The Result of Theological Quackery

Quoting Professor John T. Pless from his book Handling the Word of Truth:

Only where the Law has crushed sinners does the Gospel do its gracious work of healing the broken-hearted. The Law must kill the old Adam if the Gospel is to resurrect a new man to walk before God in righteousness and holiness. The Law cannot be reasoned away be theological sleight of hand. That is why Gerhard Forde calls antinomianism a “fake theology.” It is a fake theology, “for if you want to remove the law, it is necessary to remove sin and death,” says Luther. Only Christ can to [sic] that! When antinomians ancient or modern try to make the Law go away by theological quackery, they only succeed in relocating the Law. They end up inserting it into the Gospel. That makes for a legalized Gospel, which is no comfort to sinners. It only encourages them to live in the fantasy that sin is not so lethal after all.

John T. Pless, Handling the Word of Truth: Law and Gospel in the Church Today, (St. Louis: CPH, 2004) 44-45.