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the Reformed, the former from the beginning stressed the fact that the Holy Spirit works
through the Word as His instrument (per verbum), while the latter preferred to say that the
operation of the Holy Spirit accompanies the Word (cum verbo). Later on Lutheran theologians
developed the real Lutheran doctrine, that the Word of God contains the converting power of
the Holy Spirit as a divine deposit, which is now so inseparably connected with it that it is
present even when the Word is not used, or is not used legitimately. But in order to explain the
different results of the preaching of the Word in the case of different persons, they had to
resort, even though it be in a mild form, to the doctrine of the free will of man. The Reformed
indeed regarded the Word of God as always powerful, either as a savour of life unto life or as a
savour of death unto death, but maintained that it becomes efficacious in leading to faith and
conversion only by an accompanying operation of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of sinners. They
refused to consider this efficaciousness as an impersonal power resident in the Word.
C. THE TWO PARTS OF THE WORD OF GOD CONSIDERED AS A MEANS OF GRACE.
1. THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL IN THE WORD OF GOD.
The Churches of the Reformation from
the very beginning distinguished between the law and the gospel as the two parts of the Word
of God as a means of grace. This distinction was not understood to be identical with that
between the Old and the New Testament, but was regarded as a distinction that applies to both
Testaments. There is law and gospel in the Old Testament, and there is law and gospel in the
New. The law comprises everything in Scripture which is a revelation of God’s will in the form of
command or prohibition, while the gospel embraces everything, whether it be in the Old
Testament or in the New, that pertains to the work of reconciliation and that proclaims the
seeking and redeeming love of God in Christ Jesus. And each one of these two parts has its own
proper function in the economy of grace. The law seeks to awaken in the heart of man
contrition on account of sin, while the gospel aims at the awakening of saving faith in Jesus
Christ. The work of the law is in a sense preparatory to that of the gospel. It deepens the
consciousness of sin and thus makes the sinner aware of the need of redemption. Both are
subservient to the same end, and both are indispensable parts of the means of grace. This truth
has not always been sufficiently recognized. The condemning aspect of the law has sometimes
been stressed at the expense of its character as a part of the means of grace. Ever since the
days of Marcion there have always been some who saw only contrast between the law and the
gospel and proceeded on the assumption that the one excluded the other. They based their
opinion in part on the rebuke which Paul administered to Peter (Gal. 2:11-14), and partly on the
fact that Paul occasionally draws a sharp distinction between the law and the gospel and
evidently regards them as contrasts, II Cor. 3:6-11; Gal. 3:2,3,10-14; cf. also John 1:17. They lost
sight of the fact that Paul also says that the law served as a tutor to lead men to Christ, Gal.