Martin Luther Invented the "Imputed Righteousness of Christ" Doctrine
Here are the facts.
The Bible states...
Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
The Bible plainly states that FAITH is counted for righteousness.
Faith is counted for righteousness because it is reflective of a heart attitude towards God. In other words God looks at the motive of the heart and if there is faithfulness and fidelity to God then God reckons that individual righteous apart from "works." No religious service required, only a heart yielded to God which will naturally produce deeds done in God.
The Bible does not say that the "righteousness of Christ" is imputed or reckoned to a believers account. Martin Luther simply made that up.
Here is what Martin Luther believed...
"Is not this a beautiful, glorious exchange, by which Christ, who is wholly innocent and holy, not only takes upon himself another's sin, that is, my sin and guilt, but also clothes and adorns me, who am nothing but sin, with his own innocence and purity?...Through this blessed exchange, in which Christ changes places with us (something the heart can grasp only in faith), and through nothing else, are we freed from sin and death and given his righteousness and life as ou rown." Luther's Works, Vol 51, Sermons
Martin Luther believed in a MAGIC SWAP, an idea that was NEVER taught by anyone before Martin Luther. I have studied this for years and I cannot find a single example of anyone teaching the above before Martin Luther.
Sure there is an exchange in the sense that we exchange our old wicked life for a new life of righteousness, wrought through abiding in Jesus Christ, hence the righteousness of God is made manifest in us, as opposed to any righteousness apart from the grace of God. But there is no such thing as some kind of swap where God credits someone with the "righteousness of Jesus" and credits Jesus with their wickedness, that is patent and absurd nonsense. God is not in the magic transfer business. That doctrine sells well because the implication is a "do nothing" salvation. One does not have to be a HEARER AND DOER as Jesus taught. Thus people can just "accept Jesus" or "receive Jesus" and still continue in sin, thinking that they have a cover for the ongoing wickedness.
Luther dreamed up this doctrine of "imputed righteousness of Christ" in his imagination, and then when looking for validation read this nonsensical doctrine into the writings of Augustine. How do we know this? Here is the quote where Luther admits this...
“At last, by the mercy of God,meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words,namely “In it the righteousness of God is written 'as it is written, 'he who through faith is righteous shall live'. There Ibegan to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this isthe meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the Gospel,namely the passive righteousness with which merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written 'he who through faith is righteous, shall live.' Here I felt that I was altogether born again and entered paradise through open gates. There a totally other face of the entire scripture showed itself to me. And I extolled my sweetest word with a love as great as the hatred with which I had before hated the word “righteousness of God.” Thus that place in Paul was for me truly the gate to paradise. Later I read Augustine's The Spirit of the Letter, where contrary to hope I found that he, too, interpreted God's righteousness in a similar way,as the righteousness which which God clothes us when he justifies us.Although this was heretofore said imperfectly and he did not explain all things concerning imputation clearly, it nevertheless was pleasing that God's righteousness with which we are justified was taught.” Preface, Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings, Fortress Press, 1989
Luther was referring to Augustine's,“The Spirit of the Letter,” in which Augustine specifically addresses the "righteousness of God" and "living from faith to faith." In Chapter 18 Augustine writes...
"Ungrateful however, our soul would be, were it to attribute to itself that which it received from God, especially the righteousness, with the works of which (the special property, as it were, of itself, and produced, so to speak, by the soul itself for itself) it is not puffed up in a vulgar pride, as it might be with riches, or beauty of limb, or eloquence, or those other accomplishments, external or internal, bodily or mental, which wicked men too are in the habit of possessing, but, if I may say so, in a wise complacency, as of things which constitute in a special manner the good works of the good. It is owing to this sin of vulgar pride that even some great men have drifted from the sure anchorage of the divine nature, and have floated down into the shame of idolatry. Whence the apostle again in the same epistle, wherein he so firmly maintains the principle of grace, after saying that he was a debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, to the wise and to the unwise, and professing himself ready, so far as to him pertained, to preach the gospel even to those who lived in Rome, adds: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:14-17 This is the righteousness of God, which was veiled in the Old Testament, and is revealed in the New; and it is called the righteousness of God, because by His bestowal of it He makes us righteous, just as we read that "salvation is the Lord's,"because He makes us safe. And this is the faith "from which" and "to which" it is revealed,— from the faith of them who preach it, to the faith of those who obey it. By this faith of Jesus Christ— that is, the faith which Christ has given to us— we believe it is from God that we now have, and shall have more and more, the ability of living righteously; wherefore we give Him thanks with that dutiful worship with which He only is to be worshipped." Chapter 18, The Spirit of the Letter,Book of Retractions, Book 2, Chapter 38, Augustine of Hippo
In Chapter 15 we find a statement by Augustine regarding the ungodly being justified...
