Upon hearing the law, the Christian daily repents and turns to the promise of forgiveness in the means of grace. That is the only way the Christian is truly sanctified and renewed by the Spirit.

For that reason, the new nature has in itself no need of hearing the Decalogue from a pastor or of reading the Decalogue in the Scriptures. The Christian has such a need, still having the old, sinful nature. That is why Decalogue is to be preached to Christians and not only to unbelievers, not that the new nature needs it.

The response of the Christian to the Decalogue is to slay the old nature by returning to baptism in repentance and faith in the gospel since the Decalogue in itself can never sanctify. (While the Decalogue tells us what to do, it does not tell us how to do it.) Sanctification comes only with justification as the sinner-saint daily hears the Decalogue and dies and rises again in baptism to walk in newness of life.

The necessity of properly distinguishing the old nature from the new nature is clear in the writings of Luther. As Article VI of the Formula of Concord says, were it not for the fact that did the Christian has the sinful nature, there would be no need for hearing the Decalogue.

Luther’s stress on the distinction between the old nature and the new nature is striking in how much importance it gives to that teaching found in Paul’s letters compared to the minor role it has in Calvinism. An error of Calvinistic theology is to inadequately make the distinction, leading to confusion of law and gospel.*

There should be no doubt that he who is born again cannot sin, that sin is lawlessness, and that anyone who sins has not been born of God according to St. John’s first epistle. At the same time, no good thing dwells in the Christian according to St. Paul. Whereas Calvinists and other Reformed Protestants harmonize the two scriptural teachings into a progressive view of sanctification in accordance with their reason, Lutherans embrace the paradox by recognizing that they speak of the new nature and the old nature, respectively.*

The new nature already knows the law and has no need to hear it preached, but the Christian needs it to reprove him. In the words of the Formula of Concord,

“And, indeed, if the believing and elect children of God were completely renewed in this life by the indwelling Spirit, so that in their nature and all its powers they were entirely free from sin, they would need no law, and hence no one to drive them either, but they would do of themselves, and altogether voluntarily, without any instruction, admonition, urging or driving of the Law, what they are in duty bound to do according to God’s will; just as the sun, the moon, and all the constellations of heaven have their regular course of themselves, unobstructed, without admonition, urging, driving, force, or compulsion, according to the order of God which God once appointed for them, yea, just as the holy angels render an entirely voluntary obedience . . .

“For the old Adam, as an intractable, refractory ass, is still a part of them, which must be coerced to the obedience of Christ, not only by the teaching, admonition, force and threatening of the Law, but also oftentimes by the club of punishments and troubles, until the body of sin is entirely put off, and man is perfectly renewed in the resurrection, when he will need neither the preaching of the Law nor its threatenings and punishments, as also the Gospel any longer; for these belong to this [mortal and] imperfect life . . .

“And, indeed, if the believing and elect children of God were completely renewed in this life by the indwelling Spirit, so that in their nature and all its powers they were entirely free from sin, they would need no law, and hence no one to drive them either, but they would do of themselves, and altogether voluntarily, without any instruction, admonition, urging or driving of the Law, what they are in duty bound to do according to God’s will; just as the sun, the moon, and all the constellations of heaven have their regular course of themselves, unobstructed, without admonition, urging, driving, force, or compulsion, according to the order of God which God once appointed for them, yea, just as the holy angels render an entirely voluntary obedience . . .

“For the old Adam, as an intractable, refractory ass, is still a part of them, which must be coerced to the obedience of Christ, not only by the teaching, admonition, force and threatening of the Law, but also oftentimes by the club of punishments and troubles, until the body of sin is entirely put off, and man is perfectly renewed in the resurrection, when he will need neither the preaching of the Law nor its threatenings and punishments, as also the Gospel any longer; for these belong to this [mortal and] imperfect life.”

Article V of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession also explains putting off the body of sin and rising to new life in terms of repentance and faith:

“. . . there is first terror and anxiety in the conscience. Thus contrition and faith go side by side. One is putting off the body of sins; the other is the rising again through faith. Neither ought these words, mortification, quickening, putting off the body of sins, rising again, to be understood in a Platonic way, concerning a feigned change; but mortification signifies true terrors, such as those of the dying, which nature could not sustain unless it were supported by faith. So he names that as the putting off of the body of sins which we ordinarily call contrition, because in these griefs the natural concupiscence is purged away. And quickening ought not to be understood as a Platonic fancy, but as consolation which truly sustains life that is escaping in contrition. Here, therefore, are two parts: contrition and faith. For as conscience cannot be pacified except by faith, therefore faith alone quickens, according to the declaration, Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17: The just shall live by faith.”

