The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel by CFW Walther

1. The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel by CFW Walther ~ The Twenty-Seventh ~ Evening Lecture

2. Review: • Do the Lutheran confessions use the word “Gospel” in a wide or narrow sense? • According to thesis 15, it is a confusion of Law and Gospel when the Gospel, in its narrow sense, is presented how? • In what part of the Law are we commanded to believe?

3. 1. Into what three “estates” does Walther group all people? (pg 284 bottom.) • "... teachers, of producers, and defenders, the Lehrstand, Naehrstand, and Wehrstand."

4. 2. Walther says that the office of teachers of the Word is the most glorious of all! What are his seven reasons for saying this? (pg 285.) • 1. The work of their office centers about man’s spiritual welfare, his immortal soul. • 2. They employ the most salutary means and instrument in their work, namely, the Word of the living God. • 3. They aim at the most salutary and glorious end, namely, to make man truly happy in the present life and to lead him to the life of eternal bliss. • 4. They are most wholesomely engaged in an occupation which entirely satisfies their spirits and advances their own selves in the way of salvation. • 5. Their labor yields the most precious result, namely, the salvation of man. • 6. Their labors have the most glorious promise of the cooperation of the Lord, so that they are never entirely futile and in vain. • 7. Their labors have the promise of a gracious reward, which consists in a glory in the world to come that is unutterably great, exceeding abundantly above all they ever could have asked and prayed for in this life.

5. 3. Should a preacher be like a carpenter or a goldsmith? Why? (pg 286 top.) • "... He must not be like a carpenter who is trimming a block and does not mind where the chips fall, but he must be like a goldsmith who is working with a precious metal and is careful to pick up even the minutest particle.“ • “May God grant you His Holy Spirit abundantly and make you faithful guardians over the immense treasures which will be entrusted to you when you enter the ministry! ”

6. Thesis XV (cont.) • In the eleventh place, the Word of God is not rightly divided when the Gospel is turned into a preaching of repentance.

7. 4. Some people object that the Bible itself calls the Gospel a “law,” and so the Gospel is a preaching of repentance. What is one of the first Bible passages they use to support this, and in what way is this passage misunderstood? (pg 286 bottom.) • ... Rom. 3, 27 is cited, where we read: “Where is boasting, then? It is excluded. By what Law? of works? Nay; but by the law of faith.” • This is drawing a faulty inference from the apostle’s words. The apostle in this passage employs the figure of antanaclasis: he uses the same word which his opponent has used, however, in a different meaning, to refute the opponent. • To illustrate: When the Jews, from a self-righteous motive, asked Christ: “What shall we do that we might work the works of God?” John 6, 28, He answered: “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.”

8. 5. Walther quotes the reliable Lutheran theologian Johannes Quenstedt (1617-1688). How did he define the Gospel? (pg 287 middle.) • "... the Gospel is not a doctrine that enjoins upon men inherent righteousness… but it proclaims the gracious forgiveness of sin and the righteousness that is valid in the sight of God, as something that is to be accepted by faith, as the receiving organ."

9. 6. What is another passage that is often brought in support of the idea that the Gospel is a preaching of repentance? Why is this wrong? (pg 287.) • Rom. 10, 16: “They have not all obeyed the Gospel.” • “obey” really means “believe” in this context. • “If we accept what He gives, we are said to obey Him. It is an act of kindness on God’s part to call it obedience.”

10. 7. According to Luther, what is “the sublimest way of fulfilling the First Commandment”? (pg 288 middle.) • "... To accept the grace of God as soon as it is offered to me, to take comfort in it, to thank God for it, and not to be so insolent as to try to achieve by one’s own effort what the Father in heaven is offering by grace."

