The Twofold Use of the Law & Gospel
by Martin Luther (1483-1546)
The following sermon is taken from volume VIII of, The
Sermons of Martin Luther, published by Baker Book House (Grand Rapids,
MI). It was originally published in 1909 in English by The Luther Press
(Minneapolis, MN), in a series titled Luther’s Epistle Sermons,
vol. 3. This e-text was scanned and edited by Shane Rosenthal; it is
in the public domain and it may be copied and distributed without restriction.
2 Corinthians 3:4-11. And such confidence have we through
Christ to Godward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account
anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; who also
made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter,
but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
But if the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones, came
with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly
upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which glory was passing
away: how shall not rather the ministration of the spirit be with glory?
For if the ministration of condemnation hath glory, much rather doth
the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For verily that which
hath been made glorious hath not been made glorious in this respect,
by reason of the glory that surpasseth. For if that which passeth away
was with glory, much more that which remaineth is in glory.
GOSPEL TRANSCENDS LAW
1. This epistle lesson sounds altogether strange and wonderful to individuals
unaccustomed to Scripture language, particularly to that of Paul. To
the inexperienced ear and heart it is not intelligible. In popedom thus
far it has remained quite unapprehended, although reading of the words
has been practiced.
2. That we may understand it, we must first get an
idea of Paul’s theme. Briefly, he would oppose the vain boasting
of false apostles and preachers concerning their possession of the spirit
and their peculiar skill and gifts, by praising and glorifying the office
of a preacher of the Gospel with which he is intrusted. For he found
that, especially in the Church at Corinth, which he had converted by
the words of his own lips and brought to faith in Christ, soon after
his departure the devil introduced his heresies whereby the people were
turned from the truth and betrayed into other ways. Since it became
his duty to make an attack upon such heresies, he devoted both his epistles
to the purpose of keeping the Corinthians in the right way, so that
they might retain the pure doctrine received from him, and beware of
false spirits. The main thing which moved him to write this second epistle
was his desire to emphasize to them his apostolic office of a preacher
of the Gospel, in order to put to shame the glory of those other teachers—the
glory they boasted with many words and great pretense.
3. He starts in on this theme just before he reaches
our text. And this is how it is he comes to speak in high terms of praise
of the ministration of the Gospel and to contrast and compare the twofold
ministration or message which may be proclaimed in the Church, provided,
of course, that God’s Word is to be preached and not the nonsense
of human falsehood and the doctrine of the devil. One is that of the
Old Testament, the other of the New; in other words, the office of Moses,
or the Law, and the office of the Gospel of Christ. He contrasts the
glory and power of the latter with those of the former, which, it is
true, is also the Word of God. In this manner he endeavors to defeat
the teachings and pretensions of those seductive spirits who, as he
but lately foretold, pervert God”s Word, in that they greatly
extol the Law of God, yet at best do not teach its right use, but, instead
of making it tributary to faith in Christ, misuse it to teach work-righteousness.
4. Since the words before us are in reality a continuation
of those with which the chapter opens, the latter must be considered
in this connection. We read:
“Are we beginning again to commend ourselves?
or need we, as do some, epistles of commendation to you or from you?
Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men;
being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by
us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not
in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh.”
“We, my fellow-apostles and co-laborers and I,”
he says, “do not ask for letters and seals from others commending
us to you, or from you commending us to others, in order to seduce people
after gaining their good will in your church and in others as well.
Such is the practice of the false apostles, and many even now present
letters and certificates from honest preachers and Churches, and make
them the means whereby their unrighteous plotting may be received in
good faith. Such letters, thank God, we stand not in need of, and you
need not fear we shall use such means of deception. For you are yourselves
the letter we have written and wherein we may pride ourselves and which
we present everywhere. For it is a matter of common knowledge that you
have been taught by us, and brought to Christ through our ministry.”
PAUL’S CONVERTS LIVING EPISTLES
5. Inasmuch as his activity among them is his testimonial, and they
themselves are aware that through his ministerial office he has constituted
them a church, he calls them an epistle written by himself; not with
ink and in paragraphs, not on paper or wood, nor engraved upon hard
rock as the Ten Commandments written upon tables of stone, which Moses
placed before the people, but written by the Holy Spirit upon fleshly
tables—hearts of tender flesh. The Spirit is the ink or the inscription,
yes, even the writer himself; but the pencil or pen and the hand of
the writer is the ministry of Paul.
6. This figure of a written epistle is, however, in
accord with Scripture usage. Moses commands (Deut 6:6-9; 11, 18) that
the Israelites write the Ten Commandments in all places where they walked
or stood upon the posts of their houses, and upon their gates, and ever
have them before their eyes and in their hearts. Again (Prov 7:2-3),
Solomon says: “Keep my commandments and...my law as the apple
of thine eye. Bind them upon thy fingers; write them upon the tablet
of thy heart.” He speaks as a father to his child when giving
the child an earnest charge to remember a certain thing—“Dear
child, remember this; forget it not; keep it in thy heart.” Likewise,
God says in the book of Jeremiah the prophet (ch. 31, 33), “I
will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write
it.” Here man’s heart is represented as a sheet, or slate,
or page, whereon is written the preached Word; for the heart is to receive
and securely keep the Word. In this sense Paul says: “We have,
by our ministry, written a booklet or letter upon your heart, which
witnesses that you believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost and
have the assurance that through Christ you are redeemed and saved. This
testimony is what is written on your heart. The letters are not characters
traced with ink or crayon, but the living thoughts, the fire and force
of the heart.
