This continues from Part L07 (Table of Contents in Part L01) in a series on the instruction of the Law by C. F. W. Walther and Martin Luther. — In this segment, Walther addresses the first of three reasons on why the preaching of the Law is also important in the New Testament. — Lehre und Wehre, vol. 7 (Dec. 1861), p. 362 ff.:
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III. Why must the Law also be proclaimed in the New Testament and also to Christians?
1. Because the law contains the unchangeable will of God, indelibly written in the heart of every human being, as the eternal, irrevocable and unchanging guideline for all beings created for the knowledge and fellowship of God, as Christ expressly says: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets. I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5:17-19.
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What Luther says about the law "as the eternal, irrevocable and unchanging guideline":
- “Whoever does away with the Law must also do away with sin. If he wants to let sin stand, he must rather let the Law stand. For (Romans 5:13) where there is no law, there is no sin: if there is no sin, Christ is nothing. For why, if there is neither law nor sin, does he die for it?”
- “But he [the devil] proceeds to make people secure, and teaches them to have no regard for either the law or sin, so that if they should suddenly be overtaken with death or an evil conscience, having previously been accustomed to sweet assurance, they might sink to hell without any counsel, as if they had been taught nothing but sweet assurance in Christ”
- “With the latter words Luther obviously wants to say that whoever knows what the law is and that it still proves its power will not despair even in the felt terror of conscience, for he will turn from the law to the Gospel, where he will find what the law demands. But if one thinks that the law has been taken away and yet is assailed by the terror of conscience, there is no help, counsel or consolation available.”
- “Whoever does away with the Law must also do away with sin.”
- “For Christ has freed us from the curse, not from the obedience of the law. … Therefore see to it that you rightly distinguish between the two words and do not give more to the law than is due to it; otherwise you will deny the gospel.”
- “Therefore the law will never be abolished in eternity, but remains either to be fulfilled in the damned or fulfilled in the saved.”
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These lessons on the Law were quite instructive for me, not only as a review of my past training, but also on what aspects still surprised me. — In the next Part L09…
