Law/Gospel Distinction: Reformation Theology or Hyper-Grace Error?
Marissa Namirr, Gospel Gal
Dr. John Street, an adjunct professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Chair of the Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling and Professor of Biblical Counseling at The Master’s University & Seminary in Los Angeles, California (associated with John MacArthur's Grace Community Church in the same area), Fellow and the President of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC), attempts to define the Law/Gospel distinction as Hyper-Lutheran/Hyper-Grace, Antimonian doctrine.
However, we know that the Law/Gospel distinction is not only Lutheran, and not new or newly resurrected, neither is the Law/Gospel distinction Hyper-Grace or Antinomian. Listen to the Reformation theologians, down through the Reformation through today:
Since Luther was brought into the discussion first, I'll highlight his distinction at the outset:
Martin Luther wrote:
"Thus the Gospel is and should be nothing else than a chronicle, a story, a narrative about Christ, telling who He is, what He did, said, and suffered...There you have it. The Gospel is a story about Christ, God and David's Son, who died and was raised and is established as Lord. This is the Gospel in a nutshell...for the preaching of the gospel is nothing else than Christ come to us. or we being brought to Him."
John Calvin wrote:
"The Law, he says, is different from faith. Why? Because to obtain justification by it, works are required; and hence it follows, that to obtain justification by the Gospel they are not required. From this statement, it appears that those who are justified by faith are justified independent of, nay, in the absence of the merit of works, because faith receives that righteousness which the Gospel bestows. But the Gospel differs from the Law in this, that it does not confine justification to works, but places it entirely in the mercy of God (Institutes, 3.11.18).
Calvin's disciple and successor, Theodore Beza wrote:
"...the... difference between the Law and the Gospel is that the Law, by itself, can only show us, and make us see, our evil more exceedingly, and aggravate our condemnation; not through any fault of its own (for it is good and holy), but because our corrupt nature burns for sin the more it is reproved and threatened, as St. Paul has declared through his own example (Rom 7:7-14). But the Gospel not only shows us the remedy against the curse of the law, but it is at the same time accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit who regenerates us and changes us (as we have said above); for He creates in us the instrument and sole means of applying to us this remedy (Acts 26:17,18).
Beza also wrote:
"We divide this Word into two principal parts or kinds: the one is called the “Law,” the other the “Gospel.” For all the rest can be gathered under the one or the other of these two headings…We must pay great attention to these things. For, with good reason, we can say that ignorance of this distinction between Law and Gospel is one of the principal sources of the abuses which corrupted and still corrupt Christianity."
Zacharius Ursinus, Continental Reformer, co-author of the Heidelberg Catechism wrote:
"The law contains a covenant of nature begun by God with men in creation, that is, it is a natural sign to men, and it requires of us perfect obedience toward God. It promises eternal life to those keeping it, and threatens eternal punishment to those not keeping it. In fact, the gospel contains a covenant of grace, that is, one known not at all under nature. This covenant declares to us fulfillment of its righteousness in Christ, which the law requires, and our restoration through Christ’s Spirit. To those who believe in him, it freely promises eternal life for Christ’s sake."
Caspar Olevianus, Continental Reformer, co-author of the Heidelberg Catechism wrote:
The law is a doctrine that God has ****implanted in human nature and has repeated and renewed in His commandments. In it He holds before us, as if in a manuscript, what it is we are and are not to do, namely, obey Him perfectly both inwardly and outwardly. He also promises eternal life on the condition that I keep the law perfectly my whole life long. On the other hand, He threatens eternal damnation if I do not keep every provision of the law my whole life long but violate it in one or more of its parts. As God says in Deuteronomy 27[:26] and Galatians 3[:10], “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” And once the law has been violated, it has no promise that by the help of the law, that is, by works of the law, our sins might be forgiven. Rather, the sentence of condemnation is imposed upon us.
