By Justin Rossow
The phrase, “Law and Gospel” is common enough that we need to be careful with it. The words Law and Gospel don’t always mean what you think they mean…
Synonyms for “Story”
Part of the challenge of talking about Law and Gospel is that, sometimes, they can kind of almost mean the same thing. The “Law” for example is one way we talk about the Torah, the first five books of Moses. Of course, those books (Genesis through Deuteronomy) contain laws; and sometimes we mean those laws, or even more specifically, the Ten Commandments, when we talk about the Law.
That’s only natural: the Ten Commandments show up in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. (In fact, our name for Deuteronomy refers to the second giving of the Law.) But Leviticus has lots of laws, too (many of them about sacrifice) as does Numbers (rules for wandering in the wilderness). And of course Genesis has the first Law of all (Genesis 2), the one Adam and Eve promptly broke (Genesis 3).
But all of those laws in the Law (Torah) are embedded in the story; and the story is really what we mean by Torah. In that sense, the Law (Torah) contains both commands and promises; both threats and words of hope, comfort, and restoration.
Like the first five books of the Old Testament, the first four books of the New Testament are commonly labeled by the story they tell: Gospel means “good news,” and the Good News about Jesus is told in the story of his birth, teaching, death, and resurrection. But the Gospel story contains both promises and commands; words of hope, comfort, and restoration, but also threats, and judgments, and condemnation.
When we use the words “Law” and “Gospel” in their broadest sense, they can both refer to the whole story of the very good creation, our fall into sin, and God’s plans and promises to rescue us from the fate we have justly deserved.
In the broadest senses, then Law and Gospel can be used as synonyms. But we often use them as exact opposites. So that’s a little confusing…
Polar Opposites
Like the positive and negative ends of a magnet, Law and Gospel function together to create movement, even though they are exact opposites. In this more narrow definition, the focus is on how the words are affecting the hearers.
Now you can define the pair in contrast to each other: the Law reveals our sin, brings curses and even death down on sinners, adds both burden and shame, and ultimately makes both fear and hate God.
The Gospel, on the other hand, relieves both burden and shame, rescues us from bondage to sin and death, and makes promises that evoke trust, hope, and love.
The Law breaks down our own self-reliance, self- dependence, and self- righteousness so we can rely on Jesus, depend on Jesus, and receive his righteousness, instead.
Use, not just Content
In this dynamic sense, we’re not just looking at the story, but how that story is used. For the person who is afraid of death, the resurrection of Jesus can bring comfort and hope. For the person who is struggling with guilt and shame, the resurrection of Jesus can bring peace and a clear conscience. But the way Peter preaches on Pentecost, for example, the resurrection of Jesus cuts the gathered crowd to the heart and leads them to repentance (see Acts 2:22 and following).
If the message invites you to trust in Jesus, lightens your load, relieves your burden, and gives you a promise you can hold onto, that’s the Gospel.
If the end result leaves you feeling like you should be doing more, trying harder to do better, thinking you will never get this right, or feeling shamed, broken, burdened, or crushed, that’s the Law. It seems like it should be easy to tell the two apart, but it’s harder than it looks.
All you have to do is…
It’s easy to get Law and Gospel confused, in part because personal performance is our native language. One common mistake is to frame the Gospel as making salvation somehow easier for us to accomplish. It seems like good news to say, “All you have to do is … [blank].” But no matter how you fill in that blank, if it’s somehow up to me, I can still fail. Indeed, I will still fail.
So if Jesus died for your sins on the cross and all you have to do is believe; or if God gives the free gift of salvation and all you have to do is accept the gift; or if the Spirit is creating faith in your heart and all you have to do is not reject the Spirit, then I will always be able to wonder, have I believed enough? Have I accepted completely?
Did I not reject the way I am supposed to, or did I reject just a little bit? And was that little but enough to mess the whole thing up?
The Law says, “Do this.” And it is never done. The Gospel says, “Jesus did this for you.” And everything is already done.
The Good Law
Even when we are talking about the Law in a narrow sense, the Law itself is good. It tells us what God delights in and how we can live in a way that shows our love for God and our love for other people. Only sin makes the Law a threat or a burden or a curse. If it weren’t for sin, the Law would be our delight.
In fact, when we are done with sin and temptation forever, Law and Gospel will no longer be opposites. That is, in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, what God wants from us will no longer drive us to fear, anger, or shame. Living within God’s delight (the way we were intended to from the beginning) will itself be a delight when sin no longer distorts our relationships.
Even now, ahead of time, we can catch glimpses of that New Creation life. Because we belong to Jesus, already now, we will sometimes do what God commands, already now, and love it. (And, because we are not yet completely free from sin, we will likely congratulate ourselves for doing such a good job and take credit where no credit is due.)
So for now, our encounter with God’s Law will be a mixed bag, because as fallen but forgiven but not yet made perfect human beings, we are all a mixed bag. The Law will always be able to accuse us. But it’s only doing its job: drive us to repentance and dependence on Jesus.
And sometimes the Law will even delight us, because the Spirit is shaping in us the desire to do the things that delight God (Philippians 2:13).
The Gospel Wins
The way the story goes (the whole story of salvation, which you could refer to as the “Law” or the “Gospel”) the Law (the function of God’s Word that points out your sin and drives you to despair) has a shelf life. The Gospel (the function of God’s Word that delivers God’s promises and works faith and salvation) will in the End come true, and remain true forever and ever.
So when you feel the burden of guilt or shame, when your heart tells you it’s up to you to do more or do better, take a deep breath and remember the promise: what Jesus has already done, is doing, and will do for you is the final Word on who you are and what you deserve. You belong to Jesus, now and forever.
In the end, the Gospel wins. Thanks be to God.