UNIT IV - Law and Gospel
The Law
The Purpose of the Law
The Gospel
The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel
"The distinction between law and Gospel is an especially brilliant light which serves the purpose that the Word of God may be rightly divided and the writings of the holy prophets and apostles may be rightly explained and understood correctly. We must therefore observe this distinction with particular diligence lest we confuse the two doctrines and change the Gospel into law. This would darken the merit of Christ and rob disturbed consciences of the comfort which they would otherwise have in the holy Gospel when it is preached purely and without admixture, for by it Christians can support themselves in their greatest temptations against the terrors of the law." (Formula of Concord, 1577)
"We unanimously believe, teach, and confess that the Law is properly a divine doctrine, in which the righteous, immutable will of God is revealed, what is to be the quality of man in his nature, thoughts, words, and works, in order that he may be pleasing to God; and that it threatens its transgressors with God's wrath and temporal and eternal punishment." (Formula of Concord, 1577)
God created man with a inherent understanding of His will as part of the divine image. The Bible calls this natural knowledge of right and wrong the Law written in man's heart or conscience. (cf. Romans 2:14,15) Even in the aftermath of the Fall, impaired and distorted by sin, conscience remains as a witness to the will of the Creator. Conscience, however is no longer a completely reliable moral guide. It may be conditioned by human rules and restrictions to prohibit that which God does not. On the other hand, conscience can become "hardened" to sin so that it no longer warns the sinner against transgression. (cf. Romans 1:21; Ephesians 4:18-19;
I Corinthians 8:7) God also reveals His Law in Scripture. The written Law was given in summary form to the Children of Israel through Moses on Mt. Sinai (cf. Exodus 20:1-21). In the Ten Commandments God told Israel how His holy will for all mankind applied to them in a special way as his chosen people. The New Testament repeats the moral content of the commandments in a more general context for all people ( cf. Matthew 5:17-48; 19:17-18; Romans 13:8-10; Galations 5:19).
Our Lord provides the simplest summary of the Law: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind...Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-40).
1. CURB - The Law helps to preserve order in the world by restraining the wicked actions of men.
2. MIRROR - The Law accuses us and shows us our sin.
3. GUIDE - The Law shows Christians the way that God would have us live.
"The Gospel, however, is that doctrine which teaches what a man should believe in order to receive the forgiveness of sins from God, since man has failed to keep the Law of God and has transgressed it, his corrupted nature, thoughts, words, and deeds war against the Law, and he is therefore subject to the wrath of God, to death, to temporal miseries, and to the punishment of hell-fire. The content of the Gospel is this, that the Son of God, Christ our Lord, himself assumed and bore the curse of the Law and expiated and paid for all our sins, that through Him alone we re-enter the good graces of God, obtain forgiveness of sins through faith, are freed from death and all the punishments of sin, and are saved eternally. For everything which comforts and offers the mercy and grace of God to transgressors of the Law strictly speaking is, and is called, the Gospel a good and joyful message that God wills not to punish sins but to forgive them for Christ's sake." (Formula of Concord, 1577)
The Gospel is revealed to us only in the Bible.
I Corinthians 2:9-10 "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him - but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit."
Ephesians 3: 2-5 "Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets."
In the Gospel, and in the Gospel alone, God offers the forgiveness of sins, the good news that we are freed from guilt, the punishment, and the power of sin, and are saved eternally because of what God in Christ has done for us. The Gospel enables us to live a God pleasing life, not because of guilt or fear, but in joyful thanksgiving to the God of our salvation.
"The Gospel in a Nutshell"
"God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel
C.F.W. Walther-1884
1. The doctrinal content of all of Holy Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, consists of two diametrically opposite teachings, namely the Law and the Gospel.
2. Only he is a pure teacher who not only presents all articles of faith in accordance with Scripture but also correctly distinguishes between Law and Gospel.
3. To distinguish properly between Law and Gospel is the most difficult and exalted skill of Christians and theologians, a skill that only the Holy Spirit teaches in the school of experience.