"Here, perhaps, it may be said by that presumption of man, which is ignorant of the righteousness of God, and wishes to establish one of its own, that the apostle quite properly said, For by the law shall no man be justified, Romans 3:20 inasmuch as the law merely shows what one ought to do, and what one ought to guard against, in order that what the law thus points out may be accomplished by the will, and so man be justified, not indeed by the power of the law, but by his free determination. But I ask your attention, O man, to what follows. But now the righteousness of God, says he, without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Romans 3:21 Does this then sound a light thing in deaf ears? He says, The righteousness of God is manifested. Now this righteousness they are ignorant of, who wish to establish one of their own; they will not submit themselves to it. Romans 10:3 His words are, The righteousness of God is manifested: he does not say, the righteousness of man, or the righteousness of his own will,but the righteousness of God,— not that whereby He is Him self righteous, but that with which He endows man when He justifies the ungodly.” Chapter 15, The Spirit of the Letter, Book of Retractions, Book 2, Chapter 37, Augustine of Hippo
It was quite a stretch for Martin Luther to read into Augustine's work the idea of a "passive righteousness transfer" in which God "clothes the Christian," merely on the basis that one believes it to be so. Luther didn't expect Augustine to teach such a thing for he noted that “contrary to hope” he found that Augustine interpreted “God's righteousness” in the same manner as he did. Yet Augustine certainly did not interpret the "righteousness of God" in the same manner as Luther, not even remotely close. Augustine continued...
“This is witnessed by the law and the prophets; in other words, the law and the prophets each afford it testimony. The law, indeed, by issuing its commands and threats, and by justifying no man, sufficiently shows that it is by God's gift, through the help of the Spirit, that a man is justified; and the prophets, because it was what they predicted that Christ at His coming accomplished. Accordingly he advances a step further, and adds, "But righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ,"Romans 3:22 that is by the faith wherewith one believes in Christ for just as there is not meant the faith with which Christ Himself believes, so also there is not meant the righteousness whereby God is Himself righteous. Both no doubt are ours, but yet they are called God's, and Christ's, because it is by their bounty that these gifts are bestowed upon us. The righteousness of God then is without the law, but not manifested without the law; for if it were manifested without the law, how could it be witnessed by the law? That righteousness of God, however, is without the law, which God by the Spirit of grace bestows on the believer without the help of the law,—that is, when not helped by the law. When, indeed, He by the law discovers to a man his weakness, it is in order that by faith he may flee for refuge to His mercy, and be healed. And thus concerning His wisdom we are told, that "she carries law and mercy upon her tongue," Proverbs 3:16 — the " law," whereby she may convict the proud, the " mercy," wherewith she may justify the humbled. "The righteousness of God," then, "by faith of Jesus Christ, is unto all that believe; for there is no difference, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"Romans 3:22-23 — not of their own glory. For what have they, which they have not received? Now if they received it, why do they glory as if they had not received it? 1 Corinthians 4:7 Well, then, they come short of the glory of God; now observe what follows: "Being justified freely by His grace." Romans 3:24 It is not,therefore, by the law, nor is it by their own will, that they are justified; but they are justified freely by His grace—not that itis wrought without our will; but our will is by the law shown to be weak, that grace may heal its infirmity; and that our healed will may fulfil the law, not by compact under the law, nor yet in the absence of law.” Augustine of Hippo Augustine, Book of Retractions, Book 2, Ch. 37, The Spirit of the Letter, Ch. 15
Augustine is speaking of the Roman Catholic notion of “Imparted Righteousness” literally wrought in converts by the grace of God as opposed to the notion that the“righteousness of Jesus” is literally credited to the account of a Christian as Luther taught. Under Augustine's notion of "Original Sin," when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden they lost the grace of their original holiness and in so doing injured their will. This"injured will" or "distorted nature" was then passed down through the male seed to all of their descendents. With the “will of man” being thus disabled as it pertains to the virtuous choice, some kind of offset is needed in order to restore that will. This offset is known as "Imparted Righteousness"in Catholicism and it is within this framework that they define grace. This was the framework of Augustine's thinking, not that of any kind of "Blessed Exchange."
