I have listened to a lot of MLJ sermons in the past couple of months and have enjoyed his clear presentation of doctrine and his use of scripture to explain scripture. Furthermore, he doesn’t yell at his audience, nor does he make jokes, and he rarely uses secular references.
He presents his material in a clear and serious manner that I find useful, as it helps me focus on the scriptures and how a given doctrine is presented throughout the Bible.
I decided to post the following sermon because sanctification is a foundational topic that is often misunderstood, so he said.
(I know that I have much to learn about it, because even though I’ve been studying the Bible for 20 years, application of doctrine to life is a different and necessary endeavor, although one must know the doctrine to apply it…the Holy Spirit is involved in that process. Sanctification includes the process of application of scripture.)
In the course of the sermon, he described Romans 6-8 as follows: the doctrine presented in 6 is further explained in 7 and 8. Christians and preachers often separate these chapters: for example, calling themselves Romans 8 Christians…. [And many believe that Romans 7 is about the Christian’s life prior to conversion.]
(His playlist on Romans is 366 sermons long, so listening to his presentation of the doctrines in Romans 6, and how that is explained in 7 & 8 would be no little task: from sermon 85-197.)
He divided the topic of sanctification into bite-size portions to help his hearers.
That is, you are hearing his concluding sermon on sanctification. If you want to hear the rest of the discussion, there is a link to the playlist at the end of this post.
Today’s sermon was preceded by three other sermons on sanctification: 1, sanctification, the different views; 2, God’s work and ours; 3, the mighty process of the Holy Spirit.
Those sermons were numbers 26-29 in the series. Number 30 is on Spirit Baptism, followed by further reflections on Spirit Baptism. Earlier in this series, he preached on effectual calling, conversion, union with Christ, repentance, saving faith, adoption….
These topics are foundational to understanding and living the Christian life. Confessions of faith such as the Westminster Confession of Faith, explain those doctrines and cite the scriptures from which the doctrines derive.
I hope you enjoy this sermon and subscribe to MLJTrust and explore the site. Your understanding of the scriptures will certainly be enhanced.
From MLJTrust: [Paragraph divided for ease of reading.]
Sermon Description What is the believer’s relationship to sin?
In this sermon on sanctification, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones addresses this topic, saying “It is impossible for a Christian to remain in continual sin due to sanctification.” This is a freeing truth. From the moment of conversion, the Spirit of Life dwells in the believer, and they cannot be subject to the carnal.
Moreover, this is a promise for all Christians, not just a blessing that some receive and others don’t. And yet, the struggle against sin is still a daily battle for followers of Christ.
To help the listener better understand, Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that from the moment of salvation, Christians are dead to sin since they have been united with Christ and His life. The Christian spirit is alive to Christ, yet their bodies are still under the bondage and dominion of sin.
For those who are discouraged that they will not be able to fight sin, Dr. Lloyd-Jones offers some encouraging wisdom, imploring the believer to go to Scripture and remember the Lord’s promise to be with those who seek Him. Christians are called to fight sin, and with the help of the Holy Spirit living in each believer, they can overcome it.
Oct 17, 2024
Sermon Breakdown
[Points by MLJTrust][I emboldened some points below and provided one bracketed statement]:
- The method of sanctification is through the truth of God’s word.
- The whole truth of scripture ministers to our sanctification.
- Key passages on sanctification are Romans 6-8.
- Paul wrote Romans 6-8 to refute the idea that salvation by grace means we can continue sinning.
- The theme of Romans 6-8 is that justification and sanctification cannot be separated.
- Romans 6 summarizes the argument, Romans 7-8 provide more detail.
- Romans 8 describes all Christians, not just some. All Christians have the Spirit.
- Our union with Christ means we are dead to sin and alive to God.
- We are not only dead to the law, but also dead to sin. Sin no longer rules over us.
- We have died and been buried with Christ, and risen with Him to new life.
- Christ’s life is now our life. We are alive to God.
- This does not mean we are sinless now, but that our spirits are redeemed from sin. Our bodies still struggle with sin.
- Our bodies are still subject to sin and dominated by sin, though our spirits are redeemed.
- We are waiting for the redemption of our bodies. Our full salvation includes our bodies.
- We are not left struggling hopelessly against sin. Christ’s Spirit is working in us.
- God works in us to will and to act according to His good purpose.
- The Spirit leads us into truth, which sanctifies us. The truth includes our position in Christ and the hope of bodily redemption.
- We are to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, and not let sin rule our bodies.
- Sanctification is progressive, not complete in this life. We still battle sin in our bodies.
- The day is coming when we will be free from sin in body and spirit. We will be like Christ.
- While we wait, we purify ourselves in hope, keeping our bodies under control.
- We reject the ideas that we can be entirely free of sin in this life, or that we just need a “counteraction.” [Two other ideas of sanctification were explained in preceding sermons of this playlist which is linked at the end of this post]
- All Christians are in Romans 8, with the Spirit, though our bodies still struggle with sin.
- Sanctification means growing in understanding and mastery of the sin in our bodies.
Description of his series, Great Biblical Doctrines:
A sermon by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Sanctification in Romans 6 to 8 https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/grea… Great Biblical Doctrines playlist: • The Eternal Decrees of God (Remastered)
MLJTrust Video-Page Link: https://www.youtube.com/@MLJTrust/videos
Playlist-Page Link: https://www.youtube.com/@MLJTrust/playlists
Playlist the above sermon came from: GREAT BIBLE DOCTRINES: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvVtziP2bL637JkXK0n_QQ6we3RkCoC5i
The Great Bible Doctrines series will have 35 videos apparently; presently it only has 31.