Taboo #5 - An Inversion of Law and Gospel

I read Taboo, so you don't have to.

"You shouldn't publicly share your views on gay marriage. You shouldn't try to convince gay non-Christians to stop living like they are. There is a time, after lots and lots of love and lots and lots of gospel, when you can talk to your LGBTQ+ friends who profess Christianity about their biblical sexuality"

So we see why Mike Novotny gave us poor advice last week: he inverts the proper ordering of law and gospel. Speratus, help us out!

The law reveals the guilt of sin

and makes us conscience-stricken;

but then the gospel enters in

the sinful soul to quicken.

Come to the cross, trust Christ, and live;

the law no peace can ever give,

no comfort and no blessing.

You cannot profess Christianity while living in active unrepentant sin. We have to be shown our sin before we recognize our need for a Savior. The WELS statement on human sexuality, Third Article, point 6, identifies this correctly: 

We cannot accept that a Christian with the gift of the Holy Spirit can at the same time purposefully live under the mastery of sin. 

We can't purposely choose a lifestyle sin while clinging to the cross. Finally, Walther's Law & Gospel Theses, VII

You are not rightly distinguishing Law and Gospel in the Word of God if you first preach Gospel and then the Law, or first sanctification and then justification, or first faith and then repentance, or first good works and then grace.