In Christian Theology, the doctrine of Law and Gospel discusses the relationship between God's Law, which demands obedience to God's will, and the Gospel, which promises the forgiveness of sins for the sake of the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Lutheran teaching on Law and Gospel

The proper distinction of Law and Gospel was first specifically brought to the attention of the Christian Church by Martin Luther (1483-1546), and laid down as the foundation of evangelical Lutheran biblical exegesis and exposition in Article IV of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession (1531): "All Scripture ought to be distributed into these two principal topics, the Law and the promises. For in some places it presents the Law, and in others the promise concerning Christ, namely, either when it promises that Christ will come, and offers, for His sake, the remission of sins justification, and life eternal, or

Martin Luther is credited with saying that anyone who could properly distinguish Law and Gospel should be given a doctorate in theology. The importance of this foundational theological task was recognized throughout the Lutheran Age of Orthodoxy (1580-1713). Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther (1811-1887), who was the first (and third) president of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, revitalized this basic theological skill in his evening lectures at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis 1884-85. These lectures were later translated into English and published by his student, W.H.T. Dau, as The Proper Distinction Between LAW AND GOSPEL: 39 Evening Lectures in 1897.

The Reformed Tradition on Law and Gospel

The 20th century "neo-orthodox" theologian Karl Barth entered the debate by his work Evangelium und Gezetz .