7. Note further, that it is his ministry to which Paul
ascribes the preparation of their heart thereon and the inscription
which constitutes them “living epistles of Christ.” He contrasts
his ministry with the blind fancies of those fanatics who seek to receive,
and dream of having, the Holy Spirit without the oral word; who, perchance,
creep into a corner and grasp the Spirit through dreams, directing the
people away from the preached Word and visible ministry. But Paul says
that the Spirit, through his preaching, has wrought in the hearts of
his Corinthians, to the end that Christ lives and is mighty in them.
After such statement he bursts into praise of the ministerial office,
comparing the message, or preaching, of Moses with that of himself and
the apostles. He says:
“Such confidence have we through Christ to Godward:
not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from
ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God
TRUE PREACHERS COMMISSIONED BY GOD
8. These words are blows and thrusts for the false apostles and preachers.
Paul is mortal enemy to the blockheads who make great boast, pretending
to what they do not possess and to what they cannot do; who boast of
having the Spirit in great measure; who are ready to counsel and aid
the whole world; who pride themselves on the ability to invent something
new. It is to be a surpassingly precious and heavenly thing they are
to spin out of their heads, as the dreams of pope and monks have been
in time past.
“We do not so,” says Paul. “We rely
not upon ourselves or our wisdom and ability. We preach not what we
have ourselves invented. But this is our boast and trust in Christ before
God, that we have made of you a divine epistle; have written upon your
hearts, not our thoughts, but the Word of God. We are not, however,
glorifying our own power, but the works and the power of him who has
called and equipped us for such an office; from whom proceeds all you
have heard and believed.
9. It is a glory which every preacher may claim, to
be able to say with full confidence of heart: “This trust have
I toward God in Christ, that what I teach and preach is truly the Word
of God.” Likewise, when he performs other official duties in the
Church—baptizes a child, absolves and comforts a sinner—it
must be done in the same firm conviction that such is the command of
Christ.
10. He who would teach and exercise authority in the
Church without this glory, “it is profitable for him,” as
Christ says (Mt. 18:6), “that a great millstone should be hanged
about his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depths of the sea.”
For the devil’s lies he preaches, and death is what he effects.
Our Papists, in time past, after much and long-continued teaching, after
many inventions and works whereby they hoped to be saved, nevertheless
always doubted in heart and mind whether or no they had pleased God.
The teaching and works of all heretics and seditious spirits certainly
do not bespeak for them trust in Christ; their own glory is the object
of their teaching, and the homage and praise of the people is the goal
of their desire. “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to
account anything as from ourselves.”
11. As said before, this is spoken in denunciation
of the false spirits who believe that by reason of eminent equipment
of special creation and election, they are called to come to the rescue
of the people, expecting wonders from whatever they say and do.
HUMAN DOCTRINE NO PLACE IN THE CHURCH
12. Now, we know ourselves to be of the same clay whereof they are made;
indeed, we perhaps have the greater call from God: yet we cannot boast
of being capable of ourselves to advise or aid men. We cannot even originate
an idea calculated to give help. And when it comes to the knowledge
of how one may stand before God and attain to eternal life, that is
truly not to be achieved by our work or power, nor to originate in our
brain. In other things, those pertaining to this temporal life, you
may glory in what You know, you may advance the teachings of reason,
you may invent ideas of your own; for example: how to make shoes or
clothes, how to govern a household, how to manage a herd. In such things
exercise your mind to the best of your ability. Cloth or leather of
this sort will permit itself to be stretched and cut according to the
good pleasure of the tailor or shoemaker. But in spiritual matters,
human reasoning certainly is not in order; other intelligence, other
skill and power, are requisite here—something to be granted by
God himself and revealed through his Word.
13. What mortal has ever discovered or fathomed the
truth that the three persons in the eternal divine essence are one God;
that the second person, the Son of God, was obliged to become man, born
of a virgin; and that no way of life could be opened for us, save through
his crucifixion? Such truth never would have been heard nor preached,
would never in all eternity have been published, learned and believed,
had not God himself revealed it.
14. For this season they are blind fools of first magnitude
and dangerous characters who would boast of their grand performances,
and think that the people are served when they preach their own fancies
and inventions. It has been the practice in the Church for anyone to
introduce any teaching he saw fit; for example, the monks and priests
have daily produced new saints, pilgrimages, special prayers, works
and sacrifices in the effort to blot out sin, redeem souls from purgatory,
and so on. They who make up things of this kind are not such as put
their trust in God through Christ, but rather such as defy God and Christ.
Into the hearts of men, where Christ alone should be, they shove the
filth and write the lies of the devil. Yet they think themselves, and
themselves only, qualified for all essential teaching and work, self-grown
doctors that they are, saints all-powerful without the help of God and
Christ.
“But our sufficiency is from God.”