In the next chapter we read...
“...how can it be that "the law is good, if a man use it lawfully," if what follows is also true: "Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man?" 1 Timothy 1:9 For who but a righteous man lawfully uses the law? Yet it is not for him that it is made, but for the unrighteous. Must then the unrighteous man, in order that he may be justified,— that is, become a righteous man—lawfully use the law,to lead him, as by the schoolmaster's hand, Galatians 3:24 to that grace by which alone he can fulfil what the law commands? Now it is freely that he is justified thereby—that is, on account of no antecedent merits of his own works; "otherwise grace is no more grace," Romans 11:6 since it is bestowed on us, not because we have done good works, but that we may be able to do them—in other words, not because we have fulfilled the law, but in order that we may be able to fulfil the law. Now He said, "I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it," Matthew 5:17 of whom it was said, "We have seen His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14 This is the glory which is meant in the words, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23 and this the grace of which he speaks in the next verse, "Being justified freely by His grace." Romans 3:24 The unrighteous man therefore lawfully uses the law, that he may become righteous; but when he has become so, he must no longer use it as a chariot, for he has arrived at his journey's end—or rather (that I may employ the apostle's own simile, which has been already mentioned) as a schoolmaster, seeing that he is now fully learned. How then is the law not made for a righteous man, if it is necessary for the righteous man too, not that he may be brought as an unrighteous man to the grace that justifies,but that he may use it lawfully, now that he is righteous? Does no tthe case perhaps stand thus—nay, not perhaps, but rather certainly,— that the man who has become righteous thus lawfully uses the law, when he applies it to alarm the unrighteous, so that whenever the disease of some unusual desire begins in them, too, to be augmented by the incentive of the law's prohibition and an increased amount of transgression, they may in faith flee for refuge to the grace that justifies, and becoming delighted with the sweet pleasures of holiness, may escape the penalty of the law's menacing letter through the spirit's soothing gift? In this way the two statements will not be contrary, nor will they be repugnant to each other: even the righteous man may lawfully use a good law, and yet the law be not made for the righteous man; for it is not by the law that he becomes righteous, but by the law of faith, which led him to believe that no other resource was possible to his weakness for fulfilling the precepts which "the law of works" Romans 3:27 commanded, except to be assisted by the grace of God.” Augustine, Book of Retractions, Book 2, Ch. 37, The Spirit of the Letter, Ch. 16
Augustine correctly notes that the law cannot justify anyone apart from the grace of God. Augustine was making a point that the means by which the ungodly are made righteous is through being “assisted by the grace of God.” This is a true statement but unfortunately for Augustine, due to his adherence to the Gnostic notion of a “Dual Nature,” he viewed this “assistance” as an “offset to inability.” Grace being an "offset to inability" is the reason why Augustine would teach Predestination in the context of Unconditional Election (see "On the Predestination of the Saints," books 1 and 2, by Augustine). In reality though grace is not an offset, it is simply the “divine influence of God upon the heart,” inclusive of God's mercy, something which human beings are free to either “work with” or “reject,” the result being whether one is truly “made righteous” or not.
Martin Luther in inventing this literal legal swap is the reason why he added the word "alone" to his 1545 translation of the Bible. In Luther's mind salvation was by"faith alone" apart from people having to do anything at all except intellectually acknowledge certain truths.
