Back To The Basics: Law First, Gospel Second
In the name of Jesus. Amen. There’s a basic rule to life that even the most stubborn farmer knows: the cart doesn’t pull the horse. The cart follows. The horse leads. Confuse that, and you’ve got yourself a mess. The load goes nowhere. Now, dear friends, if this is true out in the field, it’s even more true in the Church. You see, confusion about what comes first and what follows has plagued the Church for centuries—and it continues to plague the Church today. You see, when Law and Gospel are confused, when Justification and Sanctification are reversed, when good works are put before grace, what results is not a healthy Christian life but spiritual chaos – it is like a cart that doesn’t move. Or worse — a cart running ahead, dragging the horse behind, until both collapse in exhaustion. So, today, we need clarity. We need to hear the Apostle Paul clearly. We need to confess with our Lutheran fathers. And we need to remember that there is a divine order with much of our theology — b...
