‘Law’ and ‘Gospel’ are concepts that are often only vaguely understood in the church today. If I were to ask you the question, “what is the Gospel?” How would you answer? Is it a series of truths? Is it a person? Is it a story? Does the Gospel demand anything from us?
Similarly, what if If I were to ask you “what is the Law?” Is the Law the Ten Commandments? Was the law only for Israel? Are Christians still obligated to keep the Law today? These questions reveal that these important concepts have not historically been well understood, and many of God’s people have found that such a confusion leads to a lack of assurance. Instead of finding the rest that Jesus promises to all who come to him, many people find themselves weary, burnt out, and regularly anxious about their spiritual performance.
In very simple terms, the Law is the list of rules and requirements that God gave to his people in the book of Exodus, summarized by the Ten Commandments but containing many more laws as well. If you were to boil it down to a single phrase, the law says “do this, and you will live.”
By contrast, gospel means “good news.” It is a declaration of something that has happened in the past. It is the message that Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life and offers his perfect righteousness to all who are united to him. It is also the message that Jesus died to pay the penalty for sin, to cleanse sinners from all that places them under God’s judgement. Crucially, the gospel is not faith, the gospel is not repentence, and the gospel is not obedient living or following Jesus. In fact, the gospel isn’t about doing anything at all. It is a message of what God has already done in Christ. The law says “do,” while the gospel says, “done.”
How does misunderstanding these two concepts lead to so much confusion? The confusion occurs when the Law is preached as Gospel, or when the Gospel is preached as Law. All throughout Scripture, we see that the Christian life always begins with the Gospel. God gives grace, and then his people obey him out of gratitude and joy. You will never find a passage of Scripture that teaches obedience resulting in salvation or even maintaining salvation. Jesus’ perfect and completed work—given as a free gift of grace—always comes first. Then, from a place of safety and security, God’s people are commanded to live in light of that grace. The gospel always comes first, and for believers, the law can no longer condemn. Instead it serves as a gentle guide for life, not aimed at obedience that comes from fear of judgement or anxiety, but out of gratitude for the great grace of Jesus toward us. May we all rest in that grace together, and from that place of rest, may we seek to freely love God and love our neighbours well!
All the best,
Luke