15. Of ourselves—in our own wisdom and strength—we cannot
effect, discover nor teach any counsel or help for man, whether for
ourselves or others. Any good work we perform among you, any doctrine
we write upon your heart that is God’s own work. He puts into
our heart and mouth what we should say, and impresses it upon your heart
through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we cannot ascribe to ourselves any
honor therein, cannot seek our own glory as the self-instructed and
proud spirits do; we must give to God alone the honor, and must glory
in the fact that by his grace and power he works in you unto Salvation,
through the office committed unto us.
16. Now, Paul’s thought here is that nothing
should be taught and practiced in the Church but what is unquestionably
God’s Word. It will not do to introduce or perform anything whatever
upon the strength of man’s judgment. Man’s achievements,
man’s reasoning and power, are of no avail save in so far as they
come from God. As Peter says in his first epistle (ch. 4:11): “If
any man speaketh, speaking as it were oracles of God; if any man ministereth,
ministering as of the strength which God supplieth.” In short,
let him who would be wise, who would boast of great skill, talents and
power, confine himself to things other than spiritual; with respect
to spiritual matters, let him keep his place and refrain from boasting
and pretense. For it is of no moment that men observe your greatness
and ability; the important thing is that poor souls may rest assured
of being presented with God’s Word and works, whereby they may
be saved.
“Who also made us sufficient as ministers of
a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter
killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”
THE NEW COVENANT
17. Paul here proceeds to exalt the office and power of the Gospel over
the glorying of the false apostles, and to elevate the power of the
Word above that of all other doctrine, even of the Law of God. Truly
we are not sufficient of ourselves and have nothing to boast of so far
as human activity is considered. For that is without merit or power,
however strenuous the effort may be to fulfil God’s Law. We have,
however, something infinitely better to boast of, something not grounded
in our own activity: by God we have been made sufficient for a noble
ministry, termed the ministry “of a New Covenant.” This
ministry is not only exalted far above any teaching to be evolved by
human wisdom, skill and power, but is more glorious than the ministry
termed the “Old Covenant,” which in time past was delivered
to the Jews through Moses. While this ministry clings, in common with
other doctrine, to the Word given by revelation, it is the agency whereby
the Holy Spirit works in the heart. Therefore, Paul says it is not a
ministration of the letter, but ”“of the spirit.”
“SPIRIT” & “LETTER”
18. This passage relative to spirit and letter has in the past been
wholly strange language to us. Indeed, to such extent has man’s
nonsensical interpretation perverted and weakened it that I, through
a learned doctor of the holy Scriptures, failed to understand it altogether,
and I could find no one to teach me. And to this day it is unintelligible
to all popedom. In fact, even the old teachers—Origen, Jerome
and others—have not caught Paul’s thought. And no wonder,
truly! For it is essentially a doctrine far beyond the power of man’s
intelligence to comprehend. When human reason meddles with it, it becomes
perplexed. The doctrine is wholly unintelligible to it, for human thought
goes no farther than the Law and the Ten Commandments. Laying hold upon
these it confines itself to them. It does not attempt to do more, being
governed by the principle that unto him who fulfils the demands of the
Law, or commandments, God is gracious. Reason knows nothing about the
wretchedness of depraved nature. It does not recognize the fact that
no man is able to keep God’s commandments; that all are under
sin and condemnation; and that the only way whereby help could be received
was for God to give his Son for the world, ordaining another ministration,
one through which grace and reconciliation might be proclaimed to us.
Now, he who does not understand the sublime subject of which Paul speaks
cannot but miss the true meaning of his words. How much more did we
invite this fate when we threw the Scriptures and Saint Paul’s
epistles under the bench, and, like swine in husks, wallowed in man’s
nonsense! Therefore, we must submit to correction and learn to understand
the apostle’s utterance aright.
19. “Letter” and “spirit” have
been understood to mean, according to Origen and Jerome, the obvious
sense of the written word. St. Augustine, it must be admitted, has gotten
an inkling of the truth. Now, the position of the former teachers would
perhaps not be quite incorrect did they correctly explain the words.
By “literary sense” they signify the meaning of a Scripture
narrative according to the ordinary interpretation of the words. By
“spiritual sense” they signify the secondary, hidden sense
found in the words.
For instance: The Scripture narrative in Genesis third
records how the serpent persuaded the woman to eat of the forbidden
fruit and to give to her husband, who also ate. This narrative in its
simplest meaning represents what they understand by “letter.”
“Spirit,” however, they understand to mean the spiritual
interpretation, which is thus: The serpent signifies the evil temptation
which lures to sin. The woman represents the sensual state, or the sphere
in which such enticements and temptations make themselves felt. Adam,
the man, stands for reason, which is called man’s highest endowment.
Now, when reason does not yield to the allurements of external sense,
all is well; but when it permits itself to waver and consent, the fall
has taken place.
20. Origen was the first to trifle thus with the holy
Scriptures, and many others followed, until now it is thought to be
the sign of great cleverness for the Church to be filled with such quibblings.
The aim is to imitate Paul, who (Gal 4:22-24) figuratively interprets
the story of Abraham’s two sons, the one by the free woman, or
the mistress of the house, and the other by the hand-maid. The two women,
Paul says, represent the two covenants: one covenant makes only bondservants,
which is just what he in our text terms the ministration of the letter;
the other leads to liberty, or, as he says here, the ministration of
the spirit, which gives life. And the two sons are the two peoples,
one of which does not go farther than the Law, while the other accepts
in faith the Gospel.
