Author: Micah

The Use of Law and Gospel in Paul’s Epistles

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The following essay was written for a theology course I took on The Pauline Epistles. I wanted to share it here so that anyone who reads it would hopefully benefit from it as well. The essay is meant to describe the relationship between law and gospel in Paul’s letters, while providing examples of how he uses both. I pray that God would work faith within your heart as you read these truths from His Word.

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. . . For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:1-2, 5-6 (ESV)

 

 

The epistles of St. Paul offer a wealth of theological exposition on the doctrines of law and gospel. In his letters can be found the clearest explanation on the relationship between these two distinct yet intrinsically intertwined words from God. Before examining Paul’s use of both law and gospel in his epistles, it is necessary to establish the meaning of these terms. Edward Koehler, in his book A Summary of Christian Doctrine, briefly describes the meanings of the law and the gospel:

Both terms are used in the Bible in a wide and narrow sense. In the wide sense, either of the terms denotes the entire revelation of God. In the narrow and proper sense, the Law is the law of the commandments, and the Gospel is the glad tidings of God’s grace. The Law and the Gospel have these things in common: Both are God’s Word. Both apply to all people. Both are to be taught side by side in the church until the end of time. Nevertheless, they are fundamentally different. They are to be carefully distinguished, as the apostle Paul exhorts: “rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15) (259)

Thus, because both the law and the gospel are part of God’s revelation to mankind through the Scriptures, they both must be upheld in their fullness. The apostle Paul maintains that both the law and the gospel have imperative applications in the lives of believers, although they each serve their own distinct purpose.st-paul-conversion

When describing the relationship between law and gospel, the law is typically outlined and explained first. This is because the gospel comes as God’s perfect response to the law, and therefore is reliant upon it. Paul discusses the law extensively in his letter to the Galatians. For instance, Paul talks about the purpose of the law in Galatians 3:19, “Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary” (ESV). Although Paul makes it clear in other places that God’s moral law was written on the hearts of men (Rom. 2:15), God also gave the law to the Israelites in physical form through Moses. The law is God’s perfect and holy command concerning what is right and what is wrong. Paul indicates here that the law was given in order to make people conscious of the fact that they are sinners. In fact, the law is so strict in its demands for perfection that no sinful human being is capable of following it anywhere near perfectly. Nobody can become justified and righteous before God by obeying the law, as Paul notes in Galatians 2:16, “… by the works of the law no one will be justified.”

Because of this fact, all men stand condemned before God for not obeying His holy will. Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:56, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” If no human is capable of justifying himself before God, then how can one be saved? Paul answers this question with clarity in Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” This message of redemption by grace through faith is the message of the gospel. This passage also makes another important point—having faith in God is not a “work” that Christians perform to be saved. Faith itself is even a gift from God, one that men could not produce on their own. Because men are unable to save themselves through obedience to the law, God sent a savior to fulfill the law in man’s place. Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, paid the debt of sin by suffering and dying on the cross. In 2 Corinthians 2:19, Paul says, “… in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them….” That is, God sent Jesus to redeem mankind from its fallen and sinful state, in order that God and man would once again be at peace with one another, as before the fall.

Although the gospel makes it clear that the human race has been saved entirely by Jesus’ merits alone, some Christians in Paul’s day still wanted to fit human works of the law into the picture of redemption. Among Christians in Galatia, the Judaizers were propagating the idea that Christians could only be saved if they were circumcised and followed Old Testament Jewish customs. They were attempting to make works of the law some form of supplement to the gospel, something that men must do to become worthy of Christ’s work. As mentioned before, Paul rebuked this notion sharply. This teaching was a severe enough error that Paul resorted to the harsh disciplinary words of Galatians 3:1-2, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?” Obviously, obedience to the law plays no part in the salvation of a believer. However, the law still does serve a very important purpose. Galatians 3:23-29 gives a picture of how the law and the gospel are related to each other:

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith [of the gospel of Christ] would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

Essentially, the law was given in order to lead people to faith in the gospel promise of Christ’s redemptive work. The law pointed out mankind’s sin, and showed the desperate need for a savior. Now that the gospel has been revealed to the world, those who believe in it are no longer under the law’s curse of condemnation.

