#74 Law and Gospel

By Alvin Petty, retired area minister
The Protestant Reformation, started by Martin Luther in 1517, made an important dichotomy between law and gospel. Luther’s genius shines in his simplified one, two punch theology exempified in his dichotomies of law and gospel, faith and works, justification and sanctification, etc. These made his understanding of basic Christian doctrines easy to understand and recapitulate because of their catchy expression. Over time some have oversimplified these dichotomies to an overemphasizing of the gospel, faith and justification side so as to effectively weaken the law, works and sanctification portions of each.