The Precious Merits of Jesus

I've been reading Memoirs of Early Christianity in Northern Lapland and a few passages have especially caught my attention. One of these is a testimony written by Erkki Antti Juhonpieti. Juhonpieti was born in 1814 in Pajala, Sweden and would become a co-worker of Laestadius. In this passage he writes of his conversion and the struggles of the Christian life, powerfully proclaiming the gospel. The translation is a bit rough in places but I think it conveys the meaning well:

In the exchange between fear and hope I however seized ahold of the promises of grace in God's word. Now, I felt peace, rest and also joy; and realized that through the employment of Jesus' blood through faith my heart was broken. I went into the house to tell others of what great grace had taken place. For a whole week I was in such ecstasy that I knew nothing of sin or its effects. But then the feelings of corruption revived again to life. From these came occasion to doubt whether I was on the right track after all. Then faith and doubt fought their battle over sovereignty, but later I have learned to live solely by faith, contrary to the feelings of corruption, as the Apostle Paul, in his epistle, directs the Roman Christians to live.

During my walk of faith I have experienced so many kinds of sins and corruption in my members that I am unable to relate them all.

I have also felt God's grace and love, sometimes in a smaller measure, sometimes in larger portion. But faith I have strived to keep in a good conscience, though the feelings have been transitive, for in feelings there is no foundation for salvation, only in the precious merits of Jesus is there a full ransom for condemnation of sin and the fulfillment of the law.

- Erkki Antti Juhonpieti (1814-1900)