What is the Distinction Between Law and Gospel?

When we think of the word “Law” we probably think about our judicial system, the Laws that govern our land. But God also has Laws. He gave us the Ten Commandments, which we are all likely familiar with. There is also a Law which is written on each of our hearts (Romans 3:14-15). We all have consciences. We know the difference between right and wrong. There are Laws that govern every country, every group of people in the world. We are all born with the knowledge that some things are wrong, and others aren’t.

Some people think that the Bible is essentially just a book of Law. They think that it’s fundamentally a book that tells us what we should do and what we shouldn’t do. And so, as good Christians, we should try and follow the commands given in the Bible. Well, there certainly are commands in the Bible, but that is not the end of the story. There is something we need to notice about God’s commands in the Bible. People break them. A lot. This pattern goes all the way back to the Garden. Adam and Eve were given the commandment not to eat of the forbidden fruit. And what did they do? They ate it. This has been our legacy ever since. We are told certain things that we shouldn’t do, and then we do exactly what we are told not to.

God gave us the Law, not so that we might save ourselves by obeying it, but so that we might come to understand that we break it. God gave us a Law so that we might realize that we are sinners. St. Paul writes that God gave the Law “so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the Law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:19-20) The Law, rather than being given so that we could earn salvation for ourselves, was given to show us that we can’t save ourselves! We need someone to rescue us from our sin.

This is where the Gospel comes in. The Gospel is the opposite of the Law. In the Law we are told what we need to do, and we are shown that we don’t obey it. In the Gospel we are shown something very different. We are told what someone else did for us. We are given the message that Jesus died for all of our sin, and that he rose from the dead to bring us eternal life. It is the Gospel that saves us, not the Law. Some have used the acronym S.O.S. to explain the difference between the Law and the Gospel. The Law shows our sin. The Gospel shows our savior.

The Law and the Gospel are important for our lives each and every day. In the Law, we see that we are sinners. Because even though the Spirit is at work within us, we still have a sin nature. We do many things that are wrong and sinful. In the Gospel, we see our Savior who is so gracious and loving that he forgives us and renews us each and every day of our lives. And so even though the Law continues to show us what we have done wrong, it is ultimately the Gospel that has the final say. Your salvation comes, not by what you do according to the Law, but by what Christ has done for you in the Gospel.