Free Grace At a Price

There are some, especially among the modern, ranking schoolmen, who say: The forgiveness of sins and justification depend wholly and entirely on the divine imputation of grace, that is, on God's simply accounting us just, in spite of our sins. This, they say, is all that is required: he to whom God imputes or does not impute sin is thereby justified or not justified from his sins. So, they imagine, Ps. 32:2 and Rom. 4:7-8 teach. There it is said: "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." Were this view true, the entire New Testament would really be vain and futile, and Christ would have labored foolishly and uselessly in suffering for sin. God Himself would have practiced jugglery and humbug without any need, because He might well have forgiven and not imputed sins without the suffering of Christ. Then some other faith, too, besides faith in Christ, might justify and save a man; I mean a faith that would simply rely on the gracious mercy of God, which would not hold his sins against him.

Against this abominable, terrible notion and falsehood the holy apostle is accustomed always to refer faith to Christ as to its object and to mention Jesus Christ so frequently that it is actually amazing to find anybody who is not aware of the need for such language....

Let us, therefore, be on our guard against this hellish poison and not lose Christ, the consoling Savior. Above all things, Christ must be kept in this matter of salvation. It certainly is true that, as David says (Ps. 32:2) and Paul (Rom. 4:8): "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." But St. Paul introduces the thought in order to show that this divine imputation comes only to him who believes in Christ and not to the free will of man or human nature because of good works For he introduces Abraham in order to point out how his faith was counted to him for righteousness when he believed the divine promise concerning his Seed. Now although out of pure grace God does not impute our sins to us, He nonetheless did not want to do this until complete and ample satisfaction of His Law and His righteousness had ee made. The gracious imputation of which the psalm speaks had first to be bought and acquired for us from His righteousness.

Since, therefore, this was impossible for us, God ordained for us, in our stead, One who took upon Himself all the punishment which we had deserved and fulfilled the law for us; thus He averted the judgment of God from us and appeased His wrath. Grace, therefore, is indeed given us gratuitously. I t costs us nothing, but it cost Another much to get it for us. It was purchased with an incalculable, an infinite treasure: the Sone of God Himself. Therefore it is necessary, abobve all things, by faith to possess Him who has accomplished this for us; and it is impossible to obtain grace except through Him alone.

See, that is why no one was saved from the times of Adam to those of Abraham except through faith in the woman's Seed, who was to bruise the serpent's head. And after Abraham no one was saved except through faith in his Seed. Nor can anyone be saved now except through faith alone in this Seed of Abraham, who has now come. Oh, it will never do to attempt to come to God without this Mediator, by yourself, by diligent working, as the Jews, Turks, and papists teach. Who will first reconcile you with God? Christ says (John 14:6): "no man cometh unto the Father but by me."

Source: Quoted in Ewald M. Plass, What Luther Says, A Practical In-home Theology for the Active Christian. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1959 Edition, 10th Printing (1994), pp. 709-710.