The gospel or good news, however, is a doctrine of which even the wisest knew nothing by nature but which is revealed from heaven. In it God does not demand but rather offers and gives us the righteousness that the law requires. This righteousness is the perfect obedience of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, through which all sin and damnation, made manifest by the law, is pardoned and washed away (Rom. 5; Gal. 3). Furthermore, God does not give us forgiveness of sins in the gospel on the condition that we keep the law. Rather, even though we never have kept it nor will ever be able to keep it perfectly, He still has forgiven our sins and given us eternal life as an unmerited gift through faith in Jesus Christ. John 1[:17] says, “The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth come through Jesus Christ.” And Romans 8[:3, 4]: “What for the law was impossible in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and condemned sin in the flesh through sin, that the righteousness required by the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Finally, Galatians 3:[12–14]: “The law is not of faith but ‘The man who does it shall live by it.’ Christ, however, redeemed us from the curse of the law when He became a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus and we thus might receive the promised Spirit through faith."
Puritan, Thomas Boston wrote:
"n a sinking state of the church, the Law and Gospel are confounded and the Law justles out the Gospel, the dark shades of morality take place of Gospel light; which plague is this day begun in the church, and well far advanced. Men think they see the fitness of legal preaching for sanctification; but how the Gospel should be such a mean, they cannot understand."
Puritan, Richard Sibbes wrote:
"The Law shows us our guilt, the Gospel shows us God's grace."
Anglican Pastor and Author, Octavius Winslow wrote:
"The law of God never spoke a word of comfort to the weary. It was not designed for such. Its very nature forbids it. It can anathematize, alarm, and wound; but not a solitary word of consolation and soothing can it address to a soul weary and heavy-laden with sorrow and with guilt. But it is the glorious gospel of the blessed God that the Lord Jesus speaks to His weary ones."
Reformed Theologian and Author, Herman Bavinck wrote:
"The law demands perfect righteousness, but the gospel grants it; the law leads people to eternal life by works, and the gospel produces good works from the riches of the eternal life granted in faith."
Reformed Theologian and Author, Louis Berkhof wrote:
"The law comprises everything in Scripture which is a revelation of God’s will in the form of command or prohibition, while the gospel embraces everything, whether it be in the Old Testament or in the New, that pertains to the work of reconciliation and that proclaims the seeking and redeeming love o God in Christ Jesus."
Reformed Theologian and Author, Michael Horton wrote:
"...when people preach (or read) the Bible as a handbook of helpful tips or as a practical guide for happier living, they are not really encountering the Bible at all, despite their appeal to it. If one comes to the Bible always looking for the "practical," that usually means that one will come looking for watered-down "Law." Remember, this is already our tendency, as Calvin's successor, Theodore Beza, reminds us: "The Law is natural to man.... But the gospel is a supernatural doctrine which our nature would never have been able to imagine nor able to approve without a special grace of God."
Reformed Theologian and Author, Robert Godfrey wrote:
"Sometimes we're told "Law/Gospel" is just a Lutheran idea. That's not true at all. It was clearly taught by Calvin, and by Ursinus, and by Turretin, and all the great Reformed theologians."
Reformation Pastor/Scholar, John Fonville highlights Law/Gospel distinction:
"Law: He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the LORD our God will WIPE THEM OUT. Psalm 94:23
Gospel: “I, even I, am the one who WIPES OUT your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Isaiah 43:25 "
So, it has been clearly demonstrated that Reformed and Reformation theologians have made this Law/Gospel distinction abundantly clear, down through history from the Protestant Reformation, to Purtian Europe, to the United States today and further. This is nothing novel and is not exclusively Lutheran. And as I will show is nothing Antinomian or in agreement with Hyper-Grace Theology.
Street assumes that a Law/Gospel distinction, because it supposes that the sole focus is on our identity in Christ, there is no necessity of obedience and leads to licentiousness.
Those are some significant assumptions and demonstrably false charges.
