Grace a licence to sin?
What Dr Marlyn Lloyd-Jones said:
If the devil comes to you and tries to convict you, and to make you feel that you are condemned, stand up to him and say: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus". Answer him with the Scripture, and he will 'flee from you'... The Apostle is asserting here that if we are Christians, your sins and mine -- past sins, present sins, and future sins -- have already been dealt with once and for ever! Had you realised that?
Most of our troubles are due to our failure to realise the truth of this verse. 'There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus' is so often understood to mean nothing more than that past sins have been dealt with. Of course it means that; but it also means your present sins; even more, it means that any sin you may ever chance to commit has already been dealt with. You will never, you cannot ever, come under condemnation...
Many miss the point and teach that you start with 'no condemnation' and then, as the result of adopting certain teachings and receiving certain experiences, you finally arrive at 'no separation'.
But the 'no separation' is here at the beginning; it is in the word no', indeed in the entire statement of verse 1: 'There therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.' Condemnation and separation are an utter impossibility in the Christian; a 'falling away from grace' cannot happen. The Christian can never be lost, the Christian can never come under condemnation. 'No condemnation' is an absolute word, and we must not detract from it. To do so is to contradict and to deny the Scripture...
But why does the Apostle say this, and on what grounds does he say it? Is it not a dangerous thing to say? Will it not incite people to sin? If we tell Christians that their past sins, their present and their future sins have already been put away by God, are we not more or less telling them that they are free to go out and sin?
If you react in that way to my statements I am most happy, for I am obviously a good and true interpreter of the Apostle Paul. It was because he preached such things that people said, 'What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?' (chapter 6: 1).
That is the very charge they were bringing against him, and if we do not preach and represent this gospel in a way that sounds dangerous at first, we are not preaching it truly. The true preaching of the gospel is always liable to be misunderstood by people in that way. The Apostle has already given the answer in chapters 6 and 7, proving that there is no risk at all, but rather the opposite.
Let me show how he goes on to demonstrate this again. He is summing up the argument of chapters 6 and 7 just in passing, so that he can go on with his main argument. There is therefore now no condemnation'. To whom? 'To thern which are in Christ Jesus'. Here is the explanation 'in Christ Jesus'.
In other words, what is a Christian?... The Christian essentially, says the Apostle, is one who is 'in Christ Jesus'. Here is another little word -- 'in'. How glibly we say, 'in Christ Jesus'. It is the greatest statement of all; there is nothing beyond being 'in Christ Jesus'... Paul wants us to see that we are not only justified, but that if we are justified we are 'in' Christ JesusÉ
God's act of justification is the basis of our final assurance, of our absolute certainty that we can never again come under condemnation, and that God will go on with His work in us until we are glorified and entire and complete, 'without spot or wrinkle or any such thing'. 'In Christ Jesus'. If you are in Christ Jesus you will remain there, and nothing can ever take you out of Him. Nothing!... but this is the foundation of it all -'in Christ Jesus'. He is the living Head; and I am joined to Him; I am a part of Him, a part of His life, sharing in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, ascension to glory, and session at the right hand of God. We are seated with him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6)...
He is reminding as again that we must be clear about this basic truth once and for ever. You who are Christians, even when you sin, do not go back 'under condemnation'. The reason is, he tells us in the next verse, that you have finished with the Law, He has already told us that in the words 'Ye are not under Law, but under grace'. You must never again feel 'under condemnation'.
We can put it in the form of an illustration. The difference between an unbeliever sinning and a Christian sinning is the difference between a man transgressing one of the laws of England or any other State, and a member of a family doing something that is displeasing to another member of the family. In the one case a man commits an offence against the State; in the other, a husband, say, has done something that he should not do in his relationship with his wife. He is not breaking the law, he is wounding the heart of his wife. That is the difference. It is no longer a legal matter, it is a matter of personal relationship now, and that, a relationship of lovc. The man does not cease to be the husband of the woman, nor the woman to be the wife of the husband. Law does not come into the matter at all; it lies outside that realm. In a sense it is now something much worse than a legal condemnation. I would rather offend against a law of the land objectively outside me, than hurt someone whom I love.