(Luther 1545)Rom 3:28 So halten wir nundafür, daß der Mensch gerecht werde ohne des Gesetzes Werke, allein durch den Glauben. [Thus we hold that man should become righteous without the law, by faith alone.]
(KJV 1611)Rom 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
This line of thinking would lead Luther into considering the book of James as not holding any value in the context of presenting the Gospel. Not that he disavowed James completely as some Catholics would imply, it was simply that the "Blessed Exchange" appropriated by "Faith Alone" outweighed the need of one having to actually "do anything" as James clearly taught.
“In a word St. John’s Gospel and his first epistle, St. Paul’s epistles, especially Romans,Galatians, and Ephesians, and St. Peter’s first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know, even if you were never to see or hear any other book or doctrine. Therefore St. James’ epistle isreally an epistle of straw, compared to these others, for it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it. But more of this in the other prefaces.” Preface, Luther's Works, Volume 35,Word and Sacrament
Here is another quotation from Martin Luther which demonstrates the corruption of his mind wrought through believing in this legal exchange he invented...
“Therefore, my dear brother, learn Christ and him crucified. Learn to pray to him an, despairing of yourself, say: "Thou, Lord Jesus, art my righteousness, but I am thy sin. Thou hast taken upon thyself what is mine and hast given tome what is thine. Thou has taken upon thyself what thou wast not and hast given to me what I was not." Beware of aspiring to such purity that you will not wish to be looked upon as a sinner, or to be one. For Christ dwells only in sinners. On this account he descended from heaven, where he dwelt among the righteous, to dwell among sinners. Meditate on this love of his and you will see his sweet consolation. For why was it necessary for him to die if we can obtain a good conscience by our works and afflictions?Accordingly you will find peace only in him and only when you despair of yourself and your own works. Besides, you will learn from him that just as he has received you, so he has made your sins his own and has made his righteousness yours." Instructions to the Perplexed and Doubting, To George Spenlein, April 8, 1516, Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel, Martin Luther, Theodore G. Tappert, Library of Christian Classics Vol 18. pg 110.
Please consider, and I encourage people to check the references for themselves.
Here are the facts.
The Bible states...
Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
The Bible plainly states that FAITH is counted for righteousness.
Faith is counted for righteousness because it is reflective of a heart attitude towards God. In other words God looks at the motive of the heart and if there is faithfulness and fidelity to God then God reckons that individual righteous apart from "works." No religious service required, only a heart yielded to God which will naturally produce deeds done in God.
The Bible does not say that the "righteousness of Christ" is imputed or reckoned to a believers account. Martin Luther simply made that up.
Here is what Martin Luther believed...
"Is not this a beautiful, glorious exchange, by which Christ, who is wholly innocent and holy, not only takes upon himself another's sin, that is, my sin and guilt, but also clothes and adorns me, who am nothing but sin, with his own innocence and purity?...Through this blessed exchange, in which Christ changes places with us (something the heart can grasp only in faith), and through nothing else, are we freed from sin and death and given his righteousness and life as ou rown." Luther's Works, Vol 51, Sermons
Martin Luther believed in a MAGIC SWAP, an idea that was NEVER taught by anyone before Martin Luther. I have studied this for years and I cannot find a single example of anyone teaching the above before Martin Luther.
Sure there is an exchange in the sense that we exchange our old wicked life for a new life of righteousness, wrought through abiding in Jesus Christ, hence the righteousness of God is made manifest in us, as opposed to any righteousness apart from the grace of God. But there is no such thing as some kind of swap where God credits someone with the "righteousness of Jesus" and credits Jesus with their wickedness, that is patent and absurd nonsense. God is not in the magic transfer business. That doctrine sells well because the implication is a "do nothing" salvation. One does not have to be a HEARER AND DOER as Jesus taught. Thus people can just "accept Jesus" or "receive Jesus" and still continue in sin, thinking that they have a cover for the ongoing wickedness.
Luther dreamed up this doctrine of "imputed righteousness of Christ" in his imagination, and then when looking for validation read this nonsensical doctrine into the writings of Augustine. How do we know this? Here is the quote where Luther admits this...
