Holiness and Sanctification
A Sermon on Ephesians 4:22-24
Originally preached March 23, 1958
Scripture
22That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Sermon Description
By the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, sinful men and women are made into new creatures. They are justified before God and made truly righteous. In this sermon on holiness and sanctification from Ephesians 4:22–24, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains that the old self has been crucified with Christ and now lives according to the Spirit of God that dwells in them. However, there is a sense in which the old self is still with Christians. This old self, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out, refers to the sinful principle in the body called the flesh. This is why, though they are saved, regenerated, and justified, Christians continually struggle with sin. This struggle is something that will go on throughout the entirety of the Christian life as they battle sin and the flesh. But all believers can rest assured knowing that Christ Jesus will return and bring to completion what He has begun in His people. This should encourage all Christians struggling with sin to put off the old self and flee to Christ Jesus knowing that He cares for and loves them. Christians ought to flee all legalistic moralism, run to Christ, and pursue true holiness as they seek to glorify Him in all they do.
Sermon Breakdown
- The apostle Paul reminds the Ephesians of what they learned in Christ - to put off the old self and put on the new self.
- Putting off the old self and putting on the new self must always be done together. They are two parts of the same action.
- Putting off the old self and putting on the new self are once and for all actions. But renewing your mind is a continuous process.
- The "old self" refers to our unregenerate nature - what we are by birth and as descendants of Adam. It is corrupted and sinful.
- We must put off the old self because it is corrupt and deceitful. The old self belongs to our former way of life before knowing Christ.
- Putting off the old self means renouncing and forsaking it. It is like taking off old clothes.
- Even though the old self was crucified with Christ, we still need to put it off in our experience by renouncing old habits and ways of living.
- We must put off the old self because of what we have become in Christ - new creations. We must live out this new identity.
- The old self is the same in all of us - it is what we inherit from Adam due to the Fall. The new self is what we become in Christ through faith.
- We must reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God. We must not let sin reign in our bodies.
- We must yield our members to righteousness and holiness, just as we once yielded them to sin.
- We must realize the truth of who we are in Christ - no longer in Adam, but new creations in Christ.
- Our old self has been crucified with Christ. We do not need to crucify it ourselves. We only need to put it off in our experience.
- Realizing our old self is dead in Christ and we are new creations is strengthening for faith and living the Christian life.
Sermon Q&A
Questions and Answers from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' Sermon on Ephesians 4:22-24
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones teach about putting off the old man and putting on the new man?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, putting off the old man and putting on the new man must always be done together - they are not separate actions. He emphasizes that "You put off and put on, you don't remain naked. There's no sort of wasteland in between." This dual action is what distinguishes Christianity from mere morality, which only focuses on the negative (what not to do). Christianity requires both putting off the old and putting on the new as a complete action.
What is the difference between Christianity and morality according to the sermon?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that "Morality is entirely negative. It stops with a negative. Morality tells us, put off the old men, you don't do this and you don't do that, and you don't do the other, and then it's finished." In contrast, Christianity always includes both the negative (putting off) and the positive (putting on). He references Luke 11 where Jesus warns that merely driving out an evil spirit without welcoming the Holy Spirit leaves one vulnerable to worse spiritual conditions.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones explain the apparent contradiction between Romans 6:6 and Ephesians 4:22?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that in Romans 6:6, Paul states that "our old man is crucified with Christ," which is a positional truth about our relationship with God. In Ephesians 4:22, Paul exhorts believers to "put off the old man," which is a practical application of that truth. He reconciles these by explaining that "it is because the old man is dead that I am to put him off." Only Christians (whose old man is already dead positionally) can put off the old man practically. As he puts it: "We ought to be what we are."
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones mean by "the old man" in this sermon?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that "the old man" refers to "the unregenerate person that we once were that was dominated by a depraved nature." He expands this to include what the Bible means by original sin - "the men that we all were by our birth and as the result of our descent from Adam and all that we have inherited from Adam as the result of the fall." This includes our "fallen, polluted, depraved, corrupted, sinful" nature with "a bias against God and towards evil."
How does sanctification work according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones' interpretation of these verses?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones teaches that sanctification involves three key elements: putting off the old man (a once-and-for-all action), putting on the new man (also a once-and-for-all action), and "being renewed in the spirit of your mind" (a continuous process). He notes that while the putting off and putting on are described in the aorist tense (indicating a decisive action), the renewal of the mind is in the continuous present tense, meaning it "never stops" but is "a continuous process must be ever going on and increasing."
Why does Dr. Lloyd-Jones criticize Christian organizations formed to deal with particular sins?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones criticizes organizations formed to deal with specific sins (like Sabbath-breaking, temperance, gambling) because they "dropped unconsciously from the spiritual to the moral level." He argues these have been "quite useless" despite good intentions because they took a purely negative approach. Instead, he advocates for "positive preaching of the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit" as exemplified in the 18th century revivals, which he believes effectively dealt with moral problems by addressing the heart rather than merely behavior.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones illustrate the relationship between the old man and new man?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones uses the illustration of a man driving a pair of horses: "When a man becomes a Christian, he finds himself virtually like a man who's driving a pair of horses. He himself is the driver with the reins in his hand... The old men, the New Men, I myself." This illustrates how a Christian is conscious of both the old nature and the new nature, while maintaining a distinct identity that can choose which nature to follow. Another illustration he uses is that of freed slaves who still behave as if enslaved, even though legally they are free.
The Book of Ephesians
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.