LAW AND GOSPEL

“If any of you are well versed in this art, I mean, if any of you can rightly make this distinction [between law and gospel], he would deserve to be called a doctor of theology. For Law and Gospel must be distinguished from each other. The role of the Law is to terrify men, to drive them crazy and to despair … until they realize they can do neither what the Law demands nor achieve God’s favor…. This state of affairs goes on and on until a person becomes quite weary and is forced to say, ” I have had it up to here with being godly according to Moses and the Law. I am going to follow another Preacher, who says to me, ‘Come to Me, if you labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ ” …. This kind of preaching is wholly different from the teaching of the Law of Moses, which deals only with works. The Law says, “You shall not sin…. Go and be godly….Do this, do that….” But Christ says, “Accept the fact that you are not godly. But I have been godly in your stead.”

~Martin Luther