Law is not Gospel, Gospel is not Law

Law is not Gospel, Gospel is not Law

by Charles Fry /

LUTHER’S UNDERSTANDING OF THE GOSPEL, Part 2

Luther defined “law” as all of God’s commands both in the Old and New Testaments and “gospel” as all of the promises in Scripture, freely given in and through Christ, apart from our works—by sheer grace. “We should understand ‘law’ to mean nothing else than God’s word and command, in which he directs us what to do and what not to do, and demands from us our obedience and ‘work.’“[i] He then defines the gospel:

On the other hand, the gospel or the faith is a doctrine or word of God that does not require our works. It does not command us to do anything. On the contrary, it bids us merely to accept the offered grace of forgiveness of sins and eternal life and let it be given to us. It means that we do nothing; only receive, and allow ourselves to be given what has been granted to us and handed to us in the Word.[ii]

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Martin Luther on the Distinction between Law and Gospel

Martin Luther on the Distinction between Law and Gospelby Charles Fry /

 

LUTHER’S UNDERSTANDING OF THE GOSPEL, Part 1

I do not nullify the grace of God,
for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died needlessly.
Galatians 2:21, NASB

In the year 1496, a boy of around 14 years of age observed a startling sight: a prince named William of Anhalt walking the streets of Magdeburg, Germany, emaciated and begging, carrying a sack on his back like a donkey. “He had so worn himself down by fasting and vigil that he looked like a death’s-head, mere bone and skin.”[i] William had given up the realms of earthly nobility to save his own soul by suffering, self-denial, and purgation.

This was the medieval religious system, a system of self-effort and suffering to gain the halls of paradise—a system that included relics, purgatory, penance, fear, and uncertainty, without providing assurance that one had ever done enough. Years later that 14-year-old would commit himself to this system in hopes of gaining a clean conscience and assurance that he would one day be in heaven.

The young boy, of course, was Martin Luther. No matter how hard he tried to get to heaven by “monkery” or by plumbing the depths of the mystic’s surrender to God, he could never be calm before the majesty, justice, and holiness of God. The more he tried to please God, the more he hated him. Over time, however, as Luther studied the Scriptures, rediscovering the good news of the gospel freed his tormented conscience.

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Top Website Sellers for March/April

Top Website Sellers for March/April 2017

Our top website sellers for March-April included:

  • A Desiring God marriage devotional with contributions from John Piper, Francis Chan, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, Don Whitney, and others
  • An important book on biblical friendship by Jonathan Holmes
  • A Bible study on Ephesians for women by Keri Folmar
  • A book by John Ensor of Passion Life that sets the issue of abortion firmly in the context of the gospel
  • Sexual Detox by Tim Challies (the first title we released), and
  • A book on finding our identity in Christ by the late Jerry Bridges.

Check them out!

Timeline of Luther’s Life

A World Upside Down; Four Essays on the Life and Theology of Martin Luther, by Charles E. Fry

by Charles Fry /

This timeline (of the main events and writings addressed by these posts) will help the reader more clearly understand how the details of Martin Luther’s life fit into his overarching story and that of the Reformation.

Read all the posts published to date in this extended series on the life and theology of Martin Luther, as we celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the birth of the Reformation.
1415
July 6		John Hus burned at the stake, c. 100 years before the Reformation
1483
November 10		Martin Luther born in Eisleben, Germany
1505Begins study of Law
1505
July 2		Vows to become monk after thunderstorm
1505
July 17		Enters Augustinian order to become a monk
1507Luther conducts his first Mass
1511Transferred by Staupitz to Wittenberg from Erfurt
1513–1516Lectures on Psalms, Romans, and Galatians at University of Wittenburg
1517
October 31		Announces 95 Theses in Wittenberg
1518
April 26		Heidelberg Disputation
1519
July 4–14		Debates Eck at Leipzig, Sola Scriptura is realized by Luther
1520Treatise on Good Works, To the Christian Nobility, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, and The Freedom of a Christian are published
1520Pope Leo X issues papal bull giving Luther 60 days to recant
1521
April 16–26		Luther defends at the Diet of Worms
1521
May 4		Luther is hidden at the Wartburg castle
1522Luther’s German translation of the New Testament published
1524Peasants’ War begins. Thomas Munzer, a key leader of the Anabaptists
1525
January 21		Formal beginning of Anabaptist movement(Conrad Grebel baptizes)
1525Luther marries Katherine Von Bora, a nun
1529Marburg Colloquy (Luther & Zwingli split over the Lord’s Supper)
1529Luther writes Large Catechism (April) and Small Catechism (May)
1530
June 25		The Augsburg Confession is presented
1535Lectures on Galatians is published
1536–1537Luther writes Smalcald Articles
1539Luther writes Against the Antinomians
1546
February 18		Martin Luther dies at age 62 in Eisleben, Germany

Part 9 of an extended series drawn from A World Upside Down: The Life and Theology of Martin Luther, by Charles E. Fry.

Charles E. Fry

Chuck Fry holds degrees from Marshall University, Moody Bible Institute, and Christ College. He has been in discipleship ministry since 1989 and is on staff with The Navigators in Huntington, West Virginia. He and his wife, Lisa, organize and host the annual Majesty of God conference, held each April.

Luther’s Death, Luther’s Hope

Luther’s Death, Luther’s Hopeby Charles Fry /

A BRIEF LIFE OF MARTIN LUTHER: Part 6

Despite his many concerns with the Roman Church, Luther considered a smaller yet growing theological opponent, the Anabaptists, to be more formidable. This group took the Reformation as their starting point, but then went to a radical end in hopes of regaining what they considered to be pure religion. They heartily embraced extra-biblical revelation, trusting in new revelations supposedly from God, rather than resting in the Bible and hearing God speak through the Scriptures alone.

