fruit--we, especially, who claim to be pastors and preachers?  If so, not only should we have nothing given us to us, but we should also be driven out, baited with dogs, and pelted with dung.  We not only need all this every day just as we need our daily bread, but we must also daily use it against the daily and unending attacks and lurking of the devil, the master of a thousand arts.
~BOC, LC, LP, 12-13