Pastor Paul Rydecki - Schwabach Articles – Article V |:
Schwabach Articles – Article V
Here is my translation (from German) of the Fifth Article of the Schwabach Articles (1529), prepared by Luther and other theologians. Much of this material was incorporated into Melanchthon’s Augsburg Confession (1530).
In case there was any doubt, faith alone justifies.
The Schwabach Articles, 1529
Fifth Article
Since, then, all men are sinners, subject to sin and death, and also the devil, it is impossible for a man to work himself out of this condition by his powers or through his good works so that he may again become righteous and godly. Indeed, he can neither prepare himself for righteousness nor move himself toward it, but the more he attempts to work himself out of his condition, the worse it becomes with him. This, however, is the only path to righteousness and to redemption from sin and death: if, without any merit or works, a person believes in the Son of God who suffered for us, etc., as stated. Such faith is our righteousness; God wishes to reckon and regard it as righteous, godly and holy, forgive all sins and have eternal life given as a gift to all who have such faith in His Son, that, for the sake of His Son, they should be received into grace and be children in His kingdom, etc., as St. Paul and John lavishly teach all this in their Gospel, as in Romans chapter 10: With the heart one believes and so becomes righteous, etc. Rom. 4: His faith was reckoned to him as righteousness. John 3: …that all who believe in the Son should not be lost, but have eternal life.
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http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/528534/Articles-of-Schwabach
Articles of Schwabach, early Lutheran confession of faith, written in 1529 by Martin Luther and other Wittenberg theologians and incorporated into the Augsburg Confession by Philipp Melanchthon in 1530. It was prepared at the request of John the Steadfast, elector of Saxony, to provide a unifying document for the various Reformers and the possibility of a Protestant alliance as pursued by Philip of Hesse. Theologically, the articles meant to draw a line of differentiation from the psition of Huldrych Zwingli, and they were accepted by the secular leaders of Saxony and Brandenburg. Luther used the confession as the basis for the Articles of Marburg (October 1529) drafted in conjunction with the colloquy there. John submitted it as Saxony’s official confession of faith to Emperor Charles V at Innsbruck in May 1530, prior to the Diet of Augsburg.