“At last, by the mercy of God,meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words,namely “In it the righteousness of God is written 'as it is written, 'he who through faith is righteous shall live'. There Ibegan to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this isthe meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the Gospel,namely the passive righteousness with which merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written 'he who through faith is righteous, shall live.' Here I felt that I was altogether born again and entered paradise through open gates. There a totally other face of the entire scripture showed itself to me. And I extolled my sweetest word with a love as great as the hatred with which I had before hated the word “righteousness of God.” Thus that place in Paul was for me truly the gate to paradise. Later I read Augustine's The Spirit of the Letter, where contrary to hope I found that he, too, interpreted God's righteousness in a similar way,as the righteousness which which God clothes us when he justifies us.Although this was heretofore said imperfectly and he did not explain all things concerning imputation clearly, it nevertheless was pleasing that God's righteousness with which we are justified was taught.” Preface, Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings, Fortress Press, 1989
Luther was referring to Augustine's,“The Spirit of the Letter,” in which Augustine specifically addresses the "righteousness of God" and "living from faith to faith." In Chapter 18 Augustine writes...
"Ungrateful however, our soul would be, were it to attribute to itself that which it received from God, especially the righteousness, with the works of which (the special property, as it were, of itself, and produced, so to speak, by the soul itself for itself) it is not puffed up in a vulgar pride, as it might be with riches, or beauty of limb, or eloquence, or those other accomplishments, external or internal, bodily or mental, which wicked men too are in the habit of possessing, but, if I may say so, in a wise complacency, as of things which constitute in a special manner the good works of the good. It is owing to this sin of vulgar pride that even some great men have drifted from the sure anchorage of the divine nature, and have floated down into the shame of idolatry. Whence the apostle again in the same epistle, wherein he so firmly maintains the principle of grace, after saying that he was a debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, to the wise and to the unwise, and professing himself ready, so far as to him pertained, to preach the gospel even to those who lived in Rome, adds: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:14-17 This is the righteousness of God, which was veiled in the Old Testament, and is revealed in the New; and it is called the righteousness of God, because by His bestowal of it He makes us righteous, just as we read that "salvation is the Lord's,"because He makes us safe. And this is the faith "from which" and "to which" it is revealed,— from the faith of them who preach it, to the faith of those who obey it. By this faith of Jesus Christ— that is, the faith which Christ has given to us— we believe it is from God that we now have, and shall have more and more, the ability of living righteously; wherefore we give Him thanks with that dutiful worship with which He only is to be worshipped." Chapter 18, The Spirit of the Letter,Book of Retractions, Book 2, Chapter 38, Augustine of Hippo
In Chapter 15 we find a statement by Augustine regarding the ungodly being justified...
"Here, perhaps, it may be said by that presumption of man, which is ignorant of the righteousness of God, and wishes to establish one of its own, that the apostle quite properly said, For by the law shall no man be justified, Romans 3:20 inasmuch as the law merely shows what one ought to do, and what one ought to guard against, in order that what the law thus points out may be accomplished by the will, and so man be justified, not indeed by the power of the law, but by his free determination. But I ask your attention, O man, to what follows. But now the righteousness of God, says he, without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Romans 3:21 Does this then sound a light thing in deaf ears? He says, The righteousness of God is manifested. Now this righteousness they are ignorant of, who wish to establish one of their own; they will not submit themselves to it. Romans 10:3 His words are, The righteousness of God is manifested: he does not say, the righteousness of man, or the righteousness of his own will,but the righteousness of God,— not that whereby He is Him self righteous, but that with which He endows man when He justifies the ungodly.” Chapter 15, The Spirit of the Letter, Book of Retractions, Book 2, Chapter 37, Augustine of Hippo
It was quite a stretch for Martin Luther to read into Augustine's work the idea of a "passive righteousness transfer" in which God "clothes the Christian," merely on the basis that one believes it to be so. Luther didn't expect Augustine to teach such a thing for he noted that “contrary to hope” he found that Augustine interpreted “God's righteousness” in the same manner as he did. Yet Augustine certainly did not interpret the "righteousness of God" in the same manner as Luther, not even remotely close. Augustine continued...
