626. Chapter 11: The Assignment of Spiritual Credit or Blame
The Faith of the Church of Today, Which Is Claimed to Be the Sole Thing That Makes Us Just, and the Belief That Christ's Merit Is Assigned to Us Amount to the Same Thing
The faith of the church of today, which is claimed to be the sole basis of our justification, is the belief that Christ's merit is assigned to us; that is, the two concepts amount to the same thing. This is because each belongs to the other or is a part of the other and supports the other's existence.
If you mention faith but you do not include the idea of an assigning, the word "faith" is just a meaningless sound. By the same token, if you mention an assigning but you forget to mention faith, that too is a meaningless sound. If the two are mentioned together, however, now the sounds start to form a phrase, although understanding will still not occur. To engage the intellect, it is necessary to add a third element: the merit of Christ. Now you have a sentence that can be uttered with some rationality, because the faith of the church of today is that God the Father assigns us the justice of his Son and sends the Holy Spirit to produce its effects.
