Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Repentance

Found this great quote while reading John MacArthur’s excellent book, The Gospel According to Jesus:

Repentance means that you realize that you are a guilty, vile sinner in the presence of God, that you deserve the wrath and punishment of God, that you are hell-bound.  It means that you begin to realize that this thing called sin is in you, that you long to get rid of it, and that you turn your back on it in every shape and form.  You renounce the world whatever the cost, the world in its mind and outlook as well as its practice, and you deny yourself, and take up the cross and go after Christ.  Your nearest and dearest, and the whole world, may call you a fool, or say you have religious mania.  You may have to suffer financially, but it makes no difference.  That is repentance.

Amen.  Thank God for the gift of repentance (Acts 11:18)!

False Peace With God

I was reading Dr. Vic Reasoner’s excellent commentary on the book of Romans and he quotes Martyn Lloyd-Jones regarding Romans 5:1 and the peace of God that comes to us through faith in Christ Jesus.  Lloyd-Jones notes five indicators of the false peace that some have and who believe they are saved when in fact they are not.  His five indicators are:

1.  It is characterized by an intellectual assent to certain truths,

2.  They rest in their own faith rather than the work of Christ,

3.  They are too glib and do not show adequate concern for their shortcomings,

4.  They are interested only in forgiveness and not in righteousness,

5.  They take sin much too lightly.

True saving faith in Christ will result in the peace of God filling our hearts in Romans 5:1.  True saving faith rests in Christ Jesus and His work.  Obedience flows from our love for Christ (John 14:15; 1 John 2:3-6).  Good works follow true peace with God (Ephesians 2:10) and true peace will produce works because we know that we are right with God not because of our own doing but the work of Christ (Romans 4:5).  The work of Christ reigns supreme in the life of the true saint of God.  Jesus is our salvation completely from beginning to end (1 Corinthians 1:30-31).  Jesus is our mediator before the Father (Hebrews 7:25).  Jesus is our righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Jesus is our sure foundation (Romans 8:31-39).

Thank God for the peace of knowing I am right before God not because of my own doing or my own good works but the wonderful work of Christ (John 19:30).

Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Defining Sin in Evangelism

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said this:

There is no true evangelism without the doctrine of sin, and without an understanding of what sin is.  I do not want to be unfair, but I say that a gospel which merely says, ‘Come to Jesus,’ and offers Him as a Friend, and offers a marvelous new life, without convicting of sin, is not New Testament evangelism.  The essence of evangelism is to start by preaching the Law; and it is because the Law has not been preached that we have had so much superficial evangelism.  True evangelism must always start by preaching the Law.

Without the Law, the sinner does not tremble before a holy God and declare they have sinned against Him alone (Psalm 51:4).  The Law shows us our sins (1 Timothy 1:8-11) and the Law reveals that we are in need of a Savior (Romans 7:7).  The Law shows us that we deserve the just wrath of God against our sins for we have violated His Law (1 John 3:4).  Our own conscience bears witness against us that we have sinned by breaking His commandments (Romans 2:14-16).  The Law is never meant to save us but just to reveal our sinfulness and our guilt so that we might come to Christ Jesus by faith to receive forgiveness of our sins (Galatians 3:23-26).

I pray that more and more evangelists will preach the Law of God and convict sinners hearts.  To the humble and broken, preach grace.  To the proud and foolish, preach the Law.

HT: Ray Comfort, God Has A Wonderful Plan for Your Life.