Take Up the Cross

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
— Romans 3:28

How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?
— Job 25:4

Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
— Job 15:15

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
— Romans 7:7-9

A Commentary on Romans 3:20, by Martin Luther.

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
— Romans 3:20

Why do we preach the law? What does Christ mean when he says, the poor have the gospel? Matthew 11:5. Is the gospel not preached to the rich and, in the entire world or how can the gospel be such a great thing which is counted by Christ as such a great benefit, although many people rejected? It is necessary to know what the gospel is. Otherwise, we cannot understand this text.

To understand these words we first need to see that God sent two kinds of preaching into the world from the beginning. The preaching of the law, and the preaching of the gospel. You need to distinguish and recognize these two. I will tell you that besides scripture itself, there has not a single book been written yet—this is 1522—which is available in which these two kinds of preaching are described well, and with distinction. Yet it is of the uttermost importance to know the difference between law and gospel. The law is the word in which God teaches and commands us what to do and leave undone. This is described further in the Ten Commandments. By nature and without God’s grace it is impossible to keep the law. Why is it impossible to keep the law? Because man became corrupt in paradise and is full of evil desires towards sin ever since. Therefore, he cannot love the law with his whole heart. You also know this by your own experience. There is no man that does not wish for the law to be non-existent. Everyone knows and experiences that it is difficult to be pious and to do good. And on the other hand it is easy to be bad and to do evil. This tendency toward evil and the unwillingness to do that which is good makes us reject the law. Even if we were to keep the law, we would do so unwillingly. But to God, keeping the law against our will is the same as not keeping it at all. In this manner, the law convinces us by our own experience that by nature we are evil, rebellious, disobedient and lovers of sin. Yes, we are enemies to all of God’s laws.

There are two possible results. We will either become reckless, or we will become desperate. Recklessness or fearlessness follows when man intends to keep the law by his own works. He tries very hard to follow the words of the law. He serves God, does not swear, honors father and mother, does not kill, does not steal, does not commit adultery and so on. However, in doing so, man does not heed the disposition of his heart. He also does not regard the purpose which he has in living a good and pious life. He hides the old crook in his heart by means of living a virtuous life. If he would really watch his heart, he would discover that he keeps God’s law unwillingly and under pressure. In other words, he is either afraid of hell or wants to seek heaven. He might even seek lower goods such as honor, possessions, money, prosperity and health, or he might be fearing shame, hurt, or punishment.

In short, he must confess that he would love to live differently if there were no consequences for the life to come. He would not want to keep God’s law for the sake of God’s law. However, as he does not notice this wrong principle in his heart, he lives on peacefully. He only regards his work, but not his heart. He thinks he keeps God’s law as he should. The face or countenance of Moses is hidden to him. That means he does not know the purpose of the law—namely that the law must be kept gladly, willingly, freely and with a cheerful heart.

Man will become wholly desperate when he realizes his sinful nature and understands it is impossible to love God’s law. He finds no good in himself and confesses that with his works he cannot satisfy the law. He despairs of his works. He needs love to perform the law but he does not find this with himself. His conscience torments and terrifies him through the law. The law demands and requires constantly, but he does not have a penny to pay. The law is very useful to these people, since the law is given for the purpose that man may know his sin and may humble himself. That is the real purpose of the law. For that reason, Paul calls the law, the law of sin and death—Romans 8:2. He also says that the letter or the law killeth, but the Spirit giveth life—2 Corinthians 3:6.

When the conscience is convinced of sin, man sees how deeply sinful his heart is and how great his sins are. Even his best works are great sins to him. He judges himself to be a child of death, of God’s wrath and of hell. There is only fearing and trembling. All his pride falls away as a leaf from a tree. He despairs, loses hope, and humbles himself.

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