Luther, Lutherans, and the Law

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith 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. (Galatians 3:23-26 ESV)

[No post yesterday; I was a little under the weather.]

I think one of the most easily identifiable traits of us who call ourselves Lutheran is the almost cavalier manner in which we regard the Ten Commandments. I cannot say for sure if I have ever heard a Lutheran pastor give a sermon centered on the Law; in fact, and in light of "Christ's Law" (as in Luke 10:27), we Lutherans pay very little attention to those things that we consider soooo Old Testament. More often than not we are "reminded" that the Law convicts, curbs, and guides us (more of a Sunday school or Confirmation topic), the latter merely a frame around our Lutheran life of Grace. I suspect few parishioners these days are excluded from the Sacraments for not reciting the Ten Commandments correctly, as Luther himself recommends in his preface to the Commandments in the Large Catechism: This sermon is designed and undertaken that it might be an instruction for children and the simple-minded. Hence of old it was called in Greek Catechism, i.e., instruction for children, what every Christian must needs know, so that he who does not know this could not be numbered with the Christians nor be admitted to any Sacrament, just as a mechanic who does not understand the rules and customs of his trade is expelled and considered incapable.

It is very interesting to me that Luther's exposition of the Ten Commandments takes up almost half of his Large Catechism. To Luther, the Law for the Christian is never meant to be archived or considered obsolete, but rather to be regarded with the same faith that drives us in service to God and neighbor. Many cite Paul in Galatians 3 as reason enough to dispense with the Law of Moses in the New Testament church era: Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith 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. Paul and Luther both center on faith (rather than fear) as the Christian response to the Law, though even Luther, like Paul above, could be taken out of context. Lutheran pastor and professor Timothy Wengert writes in an essay entitled  Martin Luther and the Ten Commandments in the Large Catechism that Luther, who was only too happy to obey any command of God, no matter what ("If Christ commanded me to eat dung, I would do it," he once said to Ulrich Zwingli), always ties the Ten Commandments to God's purpose and goal for humanity. The commandments were not given for the same purpose my second grade teacher handed out mimeographed "seat work" (to keep us busy). Instead, they serve God and the neighbor always by serving faith.

As I read through Luther's section in the Large Catechism on the Ten Commandments, this analogy comes to mind—if faith is the road to God, then perhaps the Commandments are the streetlights, powered by Christ's fulfillment of them. I see clearly that for Luther, through faith all Commandments point back to the First. It is only through faith in Christ alone are we able to serve the One God from Whose Grace we so undeservedly benefit, honor His name, keep one day holy in honoring Him, and honor Him by striving to live as He Himself has instructed in Commandments Four through Ten.

Luther's exposition of the Commandments can most definitely serve us today! By remembering the Ten Commandments, we remember to put God first in every aspect of our life, from social media issues to the increasing tolerance toward same-sex relationships to why Sunday as a Sabbath ought to be the most important day of our busy week. Faith lets us see the Law clearly, in all of its uses, in the shape of the Cross—a place that reminds us of how we are deserving of God's wrath, but spared by His Love, rescued to live in a vertical relationship with Him and a horizontal one with others...

As Christ teaches us, the Law for us really IS all about faith (and, so it was for Luther, about the First Commandment): And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, 0 Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:28-31 ESV)

And I agree (as I think would Luther) with this summation from Wengert: Commandments are not busy work; they reveal the best God intends for humanity.