SOME
THOUGHTS ON
LAW AND GOSPEL
A STUDY BY
GARY RAY BRANSCOME
It is written, "To the Law and
to the testimony, If they
speak not according to this Word it is because there is no light in
them"
(Isaiah 8:20).
The explicitly
stated truths of Scripture are the standard to which all teaching must
conform, and by which every doctrine is to be judged (Acts 17:11,
Isaiah 8:20). Nevertheless, if we are to understand the truths of
scripture correctly we need to understand the relationship of Law and
Gospel. Moreover, the Bible tells us what that relationship is when it
tells us that the Law will not make us righteous because it was given
to reveal our sin and thus our need for forgiveness in Christ (Romans
3:20-28, Galatians 2:16 and 3:24).
Because the Law was
not given to exalt men (by making them righteous) but to exalt Christ
(by pointing them to Him as the source of all true righteousness), the
Law is God’s warning to the unrepentant (1Timothy 1:9, Matthew 9:13).
For that reason, the works of the Law should never be presented as a
way of pleasing God, or gaining His favor. Instead, the Law should be
proclaimed in a way that indites every one of us, while holding up
Christ as the source of forgiveness, mercy, and salvation (John 5:39).
In fact, those who are constantly urging people to seek God’s favor or
blessing through the works of the Law, have turned the Law into a false
gospel, for “by the works of the Law there shall no flesh be justified
in His sight” (Romans 3:20).
In contrast to the
Law, the Gospel is God's message to those who repent, that is, to those
who are sorry for their sins and look to Christ for mercy (Acts 3:19).
Furthermore, although the Law cannot save anyone, the Gospel is the
“power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16). While the Law only
condemns, the Gospel is a message of comfort, peace, love, mercy, and
forgiveness. Under the Law we are all sinners, we are all guilty, and
we all deserve to go to hell. However, the good news is that Christ
took our sins upon Himself, and died so that we could be freed from the
Law and all condemnation through His death (Romans 7:4). In short, we
are saved by what He did, not by what we do, and that is what the world
finds so hard to understand (Acts 4:12).
Those who pervert
the Gospel, by using it as an excuse to sin, are turning the Gospel
into a false law (a law that condones sin) while showing contempt for
God’s grace (Hebrews 10:26-31). Furthermore, by giving the unrepentant
a false assurance of salvation they are teaching a false Gospel, thus
placing themselves under God’s curse (Galatians 1:6-9). In order to
rightly divide Law from Gospel, the unrepentant must be warned of God's
wrath while those who repent are assured of God's mercy in Christ.
RIGHTLY
DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH
Because the Law and
Gospel are two different messages, and are directed at two different
groups of people (the repentant and unrepentant), they may seem
contradictory to those do not understand their purpose.
For example:
Someone who fails to understand the paradoxical relationship of Law to
Gospel may assume that when the Bible says, “The gift of God is eternal
life” it is contradicting the phrase, “The wages of sin is death”
(Romans 6:23). Do sinners receive death or life? However, once we
understand the relationship of Law to Gospel, we can see that one
statement warns the unrepentant of God’s wrath, while the other assures
those that repent of forgiveness in Christ. Therefore, one statement is
Law while the other is Gospel. Moreover, because Christ has freed us
from the law, the warning of spiritual death does not apply to those
who trust in him.
Another example can
be seen when we compare the words, “For not the hearers of the law are
just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified,” with, “A
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Romans 2:13
and 3:28). Here again, the two statements seem contradictory until we
realize that one is Law while the other is Gospel. In the first
statement Paul is warning the self-righteous that they will be
condemned by the Law unless they do all that it requires, in the second
statement, he is assuring those who repent that they are “justified by
faith without the deeds of the law.” Furthermore, just as with the
previous example, because Christ has freed us from the law, the warning
does not apply to those who trust in him.