11. 8. Why is the term “New Testament” a good synonym for the Gospel? What is a “testament”? (pg 289 top.) • "... a testament, by which a dying person disposes of his goods and orders them to be distributed among his appointed heirs after his death.“ • “Christ, prior to His death, has given command and directions to proclaim this Gospel throughout the world after His death, therewith bestowing upon believers, as their possession, all His goods, to wit, His life, by which He has swallowed up death, His righteousness, by which He has wiped out sin.”

12. 9. Complete the sentence: “The Gospel, then, is nothing else than…” (pg 289 middle.) • "... preaching concerning Christ, the Son of God and David’s Son, true God and man, who by His death and resurrection has overcome sin, death, and hell for all those who believe in Him."

13. 10. Luther says, “see then that you do not make Christ a…” A what? (pg 289 bottom.) • "...See, then, that you do not make Christ a new Moses or His Gospel a book of Law or instruction."

14. 11. Sometimes, Walther notes, you will see the term Law used to encompass both Law and Gospel. But what will you never see? (pg 290 bottom.) • "...  the term Gospel is never used in the place of the Law; nor will you find in all the Scriptures a passage in which the term Law can be substituted for the Gospel in the strict sense."

15. 12. “The person approaching the God of the Law must be ___________; the person approaching the reconciling God on Golgotha may come __________.” (pg 291 top.) • The person approaching the God of the Law must be righteous; the person approaching the reconciling God on Golgotha may come just as he is. Yea, he is welcome for the very reason that he is a sinner, if he will but come.

16. 13. What will be the chief torment of those condemned to eternity in hell? (pg 291 middle.) • …the fact that he knows: “I was redeemed; I was reconciled to God; I was righteous; but because I would not believe it, I am now in this place of torment.”

17. 14. Is it enough merely to regard the Gospel as a truthful record? (pg 291 bottom) • "...Luther correctly remarks that the mere regarding of the Gospel as a truthful record is not justifying faith. A person must believe that what the Gospel says concerns him."

18. 15. What principle should a preacher adopt for all his activity in the congregation? (pg 292 top.) • "... always to proclaim this glad message in your pulpit, so that your congregation will rejoice at having a pastor who is a true evangelist.“ • “Do not follow your reason, which will tell you that by preaching the Gospel to them you will make your hearers secure. It is not so; on the contrary, when the grace and glory of the Gospel are truly held out to men, this rouses them, makes them joyful and therefore willing to do good works and, as it were, kindles a heavenly fire in their hearts. This effect is inevitable.”

19. 16. Luther says that the Gospel is not a Law-book. What is it? (pg 292 middle.) • "Luther says the Gospel is not a Law-book, not even a book of instruction, but a message of joy."

20. 17. When David had slain Goliath, what was left for the children of Israel to do? (pg 292 bottom.) • “…all that the children of Israel had to do was to make use of their liberty. After the defeat of their leader the enemies had fled.“ • “Christ has conquered our enemies and done everything to set us entirely free.”

21. 18. How is true Christian faith like the sea? (pg 293 bottom.) • "... Faith cannot be shut in. It is like a sea that can be tapped: it rushes irresistibly through any proper opening that is made for it.“ • “A believer is ready to serve everybody wherever he can. He cannot but profess the Gospel before men.”

22. 19. What are five ways in which we can tell whether the word “Gospel” in a passage refers to the narrow sense or the wide sense? (pg 294 – 295) • 1. Whenever the Gospel is contrasted with the Law, it is quite certain that the term Gospel does not refer to the Gospel in the wide, but in the narrow sense. • 2. Whenever the Gospel is presented as the peculiar teaching of Christ or as the doctrine that proclaims Christ, it cannot refer to the Law. • 3. Whenever poor sinners are named as the subject to whom the Gospel is addressed, you may be certain that the reference is to the Gospel in the strict sense.  • 4. Whenever forgiveness of sins, righteousness, and salvation by grace are named as effects of the Gospel, the reference is to the Gospel in the strict sense.  • 5. When faith is named as the correlate of the Gospel, the reference is to the Gospel in the strict sense.