What's Different about Lutheranism? Part 1 of 3
3/14/24
I recall one day when I was doing campus visibility. I had just sat down at a table at the Student Center and put up my "Free Listens and Prayers" sign. Before I had a chance to drop a note about it onto social media, someone sat down across from me. He wanted to know what's different about Lutherans than other church bodies. I found out what he was using as a comparison, then tried to describe the difference in terms he would understand. He thanked me and left. About a minute later, another person came, sat down, and asked the same question. She was from a different background than the first person. They weren't trying to pick on me. Nothing like that. It struck me that there's some curiosity out there. What are Lutheran distinctives? Why would you want to be part of a Lutheran church?
I think there are three primary distinctives of Lutheranism. We could talk about similarities with other church bodies for a long long time, but let's try to identify some of the things that make it special. Because I try to limit the length of my blog posts, I will deal with one per post.
Lutherans specifically look at Scripture in terms of Law and Gospel. We consider it very important not to confuse the two. Let's describe them.
Law is what God requires of us. Did God say to do something? It's a law statement. Does God make a regulation? It's a law statement.
Gospel is what God has done for us. By that, I don't mean that because God commands something that's good for us it's a gospel statement. No, gospel in this sense applies only to God's particular actions done for us.
When we confuse Law and Gospel, it always leads to some sort of trouble. After all, we are not capable of doing the gospel. Only God can do that. If we try, we are both trying to take the place of God, and setting ourselves up for certain failure and discouragement.
One of the problems we have with God's law is that we aren't able to do it adequately. Only Jesus can do that. Yet that doesn't make the law bad. It's good, very good, so good that God will affirm it as what is pleasing to Him. We want God's law to be kept.
The law has several functions. First, it keeps society civil. If God says "don't murder" and a society agrees and complies with that law, the society is going to be relatively safe, at least from murder. He also prohibits stealing. Great idea!
A second function of the law is that it shows us our sin and failure. For instance, when God says to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, that's a 24/7/365 responsibility, sleeping and waking, throughout our entire life. We have certainly failed at this. It shows us our need for a savior. It shows us that we need something outside of ourselves to reconcile us to God.
A third function of the law is that it shows us what is pleasing to God. He likes it when we depend on him. He likes us to live at peace with one another. He likes it when we make a distinction between being his people and being people who don't care about him. Unlike people in folk religions, paganism, or any of the many therapeutic attempts at religion we can buy in the self-help bookstore, the God of the Bible tells us what is pleasing. We don't have to guess.
Since we can't keep the law perfectly, one thing the law does is to accuse us. The law does other things as well, but regardless, it always accuses us. There's always some failure on my part. Again, this drives me to my Savior for forgiveness.
Now, the Gospel part is easier. Again, only God in Christ can do the things of the gospel. It's what God does for us. Jesus keeps the law of God on our behalf and in our place. Jesus delivers his perfect righteousness to us. What do we do? We receive it by faith. Through the Gospel we receive life, hope, and peace with God. And it comes in a way that never accuses us or condemns us. That's the law's job.
The distinction between Law and Gospel is uniquely described in Lutheran theology. It's a compass that we need to see our path rightly. It serves as an anchor to keep us from becoming a shipwreck on the rocks of life. Lutherans do it like no other church body that I know.
3/14/24
I recall one day when I was doing campus visibility. I had just sat down at a table at the Student Center and put up my "Free Listens and Prayers" sign. Before I had a chance to drop a note about it onto social media, someone sat down across from me. He wanted to know what's different about Lutherans than other church bodies. I found out what he was using as a comparison, then tried to describe the difference in terms he would understand. He thanked me and left. About a minute later, another person came, sat down, and asked the same question. She was from a different background than the first person. They weren't trying to pick on me. Nothing like that. It struck me that there's some curiosity out there. What are Lutheran distinctives? Why would you want to be part of a Lutheran church?
I think there are three primary distinctives of Lutheranism. We could talk about similarities with other church bodies for a long long time, but let's try to identify some of the things that make it special. Because I try to limit the length of my blog posts, I will deal with one per post.
Lutherans specifically look at Scripture in terms of Law and Gospel. We consider it very important not to confuse the two. Let's describe them.
Law is what God requires of us. Did God say to do something? It's a law statement. Does God make a regulation? It's a law statement.
Gospel is what God has done for us. By that, I don't mean that because God commands something that's good for us it's a gospel statement. No, gospel in this sense applies only to God's particular actions done for us.
When we confuse Law and Gospel, it always leads to some sort of trouble. After all, we are not capable of doing the gospel. Only God can do that. If we try, we are both trying to take the place of God, and setting ourselves up for certain failure and discouragement.
One of the problems we have with God's law is that we aren't able to do it adequately. Only Jesus can do that. Yet that doesn't make the law bad. It's good, very good, so good that God will affirm it as what is pleasing to Him. We want God's law to be kept.
The law has several functions. First, it keeps society civil. If God says "don't murder" and a society agrees and complies with that law, the society is going to be relatively safe, at least from murder. He also prohibits stealing. Great idea!
A second function of the law is that it shows us our sin and failure. For instance, when God says to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, that's a 24/7/365 responsibility, sleeping and waking, throughout our entire life. We have certainly failed at this. It shows us our need for a savior. It shows us that we need something outside of ourselves to reconcile us to God.
A third function of the law is that it shows us what is pleasing to God. He likes it when we depend on him. He likes us to live at peace with one another. He likes it when we make a distinction between being his people and being people who don't care about him. Unlike people in folk religions, paganism, or any of the many therapeutic attempts at religion we can buy in the self-help bookstore, the God of the Bible tells us what is pleasing. We don't have to guess.
Since we can't keep the law perfectly, one thing the law does is to accuse us. The law does other things as well, but regardless, it always accuses us. There's always some failure on my part. Again, this drives me to my Savior for forgiveness.
Now, the Gospel part is easier. Again, only God in Christ can do the things of the gospel. It's what God does for us. Jesus keeps the law of God on our behalf and in our place. Jesus delivers his perfect righteousness to us. What do we do? We receive it by faith. Through the Gospel we receive life, hope, and peace with God. And it comes in a way that never accuses us or condemns us. That's the law's job.
The distinction between Law and Gospel is uniquely described in Lutheran theology. It's a compass that we need to see our path rightly. It serves as an anchor to keep us from becoming a shipwreck on the rocks of life. Lutherans do it like no other church body that I know.
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