No. 44 What are the ways in which the Spirit of God speaks to us through the Word? Is there a relationship here to law and gospel or to sin and grace? >>DR. LEOPALDO SANCHEZ M.: Thank you for that question, Dave. How the Spirit works through the Word can be gathered from what the Holy Spirit does through Christ's ministry of proclamation as well as through the ministry of his prophets and apostles. These spokesmen of God show God's people their sins and call upon them to repent of their sins and to turn to the Lord. In the Lutheran tradition we call this Word of the Spirit the law which convicts of sin. These spokesmen of God also proclaim God's mercy towards his people. The arrival of his kingdom of grace, the forgiveness of sins and the promise of the resurrection. In the Lutheran tradition, we call this gracious Word of the Spirit the Gospel, which comforts consciences who are troubled by their sins. Now, in the Lutheran Confessions, we learn that Christ has obtained and sent his Spirit for the church to speak precise this two-fold message. To speak the law and the Gospel in the power of the Spirit. The Confessions read: The Spirit of Christ must not only comfort but through the function of the law must also convict the world of sin. The Holy Spirit must perform an alien work, which is to convict, until he comes to his proper work, which is to comfort and to proclaim grace. For this reason Christ obtained the Spirit for us and sent him to us. Now, it is important to recognize that although we are called to proclaim the law and the Gospel, it is also true that the Holy Spirit will know how to apply our words to the hearer. There are statements, for example, that the Spirit can use as either law or Gospel. For example, is the preaching of the cross law or Gospel? The answer is yes it could function both ways. On the one hand, the cross can convict me of my sins against my Lord. We recognize by looking at the crucified that sinners like us put Jesus on the cross. On the other hand, the cross can also show us God's mercy in Christ who takes our sins away. So the Passion play for example, can kill us. It can convict us of sin. But the Passion play can also raise us from the dead for the forgiveness of sins. Or both. The point is that in the end, the preacher will do well to humbly remember that the Holy Spirit is ultimately above the servant of the Word. That the Holy Spirit will be the one who'll make the law and the Gospel effective in the hearer, according to what he or she needs to hear at this or that time in his or her life.