Comments from the Author

By the Rev. John T. Pless

Our God is a vocal God; He speaks. Unlike idols made of mute stone or crafted by the imaginations of the faithless heart, the living God has a voice. He speaks and His words are “spirit and life” (John 6:63). By His strong Word the Father brought creation into existence. His Word made flesh is the revelation of His fatherly goodness and the author of our salvation, for He was sent to suffer and die as our Savior. The Word of our Savior’s cross, the message of reconciliation in the forgiveness of sins, is preached for the creation of faith as “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). The same Spirit given by Jesus to His apostles on Easter evening (see John 20:22) inspired them to put the Word into writing “so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). We read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the words of the Holy Scriptures to use the words of an old prayer, not to become better Bible trivia players but because in them Jesus speaks.

One Lutheran theologian writes “The Holy Scriptures therefore are nothing less than the ongoing pentecost miracle, as Martin Kahler once wrote. In a world where many voices become audible, where truth and error form an inseparable mish-mash, God’s highest gift to mankind is the sure foundation which the Spirit has laid for us in the unchanging writings of the prophets and the apostles. It is God Himself who verifies and falsifies our faith and theology, through the infallible words of Scripture” (Armin Wenz, “Justification and Holy Scripture” Logia, Eastertide 2005, p. 9). It is by the Scriptures alone that we are given knowledge of the One who is the way, the truth, and the life. Martin Luther would write that the “Holy Scriptures constitute a book which turns the wisdom of all other books into foolishness, because not one teaches about eternal life except this one alone” (AE 34:285).

God speaks in two completely different voices to us in the Scripture. His Law is the preaching of wrath against sin. It is that voice from Sinai’s lofty heights that thunders with condemnation of the sinner and his sin. The Gospel stands in distinct contrast from the Law. While the Law makes demands and threatens with punishment, the Gospel makes promises and bespeaks peace with God in the blood of Jesus Christ. Where the Law is not clearly distinguished from the Gospel, the Bible will be misused. Jesus will be transformed into something other than a Savior, a “new Moses” who is the spiritual coach, teacher of moral precepts, or pattern for the pious life. Lutherans practice that highest art of all, rightly reading the Scriptures so that threat is distinguished from God’s promises in Christ Jesus.

To mix the Law and the Gospel is to lose both. When the Gospel is blended with the Law we are deceived into thinking that with the right amount of willpower, discipline, perseverance, and effort we can make ourselves right before God. Likewise when the Law is seen as an additive to the Gospel, Christ Jesus becomes less of a Savior and more of an example. There is no good news in an offer of salvation that depends upon emulating Christ. In fact we would be lost from the start, for who of us has been born of a Virgin and lived a life of complete perfection without sin? Sinners do not need a teacher or an example but a Savior, and that is exactly what God has given us in His Son.

In reading the Scriptures and in speaking God’s Word, we are to distinguish the Law from the Gospel. The Law comes by way of demand. It speaks to what we must do or leave undone. The Gospel is never about what I must do, but about what God has done and what He continues to do for me as my Savior. As you read the Bible pay attention to who it is that is carrying the action of the verbs of salvation. It is always the Lord, and that’s good news!

Because God’s Word is filled with His Spirit it is never static but living and working God’s own purposes. God’s Word says what it does and does what it says. Alive with God’s Spirit, His Word bestows what it promises. It does not merely describe who Christ is and what He does as our Savior. It delivers Him to us, creating faith which receives Him. The knowledge that God’s Word is potent enlivens in us patience to hear and speak His Word, confident that it will accomplish His will.

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