True, this is an interpretation not directly suggested
by the narrative and the text. Paul himself calls it an allegory; that
is, a mystic narrative, or a story with a hidden meaning. But he does
not say that the literal text is necessarily the letter that killeth,
and the allegory, or hidden meaning, the spirit. But the false teachers
assert of all Scripture that the text, or record itself, is but a dead
“letter,” its interpretation being “the spirit.”
Yet they have not pushed interpretation farther than the teaching of
the Law; and it is precisely the Law which Paul means when he speaks
of “the letter.”
21. Paul employs the word “letter” in such
contemptuous sense in reference to the Law—though the Law is,
nevertheless, the Word of God—when he compares it with the ministry
of the Gospel. The letter is to him the doctrine of the Ten Commandments,
which teach how we should obey God, honor parents, love our neighbor,
and so on—the very best doctrine to be found in all books, sermons
and schools.
The word “letter” is to the apostle Paul
everything which may take the form of doctrine, of literary arrangement,
of record, so long as it remains something spoken or written. Also thoughts
which may be pictured or expressed by word or writing, but it is not
that which is written in the heart, to become its life. “Letter”
is the whole Law of Moses, or the Ten Commandments, though the supreme
authority of such teaching is not denied. It matters not whether you
hear them, read them, or reproduce them mentally. For instance, when
I sit down to meditate upon the first commandment: “Thou shalt
have no other gods before me,” or the second, or the third, and
so forth, I have something which I can read, write, discuss, and aim
to fulfil with all my might. The process is quite similar when the emperor
or prince gives a command and says: “This you shall do, that you
shall eschew.” This is what the apostle calls “the letter,”
or, as we have called it on another occasion, the written sense.
22. Now, as opposed to “the letter,” there
is another doctrine or message, which he terms the “ministration
of a New Covenant” and “of the Spirit.” This doctrine
does not teach what works are required of man, for that man has already
heard; but it makes known to him what God would do for him and bestow
upon him, indeed what he has already done: he has given his Son Christ
for us; because, for our disobedience to the Law, which no man fulfils,
we were under God’s wrath and condemnation. Christ made satisfaction
for our sins, effected a reconciliation with God and gave to us his
own righteousness. Nothing is said in this ministration of man’s
deeds; it tells rather of the works of Christ, who is unique in that
he was born of a virgin, died for sin and rose from the dead, something
no other man has been able to do. This doctrine is revealed through
none but the Holy Spirit, and none other confers the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit works in the hearts of them who hear and accept the doctrine.
Therefore, this ministration is termed a ministration “of the
Spirit.”
23. The apostle employs the words “letter”
and “spirit,” to contrast the two doctrines; to emphasize
his office and show its advantage over all others, however eminent the
teachers whom they boast, and however great the spiritual unction which
they vaunt. It is of design that he does not term the two dispensations
“Law” and “Gospel,” but names them according
to the respective effects produced. He honors the Gospel with a superior
term—“ministration of the spirit.” Of the Law, on
the contrary, he speaks almost contemptuously, as if he would not honor
it with the title of God’s commandment, which in reality it is,
according to his own admission later on that its deliverance to Moses
and its injunction upon the children of Israel was an occasion of surpassing
glory.
24. Why does Paul choose this method? Is it right for
one to despise or dishonor God’s Law? Is not a chaste and honorable
life a matter of beauty and godliness? Such facts, it may be contended,
are implanted by God in reason itself, and all books teach them; they
are the governing force in the world. I reply: Paul’s chief concern
is to defeat the vainglory and pretensions of false preachers, and to
teach them the right conception and appreciation of the Gospel which
he proclaimed. What Paul means is this: When the Jews vaunt their Law
of Moses, which was received as Law from God and recorded upon two tables
of stone; when they vaunt their learned and saintly preachers of the
Law and its exponents, and hold their deeds and manner of life up to
admiration, what is all that compared to the Gospel message? The claim
may be well made: a fine sermon, a splendid exposition; but, after all,
nothing more comes of it than precepts, expositions, written comments.
The precept, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and thy neighbor as thyself,” remains a mere array of words. When
much time and effort have been spent in conforming one’s life
to it, nothing has been accomplished. You have pods without peas, husks
without kernels.
25. For it is impossible to keep the Law without Christ, though man
may, for the sake of honor or property, or from fear of punishment,
feign outward holiness. The heart which does not discern God’s
grace in Christ cannot turn to God nor trust in him; it cannot love
his commandments and delight in them, but rather resists them. For nature
rebels at compulsion. No man likes to be a captive in chains. One does
not voluntarily bow to the rod of punishment or submit to the executioner’s
sword; rather, because of these things, his anger against the Law is
but increased, and he ever thinks: “Would that I might unhindered
steal, rob, hoard, gratify my lust, and so on!” And when restrained
by force, he would there were no Law and no God. And this is the case
where conduct shows some effects of discipline, in that the outer man
has been subjected to the teaching of the Law.
