Preaching Law & Gospel: Either/Or?

When it comes to the content of Christian preaching there are, in the most general sense, two options: (1)  preaching either law or  gospel, vs. (2) preaching both law and gospel. Obviously, within option (1) law and gospel are viewed as two mutually exclusive options, whereas in option (2) they are distinct, but are neither separated nor confused. Let’s see how this works out in the details:

(1) Preaching Either Law Or Gospel

(1a.) Preaching Law Without Gospel
There are several ways that this is done. Sometimes law (“do”) and gospel (“done”) are so fused together that to preach imperatives is seen as really just preaching the gospel. The failure to distinguish between the event of the gospel from the rest of Scripture leads this group to believe that the preaching of any portion of Scripture is preaching the gospel. As a result of hearing imperatives (law) apart from the indicative (gospel) the law is ironically relativized. The law, rather than being a pedagogue that leads us to Christ, becomes an end in itself. Rather than drive sinners to absolute despair in themselves, the law is a source of gracious self-improvement that helps sinners to become “better”. The preaching ends up being moralistic without anything explicitly Christian (except the vocabulary). While the intention of (1a) is commendable for seeking to show God’s holiness, the problem is that, ultimately, the law of God is muted. The thundering voice from Sinai that caused Israel to fear and tremble is transformed into a manageable to-do list. The sinfulness of sin is misunderstood, the goodness of the good news is lost, and messages become inherently semi-Pelagian.

(1b.) Preaching Gospel Without Law
Here, the gospel is preached exclusively without the law. Any preaching of God’s commandment is seen as legalistic. While the previous group fails in distinguishing law and gospel, this latter group errs by failing to see any relationship between the two. The consequence of preaching gospel without law is that the holiness of God is undermined. No longer are Christians aware of their sinfulness in light of God’s law. People here know/think that they are saved and that they are loved by God, but they have little idea why this is good news. Ironically, despite the fact that (1a.) and (1b.) are always reactions against one another, they function on the same ground: neither side is able to see how both law and gospel can be preached together. The results of (1b) is similar to (1a): the sinfulness of sin is misunderstood, the goodness of the good news is lost, and messages become inherently semi-Pelagian. In both, the holiness of God in the law and the grace of God in the gospel are hushed.

(2) Preaching Both Law And Gospel

This group functions on different assumptions from both (1a) and (1b). While seeing a necessary distinction between law and gospel, the relation between the two is neither severed nor confused. The voice of God thunders as his perfect law is proclaimed and it is preached in such a way so as to point despairing sinners to Christ. Like the Sermon on the Mount, hearers are told that God requires perfection, not simply good intentions. The law is not relativized but preached as it is in order to humble proud sinners. The pharisee who boasts in group (1) is unable to stand here. All are shut up by the law, and like the publican, we can only beat our breasts and plead Christ’s righteousness. Unlike group (1a) sinners are not pointed to the law as an end in itself, but are pointed to Christ through the law. And obviously unlike (1b) the gospel is not some random message about a loving God, but a message of redemption from sin and death. And rather than obeying out of fear, the motivation is gratitude in light of the gospel. The errors of the moralist (1a) and the antinomian (1b) are thereby avoided as well as the error of snatching passages of Scripture from their canonical context and preaching only bits and pieces (left to the preacher’s discretion). The choice is not either preaching the gospel or preaching the law, nor is it a balancing act between the two. Rather, both are preached to their fullest extent.

If the voice of God is to be heard, then both his law and gospel must be preached. The utter holiness of God’s law must not be suppressed, for when this is done the glorious grace of the gospel of Christ is inevitably silenced.

Filed under: Law and Gospel, Reformed Theology, Word and Sacraments, Worship , Law, Law and Gospel, Preaching

Examining Ourselves Before the Supper

Some have difficulty with the words of the Form: “Let every one examine his heart whether he also believes this sure promise of God that all his sins are forgiven him only for the sake of the passion and death of Jesus Christ.” The question is then whether someone who is not sure of this may celebrate the Lord’s Supper. We must pay close attention to how the word “sure” is used in this context. It is not asked whether we believe with certainty or whether we have a sure faith. The key is that we truly believe God’s promise to be sure and definite. The crux is not what we believe with respect to ourselves but what we believe with respect to God’s promise. The liturgical form itself points out that we must see it this way and not otherwise. After all, it is said further along “that we do not have a perfect faith and that we must daily strive with the weakness of our faith.” Nevertheless, “desirous to fight against our unbelief and to live according to all the commandments of God we rest assured that no sin or infirmity which still remains in us against our will can hinder us from being received of God in grace.”
This is completely in line with Calvin’s pastoral guidance. When we sense an imperfect faith within us and our conscience accuses us of many shortcomings, this should not hinder us from approaching the Lord’s Table. The sacrament is precisely intended for such people! “If to stay away from the Lord’s Supper we maintain that our faith is still weak and our life imperfect, we would resemble someone who excuses himself from taking medication because he is sick.”
- J. van Genderen, W. H. Velema, Concise Reformed Dogmatics trans. Gerrits Bilkes and Ed M. van der Maas (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2008), 812-13.   

