September 24, 2005 The Vanishing Law
by Lothar SchwabeAn old heresy has reappeared among Lutherans. The Lutheran Confessions dealt with that heresy, but that has not prevented it from rising again in our midst and leading some of the faithful astray. This old heresy, also known as Antinomianism, is referred to in the Lutheran Confessions: "Therefore we justly condemn the Antinomians and nomoclasts who cast the preaching of the law out of the churches and would have us criticize sin and teach contrition and sorrow not from the law but solely from the Gospel" (1). The word “Antinomians” comes from the Greek language and stands for persons who are against the law. The word “nomoclasts” also comes for the Greek language and means persons who destroy the law. At the time our Lutheran Confessions were written the battle was between those who felt that Christians only need to hear the gospel, the good news of God’s grace and God’s love and those who felt that everybody, including the faithful Christians, need to hear both, the preaching of the law of God and the preaching of the gospel. It is understandable that such a debate arose at that time. Luther’s rediscovery of God’s wonderful grace was met with such enthusiasm that some felt that grace is all we need. They had “Christ Alone”, “Grace Alone”, and ”Faith Alone”, what more could they possibly need? But then there was also “Scriptures Alone”! Scriptures were the whole Bible, the Old Testament, the scriptures Jesus had, and the New Testament. Martin Luther affirmed the whole Bible, the Old and the New Testaments as the Word of God. Luther started his catechism with the chapter on the law of God, the Ten Commandments. Luther had a clear understanding of the important role of the preaching of God’s law in the lives of all Christians. The law of God not only leads people to understand their sin and leads them to Christ, but Christians also need the law as a guide for daily living because the old Adam in us is like a stubborn donkey and needs to be corrected. Edmund Schlink affirms: “To those who through faith are justified and reborn the law of God is a help and comfort as long as they walk in the Spirit, and a disciplinarian and a stick for they are also still sinners.”(2)
For that reason the Formula of Concord differentiated three ways in which the law is to be used. “The law of God serves 1) not only to maintain external discipline and decency against dissolute and disobedient people, 2) and to bring people to a knowledge of their sin through the law, 3) but those who have been born anew through the Holy Spirit, who have been converted to the Lord and from whom the veil of Moses has been taken away, learn from the law to live and walk in the law.” (3)
It was in relation to the third use of the law that the antinomian controversy arose and was dealt with very decisively in the Lutheran Confessions. Lutherans affirmed that both the gospel and the law had to be preached. It is understandable that such a debate would resurface in our time. The current wave of antinomianism accommodates permissive morals, the same sex blessing movement, and the philosophical assumptions of popular psychology that everyone is OK. Pastors, who have converted to an antinomian theology, feel no need to address the pitfalls of a permissive society and loose sexual morals. They feel no need to echo words of the Apostle Paul like, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. - Do not be conformed to this world…" Romans 12:1-2. Even the weekly confession of sins may not become necessary any more. All that antinomians have to tell the faithful is: “Jesus accepts everyone just as they are.”
“God’s grace and love are unconditional.”
“The only law we need is the law of love.”
“The Old Testament is archaic, all we need is Jesus.”
“Grace and compassion, that is what we are about.”
What could be wrong with that? That sounds very good to Lutheran ears that have been attuned to grace and love. The problem lies in what is being downplayed and what is not proclaimed. Every heresy has some truth in it. It only becomes a heresy because it ignores and suppresses other parts of the truth. The new wave of antinomianism ignores the relationship between the law and the gospel and suppresses the role of the law in the life of a Christian which was affirmed in the Lutheran Confessions. An example of how the Lutheran Reformers dealt with the heresy of antinomianism is provided in Article VI, of the Formula of Concord, THE THIRD FUNCTION OF THE LAW: “It is concerning the third function of the law that a controversy has arisen among a few theologians. The question therefore is whether or not the law is to be urged upon reborn Christians. One party said Yes, the other says No.
The Correct Christian Teaching in this Controversy
“We believe, teach, and confess that although people who genuinely believe and whom God has truly converted are freed through Christ from the curse and coercion of the law, they are not on that account without the law; on the contrary, they have been redeemed by the Son of God precisely that they should exercise themselves day and night in the law (Ps.119:1)”
“We believe, teach and confess that the preaching of the law is to be diligently applied not only to unbelievers and the impenitent but also to people who are genuinely believing, truly converted, regenerated, and justified through faith.”