26. But in a far more appalling degree does inward
rebellion ensue when the heart feels the full force of the Law; when,
standing before God’s judgment, it feels the sentence of condemnation;
as we shall presently hear, for the apostle says “the letter killeth.”
Then the truly hard knots appear. Human nature fumes and rages against
the Law; offenses appear in the heart, the fruit of hate and enmity
against the Law; and presently human nature flees before God and is
incensed at God’s judgment. It begins to question the equity of
his dealings, to ask if he is a just God. Influenced by such thoughts,
it falls ever deeper into doubt, it murmurs and chafes, until finally,
unless the Gospel comes to the rescue, it utterly despairs, as did Judas,
and Saul, and perhaps pass out of this life with God and creation. This
is what Paul means when he says (Rom 7:8-9) that the Law works sin in
the heart of man, and sin works death, or kills.
27. You see, then, why the Law is called “the
letter”: though noble doctrine, it remains on the surface; it
does not enter the heart as a vital force which begets obedience. Such
is the baseness of human nature, it will not and cannot conform to the
Law; and so corrupt is mankind, there is no individual who does not
violate all God’s commandments in spite of daily hearing the preached
Word and having held up to view God’s wrath and eternal condemnation.
Indeed, the harder pressed man is, the more furiously he storms against
the Law.
28. The substance of the matter is this: When all the
commandments have been put together, when their message receives every
particle of praise to which it is entitled, it is still a mere letter.
That is, teaching not put into practice. By “letter” is
signified all manner of law, doctrine and message, which goes no farther
than the oral or written word, which consists only of the powerless
letter. To illustrate: A law promulgated by a prince or the authorities
of a city, if not enforced, remains merely an open letter, which makes
a demand indeed, but ineffectually. Similarly, God’s Law, although
a teaching of supreme authority and the eternal will of God, must suffer
itself to become a mere empty letter or husk. Without a quickening heart,
and devoid of fruit, the Law is powerless to effect life and salvation.
It may well be called a veritable table of omissions (Lass-tafel); that
is, it is a written enumeration, not of duties performed but of duties
cast aside. In the languages of the world, it is a royal edict which
remains unobserved and unperformed. In this light St. Augustine understood
the Law. He says, commenting on Psalm 17, “What is Law without
grace but a letter without spirit?” Human nature, without the
aid of Christ and his grace, cannot keep it.
29. Again, Paul in terming the Gospel a “ministration
of the spirit” would call attention to its power to produce in
the hearts of men an effect wholly different from that of the Law: it
is accompanied by the Holy Spirit and it creates a new heart. Man, driven
into fear and anxiety by the preaching of the Law, hears this Gospel
message, which, instead of reminding him of God’s demands, tells
him what God has done for him. It points not to man’s works, but
to the works of Christ, and bids him confidently believe that for the
sake of his Son God will forgive his sins and accept him as his child.
And this message, when received in faith, immediately cheers and comforts
the heart. The heart will no longer flee from God; rather it turns to
him. Finding grace with God and experiencing his mercy, the heart feels
drawn to him. It commences to call upon him and to treat and revere
him as its beloved God. In proportion as such faith and solace grow,
also love for the commandments will grow and obedience to them will
be man’s delight. Therefore, God would have his Gospel message
urged unceasingly as the means of awakening man’s heart to discern
his state and recall the great grace and lovingkindness of God, with
the result that the power of the Holy Spirit is increased constantly.
Note, no influence of the Law, no work of man is present here. The force
is a new and heavenly one—the power of the Holy Spirit. He impresses
upon the heart Christ and his works, making of it a true book which
does not consist in the tracery of mere letters and words, but in true
life and action.
30. God promised of old, in Joel 2:28 and other passages,
to give the Spirit through the new message, the Gospel. And he has verified
his promise by public manifestations in connection with the preaching
of that Gospel, as on the day of Pentecost and again later. When the
apostles, Peter and others, began to preach, the Holy Spirit descended
visibly from heaven upon their hearts. Acts 8:17; 10:44. Up to that
time, throughout the period the Law was preached, no one had heard or
seen such manifestation. The fact could not but be grasped that this
was a vastly different message from that of the Law when such mighty
results followed in its train. And yet its substance was no more than
what Paul declared (Acts 13:38-39): “Through this man is proclaimed
unto you remission of sins: and by him every one that believeth is justified
from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of
Moses.”
31. In this teaching you see no more the empty letters,
the valueless husks or shells of the Law, which unceasingly enjoins.,
“This thou shalt do and observe,” and ever in vain. You
see instead the true kernel and power which confers Christ and the fullness
of His Spirit. In consequence, men heartily believe the message of the
Gospel and enjoy its riches. They are accounted as having fulfilled
the Ten Commandments. John says (Jn 1:16-17): “Of his fullness
we all received, and grace for grace. For the Law was given through
Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John’s
thought is: The Law has indeed been given by Moses, but what avails
that fact? To be sure, it is a noble doctrine and portrays a beautiful
and instructive picture of man’s duty to God and all mankind;
it is really excellent as to the letter. Yet it remains empty; it does
not enter into the heart. Therefore it is called “law,”
nor can it become aught else, so long as nothing more is given.
