Martin Luther, Works and Grace.

“Martin Luther has been called the clearest teacher of the righteousness which is of faith since the days of the apostle Paul. He utterly rejected the church’s teaching that God’s work within a man qualifies him to be accepted in the sight of a righteous God. He saw that no man could find enough righteousness or grace in his heart to confront God with an easy conscience, and that no one could have any certainty of salvation if it were to be based on his own experience. Justifying grace, Luther discovered, is not some quality that God infuses into the soul, but is God’s favor given to those who are sinful, lost and undeserving. God’s grace in the believer’s heart is not the foundation of a Christian, proclaimed the Reformer, but God’s grace in Christ. Christ’s objective work of doing and dying for us, rather than His work within us, is the sole basis of our acceptance with God; for the moment justification becomes based on a subjective experience, confidence toward God and assurance of justification flee.”

– Present Truth Magazine