[23] Luther’s proof, Thesis 23:
The law brings the wrath of God, kills, reviles, accuses, judges, and condemns everything that is not in Christ [Rom. 4:15].
Thus Gal. 3[:13] states, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law;” and: “For all who rely on works of the law are under the curse” [Gal. 3:10]; and Rom. 4[:15]: “For the law brings wrath;” and Rom. 7[:10]: “The very commandment which promised life proved to be the death of me;” Rom. 2[:12]: “All who have sinned without the law will also perish without law.” Therefore he who boasts that he is wise and learned in the law boasts in his confusion, his damnation, the wrath of God, in death. As Rom. 2[:23] puts it: “You who boast in the law.”
The law does not work the love of God — it works His wrath; it does not give life — it kills; it does not bless — it reviles; it does not comfort — it accuses; it does not pardon — it judges; it does not save — it condemns. In our active efforts to strive to righteousness through our own works, we stray, ironically, farther from our goal. Only in passive rest in Christ, through His grace, can we achieve it.
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How then, are we to love the Law?
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