CHRIST SUPERSEDES MOSES
Before there can be fulfilment, another than Moses must come, bringing
another doctrine. Instead of a law enjoined, there must be grace and
truth revealed. For to enjoin a command and to embody the truth are
two different things; just as teaching and doing differ. Moses, it is
true, teaches the doctrine of the Law, so far as exposition is concerned,
but he can neither fulfil it himself nor give others the ability to
do so. That it might be fulfilled, God’s Son had to come with
his fullness; he has fulfilled the Law for himself and it is he who
communicates to our empty heart the power to attain to the same fullness.
This becomes possible when we receive grace for grace,
that is, when we come to the enjoyment of Christ, and for the sake of
him who enjoys with God fullness of grace, although our own obedience
to the Law is still imperfect. Being possessed of solace and grace,
we receive by his power the Holy Spirit also, so that, instead of harboring
mere empty letters within us, we come to the truth and begin to fulfil
God’s Law, in such a way, however, that we draw from his fullness
and drink from that as a fountain.
CHRIST THE SOURCE OF LIFE GREATER THAN ADAM THE SOURCE OF DEATH
32. Paul gives us the same thought in Romans 5:17-18, where he compares
Adam and Christ. Adam, he says, by his239 disobedience in Paradise,
became the source of sin and death in the world; by the sin of this
one man, condemnation passed upon all men. But on the other hand, Christ,
by his obedience and righteousness, has become for us the abundant source
wherefrom all may obtain righteousness and the power of obedience. And
with respect to the latter source, it is far richer and more abundant
than the former. While by the single sin of one man, sin and death passed
upon all men, to wax still more powerful with the advent of the Law,
of such surpassing strength and greatness, on the other hand, is the
grace and bounty which we have in Christ that it not only washes away
the particular sin of the one man Adam, which, until Christ came, overwhelmed
all men in death, but overwhelms and blots out all sin whatever. Thus
they who receive his fullness of grace and bounty unto righteousness
are, according to Paul, lords of life through Jesus Christ alone.
THE LAW INEFFECTUAL
33. You see now how the two messages differ, and why Paul exalts the
one, the preaching of the Gospel, and calls it a “ministration
of the spirit,” but terms the other, the Law, a mere empty “letter.”
His object is to humble the pride of the false apostles and preachers
which they felt in their Judaism and the law of Moses, telling the people
with bold pretensions: “Beloved, let Paul preach what he will,
he cannot overthrow Moses, who on Mount Sinai received the Law, God’s
irrevocable command, obedience to which is ever the only way to salvation.”
34. Similarly today, Papists, Anabaptists and other
sects make outcry: “What mean you by preaching so much about faith
and Christ? Are the people thereby made better? Surely works are essential.”
Arguments of this character have indeed a semblance of merit, but, when
examined by the light of truth, are mere empty, worthless twaddle. For
if deeds, or works, are to be considered, there are the Ten Commandments;
we teach and practice these as well as they. The Commandments would
answer the purpose indeed—if one could preach them so effectively
as to compel their fulfilment. But the question is, whether what is
preached is also practiced. Is there something more than were words—or
letters, as Paul says? Do the words result in life and spirit? This
message we have in common; unquestionably, one must teach the Ten Commandments,
and, what is more, live them. But we charge that they are not observed.
Therefore something else is requisite in order to render obedience to
them possible. When Moses and the Law are made to say: “You should
do thus; God demands this of you,” what does it profit? Ay, beloved
Moses, I hear that plainly, and it is certainly a righteous command;
but pray tell me whence shall I obtain ability to do what, alas, I never
have done nor can do? It is not easy to spend money from an empty pocket,
or to drink from an empty can. If I am to pay my debt, or to quench
my thirst, tell me how first to fill pocket or can. But upon this point
such prattlers are silent; they but continue to drive and plague with
the Law, let the people stick to their sins, and make merry of them
to their own hurt.
35. In this light Paul here portrays the false apostles
and like pernicious schismatics, who make great boasts of having a clearer
understanding and of knowing much better what to teach than is the case
with true preachers of the Gospel. And when they do their very best,
when they pretend great things, and do wonders with their preaching,
there is naught but the mere empty “letter.” Indeed, their
message falls far short of Moses. Moses was a noble preacher, truly,
and wrought greater things than any of them may do. Nevertheless, the
doctrine of the Law could do no more than remain a letter, an Old Testament,
and God had to ordain a different doctrine, a New Testament, which should
impart the “spirit.”
“It is the letter,” says Paul, “which
we preach. If any glorying is to be done, we can glory in better things
and make the defiant plea that they are not the only teachers of what
ought to be done, incapable as they are of carrying out their own precepts.
We give direction and power as to performing and living those precepts.
For this reason our message is not called the Old Testament, or the
message of the dead letter, but that of the New Testament and of the
living Spirit.”
36. No seditious spirit, it is certain, ever carries
out its own precepts, nor will he ever be capable of doing so, though
he may loudly boast the Spirit alone as his guide. Of this fact you
may rest assured. For such individuals know nothing more than the doctrine
of works—nor can they rise higher and point you to anything else.
They may indeed speak of Christ, but it is only to hold him up as an
example of patience in suffering. In short, there can be no New Testament
preached if the doctrine of faith in Christ be left out; the spirit
cannot enter into the heart, but all teaching, endeavor, reflection,
works and power remain mere “letters,” devoid of grace,
truth, and life. Without Christ the heart remains unchanged and unrenewed.
