The doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone was not a 16th-century invention, but the very gospel the apostles preached and which the Church has confessed in every age. While medieval theologians often obscured this truth with works-based merit, a long line of witnesses—including Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux, and the faithful compilers of the homilies—consistently directed the Church to rely entirely on the righteousness of Christ.
The teaching that sinners are justified by grace alone, apart from the works of the law, is the core of the New Testament gospel. In , the Apostle Paul explicitly states, "We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law." This was not a novelty Paul introduced, but the fulfillment of what the Law and the Prophets witnessed. He emphasizes in that to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, faith is counted as righteousness. This gospel is inherently exclusive of human merit, for as stated in , salvation is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. The Reformers did not claim to be inventing a new doctrine; they were recovering the foundational, apostolic truth that had been buried under centuries of legalistic moralism.
Even within the medieval period, there remained voices that clung to the primacy of Christ's righteousness. As recorded in , the Reformers drew heavily upon figures like Augustine and Bernard of Clairvaux to show that the confession of grace was never entirely lost. Bernard, in particular, famously confessed that he possessed no merit of his own save the compassion of the Lord. He taught that the Church's secure ground of boasting is not in human works, but in the holy name of the Lord. These writers often used the term 'merit' in ways that differed from the later scholastic definitions, yet their hearts were set upon Christ alone. As Bernard noted, man's whole merit is to place his whole hope in the Savior who makes the whole man safe. This witness demonstrates that the theology of grace was the hidden treasure of the Church, even when its outward presentation was clouded by prevailing moralism.
The Reformed, Anglican, and Lutheran traditions all agree that the doctrine of grace alone was the common inheritance of the Church, despite the errors of the Roman medieval system. The (Anglican) affirm that 'this righteousness commeth unto men by Christ’s death and merits' and cites ancients like Hilary, Basil, and Ambrose as having taught justification by faith only. Similarly, the (Lutheran) contends that the holy Fathers selected their lifestyles for devotion, but believed they were accounted righteous before God solely by faith in Christ. The (Reformed) echoes this, noting that James does not contradict Paul but shows how a living faith manifests itself in works. While the Reformed, Anglican, and Lutheran streams may differ on nuances of the sacraments or the precise relationship between law and gospel, they all stand together in asserting that the gospel of grace alone is the historic, orthodox confession of the Christian faith, recovered against the corruptions of late medieval legalism.
The comfort of the gospel is found in the fact that our standing before God rests upon the work of Another. As declares, 'I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.' The Reformers insisted that if this truth were lost, the Church would be left without a gospel. The (though later in origin) captures the consensus of this Reformed stream, teaching that God does not infuse righteousness, but graciously imputes Christ's righteousness to those who believe. This is the 'gospel of grace' that Paul defended against the Judaizers in Galatia and which the Church has been called to preach throughout history. Because we are accepted in Christ, we are set free to walk in obedience, not to earn our standing, but to manifest the life that Christ has already purchased for us. This doctrine cuts off both the despair of the sinner who thinks he must earn his way and the arrogance of the moralist who thinks he has succeeded.