Unfortunately, this notion of “freedom from the law” can lead some Christians to abuse God’s grace, using His forgiveness as license to sin. Paul even addressed a specific instance of this happening within the Corinthian church, where a member was having sexual relations with his father’s wife: “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you” (1 Cor. 5:1-2). Although Christians are not held captive to the law, it should be the will of the new Man to carry out whatever God desires. In this sense, the law is a guide to Christians in how they are to live a godly life. This use of the law is also beneficial to fellow humans, as following God’s perfect will for creation will certainly benefit all people. Most of Paul’s epistles end with at least a chapter that deals with how Christians are to live their lives in response to God’s grace and gift of faith. In 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, Paul exhorts the believers in Thessalonica to live according to God’s will, which is His law:

Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

Of course, Christians are still sinful humans beings—what separates them from unbelievers is the fact that they are made righteous by grace through faith in Christ. Although Christians are to flee from sin and build up the new Man made in them through the gospel, they are simultaneously saints and sinners. Paul brings this up in his letter to the Romans: “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me” (Rom. 7:18-20). Likewise, St. John says in 1 John 1:8-10, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” Because Christians are still sinners, they are to daily struggle against the old Adam within them, resisting temptations and taking every opportunity to do what is pleasing to God and beneficial to their neighbor. Martin Luther says in The Small Catechism, “… the old Adam in us should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all sins and evil lusts. Also [baptism] shows that a new man should daily come forth and arise, who shall live before God in righteousness and purity forever” (340).

Because Christians have faith in Christ and recognize what is sinful, they always repent of the sins they commit, struggling with their flesh that they would cease committing them entirely. The sexually immoral Corinthian church member mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians appeared to be completely impenitent of his sin, and seemingly was even proud of it. In the case of a believer who continually refuses to repent, the most loving thing for their church to do is excommunicate them—to remove them from the Church that they would see the error of their ways and return to Christ. Paul instructs the Corinthians to “… deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Cor. 5:5). If an excommunicated member then shows true repentance for his sin, he is to be welcomed back into the Church with forgiveness and rejoicing (2 Cor. 2:5-11). It is clear from Paul’s epistles that God’s law is to be used by Christians as a guide for how to live God-pleasing lives.

In the same vein, it is a theme in Paul’s letters for him to remind the Christians to whom he is writing that they were once under the law, and were subjects of God’s wrath, before they heard the gospel and were saved by Christ. This is a message of the law—a reminder that a Christians is nothing in himself due to his sin, but his worth comes from God’s mercy on sinners. Paul uses this kind of message in the second chapter of his letter to the Ephesians:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Eph. 2:1-3)

However, once this message of the law has been clearly put forth, Paul then immediately follows up with the gospel message of salvation:

But God, bring rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2:4-7)

By doing this, Paul clearly sets forth a standard for Christians constantly being reminded of both the law and the gospel. In faithful churches across the world, each Sunday pastors will proclaim to their congregation the message that they are sinners who deserve God’s wrath—followed up by the gospel message that Christ has forgiven their sins on account of their faith—which itself is a gift from God.

Paul sets forth in his epistles the gold standard for how any Christian—pastor or layperson—ought to handle and understand both the law and the gospel. Each is crucial to the message of salvation. The law condemns the sinner, pointing out his faults, placing him under the wrath of God. The gospel redeems, pointing out how Christ has made up for those same faults, placing the sinner under God as His child and heir of eternal life. The proper use of these two doctrines is essential to the Christian faith. Koehler, in summarizing the law and gospel, says, “… the proper distinction between Law and Gospel is of utmost importance. The confusion or mixing of the two will make it impossible for anyone to become a Christian or to remain in the faith” (262). For this very reason, the Apostle Paul’s epistles are clear and focused on the details of both law and gospel, because both of them are imperative for the eternal life of believers.

 Sources Used

Engelbrecht, Edward, and Paul E. Deterding. The Lutheran Study Bible: English Standard Version. St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House, 2009.

Koehler, Edward W. A. A Summary of Christian Doctrine. 3rd ed. St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House, 2006.

Luther, Martin. Concordia—The Lutheran Confessions. (Luther’s Small Catechism) Ed. Paul T. McCain. 2nd ed. St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House, 2006.

Theological Reflections – Romans 13:1-2

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The following is an excerpt from my second essay written for my summer theology class on Romans. I hope that by reading this, your knowledge of God would increase, and your faith would grow in His grace.

Links to the sources I used are at the end of the post.

