The Ministry of the Law and of the Gospel

The Ministry of the Law and of the Gospel

It is generally assumed that the law and its ministry are in direct opposition to the gospel and its ministry.

It is hardly possible to harbor a thought that is more erroneous than that, because then God must have changed or be in conflict with Himself, for He is the originator of both. The words that God is, and was, and will remain the same, without any shadow of turning, are well-known.

The ministry of the gospel is a continuation and completion of the ministry that was begun by the Law. These two ministries work together.

It is incorrect to think that the ministry of the Law ceased with the death of Christ and that all converted people since then have only lived under grace. Each single soul who believes in Jesus as his Redeemer and Savior is kept under guard by the law until the time when he receives faith in Christ Jesus as his life.

The useful ministry of the law is that it is constantly after a person and catches him in the act, convincing him that he is unable to live the life of Christ. Only after this conviction has finally been accepted and understood—after one has kicked sufficiently long against the prick—only then is one receptive to the word of faith about being dead to self once and for all in and through the death of Christ. Only after one has received this faith can one begin to walk as Christ walked. 1 John 2:6. Only then are we in Him. Until that time one has lived for oneself, without any knowledge of the life and the faith that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The ministry of the Law, as law, ceases for each one of us from the moment we, by faith, know that we are partaking of the dying of Christ.

This, in turn, means that it never stops as far as most people are concerned. Despite the fact that they praise Jesus for His atoning sacrifice that has brought us eternal life, they remain ignorant during their entire life of the life and the incorruption that was brought to light through the gospel.

Most converted people have no knowledge of the hidden life with Christ in God. Neither do they dare to think it possible that they could ever come to know it in this world. Yet this is precisely the wisdom of God, which is hidden, which has not entered any man’s mind. The apostle Paul says that this is the wisdom which God now reveals to us by His Spirit. .

Therefore, blessed is every one who is hidden in this world, but who has God’s wisdom revealed in his heart.