Law and Gospel hermeneutics

Through my study of the Reformation (part of my study into Church history), I heard a profound message about how the Scriptures are to be delineated. You can download that message here (click to listen, or right-click to save to your hard drive)

Martin Luther puts it this way:

This difference between the Law and the Gospel is the height of knowledge in Christendom. Every person and all persons who assume or glory in the name of Christian should know and be able to state this difference. If this ability is lacking, one cannot tell a Christian from a heathen or a Jew; of such supreme importance is this differentiation. This is why St. Paul so strongly insists on a clean-cut and proper differentiating of these two doctrines.

Theodore Beza, Calvin's predecessor, likewise states:

We divide this Word into two principal parts or kinds: the one is called the "Law", the other the "Gospel". For, all the rest can be gathered under the one or the other of these two headings …

We must pay great attention to these things. For, with good reason, we can say that ignorance of this distinction between Law and Gospel is one of the principle sources of the abuses which corrupted and still corrupt Christianity.

Charles Spurgeon says:

There is no point upon which men make greater mistakes than upon the relation which exists between the law and the gospel. Some men put the law instead of the gospel: others put the gospel instead of the law; some modify the law and the gospel, and preach neither law nor gospel: and others entirely abrogate the law, by bringing in the gospel. Many there are who think that the law is the gospel, and who teach that men by good works of benevolence, honesty, righteousness, and sobriety, may be saved.

I had never really thought about this before. I knew that there were laws in the bible (the Ten Commandments, the ceremonial laws, even the "command" to repent and believe), but I had never considered that ALL imperatives could be considered to be just as much a Law as the obvious ones.

Let us consider a few:

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her

1 Thess 5: 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus

Philippians 2:14 Do everything without complaining or arguing

Now consider this. Do these passages speak peace to you? Or do they condemn you? They condemn me! I, for one, know that I do not always love my wife as I want to, how much shorter do I fall away from loving her as Christ loves us? Yes, it reveals to me where I am lacking.

I certainly don't thank God for everything. I thank Him for the good things, to be sure. But when my boss annoys me and causes me frustration and difficulty at work, I don't find myself thanking God for her.

To ask me to do everything without complaining just seems unfair to me .. because I find myself complaining when my kids won't listen, when the dog poops on the carpet, and even when there are too many commercials during my favorite show.

Now because these three examples convict me and rub me the wrong way, does this mean they are bad things? God forbid! As Paul states in his letter to the Romans:

Romans 3:19-20 (19) Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; (20) because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

This is the exact purpose of these verses! They are MEANT to reveal to me my shortcomings. This comforts me in a sense. It tells me that my conscience has not been seared and hardened against God's commands. If they did not bother me, then according to Paul, the Law would not be revealing my sin to me. What, then, is the purpose of this? Am I to be condemned by these laws? Am I to be burdened because I am unable to live up to the expectations God has for me? No. This is where the Gospel comes into play.

One purpose of the law, as we have seen above, is to reveal our sin to us. Another purpose is to do something much better.

Galatians 3:24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.

The Law, according to Scripture, is not meant to bring life through obedience to it. It brings only death, otherwise righteousness would be through the law. It would be through our behavior and our actions. The Law drives us to Christ. It becomes our tutor. It causes us to rely upon the righteousness of Christ rather than our own. When we read an imperative in the bible (an imperative is simply a command), we should cry out “HOW!?” And the answer is always “Christ”. We receive the righteousness that is from God (Romans 1:17, 3:21) through faith in Jesus Christ. This is the Gospel

Romans 1:16-17 (16)I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. (17) For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

Righteousness is FROM God. He is the only righteous One, so when we desire righteousness (Matthew 5:6), we must get it from God. Jesus tells us that we will be filled when we hunger and thirst for it, so the source is not ourselves. We are void of it and must be filled by an outward source … that source is God. The Gospel holds within it a righteousness that is from Him and for us. What good news!

When we are discouraged by our lack of performance, or our inability to live up to those high standards, don’t fear, dear Christian. Run to Christ! He is our righteousness, and takes away our condemnation (Romans 8:1). We are no longer under Law but under Grace (Romans 6:14). And because of this, we praise God and thank Him for sending His Son, Jesus Christ. Because of this, we love God.

And this love manifests itself not in our holding up of our hands, not in simply singing and not in producing “tears of joy”, but in obedience. Yes, we are still called to be obedient. But it is not out of fear or duty. It is out of thanks and love for the One who fulfilled the Law in our place. Jesus Christ the Righteous.

I challenge you, next time you read your bible, to try to determine which parts are Law, and which parts are the Gospel. I believe it will greatly strengthen your understanding and appreciation of what you read. When you read Law, let it drive you to Christ. When you read Gospel, let the praise for Christ rise up within you.

All praise and honor belong to Him.