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