The Terms Law and Gospel
We differentiate between Law and Gospel when both terms are used in their proper sense. The Law in the proper sense (lex proprie accepta) is the Word of God in which God demands of men that in their nature and in their thoughts, words, and acts they conform to the standard of His commandments and pronounces the curse on those who fail to comply. The Gospel in the proper sense (evangelium proprie acceptum) is the Word of God in which God maks no moral demands, whatever on men, hence reproves no transgressions, but, on the contrary promises His grace for the sake of Christ’s vicarious satisfaction to such as have not kept the divine Law.
The term ”Law” is used in its proper, i.e., primary, sense in Scripture when it refers to what does not bear on faith, but demands perfect observance on the part of man (Gal. 3:12), pronounces the curse on all transgressors (Gal. 3:10), stops the mouth of all the world (Rom. 3:20). The term “Gospel” is used in its proper sense in Holy Writ when it refers to what does not call for works, but for faith (Rom. 1:16-17), hence does not condemn sinners, but assures them of grace (Acts 20:24), peace (Rom. 10:15; Eph. 6:15), and salvation (Eph. 1:13).
The term “Law” is used in Holy Writ also in a wider, or general, sense to designate all the divine revelation, and, moreover, the divine revelation, the Gospel, as in Is. 2:3: “For out of Zion shall go forth the Law.” The term “Gospel,” too, is used in Holy Writ to designate the whole body of Christian doctrine. In this case it is synecdoche, denominating by its principal part all that is to be taught in and by the Church. ‘Denominatio fit a parte potiori. Ex parte digniori et potiori totum intelligitur.’ Thus Mark 1:1 says of the whole Gospel according to St. Mark, in which also the preaching of repentance by John the Baptist is recorded (v. 4ff.): “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” But the term “Gospel” is never used to designate the Law in the proper sense.
This use of the term “Gospel” in the wider and in the proper, or narrower, sense is noted in the Formula of Concord too. A controversy had arisen as to the question whether the Gospel also may be called a preaching of repentance and judgment, more particularly, whether it is correct to say that the Gospel reproves the sin of unbelief. The Formula of Concord answers yes if the term “Gospel” is used in the wider sense (proprie). The Formula says: “Now, when we consider this dissent [whether the Gospel should be called a preaching of repentance] aright, it has been caused chiefly by this, that the term “Gospel” is not always employed and understood in one and the same sense, but in two ways, in the Holy Scriptures, as also by ancient and modern church teachers. For sometimes it is employed so that there is understood by it the entire doctrine of Christ, our Lord, which he proclaimed in His ministry upon earth, and commanded to be proclaimed in the New Testament, and hence comprised in it the explanation of the Law and the proclamation of the favor and grace of God, His heavenly Father, as it is written, Mark 1:1: ‘The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.’ And shortly afterwards the chief heads are stated: ‘Repentance and forgiveness of sins.’” (Trigl. 953, Sol. Decl. V, 3f.) This is “the description of the word ‘Gospel’ when employed in a wide sense and without the proper distinction between Law and the Gospel.” In this “wide sense” the Gospel may be called a preaching of repentance. “Furthermore the term ‘Gospel’ is employed in another, namely, in its proper sense, by which it comprises not the preaching of repentance, but only the preaching of the grace of God, as follows directly afterwards, Mark 1:15, where Christ says: ‘Repent, and believe the Gospel.’” (Trigl. 953, ibid., 6.)
