Meyer Lloyd-Jones on the Christian Life (Foreword by Sinclair B. Ferguson)

Doctrine and Life as Fuel and Fire
1. Auflage 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4335-4530-6
Verlag: Crossway
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 272 Seiten

Reihe: Theologians on the Christian Life

Called a 'physician of the soul,' Martyn Lloyd-Jones is widely regarded as one of the most powerful preachers of the twentieth century. Originally trained as a medical doctor, he changed careers after recognizing the depth of healing the gospel can bring to the soul of a sinner. With a unique ability to winsomely capture the minds and hearts of his listeners, Lloyd-Jones crafted sermons that continue to have a tremendous impact on the world today, almost forty years after his death. In this book, pastor Jason Meyer summarizes what Lloyd-Jones taught about the Christian life, what he saw as the dangers of separating doctrine from life, and how he modeled devotion to the knowledge of God. Lloyd-Jones's passion for the glory of God in his own life will encourage Christians to hunger to experience God in the same way.

Jason C. Meyer (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the lead pastor at Urban Refuge Church in Minneapolis. He is the author of Preaching: A Biblical Theology and a commentary on Philippians in the ESV Expository Commentary.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Meyer, Jason C.

Leseproben

Introduction

The Thesis

The Thesis Stated

Doctrine and life are fuel and fire, not oil and water. The combustible combination of doctrinal precision and experiential power creates an explosion called the Christian life. No theologian explains the explosion better than Martyn Lloyd-Jones. The thesis of this book is that according to Lloyd-Jones, the Christian life is doctrine on fire.1

The Thesis Clarified

This thesis requires three further points of clarification: (1) doctrine and life should be inseparable; (2) the right order is essential; and (3) criticism is inevitable.

Doctrine and Life Should Be Inseparable

First, Lloyd-Jones stresses that doctrine and life belong together. What are biblical doctrines according to Lloyd-Jones? Biblical doctrines are “particular truths” that the Bible “wants to emphasize and to impress upon the minds of us all.”2 He holds that knowing biblical doctrines should not be isolated from experiencing these truths in everyday life. As a specific example, the resurrection of Jesus is a core biblical doctrine not only to be understood, embraced, and defended, but also to be experienced. Paul declares and defends the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, but he goes even further in Philippians 3:10. The apostle has an experiential ambition to “know him and the power of his resurrection” (Phil. 3:10). In other words, Paul is interested not merely in the truth of the resurrection but also in the power of the resurrection. Why stop short at doctrinal knowledge of the resurrection? Scripture reveals the resurrection of the Lord so that we will encounter and experience the resurrected Lord himself.3

Therefore, Lloyd-Jones often makes the case that doctrine and life belong together. He says he is concerned with doctrine because “it helps me most in the living of the Christian life.”4 “I spend half my time telling Christians to study doctrine, and the other half telling them that doctrine is not enough.”5 The tendency to divorce doctrine and life is a perennial problem because people are “creatures of extremes.” It is always easier to take the extreme position, and it is “most difficult to avoid going either to one extreme or the other.”6

“Either–or” positions on doctrine and life are a recipe for half-baked Christian living. Why stress head or heart, light or heat, doctrine or life? All head and no heart would make someone a stoic egghead. All heart and no head would make someone a squishy, shallow sentimentalist. The abundant life comes only from a fully baked “both–and” combination of head and heart, light and heat, doctrine and life.

It is important to note that Lloyd-Jones uses the terms doctrine and life to refer to three-dimensional living. He does not reduce the Christian life to head and heart (two dimensions) but speaks about the mind, heart, and will (three dimensions). Doctrine should start in the head, catch fire in the heart, and create a life aflame with true obedience in the will. The Christian life as doctrine on fire must have all three realities.

