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Higher Things
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A Special Topical Issue:
Law and Gospel!
S P R I N G
• The Lord’s Supper IS the Gospel • The Devil Loves Your Good Works • The Hyperbolic Goodness of the Gospel • This Life Is Edited for Content • Hung Up on the Law • and more! 2
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. h i g h e r t h i n g s . o r g / S P RING / 2 0 1 5
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Contents T A B L E O F
Volume 15/Number 1 • Spring 2015
HigherThings
®
Volume 15/Number 1/Spring 2015 Bible Studies for these articles can be found at: higherthings.org/ magazine/biblestudies.html
Dear Readers,
Editor
Welcome to another awesome topical issue of Higher Things Magazine on The Proper Distinction Between the Law and the Gospel! The distinction between the Law and the Gospel is how we Dare to Be Lutheran when preaching, teaching, reading, and hearing God’s Word. Properly distinguishing between these two parts of doctrine helps us to understand the Bible in such a way that we are made aware of our sinfulness (via the Law) and given the Good News that we have a Savior in Jesus Christ (the Gospel). The articles in this issue begin with defining what we mean by “the Law” and “the Gospel” and then move toward seeing how the Law and the Gospel work in our lives as Christians, in church and in the home. We’ll also look at some of the mistakes and errors that arise when the Law and the Gospel are not properly distinguished. It’s another great Christcentered issue of Higher Things Magazine and we hope it will be a blessing to you as you Dare to Be Lutheran in your life as a child of God!
Katie Hill Art Director
Steve Blakey Editorial Associates
Rev. Greg Alms Rev. Paul Beisel Rev. Bart Day Copy Editor
Dana Niemi Bible Study Authors
Rev. Mark Buetow Rev. John Drosendahl Rev. Jacob Ehrhard Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz Subscriptions Manager
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Jon Kohlmeier
In Christ, Pastor Mark Buetow Higher Things Media Executive
___________
Board of Directors President
Rev. George Borghardt
Special Features 4 Hung Up on the Law
By Rev. Mark Buetow Hear the Law in all of its ferocity! You have nothing to fear, though, for Christ has borne its requirements and punishment on your behalf, just as Rev. Buetow shows us.
6 The Hyperbolic Goodness of the Gospel
By Rev. George F. Borghardt See the Gospel in all of its sweetness! Just when you think you know how good the Gospel really is, Rev. Borghardt reminds us of how truly outrageous the promises of God are!
8 3D Law
By Rev. William M. Cwirla Let Rev. Cwirla’s special 3D presentation clarify your perspective on the three uses of the Law...no special glasses required.
10 This Life Is Edited for Content
By Rev. Donavon Riley Rev. Riley convincingly lays out how the Holy Spirit is the life editor we sinners desperately need.
12 Looking for Assurance in All the Wrong Places: Even Christians Need the Gospel By Rev. Jonathan Fisk There isn’t a sinner alive, Christian or not, who doesn’t need to regularly hear and embrace the Gospel. And, just as Rev. Fisk explains, Jesus’ righteousness is enough.
14 The Lord’s Supper IS the Gospel!
By Rev. Brent Kuhlman Our gracious God brings us the Gospel in a tangible way: the Lord’s Supper. Rev. Kuhlman reminds us of the delight in knowing God gives us something outside of us—something we can see, touch and taste—to deliver His promise of salvation.
Vice-President
Rev. Dr. Carl Fickenscher
20 Law and Gospel: The Deadly Mix
By Rev. Timothy J. Pauls You may not think very often about your last moments on this earth, but Rev. Pauls effectively uses that very scenario to illustrate what can happen when we don’t properly distinguish between Law and Gospel.
22 The Devil Loves Your Good Works
By Rev. Craig Donofrio As we wrestle with Law in our lives, the pendulum can swing either toward antinomianism or legalism—both of which, warns Rev. Donofrio, the devil delights in capitalizing upon.
24 Law and Gospel in the Home
By Rev. John Drosendahl Law and Gospel apply to all parts of life, especially within the family! Rev. Drosendahl brings his own sometimes amusing childhood experiences to bear on the subject.
Regular Features
18 HT 2015 Conferences
Te Deum Registration Details! There’s still time to register!
28 Catechism The First Commandment
By Rev. William M. Cwirla When it comes down to it, the root of all our sin is connected in some way to our disobedience of the First Commandment. Yet this God whom we are to fear, love and trust above all things, says Rev. Cwirla, works in our hearts and makes things right through His Son.
30 Bible Study Hung Up on the Law
Be sure to check out this sample of one of our student Bible studies which links up with Rev. Buetow’s article on P. 4.
