The State uses the Law.
The Church uses the Gospel.
(Post is done. Everyone go home. Good game.)
Okay, so, maybe its a little more involved than that. What is meant by Law and Gospel, in this context? Lets start with the apparently more challenging one.
The Law is a very multi-faceted issue. There are parts of it that were composed for a temporary use, while other parts have existed since before time, and a few from both categories are able to overlap, in a way. An example, perhaps?
Killing has always been wrong. But that statement is quite broad. Killing anything? Are there things we can kill? And when? Why? From the "big picture" side, all forms of death are bad, this is a philosophical issue that runs consistent. This objective truth is founded in the morality of the writer of the Law - God. All other laws are extensions of this, influenced by the context of the Fall.
That is what makes the Law a challenge to nail down. Is it wrong to kill? Yes. As a soldier who is sent to rescue POWs? Well... no, quite the opposite, in context. It is the vocation of the soldier to use force, even deadly force, but that does not mean he doesn't serve without sin, since he, like all of us, is sinful from birth. Confession and absolution is still necessary. Just because the context allows it temporally does not mean it is a "free play" existentially.
Now, ignore that cobweb riddled rabbit hole for a moment while I try to get back to the actual point.
The State's role is best summed up in Romans chapter 13. It is the job of the State to compose rules for the safety, betterment, and even control of the earthly realm. Things like speed limits, tax laws, building codes, TSA standards, sports regulations, website terms and conditions, etc.
This means it is not the State's job to forgive things. If you break a law, you are due punishment. This is appropriate. The State is tasked with being an overlord. It levies taxes, conducts war, and prosecutes criminals. Is it possible for the State to go too far? Of course. But, as I've posted before, so long as the State is within God's established boundaries, we as Christians are to faithfully serve and follow all Biblically sound laws. If the State exceeds its limits we are to seek out ways of bringing it back into those limits, preferably by legal means that do not require violence.
Now, for the actually challenging one.
The Church is tasked with forgiving sins, in the stead and by the command of Christ, who paid for all (ALL) transgressions. The Church is not given the right to form rules for life now, though they are to adhere to the Law of God, summed up in the Commandments. But the Church's primary, if not sole, role is to proclaim the Gospel. If you are at a church that does not proclaim Christ crucified as the point of every sermon and worship service... well you're probably not at a Christian church.
And here we get to why this is the more difficult one for us. With the State, there are rules, standards, codes by which to measure our actions by. We can see progress and grasp how to be "better." Its like a checklist, and we like checklists. Being able to complete a task is very rewarding. Even more so if it leads to something better. That is something the Law claims to give us: a checklist of how to be a better person. And we humans very much like that, especially us Americans. Being able to self-justify and prove we are "worthy" is, for many of us, a driving goal in life. But, in the grand scheme of salvation, it doesn't work this way. The truth is completely logical and rational, yet it is exactly opposite to what we think should be "fair," and we simply can't wrap our minds around it.
What we cannot grasp is twofold. One, the State (and by extension, the Law) cannot help us, in any way, to be a better (read: sanctified, justified) person. Two, no matter how much we keep the Law, even if someone could be completely perfect regarding any and all aspects of the Law, our only reward ultimately is Hell.
"But if God established a law to be better, and it doesn't work that way, how do we get to heaven?"
We don't get to heaven. We don't do anything. We are the lifeless person drowning in the pool. What can the drowning, unconscious man do to save himself?
The Gospel is rescue, that we are powerless to participate in. We are passive, receiving Grace that we have neither earned nor deserved. We deserve Hell. Thanks be to God that Christ came and saved us from sin, death, and our own self-serving nature.
That is the Church's duty. To proclaim the Cross and the Empty Tomb. To give us the knowledge that we are not hopeless, but saved, which frees us to be able to attempt to adhere to the law. We'll fail, but we are forgiven.
But where does Law and Gospel come to action? That is what the Three Estates is all about. Until next time...
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