4. The true knowledge of the difference between Law and Gospel is not only a glorious light for the correct understanding of all of Holy Scripture, but without such knowledge Scripture is and remains a closed book.
5. The first and most glaring way of mingling Law and Gospel is the teaching of the papists, Socinians, and rationalists that makes of Christ a new Moses or Lawgiver and turns the Gospel into a doctrine of works and, conversely, like the papists, condemns and anathematizes those who teach the Gospel as a message of God's free grace in Christ.
6. Secondly, God's Word is not rightly divided when the Law is not preached in its full severity nor the Gospel in its full sweetness, but when Gospel elements are mingled with the Law and Law elements with the Gospel.
7. God's Word is not rightly divided, in the third place, when the Gospel is preached first and then the Law, first sanctification and then justification, first faith and then contrition, first good works and then grace.
8. In the fourth place, God's Word is not rightly divided when the Law is preached to those already terrified because of their sins, or when the Gospel is preached to those who are secure in their sins.
9. In the fifth place, God's Word is not rightly divided when sinners, struck and terrified by the Law, instead of being directed to Word and sacrament, are instructed to strive for the state of grace through prayer and struggles, that is, to keep on praying and wrestling until they feel that God has pardoned them.
10. In the sixth place, God's Word is not rightly divided when faith is pictured either as if merely regarding something as true would justify and save in spite of mortal sins, or as if faith justifies and saves for the sake of the love and renewal it effects.
11. In the seventh place, God's Word is not rightly divided if one wants to offer the comfort of the Gospel only to those who, through the Law, experience contrition not out of fear of God's wrath but out of love of God.
12. In the eighth place, God's Word is not rightly divided if the impression is given that contrition is a cause of forgiveness of sins alongside of faith.
13. In the ninth place, God's Word is not rightly divided when faith is demanded in such a way as if a person could give it to himself, or at least contribute something toward it instead of seeking to preach faith into the heart by presenting the promises of the Gospel.
14. In the tenth place, God's Word is not rightly divided when faith is demanded as a condition of justification and salvation, as though a person becomes righteous before God and is saved not only through faith, but also because of faith, for the sake of faith, and in view of faith.
15. In the eleventh place, the Word of God is not rightly divided when the Gospel is turned into a preaching of repentance.
16. In the twelfth place, God's Word is not rightly divided when it is suggested that shedding certain vices and performing certain works and virtues is a true conversion.
17. In the thirteenth place, God's Word is not rightly divided when believers are pictured in a way that does not fit all believers in all times with regard both to strength of faith and the feelings and fruitfulness connected with it.
18. In the fourteenth place, God's Word is not rightly divided when the universal corruption of mankind is described as if true believers were living in dominating and willful sins.
19. In the fifteenth place, God's Word is not rightly divided when the preacher gives the impression that certain sins are not in themselves damnable but only venial.
20. In the sixteenth place, God's Word is not rightly divided when salvation is linked to membership in the visible orthodox church and salvation is denied to anyone who errs in any article of faith.
21. In the seventeenth place, God's Word is not rightly divided when it is taught that the sacraments have a salutary effect even if they are merely performed "ex opere operato".
22. In the eighteenth place, God's Word is not rightly divided when a false distinction is made between awakening and conversion, and not being able to believe is confused with not being permitted to believe.
23. In the nineteenth place, God's Word is not rightly divided when the attempt is made to induce the unregenerate by means of the demands, threats, and promises of the Law to renounce sin and do good works, and thus make them pious, and to impel the regenerate toward the good by means of legalistic demands rather than by evangelical exhortation.
24. In the twentieth place, God's Word is not rightly divided when the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit is described because of its magnitude.
25. In the twenty-first place, God's Word is not rightly divided when the preacher does not, in general, let the Gospel predominate.
(Law and Gospel, by C.F.W. Walther, Herbert J.A. Bouman - Translator. Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Missouri, 1981. Used by Permission)