The gospel captivates and satisfies the whole person (mind, heart, and will). Lloyd-Jones calls this complete capture “one of the greatest glories of the gospel.”7 The following paragraph easily ranks somewhere in my top ten favorite Lloyd-Jones quotations:

The Christian position is three-fold; it is the three together, and the three at the same time, and the three always. A great gospel like this takes up the whole man, and if the whole man is not taken up, think again as to where you stand. “You have obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine delivered unto you.” What a gospel! What a glorious message! It can satisfy man’s mind completely, it can move his heart entirely, and it can lead to wholehearted obedience in the realm of the will. That is the gospel. Christ has died that we might be complete men, not merely that parts of us may be saved; not that we might be lop-sided Christians, but that there may be a balanced finality about us.8

The Doctor stresses more than the mere inseparability of doctrine and life; he also emphasizes the order of them. When it comes to doctrine and life, he constantly states that doctrine must come first.

The Right Order Is Essential

Second, Lloyd-Jones never tires of saying one must begin with doctrine (the mind):

In New Testament teaching we are first of all given the doctrine, the teaching; then we are told that we have to apply that to our personal circumstances. Obviously, if we do not know the doctrine we cannot apply it; if we lack an understanding of the teaching we cannot put it into operation. First of all we have the instruction; we must receive it and understand it; then we say, “Now in the light of this, this is what I have to do.” That is the New Testament doctrine of sanctification.9

This is a divinely inspired order because it stands as the clear and consistent teaching of Scripture. “The New Testament always lays down its doctrine first, and then, having done so, says, ‘If you believe that, cannot you see that this is inevitable?’”10

Given Lloyd-Jones’s three-dimensional view, the order also matters with the three parts of the Christian life. He maintains that (1) doctrine comes to the mind, and then (2) the truth captures the heart, which then (3) moves the will to act. The Doctor argues that this order mirrors the authoritative order established by the apostle Paul (cf. Rom. 6:17).

Is there a way to tell if we are holding these things together in proper balance? There is a test of balance, but it is a surprising one. Other people can unwittingly help us maintain our balance through their criticism.

Criticism Is Inevitable (and Even Helpful!)

Third, criticism should not be shunned or unexpected, but should be expected and welcomed! The reason is obvious upon reflection. Extreme “either–or” people will by definition criticize attempts to be “both–and.” Lloyd-Jones actually regards criticism as a reassuring sign when it comes from people on opposite poles.

It seems to me that we have a right to be fairly happy about ourselves as long as we have criticism from both sides. . . . For myself, as long as I am charged by certain people with being nothing but a Pentecostalist and on the other hand charged by others with being an intellectual, a man who is always preaching doctrine, as long as the two criticisms come, I am very happy. But if one or the other of the two criticisms should ever cease, then, I say, is the time to be careful and to begin to examine the very foundations.11

Having stated and clarified the thesis of this work, I need to intensify it by showing its importance. How does Lloyd-Jones himself regard this issue? Is it a high priority or simply one problem among many that the church faced in his day?

The Thesis Intensified

Two years before his death, the Doctor diagnosed the “greatest trouble” in the church of his day: “If I were asked to name the greatest trouble among Christians today, including those who are evangelical, I would say that it is our lack of spirituality and of a true knowledge of God.”12 This deficit was the direct result of divorcing doctrine and life. An example of the exact opposite was Paul, whose very life modeled the marriage of doctrine and life. “No man had a greater theological and intellectual understanding than the Apostle Paul, but, at the same time, no man had a deeper, personal and experimental knowledge.”13

Lloyd-Jones therefore put his finger on the pulse of the problem—either–or thinking: “To put our entire emphasis on the one or the other, or to over-emphasize either is the prevailing danger today.”14 But how dangerous is this problem? What is the aftermath of this great divorce of doctrine and life? Divorcing doctrine and life is not a minor misstep but a deadly departure from the Bible.

There is nothing which I know of which is more unscriptural, and which is more dangerous to the soul, than to divide doctrine from life. There are certain superficial people who say, “Ah, I cannot be bothered with doctrine; I haven’t the time. I am a busy man, and I have not the time to read books, and have not, perhaps, the aptitude. I am a practical man. I believe in living the Christian life. Let others who are interested in doctrine be interested!” Now there is nothing that every New Testament epistle condemns more than just that very attitude.15

The...