"The second voulume of Dr. Pieper's work is of paramount importance because, beginning with the doctrine of divine grace and concluding with the articulus fundamentalissimus of the Christian faith, the iustificatio sola fide, it leads the student to the very core of sacred theology, namely, the doctrine of Christ's person and work.

"Christology has always been counted central in Lutheran theology, for there are set forth the fundamental verities of Christ's deity and His vicarious atonement. There Lutherans attest the divine truth not only against Arianism, as it was revised in the post-Reformation period of Socinianism, or Unitarianism, but also against Romanism and Calvinism, which, though conceding the personal union of God and man in Christ, deny the communion of natures and the communication of attributes, in particular, the genus maiestaticum, or the communication of divine attributes to Christ's human nature." (p. V)

"...The editor knows of no other work in the field of theology which sets forth the doctrine of Christology with such fullness, Scripturalness, clarity, accuracy, and devotional appeal, both in thesis and antithesis, as does that of Dr. Pieper." (p. V)

"Scripture teaches that by the fall of Adam all men have become sinners, and, acccording to the sentence of divine justice as pronounced in the Law, subject to damnation, that 'all the world may become guilty before God' (Rom. 3:19). Scripture furthermore teaches that man's striving to observe the Law cannot change the situation, i.e., cannot change the verdict of condemnation into a verdict of justification. 'The the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight' (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16). By attempting it man receives the curse instead of justification. Gal. 3:10: 'As many as are of the works of the Law are under the curse.' For they cannot meet the demands of the Law, which insists on perfect fulfillment. Gal. 3:10: 'Cursed is eveyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them.'

"There is, however, salvation for men by way of God's grace (chariti, kata charin). Eph. 2:8-9: 'By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works.' Rom. 4:16: 'Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace.' This way of grace is revealed to men in the Gospel of Christ, which because of this fact is called the Gospel of the grace of God,' Acts 20:24. The Gospel contains the wondrous message that God declares men righteous and saves them without the Law, or without good works on their part (choris nomon, choris ergon nomou, dorean) by grace, for Christ's sake through faith. Rom. 3:21, 22, 24, 28: 'Now the righteousness of God without the Law is manifested...even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ...being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus...Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law.' Salvation by grace is the characteristic of the Christian religion. It distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. No other religion knows anything of the Gospel, and hence all other religions base salvation on the works of man. But according to the Christian religion, made known through God's revelation in the Word, the cause of man's salvation is the grace of God in Christ to the exclusion of all works of man. Whoever is saved among men is saved without the Law and works, saved by the grace of God in Christ to the exclusion of all works of man. So it was determined by God: 'By grace...not of works, lest any man should boast.' (Eph. 2:8-9). Therefore no man should set himself up as a teacher in Christendom who has not fully grasped this distinction between pagan religions and the Christian religion."

"The term 'grace' (Grk. charis) denotes God's gracious disposition, which for Christ's sake He cherishes in Himself toward sinful mankind and by which he in His heart, 'before His inner forum,' does not charge men with their sins, but forgives them. This gracious disposition of God is declared and certified unto men in the Gospel, with the intent that they should believe it." (p. 7)

"The grace of God, extended toward the sinner who is condemned by the Law, is not absolute grace, that is, the exercise of God's absolute power, but it is grace in Christ, for Christ's sake, a grace gained by Christ's substitutional satisfaction. We are, indeed, justified without any works of ours ('being justified freely by His grace'), but, as the Apostle immediately adds, 'through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus' (Rom. 3:24)." (p. 18)