Law and Gospel: Introduction

In all our recent thinking about healthy eating, I came across information from a few different sources on the potential risks of eating pork and other scavenger animals, which got me to thinking about Old Testament law and its relevance for the New Testament believer. I began to realize that my understanding of how a Christian should view the Law is severely underdeveloped. I’ve grown up under the assumption that the Ten Commandments and some other OT laws (like capital punishment) still apply, but others, like laws about animal slaughter and tearing moldy bits out of garments, don’t. But why I would believe this I could never tell you… I’ve often had questions, when the issue of capital punishment comes up, as to why we think that’s good but don’t follow all the rest of the Law… But it seemed too complicated an issue to really think about, so I let it go.

Lately, however, I am beginning to see just how relevant the question of law and gospel really is to everyday living, and besides that, any theological issue that I am willing to ignore because of potential complications just shows how little I care about what God’s Word really says. I should be desiring to grow deeper in understanding in all areas of doctrine, especially those I don’t understand well or have firm convictions on! So I’ve resolved to begin some study in the area of law and gospel, which, for the time being, consists of reading through the “Law” (Exodus through Deuteronomy, plus some parts of Genesis) during my devotional time in the morning, and reading Five Views on Law and Gospel for some academic treatment of the various views on the subject. As I am doing this study, which is likely to last some months, I will be posting thoughts, observations, convictions and conclusions periodically on this blog… a series of sorts. Feel free to comment with your own meditations! Later today (assuming the day goes at least partially according to plan;-)): Underlying Assumptions. Stay tuned!