Treasurer
Chris Loemker Secretary
Rev. Joel Fritsche Rev. Brent Kuhlman Eric Maiwald Sue Pellegrini Matt Phillips Rev. Chris Rosebrough ___________
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Rev. Mark Buetow Conference and Retreats Executive
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Stan Lemon
Higher Things® Magazine ISSN 1539-8455 is published quarterly by Higher Things, Inc., PO Box 156, Sheridan, WY 82801. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the executive editor of Higher Things Magazine. Copyright 2015. Higher Things® and Christ on Campus® are registered trademarks of Higher Things Inc.; All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States. Postage paid at St. Louis, Missouri. For subscription information and questions, call 1-888-4826630, then press 4, or e-mail subscriptions@higherthings.org. (This phone number is only used for subscription queries.) For letters to the editor, write letters@higher things.org. Writers may submit manuscripts to: submissions@ higherthings.org. Please check higherthings.org/magazine/ writers.html for writers’ guidelines and theme lists.
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Stained glass window depicting The Crucifixion of Jesus in the Cathedral of Tours, France. jorisvo / Shutterstock.com
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Hung Up on the Law By Rev. Mark Buetow
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” - St. Matthew 22:37-40 (NKJV)
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hen we speak of “the Proper Distinction Between the Law and the Gospel,” we usually mean by “Law” the Ten Commandments or, if we use Jesus’ summarizing them, the Two Tables: Love God and Love your neighbor. The Gospel, we say, is about what Jesus does. The Law, we say, is about what we do, or at least what we are supposed to do. Thus, the Gospel is about Jesus and the Law is about us.
It comes out sounding something like this in our theology: We are sinful, so we break the commandments. Our sinfulness means we can’t keep the commandments. If we don’t keep the commandments, we’ll go to hell. Therefore, God sent His Son, Jesus, to keep the commandments in our place and to give His life as a sacrifice that forgives our sins of breaking the commandments. Then, with the Holy Spirit as our Helper, we go and try to keep the commandments. The problem with this approach is that it makes the Law about us when it’s really about Jesus. Look closely at Jesus’ words above. “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” The “Law” means the “Torah” which is what the first five books of the Bible are called. “Torah” means more than just “Law.” It could be translated as “teaching” or “Law and Gospel.” And the “Prophets” refers to rest of the writings of the Old Testament through which the Lord promised the sending of our Savior. So when Jesus says “the Law and the Prophets” He means Himself! That’s because He is the fulfillment of everything written in the Law and the Prophets (Luke 24:27, 44). So, everything in the Law and the Prophets—that is, Jesus!— hangs on these two commandments: Love God; love your neighbor. And the word there really is “hang,” as in “hang on the cross.” Now, consider that Jesus is both true God and true man in one person and all the pieces click together. The law says we must love God and love our neighbor. In Christ, God and man are together in one person. And that Person, Jesus, loves God the Father above all things. He loves the Father in such a way that He even obeys the Father in dying for sinners! That’s the First Table of the Law. But He also loves His neighbor as Himself, even more than Himself, because He undergoes suffering and death for you! You can’t love others more than Jesus did—dying for their sins when He didn’t deserve to! So there it is. The Law. Love God. Love neighbor. And Jesus hangs on that Law on Calvary. There, He does what you don’t do. And He pays for what you did and haven’t done according to the Law.
So, the Law is not first and foremost about us. It’s about Jesus! Jesus, who perfectly loves God the Father and who perfectly loves and serves His neighbor. The Law pointed to Jesus and it is kept and fulfilled by Jesus. Everything the Law does—command obedience and punish sin—lands on Jesus on Calvary. He truly does hang on the commandments of the Law. So what does that mean for you? Do you have to worry about the Law? Do you have to bother doing and not-doing what it says to do and not do? The Law will always do its job to our Old Adam: crucifying the sinful flesh with its passions and desires. But the Spirit, by whom we have Christ’s forgiveness, dwells in us to bring forth the fruits of faith, namely, obedience and keeping the Law. Or, as St. Paul puts it, it’s not you living but Christ living in you. Or, even better, we learn to see the Law—the commandments—for what it really is: a gift! You see, rather than just arbitrary rules God throws out there to trip us up and give Him a reason to condemn us, the Law is a list of all the gifts God gives us, beginning with Himself. The real nature of our sin isn’t that we “broke a rule” but that we have rejected a gift. “You shall have no other gods.” But we don’t want the true God. We want other gods. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But we don’t like the people God has given into our lives and so we treat them badly and strive to please ourselves with other people. But Christ lives as if there is nothing better than loving God and receiving every good thing from His Father’s hand. And that life of Christ’s is now yours through your baptism into Him. Sure, the Law is for you and about you, but only in and through Jesus. He is the great filter by which your sins against the commandments are forgiven and in whom your obedience and works are counted as perfect and pleasing to your Father in heaven. What we need to watch out for is getting hung up on the Law as if we could keep it ourselves or as if we could ever please God. Rather, because Jesus hung upon the Law as He hung on the cross, He has kept it for you and made you perfect in God’s sight. Touch the Law apart from Jesus, and it will bring down the damning curse. But in Christ, the Law is for you a gift that is delivered through Christ’s hanging on it and keeping it for you. So no more getting hung up on the Law since Jesus already was… for you! Rev. Mark Buetow is pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in DuQuoin, Illinois and serves as the deputy and media services executive for Higher Things. He can be reached at buetowmt@gmail.com.
