The justification of sinners is not the justification of sin

Jack Kilcrease- one of American Lutheranism's sharpest lay theologians- has a post  over at Theologia Crucius which makes a distinction which is not only simple, but absolutely crucial if one's theology or preaching is going to be truly Christian: the distinction between grace and permission.

The trouble is that liberal churches like the ELCA, as well as many in the so called "Emergent Church" and even all too many in churches that understand how important that distinction is, fail to make it.

This is a vital issue. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer rightly said, "cheap grace-" or antinomianism, or "radical grace," if you prefer- is merely another word for damnation.