God’s Word In Two Words

The distinction between law and gospel may seem irrelevantly abstract—something that would fascinate only the theologian or linguist—but serious life confusion happens when we confuse law and gospel, when we fail to understand their unique job descriptions.

Theologian Gerhard Ebeling rightly observed that “the failure to distinguish the law and the gospel always means the abandonment of the gospel.” And John Calvin’s protégé, Theodore Beza, went so far as to say, “Ignorance of this distinction between Law and Gospel is one of the principal sources of the abuses which corrupted and still corrupt Christianity.” A confusion of law and gospel is the main contributor to moralism in the church simply because the law gets softened into “helpful tips for practical living”, instead of God’s unwavering demand for absolute perfection. While the gospel gets hardened into a set of moral and social demands that “we must live out”, instead of God’s unconditional declaration that “God justifies the ungodly.” As my friend Jono Linebaugh says, “God doesn’t serve mixed drinks. The divine cocktail is not law mixed with gospel. God serves two separate shots: law then gospel.”

So what are the “job descriptions” of God’s two words?

This is what I write about in this months Christianity Today.