[Note: Romans 2:13 is directed at
those who think God will somehow overlook their sins as long as they
are sincere. Paul rebukes such nonsense by reminding them that only
those who do all that the Law requires can escape its condemnation
(Matthew 5:48, Romans 3:10-20, Galatians 3:10, James 2:10).]
A third example can
be seen by comparing the words, “A man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law,” with, “By works a man is justified, and not by
faith only” (Romans 3:28, James 2:24). As with the previous examples,
the two statements seem contradictory until we realize that one is Law
while the other is Gospel. James 2:24 is a warning to those whose faith
consists of nothing more than believing that “there is one God,” while
Romans 3:28 is God’s word of comfort to those who trust in Christ.
By comparing the
words, “These have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of
temptation fall away” with the words, “Who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation,” we encounter a fourth example (Luke
8:13, 1Peter 1:5). Here again, these two statements seem contradictory
until we realize that one is Law while the other is Gospel. Luke 8:13
is a warning of God's Law that reminds us of our need for His
sustaining grace, while 1Peter 1:5 is God’s promise of sustaining grace.
As we compare the
words, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins,” with, “a man is not justified by the
works of the Law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,” we find a fifth
example (Acts 2:23, Galatians 2:16). Those who regard baptism as an
“act of obedience” generally assume that those two statements
contradict each other. However, the contradiction disappears as soon as
we realize that baptism is not a warning of God’s wrath, but a promise
of forgiveness in Christ. And, that even though God uses the ceremony
of baptism to give us that promise, it is only through personal faith
in Jesus Christ that we receive what is promised (Galatians 3:22).
Our final example
can be seen when we compare the words, “The hour is coming, in the
which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come
forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and
they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation,” with,
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us” (John 5:28-29, Titus 3:5). Here again, the two
statements seem contradictory to those who fail to understand the
proper relationship of Law to Gospel. However, the contradiction
disappears, as soon as realize that the first statement is Law while
the second is Gospel. John 5:28-29 is a warning of God’s Law that is
aimed at striking fear into the heart of the unrepentant, while Titus
3:5 is God’s word of comfort to those who repent. Moreover, because
Christ has freed us from the law, the warning of spiritual death does
not apply to those who trust in him (Romans 7:4 and 8:1).
CHURCH
AND STATE
Understanding the
relationship of Law and Gospel also helps us to understand the complex
relationship of church to state. Simply put, the state is an instrument
of God's Law, while the church is an instrument of God's grace. God
ordained the state to condemn the unrepentant, and the church to assure
those who repent of forgiveness in Christ. In fact, that relationship
can even be seen in the Old Testament. As the head of state Moses
punished lawbreakers, while Aaron (as God’s priest) offered
forgiveness. Furthermore, the Ten Commandments formed the basis of the
political law, not the religious law. God never intended for the church
to use the Ten Commandments to make people righteous. On the contrary,
the purpose of both the state and the Ten Commandments is to condemn
the unrepentant, while true righteousness comes only through faith in
Jesus Christ (1Peter 2:14, Romans 10:4).
That being the
case, the state should punish such crimes as abortion, for punishing
murder is the job of the state. In fact, those who try to reverse the
roles, claiming that abortion is a religious issue, are the ones who
are confusing church and state. What they are really trying to do is to
make atheism the de facto state religion.
CONCLUSION
Because the purpose
of the Law is to convict the unrepentant of their sin and need for
forgiveness, those who have hardened their heart to the Law by
convincing themselves that they are righteous have only contempt for
the Gospel. At the same time, those who may admit that they are not
perfect while still thinking of themselves as good people, usually
assume that freedom from the Law is the freedom to sin. It is only as
we come to see ourselves as God sees us, and know that all of our own
righteousness is as filthy rags, that we can understand that freedom
from the Law is not the freedom to sin, but the freedom to be righteous
(Isaiah 64:6). However, without the Law we would never come to that
point. Therefore, God uses the Law to show us our spiritual poverty and
wretchedness, so that we will see our need for His mercy and appreciate
Christ's sacrifice.