Faith Has No Object but Jesus Christ

Martin Luther, on Galatians 2:4-5:

The truth of the gospel is that our righteousness comes by faith alone, without the works of the law. The corruption or falsehood of the Gospel is that we are not justified by faith alone but also by the works of the law. The false apostles preached the Gospel with this sort of condition. The true Gospel teaches that works are not the ornament or perfection of faith, but that faith of itself is God’s gift and God’s work in our hearts, which justifies us because it takes hold of Christ our Redeemer. Human reason has the law for its object, thinking, “I have done this; I have not done that.” But faith in itself has no object but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, given up to death for the sins of the whole world. It does not say, “What have I done? In what have I offended? What have I deserved?” It says, “What has Christ done? What has he deserved?” He has redeemed you from your sin, from the devil, and from eternal death. Faith therefore acknowledges that in this one person, Jesus Christ, is forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Anyone turning his eyes away from this object has no true faith, but only a fantasy and a vain opinion, and turns his eyes from the promise to the law, which terrifies us and drives us to desperation.