As a result, the Anabaptists plunged themselves into religious excess and disgrace, wreaking havoc and disruption. Sadly, the papacy and the emperor associated Luther with the Anabaptists and their folly. Therefore, Luther zealously attacked the Anabaptist theology. With respect to both Rome and the Anabaptists, the chief battle was ultimately over the same issue: the doctrine of sola scriptura: Scripture alone.

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Luther Completes His Most Important Work

Luther Completes His Most Important Workby Charles Fry /

A BRIEF LIFE OF MARTIN LUTHER: Part 5

Luther Completes His Most Important Work

 

After leaving Worms to return to Wittenberg, Luther was kidnapped under a ruse by his friends and taken to a German castle called the Wartburg.

Hidden away in the Wartburg, Luther could not be found by a Roman Church that was likely inclined to kill him for his very public and uncompromising stand on God’s Word. It also gave him an ideal opportunity to begin translating the Bible into German, something that had never before been done. Church historian Philip Schaff notes the importance of Luther’s translation:

The richest fruit of Luther’s leisure in the Wartburg, and the most important and useful work of his whole life, is the translation of the New Testament, by which he brought the teaching and example of Christ and the Apostles to the mind and heart of the Germans in life-like reproduction. It was a republication of the gospel. He made the Bible the people’s book in church, school, and house. If he had done nothing else, he would be one of the greatest benefactors of the German-speaking race.[i]

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Luther: Peace with God, War with the World

Luther: Peace with God, War with the Worldby Charles Fry /

A BRIEF LIFE OF MARTIN LUTHER, Part 4

Peace with God, War with the World

During the period 1513–1516, Luther was lecturing through Paul’s epistles and the Psalms and beginning to understand the gospel. Meanwhile, in Rome, Pope Leo X was continuing to build Saint Peter’s Cathedral, a project begun in 1506 by Pope Julius II. To help fund that work, a priest named Johann Tetzel was in Germany selling indulgences. For the right price, a person could buy an indulgence that would supposedly guarantee that the purchaser would go to heaven, skipping purgatory entirely. Optionally, the purchase could be used to release a presently tormented soul out of purgatory.

When Luther became aware of Tetzel’s practice, he was furious. One result of his outrage was his 95 Theses, which carry the formal title, “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences.” Reading this document, it’s clear that Luther still believed in purgatory and found some value in indulgences. He was essentially respectful of the Pope and the authority of the Roman Church. He simply thought that Tetzel’s methods were trivializing the grace and forgiveness that a “proper” use of indulgences was supposed to produce. He saw Tetzel’s approach as the abuse of a valid doctrine by Rome for the sake of financial gain.

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Luther and the Gospel: Peace with God

Luther and the Gospel: Peace with Godby Charles Fry /

A BRIEF LIFE OF MARTIN LUTHER, Part 3

Luther and the Gospel: Peace with God

The entire time that Luther sought to please God through his own actions, he was conscious of the fact that he actually hated the righteousness and justice of God, for they require perfect obedience to the Law of God. He knew that even his best performance could never measure up—despite fasting, sacrificing, trying to fully surrender to God (the mystic way), and confessing his sins to Staupitz for up to six hours at a time.

Luther said of this time in his life, “I was myself driven to the very abyss of despair so that I wished I had never been created. Love God? I hated him!”[i]

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Martin Luther Stumbles Toward the Gospel

Martin Luther Stumbles Toward the Gospelby Charles Fry

A BRIEF LIFE OF MARTIN LUTHER, Part 2

Early Years

Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483 in Eisleben, Germany. This would also be the place of his death after a life of unexpected turbulence and joy—a life that would turn the world upside down with the announcement of the good news of God’s gospel.

He was born to Hans and Margaretta Luther. Like the times in which Martin was born, his parents, by today’s standards, were rough, harsh, and stern. Yet they were also religious to a degree and wanted the best for their son. Hans, a copper miner, sacrificed greatly to earn enough money for Martin to study law, the profession of choice and prestige. In 1505, Hans’ dream came true: Luther began his study of law at the University of Erfurt.

Lightning

The dream would not last long. On July 2 of his first year at Erfurt, a bolt of lightning knocked Luther to the ground as he returned to school following a visit to his home in Mansfeld. His conscience had already been greatly troubling him with the sense that he was not right with God, nor good enough to be accepted by a holy God. He would later write that the soul whose conscience is sensitive, yet dirty and guilty before the justice of God, is driven by fear to the point where the rustling of a leaf would put one to flight. As Proverbs 28:1 (NASB) notes, “The wicked flee when no one is pursuing.”

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The World of Martin Luther’s Birth

The World of Martin Luther's Birthby Charles Fry

A BRIEF LIFE OF MARTIN LUTHER, Part 1

The wicked flee when no one is pursuing,
But the righteous are bold as a lion.
Proverbs 28:1, NASB

On January 12, 1519, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Maximilian I, came to the end of his days and his earthly power. To prepare for the life to come, he gave orders for “his body to be scourged, his hair shorn, his teeth broken out,”[i] hoping to appear before God as a penitent. Such instructions revealed the religious thought of his day: man was guilty before God, but if he could demonstrate through suffering, sacrifice, and acts of penance that he was remorseful enough over his sin and earnest in giving God something of his own merit, he might fare better in the afterlife.

Such was the religion that dripped from a medieval and Renaissance Europe saturated with fear and religious superstition. It was in this atmosphere that Martin Luther lived his days. In order to understand Luther, it is important to first consider the context in which he lived, particularly this merit-based religion that permeated society.

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