LAW AND GOSPEL

Rev. Bill Cwirla on his blog has a great post about the distinction between law and gospel. It deals really with how we should hear, read and preach the Bible in all it's fullness Here's an excerpt:

Practically speaking, what does this mean for us, whether as pastor preparing a
sermon or as Christian reading the Bible?

It means we do not sort passages of Scripture into a Law or Gospel bucket, like a fisherman sorting fish. We do not, as is the way of all “pietism,” delay the Gospel until we are sure the Law has done its job, nor do we presume that the Law has done its work and skip straight to the Gospel. We do not preach conditional “If
Law then Gospel” (“If you...then God will forgive you.”) or “Law but Gospel”
(“You are a sinner but Jesus died for you….”). We proclaim Law and Gospel (“you are a sinner and Jesus died for you”). We allow the paradoxical inner tension of the Word to remain unrelieved and unresolved, as it must be, for the Word to accomplish its killing and making alive work in us.

Read the rest at the link above.