Martin Luther declared of the person ignorant of the distinction between Law and Gospel that “you cannot be altogether sure whether he is a Christian or a Jew or a pagan, trans. by Theodore G. Tappert, (New York: Harper & Bros., 1938). p. 114.

“Sin is not canceled by lawful living, for no person is able to live up to the Law. Nothing can take away sin except the grace of God.”

Elsewhere he wrote, “whoever knows well this art of distinguishing between the Law and the gospel, him place at the head and call him a doctor of Holy Scripture.”

Tullian Tchividjian writes, “The law, to paraphrase Luther, is a divinely sent Hercules sent to attack and kill the monster of self-righteousness—a monster that continues to harass the redeemed. Christians, in other words, need the law to regularly reveal that we are worse off than we think. We need to be reminded that there is something to be pardoned even in our best works and proudest achievements.

But then, once we are recrushed by Law, we need to be reminded, in the words of an old hymn, that ‘there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.’ We need to hear that the sins we cannot forget, God cannot remember, or as another old hymn puts it, that ‘though th’ accuser roar, of ills that I have done, I know them well and thousands more; Jehovah findeth none.’ We need to hear over and over that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, that nothing can separate us from God’s love, and that Christians live their lives under a banner that reads, ‘It is finished.'”

for it depends on this distinction.” – Hermann Sasse, Here We Stand: Nature and Character of the Lutheran Faith, trans. by Theodore G. Tappert, (New York: Harper & Bros., 1938). p. 114.

C. F. W. Walther (known in his own day as the American Luther) says:

“The true knowledge of the distinction between the Law and the Gospel is not only a glorious light, affording the correct understanding of the entire Holy Scriptures, but without this knowledge Scripture is and remains a sealed book.” – C.F.W. Walther, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel.

The Bible will be an impenetrable mystery as long as we are confused about this.

THE LAW refers to everything God commands of us in Scripture. “Do this and you shall live.” These commands are found throughout the entire Bible, Old and New Testament alike. The Law is holy, righteous and good. There is nothing wrong with the Law at all. It has its source in God Himself. The problem is us and our total inability as sinners to keep it.

The bad news gets even worse – to break even one part of the Law makes us guilty of breaking it all as a whole.

“For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” (James 2:10).

THE GOSPEL refers to Jesus Christ – His Person and His work. The word “gospel” means “glad tidings” or “good news.” It is good news concerning something entirely outside of us or our actions. The news is an announcement concerning all that Christ has done for sinners through His sinless, perfect life, fulfilling all the demands of the Law; as well as His substitutionary death and resurrection. Christ died for our sins and lived for our righteousness. The Gospel is good news about what God has done for us in Christ.

“When God gives orders and tells us what will happen if we fail to obey those orders perfectly, that is in the category of what the Reformers, following the biblical text, called law. When God promises freely, providing for us because of Christ’s righteousness the status he demands of us, this is in the category of gospel. It is good news from start to finish. The Bible includes both, and the Reformers were agreed that the Scriptures taught clearly that the law, whether Old or New Testament commands, was not eliminated for the believer. Nevertheless, they insisted that nothing in this category of law could be a means of justification or acceptance before a holy God … The law comes, not to reform the sinner nor to show him or her the “narrow way” to life, but to crush the sinner’s hopes of escaping God’s wrath through personal effort or even cooperation. All of our righteousness must come from someone else-someone who has fulfilled the law’s demands. Only after we have been stripped of our “filthy rags” of righteousness (Isa. 64:6)- our fig leaves through which we try in vain to hide our guilt and shame-can we be clothed with Christ’s righteousness. First comes the law to proclaim judgment and death, then the gospel to proclaim justification and life.” – Modern Reformation: Good News: The Gospel for Christians (May/June 2003)

Law then is everything in the Scriptures that commands and gospel is everything in the Scriptures that promises God’s favor in Christ. If we confuse these, we’ll weaken the law, lowering the bar to something that we can (or think we can) actually do, and we’ll make the gospel anything but good news.

The Law is holy. It is also unbending, unyielding, and brutal in its harsh demands. Continue reading →