"In the seventh place, the Word of God is not rightly divided when there is a disposition to offer the comfort of the Gospel only to those who have been made contrite by the Law, not from fear of wrath and punishment of God, but from love of God." C. F. W. Walther, Thesis 11.
Many, many years ago, in a little booklet of instruction for the common people of Germany to better know God's message in the Bible, Martin Luther put together the basics of the Christian faith in a question and answer format. Beginning with the commandments, he put forth an important part of the faith, and then would have questions to better explain what they meant.
In the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods," Luther asked the question, "What does this mean?" He then answered with a simple phrase. "We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things." Those three verbs are interesting choices. Sure, we understand fear. When we realize that the God who made everything has a reason to look upon us with wrath and anger, we should be fearful. And that's where the next word truly stands in opposition to fear. Love. We are to love God above all things, which would seem impossible if God were only interested in seeing how closely we matched up to His will and design. Recognizing our shortcomings, faults, and sins, love would seem to be farthest thing from our thinking.
On occasion, I will hear someone say that, to receive the good news of God in Jesus, you have to love God and not be afraid of Him. And to some degree, I understand that thinking. If I only fear my wife and any time that I do something that will upset her, that doesn't speak to a very strong relationship. Of course, I would much rather do things because I love her, not because I am afraid of her, or fear upsetting her or disappointing her. Yet, there are times when I will do something that she wants, not so much out of love, but simply because not doing it would seem the worse choice.
You'll notice the key to that previous paragraph, though. That makes no sense unless I have an active, thriving relationship with my wife. When I have that active relationship with her, then there are times where I am much more concerned with not disappointing her, or not upsetting her, rather than simply doing things out of a motivation of love. Yes, it would be ideal if I did everything I do for her out of love, but because of my fallen sinfulness, that simply isn't likely (much less, possible).
That is where this thesis truly speaks to those who are already in relationship with God. Sometimes we do things because we fear letting God down, disappointing Him, or upsetting Him. That's okay when we have a living, active relationship with Him. Now, it would be far different if someone were not in Christ. Fear there needs to drive them to a relationship with God, not to be a place of refuge. They need to know that God still cares and to know the comfort of the Gospel. That is truly what the message of Good News is to do, to comfort. We cannot tell them at that point that they don't receive God's good news if they are only afraid of God, and can only receive it if they love God. Perhaps the thing that they first need to hear is that God loves them, which is a great comfort when they start to get to know Him.
That's why the comfort of the Gospel must go out to those who fear God, or who believe their actions call for God's punishment upon them. We should not tell them that they will only be received when they love God. In fact, as we reflected on back in Thesis 8, when they find themselves fearful or terrified, the very thing they need to hear is the Gospel, not that God's good news is theirs when they love God.
Many, many years ago, in a little booklet of instruction for the common people of Germany to better know God's message in the Bible, Martin Luther put together the basics of the Christian faith in a question and answer format. Beginning with the commandments, he put forth an important part of the faith, and then would have questions to better explain what they meant.
In the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods," Luther asked the question, "What does this mean?" He then answered with a simple phrase. "We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things." Those three verbs are interesting choices. Sure, we understand fear. When we realize that the God who made everything has a reason to look upon us with wrath and anger, we should be fearful. And that's where the next word truly stands in opposition to fear. Love. We are to love God above all things, which would seem impossible if God were only interested in seeing how closely we matched up to His will and design. Recognizing our shortcomings, faults, and sins, love would seem to be farthest thing from our thinking.
On occasion, I will hear someone say that, to receive the good news of God in Jesus, you have to love God and not be afraid of Him. And to some degree, I understand that thinking. If I only fear my wife and any time that I do something that will upset her, that doesn't speak to a very strong relationship. Of course, I would much rather do things because I love her, not because I am afraid of her, or fear upsetting her or disappointing her. Yet, there are times when I will do something that she wants, not so much out of love, but simply because not doing it would seem the worse choice.
You'll notice the key to that previous paragraph, though. That makes no sense unless I have an active, thriving relationship with my wife. When I have that active relationship with her, then there are times where I am much more concerned with not disappointing her, or not upsetting her, rather than simply doing things out of a motivation of love. Yes, it would be ideal if I did everything I do for her out of love, but because of my fallen sinfulness, that simply isn't likely (much less, possible).
That is where this thesis truly speaks to those who are already in relationship with God. Sometimes we do things because we fear letting God down, disappointing Him, or upsetting Him. That's okay when we have a living, active relationship with Him. Now, it would be far different if someone were not in Christ. Fear there needs to drive them to a relationship with God, not to be a place of refuge. They need to know that God still cares and to know the comfort of the Gospel. That is truly what the message of Good News is to do, to comfort. We cannot tell them at that point that they don't receive God's good news if they are only afraid of God, and can only receive it if they love God. Perhaps the thing that they first need to hear is that God loves them, which is a great comfort when they start to get to know Him.
That's why the comfort of the Gospel must go out to those who fear God, or who believe their actions call for God's punishment upon them. We should not tell them that they will only be received when they love God. In fact, as we reflected on back in Thesis 8, when they find themselves fearful or terrified, the very thing they need to hear is the Gospel, not that God's good news is theirs when they love God.
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