It has been well over a century since C. F. W. Walther's classic The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel was written. While it continues to be reprinted and is familiar among conservative Lutheran clergy, it is written in a scholarly tone for seminarians, bearing the marks of its age. Like an old family heirloom, Walther's volume of lectures has unfortunately collected a lot of dust, remaining shelved in the pastor's study, never really gaining traction outside Lutheran circles, which is why Professor John Pless's monograph Handling the Word of Truth has to be commended. In just over one hundred pages, Pless provides a much-needed introduction to the Reformation hermeneutic of properly distinguishing the law from the gospel in our reading, preaching, and understanding of the Bible. While some things have certainly changed since Walther's day, some remain the same; sadly, the confusion and conflation of the law and gospel is one of those constants that continue to plague Christ's church and therefore requires attention in every generation.
Handling the Word of Truth is divided into thirteen short, readable chapters–each beginning with a quotation or two from Walther's original twenty-five theses. By engaging the Scriptures, Luther, the confessions, and more contemporary scholars such as Bo Giertz, Gerhard Forde, and Oswald Bayer, Pless offers great insight from his pastoral experience in showing just how relevant and vital the subject continues to be for the church's ongoing mission.
In the introductory chapter, he clearly distinguishes and defines both the law and the gospel. While both are from God, Pless is emphatic that Christians must understand that they are dealing with two very different doctrines. The law can only make demands; it tells us what we ought to do but is insufficient to redeem us from its demands when they are trespassed. The gospel, however, contains no demand, only the gift of God's grace and truth in Christ (13). "The purity of the Gospel," he argues, "hinges on this distinction" (12). Why should we be so concerned with this distinction? Citing James Nestingen, he answers: "When the Law and Gospel are improperly distinguished, both are undermined. Separated from the Law, the Gospel gets absorbed into an ideology of tolerance in which indiscriminateness is equated with grace. Separated from the Gospel, the Law becomes an insatiable demand hammering away at the conscience until it destroys a person" (12). Thus, when both are understood and distinguished properly, both are established and able to function together as intended in the Scriptures.
Throughout the following chapters, Pless gives numerous examples supporting the law/gospel hermeneutic, showing myriad ways the church has erred by confounding the distinction throughout her history. Chapter 3's title, "Making Christ a New Moses," describes one of the most persistent of these errors. Whether it is the Church of Rome, Socinianism, Rationalism, or even the attitude spawning the popular WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) phenomenon, the temptation to press Jesus into the service of Moses is always present. Pless is not advocating lawlessness as some critics of this hermeneutic have charged–far from it! He is quick to state that the church must proclaim God's law: "The Law of God orders and curbs our sinful impulses, keeping life genuinely human in this world. More than that, the Law unerringly exposes the darkness of our unbelief, our failure to fear, love, and trust in God above all things" (29). Jesus is certainly the perfect example of a life lived in obedience to his heavenly Father, but the important point Pless makes is that Christ as example still leaves us under the law and helpless. Jesus does not come as a reprised Moses, parsing out new and improved moral norms. "Jesus comes as the friend of sinners. He comes as the Savior from the condemnation that the Law pronounces and delivers" (29).
Getting not only the distinction right but also the order of the law and gospel is critical, because when the law is mixed with gospel it transforms the pure gift into personal achievement. Pless warns: "Such mingling of Law with Gospel dilutes the precious promises of God with demands for works. In short, the Gospel is polluted and rendered impotent" (35). To reverse the arrangement, to insert the gospel into the law "creates the illusion that the Law offers hope," which again encourages sinners to place their confidence in self rather than in the finished work of Christ alone.
While the opening chapters lay a strong foundation, they do prompt the reader to ask several important questions. For example: What about repentance? Faith? The struggle with ongoing sin? How do the church's liturgy and sacraments support this way of understanding the Bible? Thankfully, Pless answers each of these questions and more in later chapters. While some readers may not enjoy the frequent and long quotations from Luther and Walther, they are nevertheless a helpful means of wading into their works without drowning in the volumes of sources from which Pless cites.
Overall, Handling the Word of Truth is the best introduction to the subject presently available. It is short enough to not overwhelm a reader unaccustomed to reading works of theology, and it would provide an excellent supplement to a church Sunday school or midweek Bible study as each chapter concludes with questions for reflection and discussion. Preachers must give this a careful read, as ministers of the gospel are the most prone to commit and perpetuate the errors the author confronts. Like Timothy, pastors are to be workers who rightly handle the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). Pless's book will only help us fulfill our high calling, ensuring the gospel gets the last word.
