Law and Gospel

All Scripture is either Law or Gospel. That is, either a it is God's Law speaking to us, telling us what to do and what not to do, or it is God's Gospel telling us what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.

The Law may be characterized as ALWAYS telling its listeners what TO DO and what NOT TO DO. The Gospel may be characterized as always telling its listeners WHAT GOD HAS DONE for them in Christ Jesus.

Because the Law tells us that we must always and fully love the Lord our God with our whole heart, soul, and mind (Deut. 6:5) it necessarily condemns us for we are sinful and incapable of fulling the Law of God perfectly. (This is not to say that we do not do some things that are good according to the standards of one another, but in this definition it is not what others think or expect, but what God expects.) Therefore, as said above, the Law always condemns.

On the other hand, the Gospel ALWAYS announces to us that, through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ who died for the sins of the world, we "poor miserable sinners" are forgiven of our many sins and that God the Father remembers them no more and has "removed them from us as far as the east is from the west (Ps.103:12)." And this gift (Gospel is always gift)is ours by grace through faith which the Holy Spirit has worked in us through the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments.

As Scripture is either Law or Gospel, so likewise it ought to be in sermons. SO, various portions of a pastor's sermons must be either Law or Gospel. While both are expected and needed in any one sermon, the general rule is that the Gospel must predominate. That is, while the pastor in his sermonizing must needs proclaim the Law it is necessary that he ALWAYS proclaim the Gospel in such a clear manner so that each listener knows that what God has done in the person of Jesus Christ, He has done for him.

Much of modern protestantism does not believe that every sermon must contain a clear proclamation of the Gospel. Rather, much of protestantism sees many and varied messages in the Bible, not just Law and Gospel. Thus, it is usually easy to tell a "Lutheran" pulpit that has been unduly influenced by Protestantism by having themes which focus on the Law (what we ought to do) and relatively little on the Gospel (what God has done for us).

In summary:

• Law says DO/Gospel says DONE.
  
• Law condemns/Gospel forgives.
• Law tells us what to do/Gospel tells us what God has done for us.

Thanks to Pastor Mike Strong for this definition

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