Theology is centered on, yet not exhausted by, the message of justification in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ offers a unilateral and unconditional promise of salvation. Therefore, the distinction between law and gospel is also central to the enterprise of Christian theology.
The central problem of human life is the question of justification. Social psychologists have demonstrated that across culture and times, humans are driven on by status seeking behavior in their relationships with other humans. A given cultural group sets standards of behavior, and humans compete with one another to see who can best embody them. The ultimate goal of this competition is gaining a status of proper recognition before others (i.e., social justification). In religion, this principle also holds true. Whatever the ultimate goal of salvation is in a given religion, adherents will invariably achieve it by performing a set a works (be they moral, ritual or both). Another option might be to mystically dissolve the self to escape the relentless demand of the gods or God. Even modern atheism embodies this impulse, since by pretending that God and his law do not exist, one is free from the need to justify oneself before God, or at minimum, religious authorities. Rather, the self dissolves upon death.
Jesus Christ’s promise of justification before the Father represents God’s answer to the supreme problem of human existence. Christians need not justify themselves through works whose ultimate goal is to fulfill certain standards of behavior before God or other humans. Instead, Jesus offers a unilateral promise of justification through the grace of his cross and empty tomb.
Proclaiming this promise is the source of all salvation in Scripture. Therefore, the central task of Christian theology is to explain, promote, and inculcate the grace of Christ. This promise of grace frees humans from the need to manipulate God or other humans in order to gain a positive standing before them.
Such a promise of redemptive grace in Christ liberates humans in a way that that God’s law never could due to original sin. God’s law, known from nature, conscience, and special revelation, has a proper role in ordering society and exhorting the faithful to external goodness. But it cannot save or justify. Hence, the proper distinction between the unilateral promise of grace and salvation in Christ, and God’s commandments, is central to the enterprise of Christian theology.
From the draft manuscript for Lutheran Dogmatics: The Evangelical-Catholic Faith for an Age of Contested Truth (Lexham Press).
Cover image from “A Christ-Centered Lent,” February 26, 2025, accessed June 27, 2025, The Evangelist, https://evangelist.org/news/2025/feb/26/a-christ-centered-lent/.