The Reformers/Reformation Theologians and Pastors have always taught three uses of God's Law. Read my article on The Law and Its Uses here: https://gospelgalblog.blogspot.com/2017/08/gods-law-its-uses.html .
The Reformers/Reformation Theologians and Pastors have always anticipated the rebuttal that the pure teaching of the Gospel and the imputed righteousness of Christ apart from our Law-keeping would tend toward antinomianism.
Heidelberg Catechism:
62. Q.
But why can our good works not be
our righteousness before God,
or at least a part of it?
A.
Because the righteousness
which can stand before God's judgment
must be absolutely perfect
and in complete agreement
with the law of God, 1
whereas even our best works in this life
are all imperfect and defiled with sin. 2
1.Deut 27:26; Gal 3:10.
2.Is 64:6.
63. Q.
But do our good works earn nothing,
even though God promises to reward them
in this life and the next? 1
A.
This reward is not earned;
it is a gift of grace. 2
1.Mt 5:12; Heb 11:6.
2.Lk 17:10; 2 Tim 4:7, 8.
64. Q.
Does this teaching not make people
careless and wicked?
A.
No.
It is impossible
that those grafted into Christ
by true faith
should not bring forth
fruits of thankfulness. 1
1.Mt 7:18; Lk 6:43-45; Jn 15:5.
“If your preaching of the gospel of God's free grace in Jesus Christ does not provoke the charge from some of antinomianism, you're not preaching the gospel of the free grace of God in Jesus Christ.” ~Martyn Lloyd-Jones
So, it has been clearly demonstrated that Reformed and Reformation theologians have made this Law/Gospel distinction abundantly clear, down through history from the Protestant Reformation, to Purtian Europe, to the United States today and further. This is nothing novel and is not exclusively Lutheran. And as I will show is nothing Antinomian or in agreement with Hyper-Grace Theology.
Street assumes that a Law/Gospel distinction, because it supposes that the sole focus is on our identity in Christ, there is no necessity of obedience and leads to licentiousness.
Those are some significant assumptions and demonstrably false charges.
The Reformers/Reformation Theologians and Pastors have always taught three uses of God's Law. Read my article on The Law and Its Uses here: https://gospelgalblog.blogspot.com/2017/08/gods-law-its-uses.html .
The Reformers/Reformation Theologians and Pastors have always anticipated the rebuttal that the pure teaching of the Gospel and the imputed righteousness of Christ apart from our Law-keeping would tend toward antinomianism.
Heidelberg Catechism:
62. Q.
But why can our good works not be
our righteousness before God,
or at least a part of it?
A.
Because the righteousness
which can stand before God's judgment
must be absolutely perfect
and in complete agreement
with the law of God, 1
whereas even our best works in this life
are all imperfect and defiled with sin. 2
1.Deut 27:26; Gal 3:10.
2.Is 64:6.
63. Q.
But do our good works earn nothing,
even though God promises to reward them
in this life and the next? 1
A.
This reward is not earned;
it is a gift of grace. 2
1.Mt 5:12; Heb 11:6.
2.Lk 17:10; 2 Tim 4:7, 8.
64. Q.
Does this teaching not make people
careless and wicked?
A.
No.
It is impossible
that those grafted into Christ
by true faith
should not bring forth
fruits of thankfulness. 1
1.Mt 7:18; Lk 6:43-45; Jn 15:5.
“If your preaching of the gospel of God's free grace in Jesus Christ does not provoke the charge from some of antinomianism, you're not preaching the gospel of the free grace of God in Jesus Christ.” ~Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Reformation teaching illuminates a robust theology of Law/Gospel,
There is only one Gospel that is "the power of God unto salvation" for the believing ones. This is never said of the Law, only of the Gospel. May we rejoice and proclaim it to ourselves and others with abundant clarity and conviction until He comes.
YouTube Episode: Gospel Gal Hot-Take #1: Law/Gospel Distinction: Reformation Theology or Hyper-Grace Error? https://youtu.be/9rJ8fbQbuR4
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