Filed under: Creeds and Confessions, Ecclesiology, Means of Grace, Quotes, Reformed Theology, Word and Sacraments, Worship , Concise Reformed Dogmatics, Lord's Supper, Means of Grace, Word and Sacraments

D. G. Hart on Paleo- and Neo-Reformed

@ Old Life.

Filed under: Creeds and Confessions, Ecclesiology, Reformed Theology, Worship , D. G. Hart, Nicotine Theological Journal, Old School

Ursinus on the Ministry of the Church

Questions 264-273 from Ursinus’ Larger Catechism:

264 Q. What is the ministry of the church?

 A. It is the public preaching of God’s Word, the administration of the sacraments and church discipline–instituted by Christ for bringing to completion the salvation of the elect.

265 Q. Why did God institute the ministry of the church?

A. So that through it he might receive us into his covenant, keep us in it, and really convince us that we are and forever will remain in it.

266 Q. Why do you say that we are received and kept in God’s covenant through the ministry?

A. Because it is the instrument of the Holy Spirit by which he works and confirms in the hearts of the elect the faith and conversion that God requires of us in his covenant.

267 Q. Isn’t the Holy Spirit’s own honor taken away when sanctification is attributed to the ministry? 

A. No, for the strength and power by which we are sanctified are all from the divine Spirit; the ministry is merely his instrument by which he moves the souls and hearts of the elect whenever and however it seems right to him–not because he could not do otherwise but because it pleased the divine wisdom, through the foolish preaching of the cross, to save those who believe.

268 Q. What should ministers preach?

A. Nothing but the Word of God contained in the law and the gospel.

269 Q. But how can we be certain that the Word of God is being proclaimed by ministers?

A. If they proclaim the teaching recorded in the books of the Old and New Testaments, and if what they say conforms to the Articles of the Faith and the commandments of God; in short, if they teach us to seek our entire salvation in Christ alone.

270 Q. Isn’t it enough to learn God’s Word privately?

A. It is indeed necessary for our salvation to meditate on it day and night, but if we want to be Christians, we must also make use of the public ministry when we are not prevented by circumstance.

271 Q. Why is this necessary?

A. First, because of God’s command. Second, so that God may be publicly glorified by the whole church in the sight of all people and creatures. Third, so that the unity of the church might be preserved and displayed.

272 Q. What does the Holy Spirit bring about through the preaching of God’s Word?

A. First, he teaches us what God promises us in his covenant and what he in turn requires from us. Next, he persuades us to believe and obey him more and more each day.

273 Q. But how does the Holy Spirit work in us through hearing and meditating on God’s Word?

A. When we learn it for the purpose of believing and obeying him in all things.

- Zacharius Ursinus, The Larger Catechism, trans. Lyle D. Bierma, from Lyle D. Bierma, An Introduction to the Heidelberg Catechism  (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005), 211-13.

Filed under: Church History, Creeds and Confessions, Ecclesiology, Law and Gospel, Means of Grace, Quotes, Reformed Theology, Word and Sacraments, Worship , Church, Ecclesiology, Heidelberg Catechism, Reformed Theology, Word and Sacraments, Zacharius Ursinus

Calvin on Images and the Means of Grace

Even though images, he remarks, were so framed that they bore to the people a message which might be properly called divine — which too frequently is very far from the case — their childish suggestions (naeniae) are little adapted to convey the special teaching which God wishes to be taught His people in their solemn congregations, and has made the common burden of His Word and Sacraments — from which it is to be feared, however, the minds of the people are fatally distracted as their eyes roam around to gaze on their idols. Do you say the people are too rude and ignorant to profit by the heavenly message and can be reached only by means of the images? Yet these are those whom the Lord receives as His own disciples, honors with the revelation of His celestial philosophy, and has commanded to be instructed in the saving mysteries of His kingdom! If they have fallen so low as not to be able to do without such “books” as images supply, is not that only because they have been defrauded of the teaching which they require? The invention of images, in a word, is an expedient demanded not by the rudeness of the people so much as by the dumbness of the priests. It is in the true preaching of the Gospel that Christ is really depicted — crucified before our eyes openly, as Paul testifies: and there can be no reason to crowd the churches with crucifixes of wood and stone and silver and gold, if Christ is faithfully preached as dying on the cross to bear our curse, expiating our sins by the sacrifice of His body, cleansing us by His blood and reconciling us to God the Father. From this simple proclamation more may be learned than from a thousand crosses.
… The Lord has ordained living and expressive images of His grace for His temples, by which our eyes should be caught and held — such ceremonies as Baptism and the Lord’s Supper — and we cannot require others fabricated by human ingenuity; and it seems unworthy of the sanctity of the place to intrude them. … Had God desired the aid of pictorial representations to quicken the devotions of His people He would have ordained them: to employ them is in principle to despise the provisions He has made and to invent others — and we may be sure inadequate if not misleading ones — for ourselves.
- John Calvin taken from B. B. Warfield, Calvin and Calvinism (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2003), 181-85. 

Filed under: Ecclesiology, Law and Gospel, Means of Grace, Quotes, Reformed Theology, Word and Sacraments, Worship , Benjamin B. Warfield, Calvinism, Images, John Calvin, Regulative Principle, Word and Sacraments