1.21 blog

Over the course of the last month or so, I’ve been blogging about the classic Protestant distinction between law (everything God requires of us) and gospel (everything that God does for and promises to us).

We’ve discussed the difference between the two, as well as the proper place of the law in the life of a Christian (the third use). And in general, this is where I focus. But yesterday, Pastor Stephen delivered a powerful, convicting message from the third chapter of Romans, and in it he brought up another aspect of the law that we often miss, which the Reformed branch of the Reformation referred to as the law’s first use (the Lutherans called it the second use). The law restrains our evil.

In the sermon, he argued that the Bible is true when it tells us that no one is righteous, and that no one does good. We may like to think of ourselves as good people, but the Scriptures don’t leave this as an option. Often we protest, but I’ve not killed anyone or anything like that! However, as Stephen pointed out, a lot of times the only reason we’ve not done this is because of the police. If you look at what happens when the rule of law breaks down (e.g., after Hurricane Katrina), you’ll see that people very quickly cast of restraint. Robbery, violence, rape, and murder become the norm. We have to understand, though, these aren’t just the “bad people.” They are people just like us, who have found themselves in a world where there’s no one to stop them from doing whatever they want to. All of us would degenerate into murdering thieves if there were no consequences and no one would find out. As Saint Augustine noted, the only reason babies don’t commit murder to get their way is that they’re not strong enough. I’ve gotten enough death stares from children whose plans I’ve thwarted to know that this is true.

And so we should be grateful for the first use of the law. Our world is pretty messed up, but it would be a lot worse without it.

With that said, though, the first use of the law isn’t enough. I realize that, in general, we’re pretty good citizens. Our sin is restrained by the civil law. Oh, some of us may have a penchant for exceeding the speed limit, and some of us have a tendency to steal music (and by the way, I know that song’s funny, but seriously, if you’re making illegal copies of stuff, you need to stop), but in general, we do a pretty good job obeying the law.

But that’s not what God asks for or demands. The first use blesses us by restraining us from outward acts of evil. But God is concerned with more than that. He’s concerned with our heart and our desires. It’s not enough to not sleep with your neighbor’s wife. If you’d like to, that’s bad enough as far as God’s concerned. The first use of the law can produce what Luther called a civic righteousness, where we’re good citizens who do good things. But it can never produce a true righteousness before God because it cannot eliminate or change our sinful desires. The law is insufficient to save us. For that, we need the gospel. We need Jesus and his work on our behalf.

Posted by: Gene Schlesinger