f_)--_Jerusalem, and cry unto her
that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for
she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins._"

This justification has been purchased and paid for. But it is not
yet applied. The sinner has not yet appropriated it and made it his
own. How is this to be done? We answer: BY FAITH. Faith is the eye
that looks to Christ. It sees His perfect atonement and His spotless
righteousness. It is, at the same time, the hand that reaches out and
lays hold of Christ, and clings to him as the only help and the only
hope. This faith, springing from a penitent heart, that realizes its
own unworthiness and guiltiness, renouncing all claim to merit or
self-righteousness, casts itself on the divine Saviour, trusts
implicitly in Him, and rests there. This faith justifies. Not because
it is an act that merits or earns justification. No! In no sense.
Christ has earned it. Faith only lays hold of and appropriates what is
already purchased and paid for.

There certainly can be no merit in our faith, because it is
itself a "_gift of God_," as the Scriptures declare. He that has
the faith is justified, acquitted, forgiven. The appropriation or
application, is when we believe with all the heart on the Son of God.

Such, in brief, is the Lutheran doctrine of "Justification by
Faith." We have not thought it necessary to quote from the Augsburg
Confession or the Formula of Concord for proof. Neither is it
necessary or desirable that we lengthen out this chapter with
quotations from standard theologians. Any one desiring further proof
or amplification can find abundance of it in all our Confessions, and
in all recognized writers in the Church. Nor have we taken up the
space with Scripture quotations. To quote all that the Bible says on
the subject would be to transcribe a large proportion of its passages.
It would necessitate especially a writing out of a large part of the
writings of Paul, who makes it the great theme of several of his
epistles. Every devout reader of Paul's letters will find this great
doctrine shining forth in every chapter, so much so that the Romish
Bishop who was driven by Luther to a study of the New Testament threw
down his book and said: "_Paul also has become a Lutheran_!"

In conclusion, we desire to impress one thought. The doctrine of
Justification is so highly prized by the believer, not so much because
of the grand and matchle