“This is witnessed by the law and the prophets; in other words, the law and the prophets each afford it testimony. The law, indeed, by issuing its commands and threats, and by justifying no man, sufficiently shows that it is by God's gift, through the help of the Spirit, that a man is justified; and the prophets, because it was what they predicted that Christ at His coming accomplished. Accordingly he advances a step further, and adds, "But righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ,"Romans 3:22 that is by the faith wherewith one believes in Christ for just as there is not meant the faith with which Christ Himself believes, so also there is not meant the righteousness whereby God is Himself righteous. Both no doubt are ours, but yet they are called God's, and Christ's, because it is by their bounty that these gifts are bestowed upon us. The righteousness of God then is without the law, but not manifested without the law; for if it were manifested without the law, how could it be witnessed by the law? That righteousness of God, however, is without the law, which God by the Spirit of grace bestows on the believer without the help of the law,—that is, when not helped by the law. When, indeed, He by the law discovers to a man his weakness, it is in order that by faith he may flee for refuge to His mercy, and be healed. And thus concerning His wisdom we are told, that "she carries law and mercy upon her tongue," Proverbs 3:16 — the " law," whereby she may convict the proud, the " mercy," wherewith she may justify the humbled. "The righteousness of God," then, "by faith of Jesus Christ, is unto all that believe; for there is no difference, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"Romans 3:22-23 — not of their own glory. For what have they, which they have not received? Now if they received it, why do they glory as if they had not received it? 1 Corinthians 4:7 Well, then, they come short of the glory of God; now observe what follows: "Being justified freely by His grace." Romans 3:24 It is not,therefore, by the law, nor is it by their own will, that they are justified; but they are justified freely by His grace—not that itis wrought without our will; but our will is by the law shown to be weak, that grace may heal its infirmity; and that our healed will may fulfil the law, not by compact under the law, nor yet in the absence of law.” Augustine of Hippo Augustine, Book of Retractions, Book 2, Ch. 37, The Spirit of the Letter, Ch. 15
Augustine is speaking of the Roman Catholic notion of “Imparted Righteousness” literally wrought in converts by the grace of God as opposed to the notion that the“righteousness of Jesus” is literally credited to the account of a Christian as Luther taught. Under Augustine's notion of "Original Sin," when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden they lost the grace of their original holiness and in so doing injured their will. This"injured will" or "distorted nature" was then passed down through the male seed to all of their descendents. With the “will of man” being thus disabled as it pertains to the virtuous choice, some kind of offset is needed in order to restore that will. This offset is known as "Imparted Righteousness"in Catholicism and it is within this framework that they define grace. This was the framework of Augustine's thinking, not that of any kind of "Blessed Exchange."
In the next chapter we read...
“...how can it be that "the law is good, if a man use it lawfully," if what follows is also true: "Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man?" 1 Timothy 1:9 For who but a righteous man lawfully uses the law? Yet it is not for him that it is made, but for the unrighteous. Must then the unrighteous man, in order that he may be justified,— that is, become a righteous man—lawfully use the law,to lead him, as by the schoolmaster's hand, Galatians 3:24 to that grace by which alone he can fulfil what the law commands? Now it is freely that he is justified thereby—that is, on account of no antecedent merits of his own works; "otherwise grace is no more grace," Romans 11:6 since it is bestowed on us, not because we have done good works, but that we may be able to do them—in other words, not because we have fulfilled the law, but in order that we may be able to fulfil the law. Now He said, "I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it," Matthew 5:17 of whom it was said, "We have seen His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14 This is the glory which is meant in the words, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23 and this the grace of which he speaks in the next verse, "Being justified freely by His grace." Romans 3:24 The unrighteous man therefore lawfully uses the law, that he may become righteous; but when he has become so, he must no longer use it as a chariot, for he has arrived at his journey's end—or rather (that I may employ the apostle's own simile, which has been already mentioned) as a schoolmaster, seeing that he is now fully learned. How then is the law