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Context and Content

These two verses are Paul’s introduction to his fairly brief exhortation for Christians to remain subject to their government (13:1-14). This portion is part of what is commonly known as the “practical” portion of Romans (12-16), wherein Paul starts by urging Christians to live their lives in service to God. He states specifically in 12:1 – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” [NIV 2011] Panning, in his commentary on Romans, gives 13:1-14 the title “Obedience to authorities,” which is a subset of the larger portion spanning 12:1-15:13, entitled “Righteousness practiced.”[1] Paul wishes for the Christians in Rome to reflect on the grace of God written about in chapters 1-11, and to serve both God and men in light of God’s mercies.

Including an exhortation to submit to the government is not an uncommon theme throughout the Pauline Epistles[2], and must have been a point that he commonly wanted to emphasize. It is somewhat striking that Paul writes these words while underneath the rule of a government that was growing increasingly hostile to Christianity. Regarding the nature of Roman government during the writing of Romans, Panning notes:

In the context in which Paul is writing, his directives to the Romans especially include respect for secular government. That is perhaps the more remarkable when we realize that in Paul’s day the civil government of Rome was undoubtedly totally pagan. In fact, if we were right in assuming, as we did in the introduction to this commentary, that this letter to the Romans was written from Corinth in the winter of A.D. 58, then Nero would have been the Roman emperor—hardly a model of kind and benevolent leadership![3]

Paul wanted to make it clear that although all forms of human government are flawed, the ultimate purpose of rulers and authorities is to carry out God’s judgment.[4] Obedience to the authorities put in place by God is also necessary to maintain peace and order in society, something that Christians always strive for. From what scripture teaches about the Church and civil government, it is plainly seen that Christians are subject to two different “kingdoms” during their life on earth. The Church rules over spiritual matters concerning the gospel, and the government rules over civil matters by protecting its citizens and punishing those who do evil.[5] Much can be said about the nature of Church and government and the dangers when one institution assumes authority given only to the other. To put it simply, The Apology of the Augsburg Confession states:

[The distinction between the two kingdoms] can be easily explained if we keep this in mind: The Gospel does not introduce laws about the public state, but it is the forgiveness of sins and the beginning of a new life in the hearts of believers. Besides, the Gospel not only approves outward governments, but also subjects us to them (Romans 13:1).

There exists a fairly clear and obvious caveat in a Christian’s obedience to the government. When a Christian is asked by the authorities to act contrary to God’s Word, he must “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). This calls to mind the noble and faithful actions of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego found in Daniel 3, who resisted the king’s command to bow down to a false idol, even though they knew their lives were in danger.

Reflection and Application
Obedience to governmental authorities has always been an issue of contention in the United States, going back to the very birth of our country. Regardless of whether or not the rebellion was justified, the United States of America was born from disobedience to England and rebellion against the instituted government. There is a residual spirit of resentment towards authority apparent in society today, where disobedience can often been seen as a noble cause. However, Christians are given a very clear command in Scripture to submit to the government, even to the laws and statutes we don’t necessarily agree with. Whether dealing with local authorities or the Federal Government, we must always remember that they were placed into that position of authority by God himself, and he will always see fit that they carry out his plans for the sake of the gospel. God speaks of his ultimate authority over all creation in Isaiah 55:8-11, emphasizing the point that the gospel will always prevail and accomplish its purpose:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. [ESV]

Christians must also keep in mind that God did not ordain the government to advance to gospel message, as Christians in some Evangelical circles may believe. It is true that the government’s purpose is to punish those who do evil, and we pray that the government’s definition of “evil” would be synonymous with God’s. Some Christians take this too far and advocate the establishment of a “Christian” government that subjects its citizens to certain Christian moral laws. Koehler states in A Summary of Christian Doctrine:

For as the power of the Word was not given to the state, so it the power of the sword not given to the church, papal claims notwithstanding. The church as such has not right to rule land and people, to enact and enforce laws, and to do any of the things that properly belong to the domain of civil government. Christ refused to act as judge and arbiter in a civil suit (Luke 12:13-14); His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). There is no scriptural reason for a church state, even as there is no scriptural reason for a state church. Wherever a church state or a state church exists, they exist not by the will of God but by the will of people. It is the mark of the antichrist to claim supremacy over all civil authorities (2 Thessalonians 2:4).[6]

