"[They] stumble at our doctrine that God has not foreseen anything in the elect that could have prompted Him to elect them, but that His election is one of unconstrained mercy. They are shocked because [...] we teach that there are only two causes of salvation, namely, the mercy of God and the merit of Christ. They imagine that God is partial, saying He elects some and neglects others, reprobating them. This is an inference which they draw, and it is one for which they deserve no commendation. Instead o trying to save God from the charge of partiality by assuming a difference in the person whom He elects when compared with the others, they should consider that man is justified and saved by faith, not on account of faith."

"To cite Gerhard once more, he writes (Lov. de justific., para. 179): 'It is one thing to be justified on account of faith and another to be justified by faith. In the former view, faith is the meritorious, in the latter, the instrumental cause. [There must be an organ by which I come into the possession and enjoyment of what someone offers me.] We are not justified on account of faith as a merit, but by faith which lays hold of the merit of Christ.' It is not my own merit that saves me, but the merit of Christ.

"[...] When I hold out my hand, I make a motion. This point must not be pressed in the case of man's faith. For it is God who prompts the holding out of the hand after He has prepared a sinner for the Gospel by means of the Law."

-- C.F.W. Walther, "Twenty-Fifth Evening Lecture (April 24, 1885), The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel