Martyn Lloyd Jones and Romans 6
I just finished reviewing my read of Martyn Lloyd Jones’s book Romans 6 – The New Man. It is by far the best treatise on Romans 6 I have every read, and an easy read to boot.
This is a must read for those desiring not only forgiveness of sin but deliverance from the power of sin. The simple approach Mr. Jones takes in revealing our union with Christ will no doubt set us on the path of God focus rather than self discovery (probing and analyzing of ones sins). This results in service to the Savior rather than rather than paralyses through analysis of sin.
Martyn Lloyd Jones was a medical doctor who in 1927 became the minister of a Welsh Presbyterian Church. In 1938 he moved to London and shared the ministry of Westminster Chapel in Buckingham Gate with Dr. G. Campbell Morgan who retired then in 1943. Mr. Jones continued in this ministry until 1968 when the call of God led him in a wider preaching and writing ministry up until his death in 1981.
I have listed a number of quotes from his book that give the flavor of how he handles this great Christian doctrine of union with Christ which is bedrock for any understanding and experience of biblical sanctification.
UNION WITH CHRIST
There is nothing, perhaps, in the whole range and realm of doctrine which, if properly understood, give greater assurance, greater comfort, and greater hope that this doctrine of our union with Christ. P30
Christians are not merely forgiven because of what Christ has done for us, we have been united to Christ, we are joined to Christ, we are indeed ‘in Christ’ – ‘in Christ Jesus’. P115
You are no longer in Adam, you are in Christ; and if you are in Him, what is true of Him is true of you. You realize it progressively, but it is true now. P40
A Christian is a person who has undergone a great change p206
SANCTIFICATION
Christians are to remind ourselves of who and what we are. We are ‘children of the Heavenly King’. We are members of the household of God’. We are the children of God. It is only as we remember this, and live accordingly, proud of our name and of our calling, that we shall not only live the righteous life, but we shall be advancing ‘unto holiness.’ Our hearts will become cleaner and cleaner and cleaner, and purer and purer, and so will our lives.” P269
Concerning holiness and sanctification – we must never start with ourselves and our problems. We are all so subjective, we are always thinking about ourselves, examining ourselves, and feeling our spiritual pulse. That is the wrong approach p176
The New Testament method and way of sanctification, therefore, is to get us to realize our position and standing, and to act accordingly. ….. It does not tell us what we can become. No, no, its message is ‘Be what you are.’ P262
“The New Testament pattern of teaching and preaching about sanctification is to bring us to realize that we have been set free, that we have become enslaved unto God. Stop feeling your spiritual pulse, and commiserating with yourself. Stop waiting for some marvelous deliverance that will put everything right without you doing anything at all. We read, ‘The truth shall make you free’; and the truth that makes you free is the realization of who you are and what you are.” P295
We must just take the bare Word of God, believe it, submit to it, and act upon it. P121
SIN
We are no longer in the territory of sin, we are no longer under the governing power of sin; sin no longer controls us, sin no longer controls our destiny. P22
The first thing that is absolutely essential to our being delivered from sin and to our realizing that we are not to continue in sin, is that we should realize the truth about ourselves (in Christ)… p112
We are dead indeed unto sin, to its realm, its rule, its reign, its power. I may be conscience of its activity in my body but I am not under its dominion. P130
“Every Christian by definition has already been set free from sin.” P290
“Sin in the Christian is no longer our master, it is just a nuisance.” P291
“When the Christian sins, he sins because he has just been foolish enough to listen to a voice to which he does not need to listen at all.” P291
CHRIST FOCUS VS. SELF FOCUS
What the New Testament tells you to do always, in the first instance, is to forget yourself altogether – to forget all your problems, your temptations, your difficulties, everything else; to forget yourself and look at the Lord Jesus Christ. P98
You do not need a hospital, or a clinic, you need this instruction, this information, this command, ‘Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ out Lord’. P189
The main trouble with the Christian Church today is that she is too much like a clinic, too much like a hospital; that is why the great world is going to hell outside! We are all suffering…. Feeling our own pulses and talking about ourselves, and our moods and subjective states (our sins). ……. Forget yourself and your temporary troubles and ills for the moment:” fight in the army. It is not a clinic you need; you must realize that we are in a barracks, and that we are involved in a mighty campaign. P174
“… if we thought of God and our relationship to Him, and our consequent duty, instead of thinking so much about ourselves and our problems, our moods and states, our temptations and battles and difficulties, our whole attitude and practice would be changed.” P293
“Do not talk so much about the weakness of the flesh, or about the strength of temptation. Realize who and what we are (in Christ), realize that your very body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.” P294
EVANGELIZATION / WORSHIP & THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD
I argue, therefore, that we are not evangelizing truly unless we present this truth (Union with Christ) – that in salvation we are not merely forgiven and not only justified; the doctrine of salvation includes the basic truth that we were in Adam but are now in Christ, that we are taken out of that one position and put into another. That is primitive evangelism, that is one of the basic elements in the presentation of the gospel; and therefore if we do not give it due emphasis we are not evangelizing truly. P38
It is almost impossible to find hymns that bring out this great doctrine of our union with Christ, and our position in Him. We are so subjective that we miss this glorious truth, this objective truth, this great thing that has happened outside us – our position. P44
If we do not interpret this phrase (Rom 6:2) in such away as to expose ourselves the charge of antinomianism, we are not expounding it correctly. P18
I just finished reviewing my read of Martyn Lloyd Jones’s book Romans 6 – The New Man. It is by far the best treatise on Romans 6 I have every read, and an easy read to boot.
