- Notes
Law and Gospel
The Law should be defined as what is God’s Word and command, which commands us what we should do and demands work from us. This is easy in the formal cause, but in the final cause it is very difficult. The laws that demand our work are of various kinds. Give what you want; it means doing something, such as that the wife should tend to the children, let the master of the house govern, etc. That is her command [Titus 2:3–5]. A servant should obey his lord and do whatever else belongs to the office of a servant. A maidservant also has her command. But the common law over us all is that we love, help, and aid our neighbor. If he is hungry, feed him. If he is naked, clothe him, and so on [Matt. 25:35–36]. This is what it means to circumscribe the Law rightly and delimit it from the Gospel: namely, the Law is what presses toward our works.
The Gospel or faith is what does not demand our works, does not tell us to do, but tells us to receive and accept a gift so that something happens to us, that is, so that God promises and sends someone to tell you: “This and that is what I am giving to you. You cannot or have not done anything for it; instead, it is My work.” For example, Baptism is not something I have made. It is not my work, but God’s. He is the one who says to me: “Hold still; I am baptizing you and washing you from all of your sins. Accept it. It shall be yours.” This is what it means to receive the gift. And this is the distinction between the Law and Gospel. Through the Law something is demanded that we should do; it presses for our work toward God and our neighbor. In the Gospel we are summoned to the donation that is meant for us.
Notice this distinction too. The Gospel is a sheer gift, giving, and salvation, which tells us only to hold out the sack and let the gift be given to us. The Law, however takes and demands from us. Now, these two, taking and giving, are always separated from each other; for when something is given to me as a gift, I do nothing for it, but rather take and receive something and let it be given to me. On the other hand, if I am a peasant or farmer, I serve someone else and someone else takes from me. In this way the Law and Gospel are distinguished in the formal cause. One is promise; the other, command. One gives; the other takes and demands.
Excerpt from Martin Luther, “Sermon for New Year’s Day (1532); Galatians 3:23–29” translated by Benjamin T. G. Mayes. Luther’s Works Vol. 57 © 2016 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Used with permission of Concordia Publishing House, www.cph.org. [End Page 336]
Oportet Semper Ecclesiam Eruditam
Across our back cover runs Melanchthon’s stern caution to the church (Corpus Reformatorum 25, 795). Other voices may advise “keeping it simple,” but Lutheran Quarterly stands for a learned foundation for the church’s mission. Oportet semper ecclesiam eruditam, warned Melanchthon, aut est valde squalide. “The church must always be learned, or it will be exceedingly foul.” Simplification has its pedagogical place, but always “dumbing down” demeans the gospel of the church.
Lutheran Quarterly Books Move to Fortress Press
Lutheran Quarterly Books had a good run with Eerdmans Publishing Co., with fourteen titles from 2003 to 2013, totaling 25,000 copies. We are grateful to Bill Eerdmans himself for the initial impetus and to the whole Eerdmans staff for a productive partnership. Working with Editor Paul Rorem, especially for specific titles, were LQ Associate Editors Timothy J. Wengert, Steven Paulson, and Mark C. Mattes. The original goal was for volumes of Lutheran theology more than history, and this came true especially with multiple titles from Gerhard Forde and Oswald Bayer. Three Forde titles, edited by Paulson and Mattes, sold 7,000 copies, led by The Captivation...