_The Smalcald Articles.
                      Articles of Christian Doctrine
               which were to have been presented on our part
           to the Council, if any had been assembled at Mantua
               or elsewhere, indicating what we could accept
                      or yield, and what we could not._
                         by Dr. Martin Luther, 1537
                   Translated by F. Bente and  W. H. T. Dau
                                Published in:
                  _Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books
                        of the Ev. Lutheran Church_.
        (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921), pp. 453-529.
 
        THE THIRD PART OF THE ARTICLES.
         
        VII. Of the Keys. 
         
        The keys are an office and power given by Christ to the Church
        for binding and loosing sin, not only the gross and well-known
        sins, but also the subtle, hidden, which are known only to
        God, as it is written in Ps. 19, 13: Who can understand his
        errors? And in Rom. 7, 25 St. Paul himself complains that with
        the flesh he serves the law of sin. For it is not in our
        power, but belongs to God alone, to judge which, how great,
        and how many the sins are, as it is written in Ps. 143, 2:
        Enter not into judgment with Thy servant; for in Thy sight
        shall no man living be justified. And Paul, 1 Cor. 4, 4, says:
        For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified. 
         
        
 
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