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3D Law By Rev. William M. Cwirla
As we have learned it from the questions and answers
attached to the Small Catechism, the Law serves three functions: to curb the sinner, to mirror our sinful condition, and to guide us in the way of holiness. While curb, mirror, and guide is a fine way of looking at the Law, I’d like to try a little different perspective. So put on your 3D glasses and let’s consider the Law in 3D: Damage Control, Diagnosis, and Discipline. Damage Control. Curbs are great but not always effective. Vehicles routinely run over them into people and buildings. A little four-inch curb at the side of the road won’t stop much of anything. God’s Law is much more than a curb to scuff your spiritual tires. It’s divine damage control. Without it, there would be nothing but anarchy in the world as everyone tried to have it his own way. That’s why God established the temporal authority structures of home, society, and church. The Law acts as a fence, boundary, and limit to our sinful behavior. It does damage control. I was hurrying to get to the installation of a pastor friend of mine and was traveling on a two-lane highway where the speed limit was 55 mph. My speedometer said 70. Then I saw the flashing Mars lamps in my rear view mirror, and before long, I was going zero at the side of the highway. Busted. The Law snagged me and reigned me in, doing some damage control on my reckless driving, not to mention on my wallet and ego. Imagine if everyone drove at whatever speed he thought was best. The highway would become a demolition derby. The Law protected others, and myself, from my distracted driving. There were farm workers on that road. I should have thanked the highway patrol officer who wrote the ticket, but I didn’t. My old Adam hates the Law.
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Diagnosis. We hate being diagnosed. We put off going to the doctor and we lie about our symptoms. We minimize our condition. Blood tests, MRIs, CAT scans, biopsies. No one wants them. We’re afraid of the results. We don’t want to know the truth. The truth is that sin is much more than superficial thoughts, words, and deeds. Those are the symptoms, but the condition lies much deeper, in the deep recesses of the heart where only the Spirit of God can see. We tend to think of sin as sins—the stuff we do and don’t do. But the Spirit lifts the veil and peers into the depths of our hearts. The Law becomes a spiritual CAT scan revealing the ugly truth: We have an inherited disease—sin. It has its origins in Adam and has been passed down to us.
Like many diseases, sin can lie dormant and the sinner can seem almost “symptom-free.” A newborn baby is conceived and born in sin. He has the disease, but because he can’t talk or move around much, he just appears “symptom–free.” But not for long. Soon the symptoms begin to show, yet the disease has been there all along. The Law does the deep diagnostics on our condition. We are full of sin in our Adamic flesh and cannot save ourselves. Thanks be to Christ who came into our flesh to rescue our flesh by becoming sin for us! He caught the disease so that He might become the cure. This diagnostic function of the Law is the true internal spiritual function. It goes to the unbelieving heart. The other functions are external and bodily. They deal with us outwardly. But the Law as a diagnostic tool deals with us inwardly, as only God can do. The news isn’t good; the prognosis is poor: “The wages of sin is death.” But there is a cure! “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Thanks be to God in Christ! But wait, there’s more! Discipline. Ugh! Discipline. Our Old Adam hates that word. He thinks in terms of time outs, groundings, curfews, and worse. Yet a loving Father disciplines His children or they aren’t true children (Hebrews 12:7). This third function of the Law, as discipline, is very similar to the first function with one important difference: The Christian uses it on himself to discipline the old Adam who still clings to us. As baptized believers, we are “simul”—simultaneously sinful and righteous, in Adam and in Christ—sinner and saint. Though declared dead to sin in Baptism, the old Adam is still very much alive and kicking. His kicking needs to be disciplined. That’s why Christians still need to hear the Law. Old Adam has to be forced to go with the new Christ program, and he doesn’t like it one bit. The new man in Christ is glad when they said, “Let’s go to the house of the Lord.” But the old Adam is not glad at all. In fact, he would rather sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast, watch some football, and kick back. Anything but worship. And so he needs the discipline of the Third Commandment’s threats and promises along with an alarm clock, a worship schedule, and a liturgy. This is what the apostle Paul means when he says, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). Don’t wait for the traffic cop to pull you over. You tell the old Adam to honor the authorities and obey the laws. Remember, as a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), born “from above” by water and Spirit (John 3:3ff ), you delight in the Law and have the mind and Spirit of Christ . Self-discipline is a fruit of Christ’s Spirit (Galatians 5:23). The new man needs no Law, for Christ is the end of the Law for the believer. But old man needs Law in all its threedimensionality: damage control, diagnosis, discipline. Rev. William M. Cwirla is the pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Hacienda Heights, California, and is a president emeritus of Higher Things. He can be reached at wcwirla@gmail.com.
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