not made for a righteous man, if it is necessary for the righteous man too, not that he may be brought as an unrighteous man to the grace that justifies,but that he may use it lawfully, now that he is righteous? Does no tthe case perhaps stand thus—nay, not perhaps, but rather certainly,— that the man who has become righteous thus lawfully uses the law, when he applies it to alarm the unrighteous, so that whenever the disease of some unusual desire begins in them, too, to be augmented by the incentive of the law's prohibition and an increased amount of transgression, they may in faith flee for refuge to the grace that justifies, and becoming delighted with the sweet pleasures of holiness, may escape the penalty of the law's menacing letter through the spirit's soothing gift? In this way the two statements will not be contrary, nor will they be repugnant to each other: even the righteous man may lawfully use a good law, and yet the law be not made for the righteous man; for it is not by the law that he becomes righteous, but by the law of faith, which led him to believe that no other resource was possible to his weakness for fulfilling the precepts which "the law of works" Romans 3:27 commanded, except to be assisted by the grace of God.” Augustine, Book of Retractions, Book 2, Ch. 37, The Spirit of the Letter, Ch. 16
Augustine correctly notes that the law cannot justify anyone apart from the grace of God. Augustine was making a point that the means by which the ungodly are made righteous is through being “assisted by the grace of God.” This is a true statement but unfortunately for Augustine, due to his adherence to the Gnostic notion of a “Dual Nature,” he viewed this “assistance” as an “offset to inability.” Grace being an "offset to inability" is the reason why Augustine would teach Predestination in the context of Unconditional Election (see "On the Predestination of the Saints," books 1 and 2, by Augustine). In reality though grace is not an offset, it is simply the “divine influence of God upon the heart,” inclusive of God's mercy, something which human beings are free to either “work with” or “reject,” the result being whether one is truly “made righteous” or not.
Martin Luther in inventing this literal legal swap is the reason why he added the word "alone" to his 1545 translation of the Bible. In Luther's mind salvation was by"faith alone" apart from people having to do anything at all except intellectually acknowledge certain truths.
(Luther 1545)Rom 3:28 So halten wir nundafür, daß der Mensch gerecht werde ohne des Gesetzes Werke, allein durch den Glauben. [Thus we hold that man should become righteous without the law, by faith alone.]
(KJV 1611)Rom 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
This line of thinking would lead Luther into considering the book of James as not holding any value in the context of presenting the Gospel. Not that he disavowed James completely as some Catholics would imply, it was simply that the "Blessed Exchange" appropriated by "Faith Alone" outweighed the need of one having to actually "do anything" as James clearly taught.
“In a word St. John’s Gospel and his first epistle, St. Paul’s epistles, especially Romans,Galatians, and Ephesians, and St. Peter’s first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know, even if you were never to see or hear any other book or doctrine. Therefore St. James’ epistle isreally an epistle of straw, compared to these others, for it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it. But more of this in the other prefaces.” Preface, Luther's Works, Volume 35,Word and Sacrament
Here is another quotation from Martin Luther which demonstrates the corruption of his mind wrought through believing in this legal exchange he invented...
“Therefore, my dear brother, learn Christ and him crucified. Learn to pray to him an, despairing of yourself, say: "Thou, Lord Jesus, art my righteousness, but I am thy sin. Thou hast taken upon thyself what is mine and hast given tome what is thine. Thou has taken upon thyself what thou wast not and hast given to me what I was not." Beware of aspiring to such purity that you will not wish to be looked upon as a sinner, or to be one. For Christ dwells only in sinners. On this account he descended from heaven, where he dwelt among the righteous, to dwell among sinners. Meditate on this love of his and you will see his sweet consolation. For why was it necessary for him to die if we can obtain a good conscience by our works and afflictions?Accordingly you will find peace only in him and only when you despair of yourself and your own works. Besides, you will learn from him that just as he has received you, so he has made your sins his own and has made his righteousness yours." Instructions to the Perplexed and Doubting, To George Spenlein, April 8, 1516, Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel, Martin Luther, Theodore G. Tappert, Library of Christian Classics Vol 18. pg 110.
Please consider, and I encourage people to check the references for themselves.