It has no more power to fulfil the Law than the book in which the Ten
Commandments are written, or the stones upon which engraved. “For
the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”
37. Here is yet stronger condemnation of the glory
of the doctrine of the Law; yet higher exaltation of the Gospel ministry.
Is the apostle overbold in that he dares thus to assail the Law and
say: “The Law is not only a lifeless letter, but qualified merely
to kill”? Surely that is not calling the Law a good and profitable
message, but one altogether harmful. Who, unless he would be a cursed
heretic in the eyes of the world and invite execution as a blasphemer,
would dare to speak thus, except Paul himself? Even Paul must praise
the Law, which is God’s command, declaring it good and not to
be despised nor in any way modified, but to be confirmed and fulfilled
so completely, as Christ says (Mt 5:18), that not a tittle of it shall
pass away. How, then, does Paul come to speak so disparagingly, even
abusively, of the Law, actually presenting it as veritable death and
poison? Well, his is a sublime doctrine, one that reason does not understand.
The world, particularly they Who would be called holy and godly, cannot
tolerate it at all; for it amounts to nothing short of pronouncing all
our works, however precious, mere death and poison.
38. Paul’s purpose is to bring about the complete overthrow of
the boast of the false teachers and hypocrites, and to reveal the weakness
of their doctrine, showing how little it effects even at its best, since
it offers only the Law, Christ remaining unproclaimed and unknown. They
say in terms of vainglorious eloquence that if a man diligently keep
the commandments and do many good works, he shall be saved. But theirs
are only vain words, a pernicious doctrine. This fact is eventually
learned by him who, having heard no other doctrine, trusts in their
false one. He finds out that it holds neither comfort nor power of life,
but only doubt and anxiety, followed by death and destruction.
TERRORS OF THE LAW
39. When man, conscious of his failure to keep God’s command,
is constantly urged by the Law to make payment of his debt and confronted
with nothing but the terrible wrath of God and eternal condemnation,
he cannot but sink into despair over his sins. Such is the inevitable
consequence where the Law alone is taught with a view to attaining heaven
thereby. The vanity of such trust in works is illustrated in the case
of the noted hermit mentioned in Vitae Patrum. (Lives of the Fathers).
For over seventy years this hermit had led a life of utmost austerity,
and had many followers. When the hour of death came he began to tremble,
and for three days was in a state of agony. His disciples came to comfort
him, exhorting him to die in peace since he had led so holy a life.
But he replied: “Alas, I truly have all my life served Christ
and lived austerely; but God’s judgment greatly differs from that
of men.”
40. Note, this worthy man, despite the holiness of
his life, has no acquaintance with any article but that of the divine
judgment according to the Law. He knows not the comfort of Christ’s
Gospel. After a long life spent in the attempt to keep God’s commandments
and secure salvation, the Law now slays him through his own works. He
is compelled to exclaim: “Alas, who knows how God will look upon
my efforts? Who may stand before him?” That means, to forfeit
heaven through the verdict of his ownconscience. The work he has wrought
and his holiness of life avail nothing. They merely push him deeper
into death, since he is without the solace of the Gospel, while others,
such as the thief on the cross and the publican, grasp the comfort of
the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins in Christ. Thus sin is conquered;
they escape the sentence of the Law, and pass through death into life
eternal.
EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL
41. Now the meaning of the contrasting clause, “the spirit giveth
life,” becomes clear. The reference is to naught else but the
holy Gospel, a message of healing and salvation; a precious, comforting
word. It comforts and refreshes the sad heart. It wrests it out of the
jaws of death and hell, as it were, and transports it to the certain
hope of eternal life, through faith in Christ. When the last hour comes
to the believer, and death and God’s judgment appear before his
eyes, he does not base his comfort upon his works. Even though he may
have lived the holiest life possible, he says with Paul (1 Cor. 4:4):
“I know nothing against myself, yet am I not hereby justified.”
42. These words imply being ill pleased with self,
with the whole life, indeed, even the putting to death of self. Though
the heart says, “By my works I am neither made righteous nor saved,”
which is practically admitting oneself to be worthy of death and condemnation,
the Spirit extricates from despair, through the Gospel faith, which
confesses, as did St. Bernard in the hour of death: “Dear Lord
Jesus, I am aware that my life at its best has been but worthy of condemnation,
but I trust in the fact that thou hast died for me and hast sprinkled
me with blood from thy holy wounds. For I have been baptized in thy
name and have given heed to thy Word whereby thou hast called me, awarded
me grace and life, and bidden me believe. In this assurance will I pass
out of life; not in uncertainty and anxiety, thinking, ‘Who knows
what sentence God in heaven will pass upon me?’”
The Christian must not utter such a question. The sentence
against his life and works has long since been passed 244by the Law.
Therefore, he must confess himself guilty and condemned. But he lives
by the gracious judgment of God declared from heaven, whereby the sentence
of the Law is overruled and reversed. It is this: “He that believeth
on the Son hath eternal life” (Jn. 3:36).
