The Reformation Wasn’t a Phase

There’s a growing sentiment online that the recent emphasis on the Law/Gospel distinction is overblown.

Some suggest it’s merely the noise of wannabe theologians who just have it out for famous Boomer preachers. A group of young, restless voices who should spend less time on Twitter and more time learning from these seasoned men.

On the surface, that may sound like a call for humility. But beneath the tone, something more troubling is revealed: a subtle dismissal of one of the most foundational doctrines of the Reformation, and a deep misunderstanding of why it matters.

Let’s be clear: this isn’t about tone policing or turf wars. This is about the gospel itself.

“We Don’t Teach Works Righteousness”

This phrase gets repeated like a shield to shut down legitimate concerns. And in a strictly doctrinal sense, it’s true. Most Reformed or Reformed-adjacent preachers don’t get into the pulpit and explicitly say, "You are saved by works." But that’s not the issue. The problem is not with what's being denied on paper, but with what is being communicated in practice.

When faithful and well-meaning preachers tell people to examine their obedience to know whether they are truly saved, without first grounding that call in the finished work of Christ and the promises of the gospel, they unintentionally shift assurance from Christ to the Christian. That is not a small error, friends, it is a pastoral crisis.

When statements like, “Look at your works, you love for the law to examine the legitimacy of your salvation”, what the weary hear is, "You must obey to prove you are saved". No matter how loudly you say "we're saved by grace," they hear the accusatory voice of the law speaking condemnation to them.

Do you see the problem? When the categories of law and gospel are blurred, the preacher becomes a kind of spiritual ventriloquist—propping up the lifeless corpse of the law (Gal. 2; Rom. 6) and making it speak again, placing burdens on those who have already been set free.

Obedience Is Not Optional—But Neither Is Gospel Order

Of course, obedience matters. Of course, Christians are called to holiness. Of course, the New Testament is filled with imperatives. But imperative must follow indicative. The call to "walk worthy" is grounded in the declaration that you have already been "made worthy" in Christ.

This is the basic grammar of the New Testament. Paul doesn’t start Ephesians with "Put off the old man." He starts with "Blessed be the God who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ." The commands come, but only after the announcement of what God has already done.

The Reformed tradition has always maintained the three uses of the law, but it has never confused the third use with the ground of assurance. The gospel is not "Obey, and you will live." The gospel is "Christ obeyed, so you live."

Why the Law/Gospel Distinction Matters

Please understand, this isn’t just theological hair-splitting. This is the very pulse of the good news. The Law/Gospel distinction teaches us to hear and to preach Scripture rightly: law commands, gospel promises. Law exposes, gospel covers. Law diagnoses, gospel heals. Law demands, gospel declares.

The danger comes when the distinction is blurred. When law is preached as gospel, the conscience is crushed. When the gospel is preached as law, Christ is obscured. And when law plus gospel is presented as the Christian message, assurance becomes a matter of probability, not promise.

Martin Luther famously said that distinguishing law and gospel is the mark of a true theologian. Why? Because the entire drama of redemptive history hinges on it.

Honor, Yes.

There is wisdom in learning from older, faithful pastors. John MacArthur and others have served long and well. They have suffered for the truth. They have earned our respect. But even Peter needed correction when the clarity of the gospel was at stake.

Paul opposed him to his face in Galatians 2, not because Peter denied justification by faith alone, but because his actions gave the opposite impression. That’s the issue. You can be right on paper and still communicate confusion in practice.

We do not oppose older voices because we think ourselves smarter. We raise concerns because we’ve seen what gospel confusion does. We’ve watched people walk away from Christ because all they ever heard was, "Do more. Try harder. Be better."

Dear Brother: You Are Not the Gospel

To those worried about antinomianism, I understand. The fear is that too much grace talk will lead to sin. But the solution is not to reintroduce the law as a threat. The solution is to preach the gospel so clearly that hearts are melted into joyful obedience.

You are not the standard. Your progress is not the gospel. Your sanctification is not your righteousness. Christ alone is your righteousness, and His obedience is complete. When we preach that obedience is the test of salvation, without grounding it in the reality of union with Christ, we do not honor Jesus’ finished work. We compete with it.

Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is never alone. True. But let's not forget: faith looks to Christ, not to itself. Assurance rests in Him, not in how well you’ve obeyed lately.

The beauty of the gospel is that it sets us free to obey without fear. We obey, not to become God’s children, but because we are already adopted. We pursue holiness not to earn love, but because we have already been loved with an everlasting love.

When this distinction is clear, the church becomes a refuge. When it’s not, the church becomes a courtroom.

To Our Critics

We hear your concerns. But don’t let your fear of misuse rob the church of gospel clarity, and don’t confuse calls for precision with rebellion. A

We are not merely trying to pick fights. We are trying to hold fast to the word of life. Because in the end, the only thing that silences the Accuser is not our obedience, but the blood of the Lamb.

Sola gratia. Sola fide. Solus Christus.