Part 3 of a series discussing C. F. W. Walther’s important treatise Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible.

So what’s the difference?  Law or Gospel, it’s all God’s word, right?  Isn’t it hard enough to find pastors who will just preach the WORD?

Yes, it certainly is all God’s Word.  And it is tough to find pastors who will open a text and preach it instead of their own opinions.  It’s even tougher to find pastors who can tell the difference between the text and their opinions to start with! Law and Gospel are, however, fundamentally different in terms of their content.  Says Walther:

The Law tells us what to do. No such instruction is contained in the Gospel.  Rather, the Gospel reveals to us only what God is doing.  The Law speaks about our works, whereas the Gospel speaks about the great works of God.  In the Law we hear the ten-fold summons [that is, the Ten Commandments]: “You shall.”  Beyond that, the Law has nothing to say to us.  The Gospel, on the other hand,  makes no demands whatsoever. (pg. 14)

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Part 2 in a series considering Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible by C. F. W. Walther.

The law of God is written on the hearts of all mankind.  It was created along with us.   It is what God demands of us as people.  When the Law is preached to even ungodly people, their conscience will tell them that what they’re hearing is true.

The Law is Written On Their Hearts

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I just picked up C. F. W. Walther’s Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible in the new Reader’s Edition.  It’s a great read and extremely friendly to the modern reader.  I’d like to pass along a couple of things I’ve been pondering…in no particular order.

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