Lutheran Theology: What is the Law? What is the Gospel?

What is the law? What is the gospel? These are just two key ideas developed by Schwarz in light of Luther's theology. Basically, the law is the "embodiment of external will of God, and, as such, is what condemns the sinner'' (Schwartz, 103). In contrast, the gospel is what God uses to free humans from the law, our saving grace if you will. The story of Jesus Christ, Son of God is generally accepted to be this gospel, or the "good news'' message delivered by the Bible. The question is how do we get from the law to the gospel. According to Schwarz, "faith is a movement from law toward gospel'' (107). Although the differences might seem obvious to some, others can confuse the law and gospel.

We need both the law and the gospel. Without the law, we are without direction or guidance, and without the gospel, we are lost to sin. To have law without the gospel is to have judgment without hope. To have the gospel without the law is to have "cheap grace," which is to not count the cost of the cross (Jesus' death). Therefore, to be without law, we can not find the gospel, and to have only law, there is no salvation. Through faith and the law we can move towards the gospel. In the end, having one without the other leaves us lost, and separate from God. So it is absolutely necessary to have both in order to achieve salvation. Law and gospel work together to bring us to Christ, the Messiah, and with the Holy Spirit guiding our faith, God grants us eternal salvation. This is what Luther believed, and Schwarz supports this viewpoint.

Where the confusion comes in is in the Word of God, which simultaneously contains both law and gospel. According to Schwarz, these can not be separated, because law and gospel are not simply divided between Old and New Testament. The preaching of the gospel contains the law because redemption precedes sin, and the law contains the gospel because it shows us our sin. In essence, the law and gospel are one in the same in the Word of God. The path a Christian sinner takes in life is actually a transition towards uniting law and gospel, as they were originally intended, according to Schwarz (107). However, they can not be blended together either (105). As so many other things seem to be in the Christian faith, it is a paradox. This is why law and gospel can be confused.

The impact this confusion of law and gospel can have on a Christian is a negative one. That is why the law and gospel must be preached, to bring us back to God, and out of confusion. Luther believed the law was required for salvation, and confusing it with the gospel can have just as great an effect on an individual. Confusion can cause the individual to become lost, unable to understand the law and the gospel, making salvation difficult to achieve. The law is meant to show our estrangement from God, and then bring us back to him through the preaching of the gospel (104). To reject, or misinterpret one or the other will leave the individual lost and confused, unable to hear God's truth for salvation. Through instruction and preaching, however, the individual can be found again, and brought back to God.

Part B: Luther

In Luther's Treatise on Christian Liberty (The Freedom of a Christian: A Christian Lifestyle), he establishes two theses. One is "The Inner Man," which states the following: A Christian is a perfectly free person, subject to none. The other is "The Outer Man," which states the following: A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant, subject to all. Now how could these two theses, which when combined are a paradox, coexist? There must be a reason there is a distinction, and therefore an existence of a pluralistic life of a Christian.

Luther defines two parts of a Christian, because they are so distinct, and as evidence to the duality or paradox of the Christian lifestyle. As The Inner Man, we are judged before God, and through Christ we are forgiven our sins. This relationship begins with Baptism. We are made righteous through justification by faith alone, a basis for our Christian liberty. The Word of God is needed in order for us to learn of sin through faith, which is what solely makes us Christian. As The Outer Man, we are sanctified before Humanity through our good works. Through communion, we continue to be participants in God's love and forgiveness, as our faith becomes active in love through this process of sanctification, thus loving our neighbors. Therefore, Christians do not live for themselves, but for Christ through faith and for his neighbor through love.

The real question is, however, if this idea of the dual Christian is still applicable in today's pluralistic society. l believe it is even more so today because of the constant changes in society, our dualism must persist in order for us to survive. We need constants in our lives, and the dualism of the Christian is an important ingredient to bring sanity to life. If l were to just ignore one half of my Christianity, l would be neglecting the other half, which is not how God wants the Christian to live. The Bile says God wants us to be justified through him, but at the same time to be sanctified by humanity. He says this when he commands us to "love thy neighbor as ourselves.'' Loving your neighbor is sanctity through humanity, and our faith becomes active through this love. Our faith then, is what brings us to Christ to be justified. This process begins with Baptism (justification), and is continued through Communion (sanctification) with other believers. In today's society, there are so many people in need of our love, and also God's love. Therefore, the distinction is very much viable and necessary for us as Christians today, and will continue to be.

We can not let ourselves be fooled into thinking that we do not need good works by the argument that it is by faith alone we are saved. Although this statement is entirely true, it can also lead to "cheap grace.'' By living for our neighbor, instead of for ourselves, we do not need to worry about earning salvation and our faith in God. We put our faith into practice by showing our love to our neighbor, therefore exercising our faith and reinforcing theirs. Faith is not meant to free us from works, but only from the false requirements of works to achieve justification. Faith maintains our conscience to know that righteousness does not require good works. Works are done rather, as a spontaneous act of love in obeying God. Therefore, good works do not lead to salvation, but rather justification leads to sanctification through good works. This supports Luther's belief that justification precedes sanctification.

