THE ART OF DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN LAW AND GOSPEL

By Gary Ray Branscome

Once the difference between law and gospel has been explained, it would be a mistake to assume that distinguishing between the two will always be easy. Because the gospel is the means that God uses to bring us to faith, Satan is continually at work confusing law and gospel, deceiving as many as possible, and trying as hard as he can to undermine faith in Christ. Moreover, his attack is always twofold.

At Corinth, Satan did not try to get the congregation to deny the gospel. Instead, he perverted the gospel by using it to rationalize sin. The words, “Among you one hears of immorality… And you are still puffed up,” tell us that the church members were tolerating immorality in their midst (1Corinthians 5:1-2). And, the Apostle Paul condemned them for it, saying, Do not “associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral” (1Corinthians 5:11). However, there are many congregations in our own nation who are tolerating evil in their midst. I have heard young people argue in favor of accepting homosexuals, by yelling we are all sinners. What those young people failed to understand is that no one who is truly repentant is a sinner by choice! While those young people claimed to trust in Christ, by using the gospel as an excuse to sin they, “Trampled the Son of God under foot, treated the blood of the covenant… as an unholy thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:29). Moreover, they erred because they confused the gospel with the law, assuming that the gospel simply lowered the standard of behavior. In fact, that is a mistake that many make. Therefore, it is important to stress the fact that, “Until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter or stroke will pass from the law” (Matthew 5:18). The words, “The law is not meant for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful,” tell us that those who sin by choice place themselves back under the law, and are condemned by the law (1Timothy 1:9).

In Galatia, Satan, again, did not try to get the congregation to deny the gospel. Instead he perverted the gospel by denying that the forgiveness we have in Christ is enough to make us righteous in the sight of God. He led the congregation to believe that it was fine to think that faith would save, but that only obedience [keeping the law] would make them righteous. In response Paul said, “Are you so foolish, that after beginning in the Spirit, you now seek perfection [righteousness] through your own effort?” (Galatians 3:3). And, there are many people in American churches who make the same mistake. They assume that they must either try to make themselves righteous, or just give up and sin by choice. What they fail to understand is that the law does not make us righteous. On the contrary, the law is what makes us sinners!

I was not able to understand that until I realized the importance of seeing myself as God sees me. Then, since, “All of our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” in the sight of God, I asked God to help me to see all of my sins. It was only when I came to the point where I saw that everything that I did was so imperfect that it would be condemned by a Holy God, that I could see that freedom from the law was not freedom to sin, but freedom to be righteous. That is why the Apostle Paul said, “The letter [law] kills, but the Spirit gives life,” and called the law a, “ministry of death,” and a, “ministry of condemnation” (2Corinthians 3:6-9). As long as I saw myself as fifty or even twenty percent righteous, I could not see freedom from the law as anything other than freedom to sin. However, after God enabled me to see that the law condemned everything I did; I could see that freedom from the law is not freedom to sin but the freedom to be righteous. Christ has freed us from the law so that we can be righteous, not so that we can sin. He has freed us so that we can be law-abiding citizens, faithful husbands or wives, and godly parents without being condemned by the law. In short, Christ has freed us from the law so that we can each, “Lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1Timothy 2:2).

Satan also confuses law and gospel, by denying that we can be sure that we are saved, or claiming that we are not saved until we get to heaven. However, both of those claims contradict God’s Word. The words, “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe in the name of the Son of God,” tell us that we can “know” that we have eternal life [are saved] (1John 5:13). Moreover, the words, “Who has saved us, and called us to a holy calling, not because of anything we have done, but according to His own purpose and grace” and “He saved us, not by works of righteousness that we have done, but because of His mercy,” tell us that we are saved now [past tense] (2Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:5).

While many other ways of confusing law and gospel could be listed, there is no end to the ways Satan may come up with. The important thing is for pastors, who are entrusted with the care of souls, to be watchful. And, one book that may be helpful is “Law And Gospel,” by C.F.W. Walther.