That is why there is no risk in the Apostle's statement. Being in this state and relationship as a Christian gives me a much higher standard, and makes sin much more offensive to me, much more hateful, something to be shunned. There is no risk here at all. The man who is in Christ Jesus, and who knows it, is a man who will fight sin and hate it and avoid it much more than the man who is ,under the law'É
So we must get a firm hold of this great truth of 'no condemnation', because we are 'in Christ Jesus'. We are out of the realm of the Law, and of sin, and of death, because He was condemned for our sins. He is out of it, and so are we, because we are 'in Him', So, never allow yourself to go, even in thought, under condemnation again; that is to sin, because it is failure to believe the Word of God.
About the writer
Dr Marlyn Lloyd-Jones' teachings were respected by many, from ministers and pastors to the common man in the street. He knew and believed that the gospel, preached with signs and wonders, is the on answer to life's problems.
Born in South Wales, Britain, Dr Lloyd-lones received his medical training at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, one of the great London hospitals then, and completed his examinations at such a young age that he had to wait to take his MD. When he finally did, he was already the chief clinical assistant to Lord Thomas Horder, one of the best and most famous doctors then. By the age of 26, he was well on his way to a brilliant and lucrative career in medicine.
In 1927, he gave all that up and devoted his time entirely to preaching the gospel at a Presbyterian church in Aheravon, South Wales.
As the church grew with constant conversions, his reputation grew. Dr G. Campbell Morgan, minister of Westminster Chapel, an evangelical of national repute, heard him, and soon had Dr Lloyd-Jones with him at Westminster Chapel as his colleague and successor in 1938.
Dr Lloyd-Jones' ministry kept growing and his Friday night Bible discussions soon became very popular. In 1953, he began Friday night Bible studies in the main church for a much larger audience. Beginning with a series on biblical doctrine, he then moved on to a lengthy study of Romans, which was later published in a series of books.
According to Sir Fred Catherwood, a prominent British businessman, politician and Christian, Dr Lloyd-Jones was popular with people from all walks of life. "Young and old, rich and poor, men and women, bright and dull, all seemed to come in equal measure to hear the Christian message put with a power and authority not often matched."
Such was his influence and appeal that, in 1957, when his sermon broadcast live on BBC exceeded the time limit, the station did not fade him out, but kept with him till he finished.
The following were excerpts from his book Romans -- An Exposition Of Chapter 7:1-- 8:4.
What Dr Marlyn Lloyd-Jones said:
If the devil comes to you and tries to convict you, and to make you feel that you are condemned, stand up to him and say: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus". Answer him with the Scripture, and he will 'flee from you'... The Apostle is asserting here that if we are Christians, your sins and mine -- past sins, present sins, and future sins -- have already been dealt with once and for ever! Had you realised that?
Most of our troubles are due to our failure to realise the truth of this verse. 'There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus' is so often understood to mean nothing more than that past sins have been dealt with. Of course it means that; but it also means your present sins; even more, it means that any sin you may ever chance to commit has already been dealt with. You will never, you cannot ever, come under condemnation...
Many miss the point and teach that you start with 'no condemnation' and then, as the result of adopting certain teachings and receiving certain experiences, you finally arrive at 'no separation'.
But the 'no separation' is here at the beginning; it is in the word no', indeed in the entire statement of verse 1: 'There therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.' Condemnation and separation are an utter impossibility in the Christian; a 'falling away from grace' cannot happen. The Christian can never be lost, the Christian can never come under condemnation. 'No condemnation' is an absolute word, and we must not detract from it. To do so is to contradict and to deny the Scripture...
But why does the Apostle say this, and on what grounds does he say it? Is it not a dangerous thing to say? Will it not incite people to sin? If we tell Christians that their past sins, their present and their future sins have already been put away by God, are we not more or less telling them that they are free to go out and sin?
If you react in that way to my statements I am most happy, for I am obviously a good and true interpreter of the Apostle Paul. It was because he preached such things that people said, 'What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?' (chapter 6: 1).
That is the very charge they were bringing against him, and if we do not preach and represent this gospel in a way that sounds dangerous at first, we are not preaching it truly. The true preaching of the gospel is always liable to be misunderstood by people in that way. The Apostle has already given the answer in chapters 6 and 7, proving that there is no risk at all, but rather the opposite.
Let me show how he goes on to demonstrate this again. He is summing up the argument of chapters 6 and 7 just in passing, so that he can go on with his main argument. There is therefore now no condemnation'. To whom? 'To thern which are in Christ Jesus'. Here is the explanation 'in Christ Jesus'.