To briefly summarize this notion, we recognize that the government has been put in place to carry out justice in society, whose laws are often aligned with God’s moral law which has been instilled in the hearts of men. (Rom 2:15) It is good and right for the authorities to punish those who do evil and reward those who do good. It is not correct, however, for the government to have control over spiritual matters or the advancement of the gospel. While God certainly does use these human institutions for his purposes, he has solely commissioned his Church to make the gospel known to all nations. (Mt 28:19-20)

[1] Panning, Armin J. Romans. St. Louis: Concordia, 2000. 8-9.
[2] See Ti 3:1, 1 Tm 2:1-2
[3] Panning, Armin J. Romans. St. Louis: Concordia, 2000. 212.
[4] Hoerber, Robert G., ed. Concordia Self-Study Bible. New International Version. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House, 1986. 1737. (See notes for 13:1)
[5] McCain, Paul Timothy. Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions: A Reader’s Edition of the Book of Concord. 2nd ed. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House, 2006. 194-195. (Apology, Article XVI)
[6] Koehler, Edward W. A. A Summary of Christian Doctrine; a Popular Presentation of the Teachings of the Bible. 3rd Rev. ed. St. Louis: Concordia, 1971. 380-381.

Theological Reflections – Romans 4:1-3

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The following is an excerpt from an essay I wrote for a theology class this summer. The course was dedicated to studying the book of Romans. I am thankful for the amazing amount of information I learned from the class, which also strengthened my faith, and I wanted to share some of my thoughts. 

 

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

 

Context and Content
This portion of Romans sits in the middle of Paul’s exposition on justification by grace through faith. More specifically, this portion of the text is the introduction to Paul’s utilization of Abraham’s story as a parallel with the previous chapter, in which he described how righteousness comes through faith, apart from the law. By doing this, Paul uses Abraham as an illustration of his main point in 3:28 – “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”

Although Paul is writing these words for the purpose of teaching all Christians in Rome, both Jew and Gentile, Paul’s exposition on Abraham would have been especially engaging and perhaps challenging for the Jewish people, who venerated Abraham for his trust in God and his moral uprightness. At the time of the writing of Romans, the Jews’ perception of Abraham had been somewhat skewed and corrupted by some of the apocryphal writings of the intertestamental period. “Some of these documents claimed to be written by people in the Bible from long ago (Pseudepigrapha, credited to people such as Enoch, Adam and Eve, and Moses…).”[1] One such pseudepigraphical work, “The Testament of Abraham,” was influenced heavily by rabbinic Jewish mysticism and speculation, and not on the actual canonical information about Abraham that is found in Genesis. In 10:14 of “The Testament of Abraham,” God’s voice comes from heaven, proclaiming: “For behold, Abraham has not sinned and he has no mercy for sinners.”[2] Much of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, as demonstrated in this example, perpetuated a false image of Abraham as a perfectly righteous, just, and sinless man, ignoring the fact that Abraham doubts God’s promises multiple times throughout Genesis.[3]

Before Paul could utilize Abraham as an example of God’s righteousness being imputed freely, he sought to dispel the false notions of Abraham’s perfection. Many Roman Jews originally hearing the book of Romans might have (falsely) seen Abraham as an example of justification by works.[4] Paul challenges this stance, establishing with apostolic authority that Abraham had nothing to boast about before God.

To make his case even clearer, Paul makes a direct appeal to Scripture. He quotes Genesis 15:6 – “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” The Jews and Christians of Paul’s time would have been familiar with the Greek Septuagint, a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament. The original Hebrew root word for “credited” is “chashab” (חָשַׁב), which can be literally translated as “to count, reckon, impute.” In the Septuagint from which Paul is quoting, the word “logizomai” (λογίζομαι) is used, which can be similarly translated as “to reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over.”[5] The meaning of this wording is clear and carries a sense of transaction or a debt being paid. Abraham was not credited God’s righteousness because he had earned it through his actions. Rather, it was given to him on the account of faith and trust in God.

The righteousness spoken of in this verse does not originate from Abraham in any way. Rather, it speaks of God’s own righteousness, given to Abraham as a free gift out of grace and mercy. This gives rise to the question: how could a just and holy God, one who despises sin, ignore Abraham’s sinful status as a human? In reality, Abraham’s sin was not ignored in the slightest. It was completely paid for, linked to the cross of Christ through space and time, and atoned for through the vicarious atonement of Jesus. The just punishment for Abraham’s sin was placed upon Christ in order that Abraham could be declared righteous.

