"In the third place, the Word of God is not rightly divided when the Gospel is preached first and then the Law; sanctification first and then justification; faith first and then repentance; good works first and then grace." Thesis 7, C. F. W. Walther
Okay, this one seems pretty straight foward, doesn't it? But perhaps the clarity of this thesis is not as apparent as it may first seem. When you look at it, it looks like a basic formula for the preacher to follow, right? Start off with the law and hit them between the eyes, then bring in the good news and bring healing to them.
Yet, I would dare say that, while the preaching task is something to which this thesis speaks, it speaks much more to the application of the Law and the Gospel into the lives of God's people. Let me explain this a bit. If a person thinks that he is a really great guy, and that there is nothing wrong with him, sharing the good news of the Gospel isn't really going to hit home with him, more than likely. In his eyes, he has nothing wrong, for which God would need to pay a price. The Gospel has no meaning when he thinks he has done nothing wrong.
That's when the law has to come first. The law has to first show this man that, despite what he thinks, he is not perfect as God calls him to be. He has to see that his sin, as small as it may be, still eternally separates him from God. He needs to see that any imperfection creates a rift between him and God, one that he cannot cross himself. Only then will the good news of the Gospel bring any kind of meaning to him.
This dynamic presents itself in the rest of the thesis. You don't start with sanctification and then move to justification. because such a move would sound something like this: here is what you have to do to get your life together, and now that you have your life together, you are acceptable to God. It places the emphasis back on the work of the person, not of Jesus. The order of it makes it as though we have to become pleasing to God before He will accept us, rather than that God receives us and then makes us into something pleasing in His sight.
That's why this thesis is about much more than preaching. Yet, it also shows us how often we Christians mess up God's Law and Gospel. How often have we been guilty of telling someone to get their lives straightened out first, and then they can become part of the people of God? It's like telling the liar, stop lying, and then God will accept you, or telling the homosexual, stop being homosexual, and then God will accept you. The change follows the time when the Gospel message hits home, which happens after we realize our need for God's good news in the first place.
Okay, this one seems pretty straight foward, doesn't it? But perhaps the clarity of this thesis is not as apparent as it may first seem. When you look at it, it looks like a basic formula for the preacher to follow, right? Start off with the law and hit them between the eyes, then bring in the good news and bring healing to them.
Yet, I would dare say that, while the preaching task is something to which this thesis speaks, it speaks much more to the application of the Law and the Gospel into the lives of God's people. Let me explain this a bit. If a person thinks that he is a really great guy, and that there is nothing wrong with him, sharing the good news of the Gospel isn't really going to hit home with him, more than likely. In his eyes, he has nothing wrong, for which God would need to pay a price. The Gospel has no meaning when he thinks he has done nothing wrong.
That's when the law has to come first. The law has to first show this man that, despite what he thinks, he is not perfect as God calls him to be. He has to see that his sin, as small as it may be, still eternally separates him from God. He needs to see that any imperfection creates a rift between him and God, one that he cannot cross himself. Only then will the good news of the Gospel bring any kind of meaning to him.
This dynamic presents itself in the rest of the thesis. You don't start with sanctification and then move to justification. because such a move would sound something like this: here is what you have to do to get your life together, and now that you have your life together, you are acceptable to God. It places the emphasis back on the work of the person, not of Jesus. The order of it makes it as though we have to become pleasing to God before He will accept us, rather than that God receives us and then makes us into something pleasing in His sight.
That's why this thesis is about much more than preaching. Yet, it also shows us how often we Christians mess up God's Law and Gospel. How often have we been guilty of telling someone to get their lives straightened out first, and then they can become part of the people of God? It's like telling the liar, stop lying, and then God will accept you, or telling the homosexual, stop being homosexual, and then God will accept you. The change follows the time when the Gospel message hits home, which happens after we realize our need for God's good news in the first place.
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