Part C: Bonhoeffer

There is no question that God is all knowing, and has a plan for us all, in my mind. What is most often asked, however, is what this means exactly. On the surface it appears that God's will has predestined our life on earth, and we have no free will.

Another argument is that we control our own destinies, The problem is how these these two can coexist, if in fact they can. In my personal philosophy, they can and do coexist, probably at a level which humans could not possibly understand. This is just one of many paradoxes which God has presented before us, most of which we can not understand nor are we meant to comprehend fully.

However, this does not mean that l can not try to understand the two very different concepts of predestination and free will, and how they could coexist.

Bonhoeffer says more specifically that God's plan for us will benefit all people, which makes me wonder if what God is truly saying is actually not directed at individuals, but rather at everyone as a whole. This way, individuals can have free will, but God's plan for us collectively is not within our control, and therefore we are predestined by God.

This plan can only benefit all of us if God alone controls it. If it were up to the collective free will of the people, an agreement would never be reached, because humans are imperfect. This is why God has collectively predestined all humans in his plan to benefit all. In short, individuals have free will, but collectively as a human society, however, there is no free will, and God has predestined our human society on earth.

Another way of looking at it is that in Scripture, predestination is generally used in the context that God's grace is saving people for himself. There is nothing in scripture that suggests that every one of our actions is predetermined, and therefore we take no responsibility for them. In fact, Scripture contradicts this, because it preaches that we are to take responsibility for our actions by asking for forgiveness and confession, for example. This would open the door, or at least leave some leeway for free will. It is by our own free will we make these every day decisions that we must take responsibility for. To not take responsibility makes us a liability to society, and we are punished accordingly. Just as if you do not take responsibility for your own faith, you will not receive God's grace, and therefore be punished by God through eternal damnation, but taking responsibility by exercising your faith, God grants you eternal salvation through his grace. Therefore, God's predestination will realizes our human integrity, rather than destroying it. For example, we love because God first loved us, but it is still we who love. Only God has the answer as to how much our will and responsibility come together, but we know it does, and we can trust God with it.

Despite the arguments for free will, we can not remove predestination, because Scripture does not do so. In fact, Scripture never makes the separation from God's nature and character from predestination. Rather it directly relates them when it says that God loves us and chose us from all eternity. When you take away this aspect of God, you are no longer following what Scripture teaches us, but rather the idea of philosophical determinism, in which there is no free will, and there is no justice in the universe. Considering this evidence from Scripture I choose to believe they coexist.

Part D: Comparison

Luther believes that there must be a good person first before there can be good works, and the good works naturally follow from the good person. Faith, or the lack thereof, determines whether a person is good or evil, not by works. . This first statement is an interesting one because it brings up the question as to whether or not an unbeliever can do good works, which I believe they can, but Luther's statement would seem to contradict this. Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship does not seem to contend much of what Luther said, but rather closet abides by it. The second statement also seems to bring up similar questions, although it is true that the works performed by a person does not determine if they are good or evil, because good people can do evil works, and l believe the opposite to be true as well.

Bonhoeffer concentrates on the "cheap grace'' aspect of discipleship, which would contend that being a believer, but not doing good works has weakened and ruined the lives of many Christians, who would eventually fall away from Christ. However, doing good works does not make a good person. A believer should be personally compelled to do good works, satisfying God, but not doing so is what leads to the weakened state of the church that exists today, Bonhoeffer argues. I believe Luther would agree with this assessment if he were living today. We are fooled into thinking there is nothing left for us to do, because God has granted us his grace because we believe, but we reaffirm this through our actions.

The unbeliever is not damned because of his evil works, but nor is he saved through his good works. However, Luther argues that the unbelief, which makes the person evil, does the evil works. The belief or unbelief affects the works a person does, not the other way around. Bonhoeffer says that you should take the first step to discipleship regardless of your belief. Those who say they are believers but disobey, will confess they are unbelievers when asked to obey, to take the first step (Bonhoeffer, 67).

Essentially, this is what Luther was saying when he said that the unbelievers do evil works.

In order to good works, on the other hand, a person must be righteous first before he can do the good work, according to Luther. This is because works do not justify anyone, and it is only through faith in God through Christ and the Word, that a person can be justified and saved, then they can do good works through discipleship.

We must keep obedience simple and single-minded. This way we can follow Christ without question or hesitation, argues Bonhoeffer. If we question the true meaning of God's Word, we deceive ourselves, and we can not truly understand what God wants us to do, which leads us to cheap grace. However, if we follow blindly without question, there is no need to worry and obedience or good works comes naturally. But if an unbeliever does good works, he is not earning salvation through Christ, because there must first be belief for justification before there can be sanctification through good works. Therefore, the wicked will do evil works as a result of his disobedience to come to the Word of God. The wicked will have confessed their unbelief when asked to obey, as Bonhoeffer put it. To preserve our faith, we must accept that the literal law of Jesus always is within the paradoxical interpretation by man of the commandment (84). This way we can follow Him without question, doing good works because we want to.

Works Cited

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. The Cost of Discipleship. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1959.

Schwarz, Hans. True Faith In the True God: An Introduction to Luther's Life and

Thought. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 1996.