"Rightly distinguishing the Law and the Gospel is the most difficult and the highest art of Christians in general and of theologians in particular. It is taught only by the Holy Spirit in the school of experience." C. F. W. Walther's Thesis 3
In some respects, figuring out the difference between God's laws and God's good news would not seem to be all that difficult. When it comes to simply reading what God says in His Word, and then figuring out if the statement is a statement of Law or Gospel, one may not find it too difficult to decide. When one reads, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," very few of us would shout out, "That's Good News!"
The lecturer C. F. W. Walther would even go so far as to say, in his lectures on this thesis, that the doctrine of the Law and the Gospel is rather easy to learn, so easy that even children can learn it. It is when it comes to the application and the use of these teachings that they become rather difficult to distinguish. Perhaps an example best helps to illustrate this.
A young lady within the congregation becomes pregnant. She, and her family, have been very faithful in learning God's Word and in attending worship and living out their faith. But now, she and her boyfriend have tried out a few things, and she now discovers that she is pregnant. What is the proper response of the pastor or the Christian to whom she makes this confession?
Hopefully, right now, you are saying that you don't have enough information to really know what would be proper to say. That means that you can already see that, to properly know when to speak law or Gospel, one needs to know more about the situation than its simple presentation. You have to know the person. You have to know their background. You have to know what led to the situation.
Looking at our example, we could see the application of the law or the gospel in a few different ways. If we knew this girl, and we knew she was starting to rebel against her upbringing and her faith, and we knew that she was intentionally doing things to irritate her parents, we might take one approach, likely that of the law. However, let's say that she has been a very faithful girl to faith and family, who just happened to be out with her boyfriend one night, and hadn't thought through her "warning signs", who made a mistake, who feels very sorrowful about it, and knows that it is going to impact the rest of her life. Wouldn't that call for a bit of a different approach? Perhaps one that still reminds her of God's law, but one that shares good news and forgiveness with her, while at the same time offering support for the difficult journey ahead.
That is why Walther can say that the application of Law and Gospel is one that is truly learned from the Holy Spirit in the realm of experience. Rightly knowing if we need to apply law or gospel means we have to know the person. It means we have to know the situation. The trouble is, quite often, we humans seek to hide those things that paint us in a negative light, which often means that we are applying law or gospel to a situation without knowing the half of the situation.
In the end, we realize that only God alone can truly rightly apply Law and Gospel to our lives. We still are called to speak that word to each other, and to be wise in speaking it. But we are also called to remember that we will fail in the proper application more often than we get it right, and because of that, we are to cling to the forgiveness of God in Jesus all the more.
In some respects, figuring out the difference between God's laws and God's good news would not seem to be all that difficult. When it comes to simply reading what God says in His Word, and then figuring out if the statement is a statement of Law or Gospel, one may not find it too difficult to decide. When one reads, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," very few of us would shout out, "That's Good News!"
The lecturer C. F. W. Walther would even go so far as to say, in his lectures on this thesis, that the doctrine of the Law and the Gospel is rather easy to learn, so easy that even children can learn it. It is when it comes to the application and the use of these teachings that they become rather difficult to distinguish. Perhaps an example best helps to illustrate this.
A young lady within the congregation becomes pregnant. She, and her family, have been very faithful in learning God's Word and in attending worship and living out their faith. But now, she and her boyfriend have tried out a few things, and she now discovers that she is pregnant. What is the proper response of the pastor or the Christian to whom she makes this confession?
Hopefully, right now, you are saying that you don't have enough information to really know what would be proper to say. That means that you can already see that, to properly know when to speak law or Gospel, one needs to know more about the situation than its simple presentation. You have to know the person. You have to know their background. You have to know what led to the situation.
Looking at our example, we could see the application of the law or the gospel in a few different ways. If we knew this girl, and we knew she was starting to rebel against her upbringing and her faith, and we knew that she was intentionally doing things to irritate her parents, we might take one approach, likely that of the law. However, let's say that she has been a very faithful girl to faith and family, who just happened to be out with her boyfriend one night, and hadn't thought through her "warning signs", who made a mistake, who feels very sorrowful about it, and knows that it is going to impact the rest of her life. Wouldn't that call for a bit of a different approach? Perhaps one that still reminds her of God's law, but one that shares good news and forgiveness with her, while at the same time offering support for the difficult journey ahead.
That is why Walther can say that the application of Law and Gospel is one that is truly learned from the Holy Spirit in the realm of experience. Rightly knowing if we need to apply law or gospel means we have to know the person. It means we have to know the situation. The trouble is, quite often, we humans seek to hide those things that paint us in a negative light, which often means that we are applying law or gospel to a situation without knowing the half of the situation.
In the end, we realize that only God alone can truly rightly apply Law and Gospel to our lives. We still are called to speak that word to each other, and to be wise in speaking it. But we are also called to remember that we will fail in the proper application more often than we get it right, and because of that, we are to cling to the forgiveness of God in Jesus all the more.
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