I must not be the only one longing for the first use of the law, judging by the outpouring of responses to my previous post. In fact, it’s probably not even the first use itself, but just plain old preaching of the Law, which will be “used” by the Holy Spirit in the first way or the second way (perhaps even in the third!) as is needed in each human soul… but which can’t happen if the Law isn’t getting preached at all.

Once again, here comes the Large Catechism to the rescue. I just re-read it recently and was astonished—really, astonished—to see afresh before my eyes how powerfully Luther proclaims the Law as God’s word, a very good word for a created world and a restraining word for a sinful world. (As he says in the Galatians commentary, the Law is actually the best thing in the world—the only problem being that it can’t justify. Still, that’s pretty high praise.) And he doesn’t say it just once or twice, or even only in the section on the Ten Commandments: he repeats it through the whole Large Catechism. Simply put, the Law is the word of the Creator. The first use of the law corresponds to the first article of the creed. Loving and obeying the Law, insofar as it is given to us within the constraints of sin in this life, belongs to our worship of the whole Trinity.

By all means go and read or re-read the Large Catechism yourself; but in the meanwhile, to whet your appetite, here are some of the passages that struck me. (All the quotes are from the Kolb & Wengert translation of The Book of Concord.)

On the 3rd commandment: “[Y]ou are daily under the dominion of the devil, and he does not rest day or night in seeking to take you unawares and to kindle in your heart unbelief and wicked thoughts against these three and all the other commandments. Therefore you must constantly keep God’s Word in your heart, on your lips, and in your ears. For where the heart stands idle and the Word is not heard, the devil breaks in and does his damage before we realize it.”

On the 4th commandment: “[L]et it be a warning to you how important obedience is to God, because he treasures it so highly, delights so greatly in it, rewards it so richly, and besides is so strict about punishing those who transgress it.”

On the 5th commandment: “God wishes to remove the root and source that embitters our heart toward our neighbor. He wants to train us to hold this commandment always before our eyes as a mirror in which to see ourselves, so that we may be attentive to his will and, with heartfelt confidence and prayer in his name, commit whatever wrong we suffer to God. Then we can let our enemies rave and rage and do their worst. Thus we may learn to calm our anger and have a patient, gentle heart, especially toward those who give us cause to be angry, namely, our enemies.”

Again on the 5th: “Once again we have God’s Word by which he wants to encourage and urge us to true, noble, exalted deeds, such as gentleness, patience, and, in short, love and kindness toward our enemies. He always wants to remind us to recall the First Commandment, that he is our God; that is, that he wishes to help, comfort, and protect us, so that he may restrain our desire for revenge.”

On the 7th: “Let all people know, then, that it is their duty, on the pain of God’s displeasure, not to harm their neighbors, to take advantage of them, or to defraud them by any faithless or underhanded business transaction. Much more than that, they are also obligated faithfully to protect their neighbors’ property and to promote and further their interests, especially when they get money, wages, and provisions for doing so.” (Here’s a commandment that needs a lot more preaching in the U.S.! Luther actually talks more about crimes of money and property than anything else—he knows what is most people’s true god.)

The 10th commandment “is not addressed to those whom the world considers wicked rogues, but precisely to the most upright—to people who wish to be commended as honest and virtuous because they have not offended against the preceding commandments.”

Conclusion: “Apart from these Ten Commandments no action or life can be good or pleasing to God, no matter how great or precious it may be in the eyes of the world… It seems to me that we will have our hands full to keep these commandments, practicing gentleness, patience, love toward enemies, chastity, kindness, etc., and all that is involved in doing so… [N]o one is able to keep even one of the Ten Commandments as it ought to be kept. Both the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer must come to our aid, as well shall hear later. Through them we must seek and pray for help and receive it continually.” And we should be mindful of “how much effort God desires us to devote to learning how to teach and practice the Ten Commandments.”

At the introduction of the Creed: “Thus far we have heard the first part of Christian teaching, and in it we have seen all that God wishes us to do and not to do. The Creed properly follows, which sets forth all that we must expect and receive from God; in short, it teaches us to know him perfectly. It is given in order to help us do what the Ten Commandments require of us.”

On the First Article: “Hence, because everything we possess, and everything in heaven and on earth besides, is daily given, sustained, and protected by God, it inevitably follows that we are in duty bound to love, praise, and thank him without ceasing, and, in short, to devote all these things to his service, as he has required and enjoined in the Ten Commandments.”

And at the conclusion of the Creed: “[T]he Creed brings pure grace and makes us righteous and acceptable to God. Through this knowledge we come to love and delight in all the commandments of God because we see here in the Creed how God gives himself completely to us, with all his gifts and power, to help us keep the Ten Commandments: the Father gives us all creation, Christ all his works, the Holy Spirit all his gifts.”

On the First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer: “[I]n this petition we pray for exactly the same thing that God demands in the Second Commandment: that his name should not be taken in vain by swearing, cursing, deceiving, etc., but used rightly to the praise and glory of God.”