Sermon #NF43

Jesus Christ is Lord

The Lordship of Christ in Salvation, History, and the Church

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Sermon Description

Delivered as his Presidential Address to the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, Dr. Lloyd-Jones takes as his text the church's oldest and most basic confession: Jesus Christ is Lord. He traces this affirmation from the Apostle Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 12:3 through the early church's confrontation with incipient Gnosticism at Colossae, and on to the great ecumenical councils, which were convened, he argues, precisely in order to define and defend this truth rather than to blur it. Dr. Lloyd-Jones contends that the Lordship of Christ is not one doctrine among many but the foundation beneath the doctrine of salvation, the meaning of history, and the church's only ground for continuing hope.

Working through the New Testament's own case for Christ's Lordship, Dr. Lloyd-Jones sets out three grounds on which the church makes this confession: who Christ is in His own eternal nature, His relationship to the whole created universe as the one by whom, through whom, and for whom all things exist, and His headship over the church as His body. He closes with a pointed application drawn from Romans 8 and Titus 2 pertaining to lordship salvation: that Christ cannot be divided, that no one may receive Him as Savior while deferring submission to Him as Lord, and that the church's confession of His all-sufficiency leaves no room for any mediator, philosophy, or rival system alongside Him.

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Sermon Breakdown

Dr. Lloyd-Jones opens by receiving the prescribed text "Jesus Christ is Lord" as the true foundation of the Christian position, citing 1 Corinthians 12:3 and 1 Corinthians 8:5-6
He identifies the confession of Christ's Lordship as the mark that separated the earliest Christians from the Roman world, in which the choice was between confessing Caesar as lord or Christ as Lord
He turns to Colossians 2:8 to show how the apostle Paul confronted an incipient Gnosticism that reduced Christ to the highest of a hierarchy of angelic intermediaries
He argues that the early ecumenical councils existed to define and defend the Lordship of Christ, in deliberate contrast to modern ecumenism's preference for leaving doctrine undefined
He gives four reasons the church must contend for this truth: it is the ground of salvation, the key to understanding the atonement, the foundation for understanding history, and the church's only true source of hope
He establishes the first ground for Christ's Lordship from His own nature and person, drawing on Romans 1:4, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3, and Philippians 2:5-11
He explains the New Testament's use of "image" in reference to Christ as an exact and essential likeness, not a mere resemblance
He establishes the second ground from Christ's relationship to the universe, showing from Colossians 1:16-17 that all things were created by Him, for Him, and are held together by Him
He establishes the third ground from Christ's relationship to the church as its head, drawing on Ephesians 1:17-23 and Philippians 2:9
He closes with Christ's all-sufficiency, that He requires no supplement, mediator, or addition, and presses the application that no one may take Christ as Savior while withholding submission to Him as Lord

Sermon Q&A

Questions and Answers

What did it mean for the early church to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that this confession was the very mark separating a Christian from all others in the ancient world. It meant complete surrender to Christ's governance, and in the Roman Empire it carried the force of a life-and-death choice between confessing Caesar as lord or Christ as Lord.

Why does Dr. Lloyd-Jones say the church must continually contend for this truth rather than assume it is settled?

He points to the New Testament's own record of early attacks on Christ's Lordship, particularly the incipient Gnosticism addressed in Colossians, and argues that the great ecumenical councils were called specifically to define and safeguard this doctrine. He warns that a modern preference for theological vagueness reverses the purpose those councils were convened to serve.

On what grounds does the New Testament establish that Jesus Christ is Lord?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones sets out three grounds: Christ's own eternal nature and person as the exact image of the Father, His relationship to the universe as the one by whom, through whom, and for whom all things were created and are sustained, and His headship over the church as His body.

What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones mean by Christ's "all-sufficiency"?

He means that Christ requires no supplement, no mediator, and no addition to His finished work. Dr. Lloyd-Jones states plainly that Christ needs no help from Mary, from the saints, or from any other religious system, and that the believer may come to Him directly.

Can a person receive Jesus Christ as Savior without submitting to Him as Lord?

Decades before the lordship salvation controversy rocked the evangelical church, Dr. Lloyd-Jones answers with a resounding no. Drawing on Romans 8:28-30, he argues that Christ cannot be divided into parts to be received at different times. To believe in Him at all is to believe in Him in the fullness of His person, which means the one received as Savior must also be submitted to as Lord.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust's collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.