Law or Gospel Results
Recently, I wrote a post about the classic Protestant distinction between law and gospel. Broadly speaking, law is what God expects of us: the standard by which we are judged, and gospel is what God promises for us (especially in and through Jesus Christ). The post ended with a poll, where we looked at several statements and voted as to whether or not they were law or gospel. Here are the results.
Thou Shalt Not Kill:
89% identified it as law. 11 % identified it as gospel. It is an example of law.
Why is it law? Because it very clearly tells us what we should do. There is no promise in this statement.
Jesus Died for our Sins:
100 % identified it as gospel. It is gospel.
Why is it gospel? Because it does not give us anything to do. It simply tells us what God has done.
We should worship Jesus:
63% identified it as law. 38% identified it as gospel (and I’m not sure how it managed to add up to 101 percent). This statement is law.
Why is it law? Because it tells us what to do. Worshiping Jesus is good! We should do it. It’s a great goal. But if it becomes the basis of our relationship with God, we’re all going to hell, because we frequently worship other things besides Jesus. Good goals make horrible gospels.
God Accepts us Because of Jesus:
100% correctly identified this as gospel.
Why is it gospel? Again, because it’s all about what God is doing for us. You won’t find any instructions there.
Jesus will Never Leave us or Forsake Us:
100% correctly identified this as gospel.
Why is it gospel? It’s a promise. God’s doing it, not us.
God wants Changed Hearts, not just Behavior:
50% identified this as law. 50% identified it as gospel. And it is law.
Why is this law (and I suspected that many would identify it as gospel)? Because it shows us what God wants from us. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus explains that the law doesn’t just regulate our behavior, but our hearts and motives. He wasn’t changing the law, or making it harder. Instead, he was showing us how hard it had been all along. He tells us that anger is like murder in the heart. I can keep from taking someone’s life. But for the life of me, I can’t stop getting angry. There’s no way I can change my heart. And if that’s what God demands of me, then I’m damned.
The good news, though, is not that God looks at our heart (this would be bad news indeed), but rather that Jesus lived a perfect life. His heart was always right before God. And he died for my sinful heart’s affections and intentions. And he rose from the dead. And that on that basis, God accepts me. God doesn’t look at my heart. He looks at Jesus. And now I’m free. That kind of news can change the heart. But the change of heart is not the news.
Always remember. The gospel is for you. But it is not about you.
Posted by: Gene Schlesinger
This is good Gene. Thanks!