Law To The Proud; Grace To The Humble (Law & Gospel In Laymen's Terms)

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Thesis VIII Of Walther's Law and Gospel In Laymen's Terms


When someone is weighed down, freaked out and convicted of their sin, they need more Law like they need a hole in their head!  Furthermore, a person who is secure in their sin and confident in their own piety surely does not need Gospel for that would be like throwing pearls to swine.


Giving Law to the Broken and Gospel to the Proud is a terrible application of Law and Gospel!  The Law is to be delivered to those who are secure in their sin and the Gospel is to be delivered to those who are bruised and contrite in their sin.  Law for the proud; Gospel to the humble.  To invert this is to cause serious spiritual damage to an individual.  


More specifically, it is a grievous sin for any preacher to give Law to a person already miserable and contrite, this is spiritual abuse!  A contrite individual needs the pure unconditional promise of the Gospel to comfort, heal and absolve.  On the other hand, the person who is secure in their sin should not have a drop of Gospel!  Not a drop. What the secure sinner needs is the full force of the Law to crush them, bring them down and gift them contrition so that they might be receptive to the Gospel.  What does this result in?  Typically the wounded will be healed and the self-righteous will get angry.  Regardless of the responses of the individual it is the faithful task of the preacher of the Word to rightly divide Law and Gospel.