The heart of Protestant preaching.
The heart of Protestant preaching.
R. Scott Clark on the importance of declaring the law and the gospel.
In a sprawling essay called, “Letter and Spirit: Law and Gospel in Reformed Preaching,” which is actually just a full-length chapter from a compendium of essays entitled, Covenant, Justification, and Pastoral Ministry, editor R. Scott Clark traces the historical and theological significance of the “two words paradigm” known as law-gospel. You might recall a previous post in which I engaged with Todd Brewer’s treatment of the same topic. I make no apologies for alluding to and engaging with another article in the same vein. In many ways, this speaks to the relevance and fundamental importance of these two words, that is the law and the gospel. Understanding the Word of God through this lens unfurls, with incandescent clarity, the enormity and indispensability of Christ’s work on behalf of sinners, without which the proclamation of God’s good news will be severely enfeebled.
The law-gospel framework, Clark observes, is not strictly speaking “Lutheran,” although the eponymous and feisty German reformer is often credited with its creation. Rather, according to Clark, it is a “Reformed” paradigm, the record of which is robust among post-Reformation confessional and catechetical theologians. Clark’s essay includes citations from John Calvin, Theodore Beza, Zacharias Ursinus, Girolamo Zanchi, and Johannes Wollebius, among several others, to demonstrate the proliferation of the law-gospel hermeneutic within Reformed schools of theology that were both contemporary with and successors to the Reformation movement of the 1500s. Be that as it may, I shudder to insinuate anything other than the fact that Luther’s contributions to the development of the understanding of the law and the gospel were critical to the establishment of Protestant churches.
In consideration of the fact that do not share or adhere to an entirely “Reformed” interpretation of the Christian faith, I would further contend that the distinction between God’s words of the law and the gospel is not necessarily denominationally specific. Rather, it is biblical. Indeed, I co-sign what Clark attests early on that “the Protestant law/gospel hermeneutic is not only Reformed, but also a basic part of ‘interpreting correctly’ (ὀρθοτομοῦντα) (2 Tim. 2:15) and preaching correctly God’s word.” “Rightly handling the word of truth,” as Paul puts it, necessitates discerning and declaring God’s two words, both the one that kills and the other that gives life (2 Cor. 3:6). This is profoundly informative for preachers whose responsibilities include crafting and delivering weekly sermons. The rampant conflation and confusion of these two words is, by and large, partly responsible for the Evangelical demise.
If you have interacted with this blog for any length of time, you will, perhaps, be familiar with my sentiments regarding the state of the modern pulpit. Although I do not wish to inveigh undue criticism on pastors and preachers, I do share Clark’s considerable concern for the lack of law-gospel enunciation. The fact is that modern pulpits are weighed down by an abundance of law-centered preaching that masquerades as gospel proclamation. Without this paradigm informing the entire process of sermon development all the way through articulating it, the preacher risks offering his parishioners an anathematized “glawspel,” to imbibe United Methodist minister, Jason Micheli. When this happens, God’s word gets twisted and the Christian life becomes a warped and self-centered scheme by which sinners “progress” in righteousness according to the fortitude and fervency of their fidelity to the dictates of Scripture.
Properly understood, though, the righteousness after which preachers strive can only be given via the announcement of the gospel, which gifts the very righteousness of God to those who believe (Rom. 1:16–17). This is not to suggest that gospel preaching eschews decorum, however. “It is not that the law is strict and the gospel is lax,” Clark writes. “Rather, both law and gospel require ‘perfect obedience.’ The law demands it of us, and the gospel announces that Christ has accomplished it.” Here, then, is the crux of the whole matter — namely, being made right with God our Creator is only possible when sinners accept by faith what God’s Son, the Redeemer, accomplished for them through his life, death, and resurrection. The gospel, properly understood, will be delivered with nary a hint of quid pro quo or reciprocity. Rather, it is a free gift (Eph. 2:8–9). Clark puts it this way:
It is essential to this discussion to understand that the Heidelberg Catechism defines the gospel solely in terms of God’s gracious provision of Christ’s active and passive obedience, which satisfies the justice for God for all who believe. There is not the slightest shadow over any part of the catechism suggesting that Christian obedience is either the ground or instrument of justification . . . The message of the gospel to believers is that “all their sins are really forgiven them of God for the sake of Christ’s merits.”
Headlining a preacher’s job description is the task of pointing his congregants to Christ, over and over and over again. This is primarily and most effectively accomplished by preaching the law and the gospel in their fullness, without reservation or hesitation, notwithstanding the biblical text. In so doing, the church’s one abiding hope, which is found in Christ alone, is placarded for everyone to see and believe. Despite the worst efforts of mankind to continue in sin, God in Christ has intervened to offer every sinner a gift of righteousness, which is himself. “The ground of the gospel,” Clark concludes, “is Christ’s performance.” Remarkably, he has entrusted the delivery of this message to fellow sinners whom he appoints to specifically and singularly announce the law and the gospel to afflict and absolve. Insofar as these words comprise the preacher’s sermon, sinners and saints are shown their inability to save themselves and Jesus’s proclivity to redeem.
Grace and peace to you.