to obscure, corrupt, and utterly root out this doctrine of salvation and eternal life? Indeed, St. Paul complains in this and all his other letters that the devil shows himself skillful at this. The Gospel is a doctrine that condemns all sorts of human righteousness and preaches the sole righteousness of Christ. To those who accept this, it brings peace of conscience and all good things; yet the world hates and persecutes it bitterly. I have already said that the reason Paul wrote this letter was