This is a must read for those desiring not only forgiveness of sin but deliverance from the power of sin. The simple approach Mr. Jones takes in revealing our union with Christ will no doubt set us on the path of God focus rather than self discovery (probing and analyzing of ones sins). This results in service to the Savior rather than rather than paralyses through analysis of sin.
Martyn Lloyd Jones was a medical doctor who in 1927 became the minister of a Welsh Presbyterian Church. In 1938 he moved to London and shared the ministry of Westminster Chapel in Buckingham Gate with Dr. G. Campbell Morgan who retired then in 1943. Mr. Jones continued in this ministry until 1968 when the call of God led him in a wider preaching and writing ministry up until his death in 1981.
I have listed a number of quotes from his book that give the flavor of how he handles this great Christian doctrine of union with Christ which is bedrock for any understanding and experience of biblical sanctification.
UNION WITH CHRIST
There is nothing, perhaps, in the whole range and realm of doctrine which, if properly understood, give greater assurance, greater comfort, and greater hope that this doctrine of our union with Christ. P30
Christians are not merely forgiven because of what Christ has done for us, we have been united to Christ, we are joined to Christ, we are indeed ‘in Christ’ – ‘in Christ Jesus’. P115
You are no longer in Adam, you are in Christ; and if you are in Him, what is true of Him is true of you. You realize it progressively, but it is true now. P40
A Christian is a person who has undergone a great change p206
SANCTIFICATION
Christians are to remind ourselves of who and what we are. We are ‘children of the Heavenly King’. We are members of the household of God’. We are the children of God. It is only as we remember this, and live accordingly, proud of our name and of our calling, that we shall not only live the righteous life, but we shall be advancing ‘unto holiness.’ Our hearts will become cleaner and cleaner and cleaner, and purer and purer, and so will our lives.” P269
Concerning holiness and sanctification – we must never start with ourselves and our problems. We are all so subjective, we are always thinking about ourselves, examining ourselves, and feeling our spiritual pulse. That is the wrong approach p176
The New Testament method and way of sanctification, therefore, is to get us to realize our position and standing, and to act accordingly. ….. It does not tell us what we can become. No, no, its message is ‘Be what you are.’ P262
“The New Testament pattern of teaching and preaching about sanctification is to bring us to realize that we have been set free, that we have become enslaved unto God. Stop feeling your spiritual pulse, and commiserating with yourself. Stop waiting for some marvelous deliverance that will put everything right without you doing anything at all. We read, ‘The truth shall make you free’; and the truth that makes you free is the realization of who you are and what you are.” P295
We must just take the bare Word of God, believe it, submit to it, and act upon it. P121
SIN
We are no longer in the territory of sin, we are no longer under the governing power of sin; sin no longer controls us, sin no longer controls our destiny. P22
The first thing that is absolutely essential to our being delivered from sin and to our realizing that we are not to continue in sin, is that we should realize the truth about ourselves (in Christ)… p112
We are dead indeed unto sin, to its realm, its rule, its reign, its power. I may be conscience of its activity in my body but I am not under its dominion. P130
“Every Christian by definition has already been set free from sin.” P290
“Sin in the Christian is no longer our master, it is just a nuisance.” P291
“When the Christian sins, he sins because he has just been foolish enough to listen to a voice to which he does not need to listen at all.” P291
CHRIST FOCUS VS. SELF FOCUS
What the New Testament tells you to do always, in the first instance, is to forget yourself altogether – to forget all your problems, your temptations, your difficulties, everything else; to forget yourself and look at the Lord Jesus Christ. P98
You do not need a hospital, or a clinic, you need this instruction, this information, this command, ‘Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ out Lord’. P189
The main trouble with the Christian Church today is that she is too much like a clinic, too much like a hospital; that is why the great world is going to hell outside! We are all suffering…. Feeling our own pulses and talking about ourselves, and our moods and subjective states (our sins). ……. Forget yourself and your temporary troubles and ills for the moment:” fight in the army. It is not a clinic you need; you must realize that we are in a barracks, and that we are involved in a mighty campaign. P174
“… if we thought of God and our relationship to Him, and our consequent duty, instead of thinking so much about ourselves and our problems, our moods and states, our temptations and battles and difficulties, our whole attitude and practice would be changed.” P293
“Do not talk so much about the weakness of the flesh, or about the strength of temptation. Realize who and what we are (in Christ), realize that your very body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.” P294
EVANGELIZATION / WORSHIP & THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD
I argue, therefore, that we are not evangelizing truly unless we present this truth (Union with Christ) – that in salvation we are not merely forgiven and not only justified; the doctrine of salvation includes the basic truth that we were in Adam but are now in Christ, that we are taken out of that one position and put into another. That is primitive evangelism, that is one of the basic elements in the presentation of the gospel; and therefore if we do not give it due emphasis we are not evangelizing truly. P38
It is almost impossible to find hymns that bring out this great doctrine of our union with Christ, and our position in Him. We are so subjective that we miss this glorious truth, this objective truth, this great thing that has happened outside us – our position. P44
If we do not interpret this phrase (Rom 6:2) in such away as to expose ourselves the charge of antinomianism, we are not expounding it correctly. P18
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