Does a Christian love doing the things the Law demands, like loving God and loving their neighbor? Yes. The Christian loves doing the things written on our hearts and revealed in the 10 commandments. Why though do the baptized love to keep the commandments? Well, it's because they are baptized. For one who is not born anew, but does the works of the law out of fear, is not doing good works, but rather does the works of the law out of fear of being punished. The Christian is far different from this. For the Christian does the works of the law and walks in the commandments because they have been born anew and it is no longer they who live, but Christ who lives within them. The Christian has been freed from the condemnation of the law; therefore, they do not keep the law out of fear of being punished, but rather walk in the commandments for they are God's immutable will.

The Christian does the works of the law, not from a fearful conscience, but from a freed and merry heart. As the Formula of Concord declares, "But when a person is born anew by the Spirit of God and is liberated from the law (that is, when he is free from this driver and is driver by the Spirit of Christ), he lives according to the immutable will of God as it is comprehended in the law and, in so far as he is born anew, he does everything from a free and merry spirit, These works are, strictly speaking, not works of the law but works and fruits of the Spirit, or, as St. Paul calls them, the law of the mind and the law of Christ. According to St. Paul, such people are no longer under the law but under grace." (FCSD VI.17).  So, we the baptized are not driven by fear, but by freedom in the Gospel. We live in the joy of the law because we are free from it's condemnation. In Christ, the law condemns us no more, and it's accusations are no longer laid on us, but on Jesus who assumed our sins for us. We who are in Christ, in the forgiveness of our sins in the means of grace, are no longer under the law, but under the grace of the Father. We no longer receive condemnation, but rather salvation in Jesus. Because of this identity and new reality in Jesus, we live in faith toward God and in fervent love toward everyone.

We live in joy and freedom, not fear and trepidation under the tyranny of the law.   As the Formula continues confessing, "Since, however, believers are not fully renewed in this life but the Old Adam clings to them down to the grave, the conflict between spirit and flesh continues in them. According to the inmost self they delight in the law of God; but the law in their members is at war against the law of their mind. Thus though they are never ith law, they are not under but in the law, they live and walk in the law of the Lord, and yet do nothing by the compulsion of the law" (FCSD VI.18).  This is the simul, we are at the same time both a sinner and a saint. Because of Jesus, we are a saint, a pure child of God the Father. And yet, the Old Adam continues to cling to us like a rotting corpse until our death. Everyday of our baptized lives is a struggle, a war between the Spirit and the flesh, preventing us from doing the things we want to do. We must not despair when we don't have absolute delight in the law, or despair because we habitually break the commandments, nor should we make excuses because of our bad habits and joyless spirit. No, when we have no joy in the law and when we desires the things of the flesh, we have confidence that we have an advocate and defender, a forgiving Lord in Jesus who desires to restore us to the joy of His Salvation and uphold us with His good Spirit.  

This is our comfort in this life, not that we are awesome keepers of the law, but that in Christ we are forgiven our law breaking ways and freed from the condemning declaration of the law. In Christ, we are forgiven and destined for eternal life in paradise with Him.  Joy in the law flows, not from a conscience that has been beat down by the law, but rather flows from a heart that has been and is continually freed in the preaching of the Gospel. Only the Gospel frees us to live in faith toward God and in love for our neighbor. Only the Gospel frees us to see the Law as a good thing, rather than the word that condemns us. Only the Gospel assures us of who we are in Jesus, as His forgiven brothers and co-heirs of life eternal. You who have failed again this week, whose shortcomings have won the day again, be at peace. Jesus Christ died for you, rose for you, and He forgives you all of your sin. Take heart, you have a merciful Savior who is merciful unto you.

Peace be with you. May the devil be silenced, the world be hushed, and the Old Adam be drowned anew so that you hear only the voice of your Savior Jesus who says, "I forgive you. I love you. I claim you as My own forever," Amen.

Jesus' Sheepdog,

Pastor Hull