Law and Gospel

¹⁷ The arrogance of man will be brought low
and the pride of men humbled;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,

¹⁸ and the idols will totally disappear.

¹⁹ Men will flee to caves in the rocks
and to holes in the ground
from dread of the LORD
and the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to shake the earth.

²⁰ In that day men will throw away
to the rodents and bats
their idols of silver and idols of gold,
which they made to worship.

²¹ They will flee to caverns in the rocks
and to the overhanging crags
from dread of the LORD
and the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to shake the earth.

²² Stop trusting in man,
who has but a breath in his nostrils.
Of what account is he?

Isaiah 2:17-22 (New International Version)

There's a loyalty that's deeper than mere sentiment
A music higher than the songs that I can sing
The stuff of Earth competes for the allegiance

-Rich Mullins, If I Stand

I've been learning about how we as Lutherans interpret the Bible so that I can teach a class in Sunday school. On of the things Dr. Mark Allen Powell talks about is how pastors are taught to look for both Law and Gospel in every verse they preach upon. I look at this verse and I see law. People will run in fear and cast aside their idols when the Lord comes. Rich Mullins' lyrics talk about the promise of gospel however. Loyalty that is more than just words - it is a truth so true and pure that it cannot be expressed in its fullness. Law and gospel.

http://kairosverse.blogspot.com