In other words, what is a Christian?... The Christian essentially, says the Apostle, is one who is 'in Christ Jesus'. Here is another little word -- 'in'. How glibly we say, 'in Christ Jesus'. It is the greatest statement of all; there is nothing beyond being 'in Christ Jesus'... Paul wants us to see that we are not only justified, but that if we are justified we are 'in' Christ JesusÉ
God's act of justification is the basis of our final assurance, of our absolute certainty that we can never again come under condemnation, and that God will go on with His work in us until we are glorified and entire and complete, 'without spot or wrinkle or any such thing'. 'In Christ Jesus'. If you are in Christ Jesus you will remain there, and nothing can ever take you out of Him. Nothing!... but this is the foundation of it all -'in Christ Jesus'. He is the living Head; and I am joined to Him; I am a part of Him, a part of His life, sharing in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, ascension to glory, and session at the right hand of God. We are seated with him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6)...
He is reminding as again that we must be clear about this basic truth once and for ever. You who are Christians, even when you sin, do not go back 'under condemnation'. The reason is, he tells us in the next verse, that you have finished with the Law, He has already told us that in the words 'Ye are not under Law, but under grace'. You must never again feel 'under condemnation'.
We can put it in the form of an illustration. The difference between an unbeliever sinning and a Christian sinning is the difference between a man transgressing one of the laws of England or any other State, and a member of a family doing something that is displeasing to another member of the family. In the one case a man commits an offence against the State; in the other, a husband, say, has done something that he should not do in his relationship with his wife. He is not breaking the law, he is wounding the heart of his wife. That is the difference. It is no longer a legal matter, it is a matter of personal relationship now, and that, a relationship of lovc. The man does not cease to be the husband of the woman, nor the woman to be the wife of the husband. Law does not come into the matter at all; it lies outside that realm. In a sense it is now something much worse than a legal condemnation. I would rather offend against a law of the land objectively outside me, than hurt someone whom I love.
That is why there is no risk in the Apostle's statement. Being in this state and relationship as a Christian gives me a much higher standard, and makes sin much more offensive to me, much more hateful, something to be shunned. There is no risk here at all. The man who is in Christ Jesus, and who knows it, is a man who will fight sin and hate it and avoid it much more than the man who is ,under the law'É
So we must get a firm hold of this great truth of 'no condemnation', because we are 'in Christ Jesus'. We are out of the realm of the Law, and of sin, and of death, because He was condemned for our sins. He is out of it, and so are we, because we are 'in Him', So, never allow yourself to go, even in thought, under condemnation again; that is to sin, because it is failure to believe the Word of God.
About the writer
Dr Marlyn Lloyd-Jones' teachings were respected by many, from ministers and pastors to the common man in the street. He knew and believed that the gospel, preached with signs and wonders, is the on answer to life's problems.
Born in South Wales, Britain, Dr Lloyd-lones received his medical training at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, one of the great London hospitals then, and completed his examinations at such a young age that he had to wait to take his MD. When he finally did, he was already the chief clinical assistant to Lord Thomas Horder, one of the best and most famous doctors then. By the age of 26, he was well on his way to a brilliant and lucrative career in medicine.
In 1927, he gave all that up and devoted his time entirely to preaching the gospel at a Presbyterian church in Aheravon, South Wales.
As the church grew with constant conversions, his reputation grew. Dr G. Campbell Morgan, minister of Westminster Chapel, an evangelical of national repute, heard him, and soon had Dr Lloyd-Jones with him at Westminster Chapel as his colleague and successor in 1938.
Dr Lloyd-Jones' ministry kept growing and his Friday night Bible discussions soon became very popular. In 1953, he began Friday night Bible studies in the main church for a much larger audience. Beginning with a series on biblical doctrine, he then moved on to a lengthy study of Romans, which was later published in a series of books.
According to Sir Fred Catherwood, a prominent British businessman, politician and Christian, Dr Lloyd-Jones was popular with people from all walks of life. "Young and old, rich and poor, men and women, bright and dull, all seemed to come in equal measure to hear the Christian message put with a power and authority not often matched."
Such was his influence and appeal that, in 1957, when his sermon broadcast live on BBC exceeded the time limit, the station did not fade him out, but kept with him till he finished.
The following were excerpts from his book Romans -- An Exposition Of Chapter 7:1-- 8:4.