“Therefore both for the penitent and the impenitent, for regenerated and unregenerated people the law is and remains one and the same law, namely, the unchangeable will of God.”
“Accordingly we condemn as dangerous and subversive of Christian discipline and true piety the erroneous teaching that the law is not to be urged, in the manner and measure above described, upon Christians and genuine believers, but only upon unbelievers, non-Christians, and the impenitent.” (4)
The whole truth is that God calls us as we are and then challenges us to change and not continue to be what we have been. The Gospel not only affirms us but it also transforms us through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Lutheran theology justification has to be followed by sanctification. The apostle Paul affirms “You are” but also tells us to change and become what we are, “Live therefore”. The indicative is followed by the imperative. Paul tells us, “For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith” Galatians 3:36, and “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1 And then the apostle Paul calls us to be what we are, to be transformed and not to live according to the flesh but according to the spirit. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.” Romans 6:12
Lutheran theology has been very clear on the distinction between law and gospel. The gospel is the gospel and the law is the law. Yet each has its own function. The law convicts us of sin and leads us to Christ. The gospel saves us from sin through our faith in Jesus Christ. “The distinction between the law and the Gospel is an especially brilliant light which serves the purpose that the Word of God may be rightly divided.” (5)
The function of the law is to expose all sins. The function of the Gospel is the proclamation of the grace and mercy of God for Christ’s sake. “In the same vein, the Smalcald Articles state: The New Testament retains and performs the office of the law, which reveals sin and God’s wrath, but to this office it immediately adds the promise of God’s grace through the Gospel. And the Apology says: The preaching of the law is not sufficient for genuine and salutary repentance; the Gospel must also be added to it. Thus both doctrines are always together, and both of them have to be urged side by side, but in proper order and with the correct distinction.”(6)
“It is true that the law is not laid down for the just, as St. Paul says (1 Tim.1:9), but for the ungodly. But this dare not be understood without qualification, as though the righteous should live without the law.”(7)
The emphasis on the Law of God, both in Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions leads us to affirm that there is another "L" word that needs to be reclaimed in Lutheran circles. “But their delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law they meditate day and night”. Psalm 1:2 Could our neglect of preaching the law as well as the gospel have contributed to the disrespect for all laws? Even lawyers today do not seem to know that the two white tabs they wear in front of their necks symbolize the Ten Commandments. The word “tabs” derives from the Latin word “tabulae” which refers to the two tables of the Ten Commandments. Is our Lutheran Church ready to forget about preaching both the law and the gospel? The constitution of our Lutheran churches states in Article II, Section 4: “This congregation subscribes the documents of the Book of Concord of 1580 as witnesses to the way in which the Holy Scriptures have been correctly understood and explained and confessed for the sake of the Gospel” (8) Lutheran pastors heard the following words addressed to them at the time of their ordination: “We also acknowledge the Lutheran Confessions as true witnesses and faithful expositions of the Holy Scriptures. Will you therefore preach and teach in accordance with the Holy Scriptures and these creeds and confessions?”
“I will and I ask God to help me”. (9)
May God help us to be faithful to proclaim the law and the gospel without sliding into legalism or antinomianism. September 2005 Notes:
(1) The Book of Concord, The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, translated and edited by Theodore G. Tappert, Fortress Press 1959, page 561,15
(2) “Denen aber, die durch den Glauben gerechtfertigt und wiedergeboren sind, ist das Gesetz Hilfe und Trost, soweit sie im Geiste wandeln, Zuchtmeister und Knuettel, soweit sie noch Suender sind” Theologie der lutherischen Bekenntnisschriften, Edmund Schlink, page 175
(3) The Book of Concord, Tappert, pages 563,1-564,1
(4) The Book of Concord, Tappert, pages 480,1-481,8
(5) The Book of Concord, Tappert, page 558,1
(6) The Book of Concord, Tappert, pages 560,14-561,15
(7) The Book of Concord, Tappert, page 564,5
(8) Approved Model Constitution for Congregations, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, page 2
(9) Occasional Services, Augsburg Publishing House, 1987, page 194, With permission to copy and distribute this essay without further approval. For comments, the author can be contacted at loschwa@telusplanet.net
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