Wollebius on Law and Gospel

You promoters of so-called "biblical theology" may whine and sniff all you want about the term "Scholasticism" and how rigid, dull, and cold it is, but one thing your "biblical theology" lacks is clarity. Here is seventeenth century Reformed Scholastic Johannes Wollebius on Law and Gospel. I dare you to find a statement this clear put out by Wilson, Meyers, Leithart, Horne, etc.

Chapter XV: The Gospel, and Its Similarity to, and Difference from, the Law

1. Thus by the law, we see the need of redemption, now we must consider the truth of redemption, in the gospel.

2. The gospel is the good news, or teaching concerning the Son of God, who was sent into the world so that, after assuming our nature, he might undergo the curse of the law in our place and by his perfect obedience to it earn eternal life for us.

Propositions

I. The gospel is like the law in having the same efficient and instrumental causes: God and the written word. It differs with respect to external instrumental cause; the law was obviously given by Moses, and the gospel by Christ; further, it differs in that the law is also known to man naturally, whereas the gospel is known only by the gracious revelation of God.

II. They are similar because of their common content. both urge obedience with promise and threats. They differ because of the special content of each one: the law primarily teaches what is to be done, the gospel, what is to be believed.

III. They are are similar because of their common form: Both exhibit a mirror of perfect obedience. They differ because of the special form of each: The law teaches what is perfect righteousness, pleasing to God; the gospel teaches where or in whom we may find that perfect righteousness. The law demands it from us; the gospel shows it in Christ.

IV. They are similar because of their final purpose, the glory of God, and, next in importance to that, our salvation, which can be seen in both. They differ in their special purposes. The law was given to drive us to seek Christ; the gospel, to reveal Christ.

V. They are similar in their common object, namely fallen man. They differ in their special objects. The special object of the law is man who is being alarmed and humiliated.

VI. They are similar because of common adjuncts, sanctity, goodness, and perfection, which, considered in themselves, each one has equally. They differ because, on account of the particular circumstances, and of our weakness, the law without the gospel is not enough for salvation.

VII. From the above it can be seen in what sense, in Scripture, the law is opposed to the gospel. and in what sense it is subordinated to it.

VIII. When men are considered as unregenerate or regenerate, then law and gospel must be understood as opposites; when men are considered as regenerate, then the law must be subordinated to the gospel.

Such is the opposition indicated by the apostle: "You are not under the law, but under grace." (Rom. 6:14). Here he indicates the state of man before and after regeneration. Unfaithful man is said to be "under law" because (1) he is subject to the curse of the law; (2) he is subject to the severity of the law, by which it demands perfect righteousness and obedience; and (3) because he looks for occasion for sinning on account of law, according to the proverb: "We always seek what is forbidden, and we must desire that which we have been denied" (see Rom. 7:8).

Faithful man is said to be under grace because (1) he has been freed from the curse of the law; (2) he has been freed from the severity of the law and demand for perfect righteousness, since Christ has discharged it; and (3) because he has been freed from sin ruling in him, so that he no longer desires sin on account of the law, but rather begins to do what the law requires, through the Holy Spirit and because of his gratitude.

The law is presented as subordinate to the gospel when Christ is called "the end of the law" (Rom. 10:4); and the law a "tutor unto Christ" (Gal. 3:24), and when the law is said not to be opposed to him who does the works of the spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Indeed, the gospel gives to faithful man, in Christ, all the righteousness that the law requires. And although we are not able to satisfy the law in this life, yet the reborn, through the gift of sanctification, begin to do so.

Now compare Wollebius' careful delineation of law and gospel with this statement by the Joint Federal Vision Profession:

Law and Gospel

We affirm that those in rebellion against God are condemned both by His law, which they disobey, and His gospel, which they also disobey. When they have been brought to the point of repentance by the Holy Spirit, we affirm that the gracious nature of all God's words becomes evident to them. At the same time, we affirm that it is appropriate to speak of law and gospel as having a redemptive and historical thrust, with the time of the law being the old covenant era and the time of the gospel being the time when we enter our maturity as God's people. We further affirm that those who are first coming to faith in Christ frequently experience the law as an adversary and the gospel as deliverance from that adversary, meaning that traditional evangelistic applications of law and gospel are certainly scriptural and appropriate.

We deny that law and gospel should be considered as hermeneutics, or treated as such. We believe that any passage, whether indicative or imperative, can be heard by the faithful as good news, and that any passage, whether containing gospel promises or not, will be heard by the rebellious as intolerable demand. The fundamental division is not in the text, but rather in the human heart.

Wilson, et. al., continue to cry, "Semper Reformanda," with regard to doctrinal formulation, but one wonders, especially in consideration of the careful statements of the Reformed Orthodox compared with the careless statements of the Federal Visionistas, if Reformation has yet to occur.