Melanchthon on Perfection

"In Colossians 1:28 it says, "You are presented perfect in Christ Jesus," that is, even if the regenerate do not yet  fulfill the law, yet they are righteous and pleasing to God for the sake of His Son. Here we should confess and celebrate the fullness of the mercy of God, that in those who have been reconciled, the obedience which is incomplete, imperfect, unclean, and corrupted by many wicked desires, is still accepted by God, not indeed because of the worth of our virtues but because of the Son of god, Rom 6:14"You are not under the law but under grace."

At this point, the question is asked: Does our obedience please God when it does not satisfy the law? Paul replies that it does please him because "We are not under the law," that is we are not condemned by the law; but we are under grace, that is, we have been reconciled or accepted into grace, Rom. 8:34 "Who will condemn us? It is Christ who died for us and rose again, who is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us," that is, the saints are pleasing to God because of the intercession of Christ" 

Melanchthon, Phillip, Loci Communes, 1543, trans. J.A.O. Preus (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1992) 102.

Luther on Imputation, Genesis 15:6

As for the verb חָשַׁב, I do not object very much whether you take it to mean either “to impute” or as “to think”; for the result remains the same. When the Divine Majesty thinks about me that I am righteous, that my sins have been forgiven, that I am free from eternal death, and when I gratefully grasp this thought of God about me in faith, then I am truly righteous, not through my works but through faith, with which I grasp the divine thought.

For God’s thought is infallible truth. Therefore when I grasp it with a firm thought—not with an uncertain and wavering opinion—I am righteous.

For faith is the firm and sure thought or trust that through Christ God is propitious and that through Christ His thoughts concerning us are thoughts of
peace, not of affliction or wrath.

God’s thought or promise, and faith, by which I take hold of God’s promise—these belong together. Therefore Paul correctly translates the word חָשַׁב with λογίζεσθαι, which also refers to thinking, as does the word “to account”; for if you believe God when He gives a promise, God accounts you righteous.

It is not stated here that God wants to regard the Law, circumcision, or sacrifices as worthy of righteousness. Only His accounting, only that thought of grace concerning us, brings this about.
For righteousness is given to Abraham not because he performs works but because he believes. Nor is it given to faith as a work of ours; it is given because of God’s thought, which faith lays hold of.


Luther, M. (1999). Luther’s works, vol. 3: Lectures on Genesis: Chapters 15-20. (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, & H. T. Lehmann, Eds.) (Vol. 3, pp. 21–22). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

Abraham believed God...Luther on Genesis 15:6

At this point there arises an important debate concerning the Law and faith: whether the Law justifies, whether faith does away with the Law, etc.

In this connection Paul learnedly stresses the matter of time: that in this chapter Moses is speaking about righteousness and a righteous or justified Abraham prior to the Law, prior to the works of the Law, yes, prior to the people of the Law and before Moses, the lawgiver, was born. Accordingly, he says that righteousness is not only not from the Law but is prior to the Law, and that neither the Law nor the works of the Law contribute anything toward it.

Then what? Is the Law useless for righteousness? Yes, certainly. But does faith alone, without works, justify? Yes, certainly. Otherwise you must repudiate Moses, who declares that Abraham is righteous prior to the Law and prior to the works of the Law, not because he sacrificed his son, who had not yet been born, and not because he did this or that work, but because he believed God who gave a promise.

In this passage no mention is made of any preparation for grace, of any faith formed through works, or of any preceding disposition. This, however, is mentioned: that at that time Abraham was in the midst of sins, doubts, and fears, and was exceedingly troubled in spirit.

How, then, did he obtain righteousness? In this way: God speaks, and Abraham believes what God is saying. Moreover, the Holy Spirit comes as a trustworthy witness and declares that this very believing or this very faith is righteousness or is imputed by God Himself as righteousness and is regarded by Him as such.

Luther, M. (1999). Luther’s works, vol. 3: Lectures on Genesis: Chapters 15-20. (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, & H. T. Lehmann, Eds.) (Vol. 3, pp. 20–21). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.