Over the last decade, the term “gospel centered” has grown in popularity among parishioners, pastors, and publishers. While I commend many of the gospel-centered resources available today, some purveyors of a “gospel-centered” message unintentionally end up neglecting the entirety of the Bible’s teaching on both the law and the gospel.
From the earliest days of the Protestant Reformation, the magisterial reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin recognized that Scripture contains both the law of God (his commands) and the gospel of God (his promises of salvation). They, and many of their heirs, saw this paradigm as important for understanding and applying Scripture rightly. As a result, the Lutheran and Reformed traditions understood the vital importance of teaching the law and the gospel to both non-Christians and Christians. Today, teachers who emphasize the gospel and functionally deemphasize the law can generate a number of unintended pastoral problems.
TEACH CHRISTIANS HOW TO OBEY
First, “gospel centered” preaching that functionally excludes “law and gospel” vitiates the right use of the law as an instrument of sanctification and instruction in the Christian life, leading to a soft antinomianism. A number of “gospel-centered” sermons follow the same basic outline: “We’ve sinned and cannot
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