AC V has left a new comment on your post "What Is the Gospel?":
For the two chief works of God in men are these, to terrify, and to justify and quicken those who have been terrified. Into these two works all Scripture has been distributed. The one part is the Law, which shows, reproves, and condemns sins. The other part is the Gospel, i.e., the promise of grace bestowed in Christ, and this promise is constantly repeated in the whole of Scripture, first having been delivered to Adam [I will put enmity, etc., Gen. 3:15], afterwards to the patriarchs; then, still more clearly proclaimed by the prophets; lastly, preached and set forth among the Jews by Christ, and disseminated over the entire world by the apostles. For all the saints were justified by faith in this promise, and not by their own attrition or contrition. - Apology XII (V): 53-54
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AC V has left a new comment on your post "Apology XII - Two Chief Works of God in Men: To T...":
Notice how promise jumps out at you. The Gospel is not the forgiveness of sins already applied (i.e. "You already have it. It's yours! It's in your back pocket. It's like money in your bank account right now. Just believe it.") to the world before and without faith. The Gospel is the promise of forgiveness - won by Christ on the cross and offered to the world - but not applied to anyone until and unless by faith in the promise of forgiveness.
Faith is a gift of God. It is every bit as objective as God's love, Christ's merit, and the Gospel message. Faith is not something the unbeliever in and of himself brings to the table in order to earn or remember or even receive forgiveness. Faith is "objective" in that it is given by God to those who hear the Gospel, which again is "the promise of grace bestowed in Christ."