Abraham is not the sole beneficiary of God’s declaration of righteousness. Paul was using him as an example to illustrate the nature of justification through Christ, who suffered and died for all mankind. Not everyone will be saved and be brought to faith in Christ. However, Christ died for all of humanity, as Paul says in Romans 5:6 – “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” It is clear from chapter 2 of Romans that the term “ungodly” applies to everyone in the world, not just the elect. Christ’s atonement was universal, and paid off the sins of every human to ever live. In order for one to benefit from righteousness, one must have faith in Christ, through which God saves. This saving faith is not of our own doing. Rather, Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9 – “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Reflection and Application
Justification by grace through faith is at the very heart of the gospel message and Christ’s redeeming work. The entirety of Scripture culminates in this doctrine, and it is the means by which God claims sinners as his own. It is the foundation of the Christian’s comfort in this sinful world. As Gene Edward Vieth states in The Spirituality of the Cross:

When we come before the Holy God, He does not turn away in judgment; rather, He sees us through the lens of Christ—we might even say, he sees us as Christ. Our mediator claims all of our sins and has paid for them with His blood. He provides all of the good works we need, clothing us in His—not our—righteousness. This is what it means to be saved. [6]

 

While one may recognize that it is exceedingly clear from Scripture that man can contribute absolutely nothing to his justification, there are still hazardous falsehoods that distort the Christian’s understanding of this important doctrine. When faith is created in the heart, and God’s righteousness is imputed, the sinful human mind can quickly turn faith into the one good work that saves. Treating faith as a good work rather than the gift of God can lead to a multitude of problems. It can lead to doubtful questions like, “am I really saved? Do I have enough faith in God? Do I really even have faith?” Once this misconception takes root, faith suddenly becomes the work and responsibility of the believer, and, in turn, makes justification dependent on the Christian. As Christians journey through life, still being sinful humans, it will not always seem to them as if they are saved. They will still struggle with doubt, denial, vices, and sorrow. When these trials arise, looking inwards to the state of their faith is perhaps the most damaging thing that can be done. All they will find is sin and wretchedness. Instead, Christians must always look outside of themselves for their assurance of salvation. Specifically, because Christ’s righteousness was imputed to us, we turn ourselves to face him and his cross. We recall to mind the mark made on us at baptism, where God declared us to be His own, despite our sinful protests to stay as far away from God as possible. Our justification comes from outside of us; thus, it is outside of ourselves where we look for our reassurance.

The other extreme on the spectrum must also be avoided. There are those who reason that because they are justified by grace, and there is nothing they can add for their salvation, that there is no need to serve God and their neighbor as fruits of their faith. The law seems to have no use in this line of thinking, completely disregarded because Christ has already fulfilled it for us. This is true: Christ did fulfill the law in its entirety in order to redeem us from our inability to obey God. However, good works are necessary in the life of the Christian. They do not, however, contribute to our justification in any way. As Edward Koehler writes on good works in A Summary of Christian Doctrine:

Good works are necessary because God asks them of His children. Furthermore, they are the necessary fruit of repentance or the inevitable product of faith. Without good works, faith is dead…Good works are not necessary for justification and salvation…When God justifies a person, He does not in any sense take into account the good a person may have done. Instead, God looks solely at the merits of Christ…Nor are good works necessary to give our faith strength and saving power, for faith trusts in the merits of Christ, not in its own fruits. Nor are good works necessary to preserve faith in our hearts, for this is done by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel. [7]

 

 

[1] Engelbrecht, Edward. The Apocrypha: The Lutheran Edition with Notes: English Standard Version. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House, 2012.
[2] James H. Charlesworth, ed. “The Testament of Abraham,” in The Old Testament Pseudopigrapha: Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments. NY: Doubleday, 1983.
[3] See Ge 12:10-16, 16:1-6, 17:15-19, and 18:10-15 for examples
[4] Hoerber, Robert G., ed. Concordia Self-Study Bible. New International Version. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House, 1986. 1721.
[5] Strong, James. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2007.
[6] Veith, Gene Edward. The Spirituality of the Cross: The Way of the First Evangelicals. St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia Pub. House, 1999.
[7] Koehler, Edward W. A. A Summary of Christian Doctrine; a Popular Presentation of the Teachings of the Bible. 3rd Rev. ed. St. Louis: Concordia, 1971.