Lectures 20 and 21

     I have once again picked up Walther's Law and Gospel, this time with a new reading strategy based on a teacher's advice.  I am trying to read it like other books, not study, but here are some highlights.
     Lecture 20 describes "faith unfeigned," genuine faith, while dispatching the false doctrine that faith, once present, cannot be lost.  Genuine faith is not simply believing that the Bible's teachings are true; living faith changes the heart.
     Lecture 21 presents two explanations of justification.  I've written them as equations.
Catholic:  Faith + Love = Justification
Lutheran:  Faith = Justification, then Faith → Love
    In chemistry, → means "yields;" Walther would probably say "produces."  Faith yields love and good works, but they are not what gives it power to justify.  At one point, I wondered why it mattered what came when; if faith naturally produces love, who cares when justification takes place?  The problem is that if I believe I am justified partially by the love, or good works, that I add to faith, I am relying on work righteousness.  The burden of salvation is on me, and though I can't carry it, I don't look to the One who can.
     The analogy that drove Lecture 21 home for me was that of an apple tree.  You don't add apples (love) to an apple tree (faith); the tree simply produces them!  I'd heard the second part of this analogy before, but not the first.
Vocab:
     Forma:  The quality that makes something what it is.  The forma of applesauce is apples.  According to Catholic teaching, love is the forma of faith.
     Fides Formata:  According to Catholic teaching, faith with the proper form; that is, faith with love added to it.
     Fides Informis:  According to Catholic teaching, faith without the proper form; that is, faith without love added to it.