Exhortation - It's the Law!

Recently there has been a very active online discussion and debate of preaching the third use of the Law at the end of a sermon. This discussion took place on various sites, such as Surburg's Blog, Gottesdienst, and Infant Theology to name a few. To my surprise, there was very little discussion of Walther on the issue.  This was a surprise to me because he literally wrote the book on Law and Gospel in preaching. As a refresher, God's Law has three uses.  The first use of the Law is as a curb, or deterrent or warning, which means that it keeps us on the right path moving forward in our lives (Romans 1:28-32 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). The second use of the Law is as a mirror, which means that it shows us our sin, and therefore, our need for a savior (Romans 3:23-24). There is a saying that the Law always condemns, which means that it always can act in its second use. However, the Law does not only condemn, it also has the two other uses. The third use of the Law is as a ruler, or direction about how we are to live our lives as Christians, or exhortations (Matthew 5:48).

I think most people understand that proper distinction between Law and Gospel is necessary, but how to do that has always been difficult, indeed any one who can do that should be called a doctor of theology, according to Walther. Many of the posts and online forums focus on proving that Christians works should be preached, but I don't think that is the issue that was really at stake. I think the order was the real issue. Many laymen have had it ingrained in them by pastors that the sermon must end with the Gospel and Walther's VII thesis is often cited, "[T]he Word of God is not rightly divided when the Gospel is preached first and then the Law" However, this means that the sermon should have Law before the Gospel, but it does not say you can't have it after as well. Also, reading into the text, Walter continues by saying, "The second perversion of the true sequence occurs when sanctification of life is preached before justification". Therefore, it appears as though he is saying the third use of the Law should be preached after the Gospel. Lastly, reading through some of Walther's sermons, it appears that he ends some of them with exhortations to Christians, setting an example for other preachers.

*Addition
Here is another great article on the topic, using Luther's own words about Antinomians