Forgiveness comes through grace, without any work, merit, or worthiness of ours preceding, present, or following...

We believe, teach, and confess what our righteousness before God is this:  God forgives our sins out of pure grace, without any work, merit, or worthiness of ours preceding, present, or following.  He presents and credits to us the righteousness of Christ's obedience.  Because of this righteousness, we are received into grace by God and regarded as righteous.

We believe, teach, and confess that faith alone is the means and instrument through which we lay hold of Christ.  So in Christ we lay hold of that righteousness that benefits us before God, for whose sake this faith is credited to us for righteousness.

We believe, teach and confess that this faith is not a bare knowledge of Christ' history, but it is God's gift.  By this gift we come to the right knowledge of Christ as our Redeemer in the Word of the Gospel. And we trust in Him that for the sake of His obedience alone we have--by grace--the forgiveness of sins and are regarded as holy and righteous before God the Father and are eternally saved.
~BOC, FE, III, 4-6

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

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

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

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 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

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

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