I began writing this blog in February 2017 and posted it on my newly published web-site. I had realized, after moving
to Spokane for medical reasons, my ministry, for the first time, was not formally in and through a local church.
So, I put together a web-site and started a blog to give me an identity, a “home base,” and an opportunity to still “preach” weekly. Both would be opportunities to communicate the exciting truths I was learning about my faith.
In the past, I have stumbled on new ideas about my faith that I never thought of before and which appear to me to be very important. However, the majority of the church has often either rejected this idea or never preached it (Why I never heard it!). This is very discouraging to me, because I know to stand alone smacks of only one thing—likely theological error!
One of those ideas for me was what I saw as the absolute distinction between law and grace (gospel) This idea was never emphasized in the evangelical circles in which I moved, so I felt this nagging worry that I had strayed into the theological weeds! Then I ran across an article that allayed my fears. It appeared in Lutheran Theology – an Online Journal, and was written by Dr. Hans Wiersma. After reading this, I breathed a sigh of relief and viewed my ministry with new enthusiasm, even naming both web-site and blog after this idea! Following is Dr, Wiersma’s essay, recounting an incident occurring exactly 500 years ago:
“In 1525, Martin Luther preached a sermon about two different and distinct sermons. At the beginning of his sermon, Luther explained how, in the Bible, God preaches only two public sermons—two sermons that all of the people can hear. According to Luther, God’s first public sermon was on Mt. Sinai, when the people heard God give Moses the Law, the Ten Commandments (Exodus 19:9). God’s second public sermon was on the Day of Pentecost, when the people heard the disciples proclaim the Good News of Christ in their native languages. Although the two sermons have the same divine source, Luther discerned a stark difference in content. Here’s Luther in his own words on the subject:
‘Now the first sermon, and doctrine, is the law of God. The second is the gospel. These two sermons are not the same. Therefore we must have a good grasp of the matter in order to know how to differentiate between them. We must know what the law is, and what the gospel is.
The law commands and requires us to do certain things. The law is thus directed solely to our behavior and consists in making requirements. For God speaks through the law, saying, “Do this, avoid that, this is what I expect of you.”
The gospel, however, does not preach what we are to do or to avoid. It sets up no requirements but reverses the approach of the law, does the very opposite, and says, “This is what God has done for you; he has let his Son be made flesh for you, has let him be put to death for your sake.”
So, then, there are two kinds of doctrine and two kinds of works, those of God and those of men. Just as we and God are separated from one another, so also these two doctrines are widely separated from one another. For the gospel teaches exclusively what has been given us by God, and not—as in the case of the law—what we are to do and give to God.’ [LW 35:162]
(Wiersma continues:) “Since the two sermons, the two doctrines, Law and Gospel, do two different, opposite things, being able to tell the difference between Law and Gospel is essential to the theological task. At least that’s how Luther saw it: ‘Whoever knows well how to distinguish the Gospel from the Law should give thanks to God and know that he is a real theologian.’
So how is it done? How are Law and Gospel distinguished? How does one tell the difference between divine gift and divine requirement?”
Next week, we will look at Dr. Wiersma’s answers to these life-altering questions, along with my evaluation as well.
