Without Christ

Everyone has a past. It is often painful to look back on one’s life and see the suffering their sin caused others and how it offends a holy and righteous God. But if one recognizes God’s power in salvation, “looking back” is an important ingredient. In this sermon on Ephesians 2:13 titled “You Who Were Far Off,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones states that the other ingredient to consider is the Christian’s current position because of God’s power. The apostle Paul remarkably does this with just one word: “but.” This word brings relief to the believer in Christ and points to the utter contrast between the old life and the new life in Christ. It also points to the separation between the believer and the unbeliever. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explores this contrast by looking at the details of the new covenant. One must not think that the absolute nature of the contrast is only true for those who were “really” bad before Christ. The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is an absolute difference, whether one grew up in a respectable environment or the gutters of life. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones takes a close look at the remarkable promises of the new covenant.

The greater one understands the depths of their sin, the more they understand the greatness of God’s mercy. For the Christian there is a reciprocal relationship between looking to their life before Christ and the amount of praise they offer to God. If the believer never examines their state of being without Christ, thanksgiving to God for salvation will unlikely mark their life. In this sermon on Ephesians 2:12 titled “Without Christ,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones follows Paul in challenging what it means to be without Christ in order to see just how astounding salvation really is. The worst condition of a person is that they are without Christ. But what does this really mean? Dr. Lloyd-Jones walks through the biblical text in order to show what it means to be a stranger towards God’s covenant people, to be an alien to the commonwealth of Israel. This alienation from God and His covenant people will undoubtedly lead to a life without hope. Soberly listen and contemplate a state without Christ and then rejoice that one can flee to him and find new hope.

Political debates, class warfare, as well as ethnic and religious conflict, seem to dominate the media’s attention. What could an ancient text like Paul’s letter to the Ephesians say to such matters, especially for the people of God? Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones walks through an ancient conflict of Jew and Gentile which mirrors all conflicts, both past and present. While unregenerate people will certainly reject Paul’s diagnosis of divisions and strife between nations, classes, and the sexes, the Christian church cannot. In adhering to the apostolic message, the church will not only be in a position to accurately diagnosis the problem, but by the grace of God, it will see the gospel transform prideful and selfish hearts. This is the key to true reconciliation and unity between all people, Jew or Gentile. Listen as Lloyd-Jones diagnoses the cause of divisions that continue to haunt the human race, and consider the vanity with which the world seeks to remove strife and conflict without considering the condition of the human heart. He speaks to how the gospel alone is the cure to the chaos surrounding our world.

God uses the salvation of guilty and rebellious sinners as a means to bring glory and honor to His name. In this sermon on Ephesians 2:7 titled “The Exceeding Riches of His Grace,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones brings this convicting truth as he speaks of God’s Son Jesus Christ who died a cruel and torturous death as a criminal upon a cross. He did not do this so that the world would be a more comfortable place to live or so that people would become more moral. He did this to redeem a people to the praise of God the Father. The sin He died to overcome was far more than a simple social phenomenon; it was rebellion against God the Creator. And this world He came to set free from sin was not simply a world that had problems, but it was ruled by the devil, the god of this world. All of creation looked forward to this great act of redemption. From the creation of the world to God allowing the fall, it all finds its meaning in Jesus Christ and His vicarious death on the cross. Because this salvation is of God and wholly by grace, those who receive it can never fall away. For all who God saves, He will bring to perfection on the last day when He returns.

It is through salvation that Christians instantly join the eternal family of Christ. In this sermon on Ephesians 2:10 titled “His Workmanship,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shows how redeemed men and women now live new lives that are marked by the work of Christ in their hearts. This continual work in the life of believers is what is commonly called sanctification. Dr. Lloyd-Jones proclaims that part of salvation is that all who are truly regenerated are continually formed and fashioned in holiness so that they imitate Christ. God uses many means to conform Christians to the image of Christ, but one of the main ones is the chastisements of God. When believers fall into sin, God brings rebuke and correction into their life as a good father would. This is both a great comfort and reassurance of salvation, for all whom are truly saved are sons and daughters of God and treated as such. Those who claim that one can be saved yet not be sanctified grossly misunderstand the Scriptures’ teaching. From start to finish, all of salvation is under the control of God. For this reason, God works so that those whom He saved will be brought to fulfillment through sanctification and glorification.