Thereby raised, the new nature delights in the law, meditating on God’s word day and night (Psalm 1; 119).

* On the remarks about the Calvinistic branch of Reformed theology, see David Scaer’s article (note 20 of page 243); the top of page 238 is relevant to the continual complaint that Lutherans would be more sanctified if their pastors better understood the third use of the law. David Scaer exhibits a penetrating grasp of Reformed theology. He calls the Lutheran position by contrast “Nestorian” in its teaching on the old Adam and the new Adam striving against each other in the same Christian.

For what is our prayer but a confession that we neither have nor do what we ought and a plea for grace and a happy conscience? This kind of confession should and must take place incessantly as long as we live. For this is the essence of a genuinely Christian life, to acknowledge that we are sinners and to pray for grace. [Martin Luther, Preface to the Large Catechism, 1529 revised edition. Tappert, T. G. (2000, c1959). The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.]

As Luther said so well, the Christian life consists entirely in the daily return to baptism: “a truly Christian life is nothing else than a daily baptism.” The Large Catechism, one of Luther’s most carefully prepared works, explains this classic Lutheran description of the Christian life:

These two parts, to be sunk under the water and drawn out again, signify the power and operation of Baptism, which is nothing else than putting to death the old Adam, and after that the resurrection of the new man, both of which must take place in us all our lives, so that a truly Christian life is nothing else than a daily baptism, once begun and ever to be continued. For this must be practised without ceasing, that we ever keep purging away whatever is of the old Adam, and that that which belongs to the new man come forth. But what is the old man? It is that which is born in us from Adam, angry, hateful, envious, unchaste, stingy, lazy, haughty, yea, unbelieving, infected with all vices, and having by nature nothing good in it. Now, when we are come into the kingdom of Christ, these things must daily decrease, that the longer we live we become more gentle, more patient, more meek, and ever withdraw more and more from unbelief, avarice, hatred, envy, haughtiness.

This daily baptism is not merely symbolic but rather an actual death and resurrection, as witnessed  by Article V of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession:

. . . there is first terror and anxiety in the conscience. Thus contrition and faith go side by side. One is putting off the body of sins; the other is the rising again through faith. Neither ought these words, mortification, quickening, putting off the body of sins, rising again, to be understood in a Platonic way, concerning a feigned change; but mortification signifies true terrors, such as those of the dying, which nature could not sustain unless it were supported by faith. So he names that as the putting off of the body of sins which we ordinarily call contrition, because in these griefs the natural concupiscence is purged away. And quickening ought not to be understood as a Platonic fancy, but as consolation which truly sustains life that is escaping in contrition. Here, therefore, are two parts: contrition and faith. For as conscience cannot be pacified except by faith, therefore faith alone quickens, according to the declaration, Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17: The just shall live by faith.

Luther’s Large Catechism continues:

This is the true use of Baptism among Christians, as signified by baptizing with water. Where this, therefore, is not practised, but the old man is left unbridled, so as to continually become stronger, that is not using Baptism, but striving against Baptism. For those who are without Christ cannot but daily become worse, according to the proverb which expresses the truth, “Worse and worse–the longer, the worse.” If a year ago one was proud and avaricious, then he is much prouder and more avaricious this year, so that the vice grows and increases with him from his youth up. A young child has no special vice; but when it grows up, it becomes unchaste and impure, and when it reaches maturity, real vices begin to prevail the longer, the more. Therefore the old man goes unrestrained in his nature if he is not checked and suppressed by the power of Baptism. On the other hand, where men have become Christians, he daily decreases until he finally perishes. That is truly to be buried in Baptism, and daily to come forth again. Therefore the external sign is appointed not only for a powerful effect, but also for a signification. Where, therefore, faith flourishes with its fruits, there it has no empty signification, but the work [of mortifying the flesh] accompanies it; but where faith is wanting, it remains a mere unfruitful sign. And here you see that Baptism, both in its power and signification, comprehends also the third Sacrament, which has been called repentance, as it is really nothing else than Baptism. For what else is repentance but an earnest attack upon the old man [that his lusts be restrained] and entering upon a new life? Therefore, if you live in repentance, you walk in Baptism, which not only signifies such a new life, but also produces, begins, and exercises it. For therein are given grace, the Spirit, and power to suppress the old man, so that the new man may come forth and become strong.