43. When the consolation of the Gospel has once been
received and it has wrested the heart from death and the terrors of
hell, the Spirit’s influence is felt. By its power God’s
Law begins to live in man’s heart; he loves it, delights in it
and enters upon its fulfilment. Thus eternal life begins here, being
continued forever and perfected in the life to come.
44. Now you see how much more glorious, how much better,
is the doctrine of the apostles—the New Testament—than the
doctrine of those who preach merely great works and holiness without
Christ. We should see in this fact an incentive to hear the Gospel with
gladness. We ought joyfully to thank God for it when we learn how it
has power to bring to men life and eternal salvation, and when it gives
us assurance that the Holy Spirit accompanies it and is imparted to
believers.
“But if the ministration of death, written, and
engraven on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel
could not look stedfastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his
face; which glory was passing away: how shall not rather the ministration
of the Spirit be with glory? For if the ministration of condemnation
hath glory, much rather doth the ministration of righteousness exceed
in glory.”
GLORY OF THE GOSPEL
45. Paul is in an ecstasy of delight, and his heart overflows in words
of praise for the Gospel. Again he handles the Law severely, calling
it a ministration, or doctrine, of death and condemnation. What term
significant of greater abomination could he apply to God’s Law
than to call it a doctrine of death and hell? And again (Gal 2:17),
he calls it a “minister (or preacher) of sin;” and (Gal
3:10) the message which proclaims a curse, saying, “As many as
are of the works of the law are under a curse.” Absolute, then,
is the conclusion that Law and works are powerless to justify before
God; for how can a doctrine proclaiming only sin, death and condemnation
justify and save?
46. Paul is compelled to speak thus, as we said above
because of the infamous presumption of both teachers and pupils, in
that they permit flesh and blood to coquet with the Law, and make their
own works which they bring before God their boast. Yet, nothing is effected
but self-deception and destruction. For, when the Law is viewed in its
true light, when its “glory,” as Paul has it, is revealed,
it is found to do nothing more than to kill man and sink him into condemnation.
47. Therefore, the Christian will do well to learn
this text of Paul and have an armor against the boasting of false teachers,
and the torments and trials of the devil when he urges the Law and induces
men to seek righteousness in their own works, tormenting their heart
with the thought that salvation is dependent upon the achievements of
the individual. The Christian will do well to learn this text, I say,
so that in such conflicts he may take the devil’s own sword, saying:
“Why dost thou annoy me with talk of the Law and my works? What
is the Law after all, however much you may preach it to me, but that
which makes me feel the weight of sin, death and condemnation? Why should
I seek therein righteousness before God?”
48. When Paul speaks of the “glory of the Law,”
of which the Jewish teachers of work-righteousness boast, he has reference
to the things narrated in the twentieth and thirtyfourth chapters of
Exodus—how, when the Law was given, God descended in majesty and
glory from heaven, and there were thunderings and lightnings, and the
mountain was encircled with fire; and how when Moses returned from the
Mountain, bringing the Law, his face shone with a glory so dazzling
that the people could not look upon his face and he was obliged to veil
it.
49. Turning their glory against them, Paul says: “Truly,
we do not deny the glory; splendor and majesty were there: but what
does such glory do but compel souls to flee before God, and drive into
death and hell? We believers, however, boast another glory,—that
of our ministration. The Gospel record tells us (Mt 17:2-4) that Christ
clearly revealed such glory to his disciples when his face shone as
the sun, and Moses and Elijah were present. Before the manifestation
of such glory, the disciples did not flee; they beheld with amazed joy
and said: “Lord, it is good for us to be here. We will make here
tabernacles for thee and for Moses,” etc.
50. Compare the two scenes and you will understand
plainly the import of Paul’s words here. As before said, this
is the substance of his meaning: “The Law produces naught but
terror and death when it dazzles the heart with its glory and stands
revealed in its true nature. On the other hand, the Gospel yields comfort
and joy.” But to explain in detail the signification of the veiled
face of Moses, and of his shining uncovered face, would take too long
to enter upon here.
51. There is also especial comfort to be derived from
Paul’s assertion that the “ministration,” or doctrine,
of the Law “passeth away”; for otherwise there would be
naught but eternal condemnation. The doctrine of the Law “passes
away” when the preaching of the Gospel of Christ finds place.
To Christ, Moses shall yield, that he alone may hold sway. Moses shall
not terrify the conscience of the believer. When, perceiving the glory
of Moses, the conscience trembles and despairs before God’s wrath,
then it is time for Christ’s glory to shine with its gracious,
comforting light into the heart. Then can the heart endure Moses and
Elijah. For the glory of the Law, or the unveiled face of Moses, shall
shine only until man is humbled and driven to desire the blessed countenance
of Christ. If you come to Christ, you shall no longer hear Moses to
your fright and terror; you shall hear him as one who remains servant
to the Lord Christ, leaving the solace and the joy of his countenance
unobscured. In conclusion:
“For verily that which hath been made glorious
hath not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory
that surpasseth.”
52. The meaning here is; When the glory and holiness of Christ, revealed
through the preaching of the Gospel, is rightly perceived then the glory
of the Law—which is but a feeble and transitory glory—is
seen to be not really glorious. It is mere dark clouds in contrast to
the light of Christ shining to lead us out of sin, death and hell unto
God and eternal life.