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Sermon #4167

Purification of the Bride

A Sermon on Ephesians 5:25-27

Scripture

Ephesians 5:25-27 ESV NASB KJV
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, …

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Sermon Description

Sanctification is an essential and inevitable part of life for all who are truly regenerate and saved. In this sermon on Ephesians 5:25–27 titled “Purification of the Bride,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones describes it is a lifelong process by which the believer is conformed to the image of Christ and grown in love and knowledge of God the Savior. It is the outworking of the justification and forgiveness of sin that all Christians receive at salvation by becoming partakers of the gospel of Christ Jesus. The word of God is essential to sanctification. However, this is not the belief that Christians are to “let go and let God,” but rather it is the recognition that the word of God is the means that the Holy Spirit uses to grow Christians in knowledge and love of Christ. Another erroneous view of sanctification and salvation is that of baptismal regeneration. This is the view that at baptism Christians are cleansed of original guilt and the stain of sin. Biblically, baptism is a sign of the transformation and new life that one has in Christ, not the means of acquiring it. Another essential aspect of sanctification is the conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit. The word of God, particularly the Ten Commandments, can be used to further sanctify and bring Christians closer to God.

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.