In summary, “Ethical progress is only possible by returning to Baptism” (Oswald Bayer, Living by Faith, Chapter 5, Kindle location 779 of 1207). This spiritual growth or “ethical progress” is received only by faith in the gospel. Baptism and the other means of grace restore God’s image by communicating the gospel.

Article VI of the Formula of Concord explains the third use of the Decalogue like this:

“. . . the Holy Ghost employs the Law so as to teach the regenerate from it, and to point out and show them in the Ten Commandments what is the [good and] acceptable will of God, Rom. 12:2, in what good works God hath before ordained that they should walk, Eph. 2:10. He exhorts them thereto, and when they are idle, negligent, and rebellious in this matter because of the flesh, He reproves them on that account through the Law, so that He carries on both offices together: He slays and makes alive; He leads into hell and brings up again.”

Thus, the Decalogue is to be preached not only to unbelievers but also to believers because they also have the sinful nature that must be daily crucified so that they can daily rise to new life, a new creation (Romans 6, etc.). Apart from that struggle against the flesh, the new man needs no Decalogue:

“But when man is born anew by the Spirit of God, and liberated from the Law, that is, freed from this driver, and is led by the Spirit of Christ, he lives according to the immutable will of God comprised in the Law, and so far as he is born anew, does everything from a free, cheerful spirit; and these are called not properly works of the Law, but works and fruits of the Spirit, or as St. Paul names it, the law of the mind and the Law of Christ. For such men are no more under the Law, but under grace, as St. Paul says, Rom. 8:2.”

The Christian needs to hear the preaching of the Decalogue only because of the continued presence of the old man, as argued in the beginning of the Formula of Concord’s article on the third use of the law. The law not only restrains and accuses the saint-sinner but also instructs him since the law is not yet completely in his heart. The Holy Spirit writes it there not by the preaching of the law and pastoral pleas to obey it but rather by the preaching of the gospel.

Indeed, the preaching of the gospel, not the preaching of the law, directly renews the Christian, raising him to walk in newness of life and writing the law on his heart. While the preaching of the law does not directly renew the Christian, it does so indirectly by providing instruction that leads to repentance and faith in the gospel.

There is another way in which the preaching of the law indirectly renews the Christian. In obedience to the Sabbath commandment, the Christian hears the gospel and receives the sacraments. By those means, the Holy Spirit sustains and strengthens faith in the gospel and therein renews the Christian for good works.

Oswald Bayer observed that the Formula of Concord echoed the theology of Luther on the third use of the law (Chapter 5 of Living by Faith):

“Luther himself continually stressed the fact that the law should not be preached to Christians insofar as they are justified by the gospel. But it should be preached to them insofar as they are sinners and still belong to the old world. This truth finds the same emphasis in Article VI of the Formula of Concord, which emphatically seeks to clarify ‘what the gospel does, effects, and creates for the new obedience of the believers and what the law does in relationship to the good works of believers.’”

In short, because Christians in this life still have the sinful nature, they need the law to inform them about how what is right in their eyes differs from what is right in God’s eyes, to condemn them, and to restrain them.

Complaint, as opposed to apathetic resignation on one hand and unbelief on the other, comes from the apparent contradiction between the evil experienced and the promises of Christ. In complaint, the theologian of the cross clings to  those promises until  the attack abates (Psalm 119), not letting  his opponent go until receiving the promised blessing.

Further reading: Living by Faith: Justfication and Sanctification by Oswald Bayer

This explanation of the centrality of justification in Luther's theology makes timely contact with atheistic thought.

Some highlights (numbers are approximate Kindle locations):

* Those with God's passive righteousness need not concern themselves with the judgments of others as if they were the final judgment (342).

* The power of God's word can be seen in even the smallest parts of his creation (382).

* God's actions are his words to us (588).

* Believers now have eternal life by promise, not yet by something that is felt (450).

* Make your plans as if God does not exist in order to let him work secretly through the mask of means (484, 487).

* Your justification depends in no way and your success (496).

* "Ethical progress is only possible by returning to Baptism" (779).

* In lament, the believer questions God regarding the apparent contradiction between his promise and the suffering, injustice, and other evil observed in the world (808).

* Judging on the basis of that evil, human reason always comes to the conclusion that either God does not exist or, if he exists, then he is not just (901).

* According to St. Paul's letter to the Romans, if God's righteousness could be judged by the standard of human righteousness, then his righteousness would not really be divine, but merely human (970, 973).

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