A Quick Study on Law and Gospel, Thesis 14, September 30, 2018

This quick study on Law and Gospel was given at the end of service at St. Peter–Immanuel Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on September 30, 2018. The text of the study is included and you may play the audio of the study here.

Walther says, perhaps a bit confusingly for the modern ear, in Law and Gospel, that you are not rightly distinguishing Law and Gospel in the Word of God if you demand that faith is a condition for justification and salvation.  It would would be wrong to preach that people are righteous in the sight of God and are saved not only by their faith, but also on account of their faith, for the sake of their faith, or in view of their faith.  It is absolutely true that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone.  We are saved by faith alone, made righteous in the eyes of God by faith alone.
But, when we say “faith,” we must mean it the way the Scriptures mean it.  Many times, when we’re thinking about faith we’re thinking about all the content surrounding it: the doctrine, the life, the morals.  Sometimes, people say “faith” and they mean the gift of God followed by our love towards others (that idea sparked much debate during the Reformation).  Some mean the faith that you have in God, the faith you’re creating to follow Him.
But, God’s Word really only means that a person is justified and saved, not by their own acts, but solely by doing and dying of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the whole world.  This is completely outside you, you cannot find it within to believe it, because the idea is so incredible.  This cannot be a construct of man as it is literally unbelievable on its own.  No, to believe this is a gift of faith, given by the Holy Spirit.  And when I say gift, I mean it.
Do you earn gifts?  No.  Are you expected to reciprocate when a gift is given?  No.  The gift of God is given freely, with no expectation of a gift in kind.  God certainly expects, by His Law, that we will follow His commands for the sake of our neighbors and ourselves, but that’s even a gift that He’s given.  It’s still not out of our own hearts; it’s His transforming us.
Rather, faith as a gift is given, just as God gave His own Son, not that we would return the favor, but that we would cherish it, make it ours, honor it.  God gives faith, and through that gift, He saves us.  He doesn’t give faith to only those He saved, that would fit within the Reformed/Evangelical camp of theology.  Rather, He gives faith out lavishly, to any who would hear His Word.  This is why we say Christ died for all, for all have access to the same saving faith given even to you.  Faith then, the gift, is given through the hearing of His Word, and faith, that gift does save you.  It is not a creation of ours, but a gift depended upon God’s good grace.