There is true hope in Christ. One of the most comforting and practical teachings of Scripture is that all who are united to Christ in faith have been seated with Him in the heavens. But what does it mean to be seated in the heavenly places? In this sermon on Ephesians 2:4–7 titled “In the Heavenly Places,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones brings this great news of hope with the reminder that the Christian has been delivered from this present evil world and its coming judgement because of the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. For this reason, Christians should seek to set their minds not on earthly and carnal things, but in that which is heavenly and good. Christians should put their hope with Christ who has died in their place and ascended to heaven where He rules. This does not mean that the Christian has no obligation to do good while on this earth, but it simply means that they should be as pilgrims who are always looking toward the inheritance with Christ Jesus in heaven. This affects how Christians are to conduct themselves, for they should seek what is good, pure, and holy, fleeing from all worldliness and immorality. They should not be like the unbeliever who in their worldliness cares for nothing but what is present in the here and now. The Christian should always seek the heavenly inheritance that they have in Christ by believing in His gospel.

Salvation is the result of God’s grace alone. In this sermon on Ephesians 2:8–10 titled “ By Grace Through Faith,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches that no one is saved by anything they do or any merits they earn, but it is wholly the result of grace. For in their sin, no one is able to do anything pleasing to God nor able to even believe the good news of the gospel without the work of the Holy Spirit giving them a new heart. This is contrary to what many have believed and taught throughout the centuries. Some say that grace is good but not sufficient to save, whereas some have gone as far as saying that by the works of the law alone people can be saved and made right with God. But the apostle Paul clearly denies any such teaching in his insistence on the power of God’s grace alone. For through grace God gives people the gift of faith. It is faith that is the instrumental cause of justification and by it believers are united to Christ and receive the benefits of His life, death, and resurrection. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains this great doctrine of justification by faith alone that is the very heart of Christianity and without it there is no true gospel.

In this sermon on Ephesians 2:7 titled “Through Jesus Christ,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones unpacks the words of Luke in Acts 2:7. In the incarnation, the second person of the Godhead descends and takes up a true human nature for the redemption of all those whom God elected. He did not count equality a thing to be grasped, but He came to earth as a baby born in a manger. Not only this, but He suffered and died upon a cross in the place of sinners. Even in the midst of this suffering, Jesus Christ never ceased to be fully divine but suffered as the God man. It is through His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead that believers receive the blessings of salvation and redemption. This is the new life in Christ where all who are granted faith by the Holy Spirit receive in full all the blessings that God has given in Christ. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains, all the good that God gives Christians only comes by and in the work of Christ, for in Him are all the blessings of God. This should bring all believers to worship God for all He has done in Christ. Christians should be encouraged to take the gospel to all, knowing that it is only in this gospel that peace with God and redemption come.

On one hand, people fail to realize the depth of sin. On the other hand, they fail to see the height and glory of the gospel. The problem with the church today is that it fails at both of these points. In this sermon on Ephesians 2:4–7 titled “Risen with Christ,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones declares what makes one a Christian: their union with Christ. In this union, the Christian has been raised together with the Lord Jesus Christ. Rejoicing in the heights of one’s own resurrection makes sense only when the believer understands their original state of death. By nature they were children of wrath. Jesus died for them and their old nature died with Him. In dying with Him they are also raised with Him. Starting at this point of human depravity, Dr. Lloyd-Jones explores the goodness of union with Christ. Christians, he declares, are dead to the law and no longer under the curse of sin. Christians are alive unto God. The new person thinks in terms of eternity. They care not only for their body but also for their soul. They seek to share Christ with the lost and want to please God. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones asks, “Have you been raised together with Christ? Do you know God?” Rejoice as one risen with Christ.

What has God done for the Christian? In this sermon on Ephesians 2:4–7 titled “In Christ Jesus,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones focuses on Paul’s answer to this question. Paul is concerned that believers are clear about what God has done for them. True Christianity is what God has done to and for the believer. People can decide to be religious, to start or stop doing things, and believe that God forgives them, but that is not essentially Christianity. Some schools of thought have taught that the doctrine of union with Christ is something the Christian strives to attain. But apart from this union, a person is not a Christian. One must examine themselves and ask: is my way of thinking of myself as a Christian in terms of what I am striving to do or make of myself? The difference between the unbeliever and believer is that the believer has a new disposition bending or redirecting their faculties accordingly, affecting the whole person — mind, heart, and will. Birth is sudden and so it is with the new birth. One cannot understand or explain it fully; all one knows is that it has happened. It is a creative act of God that the apostles, and others, referred to as the “new creation.” Apart from union with Christ, this new regeneration cannot make a Christian.