Understanding Sonship in Christianity: Insights from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

What are the characteristics of being a child of God according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?

According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the characteristics of being a child of God include:

1. Having a personal relationship with Christ (receiving Him)
2. Having a deep love for God the Father and being aware of the personal relationship
3. Being interested in God's affairs and concerns
4. Having a desire to see God's name glorified in the world
5. Being grieved when God's name is blasphemed
6. Seeing the world as God's creation and belonging to Him
7. Being aware of and concerned about God's purpose for the world
8. Having a deep concern for the welfare of the church
9. Looking forward with longing to Christ's final triumph
10. Finding joy in keeping God's commandments, not seeing them as grievous
11. Not continuing in a lifestyle of sin

As Lloyd-Jones states: "The Christian is a man who does not go on committing sin. There is this continuous element... He doesn't lie down in sin. He doesn't live as he formally did."

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones distinguish between true children of God and those who merely claim to be Christians?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones provides several tests to distinguish true children of God from mere claimants:

1. The test of relationship with the Son: True children have received Christ and believe in His name.

2. The test of relationship with the Father: True children have a personal, loving relationship with God as Father, not just intellectual knowledge.

3. The test of interest in God's affairs: "The child always has an interest in the affairs and in the things of the parent." True children are concerned about God's kingdom, His church, and His purposes.

4. The test of attitude toward God's commandments: True children find joy in obeying God's commands. As Lloyd-Jones says, "To the child, the commandments of God are not grievous. In other words, he rejoices in them. He likes them."

5. The test of lifestyle: True children don't continue in a lifestyle of sin. While they may occasionally fall, their basic life pattern is one of righteousness.

Lloyd-Jones emphatically states: "He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar. And the truth is not in him."

What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones teach about the Christian's concern for the church?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones teaches that a genuine Christian will have deep concern for the church because it is God's kingdom on earth. He explains:

"There is no more sure or certain test of our whole relationship than our interest in and our concern about the church of God."

This concern manifests in several ways: 1. Grief over the current state of the church when it's derided, scorned, or ridiculed 2. Prayer for the church's revival and success 3. Interest in the missionary enterprise and expansion of the church 4. A desire to see God's kingdom come in its fullness

Lloyd-Jones compares this to Jeremiah's grief over Jerusalem: "If Jeremiah wept and shed tears and was unhappy and was ill even, because he saw God's kingdom down... Are we grieved about the state of the Christian church? How often do we think about it? How often are we disturbed by this? How often have we wept for the church?"

He emphasizes that this concern increases as Christians mature in their faith, moving from self-centered interests to kingdom-centered concerns.

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones explain the relationship between being born of God and the Christian's attitude toward sin?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that being born of God fundamentally changes a person's relationship with sin. Drawing from 1 John 3:8-10, he teaches:

1. When a person is born of God, they receive a new nature that cannot abide in sin
2. The seed of God remains in them, making it impossible to continue in a lifestyle of sin
3. This doesn't mean Christians never sin, but that they cannot remain in sin perpetually

He illustrates this difference using two life patterns: - The non-Christian has a basic moral level that occasionally improves temporarily but always returns to the lower baseline - The Christian has an elevated basic level that occasionally dips into sin but returns to the higher baseline

Lloyd-Jones explains the difference between a backslider and a non-Christian: "A backslider must come back. He can't continue there... The backslider, however grievously he may fall into sin, he never stays in it... He never ends his life in it."

He concludes: "If you tell me you know a man who's been born again and who seemed to be a bright Christian, but who lived the remainder of his life after a given point in sin... I say that man was never a Christian at all."

Why does Dr. Lloyd-Jones emphasize self-examination for Christians?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones emphasizes self-examination because:

1. It ensures authentic faith: "These things are not mere theoretical truths... God deliver us from any mere intellectual, mechanical study or division of the scripture."

2. It prevents self-deception: "There is always the danger of our deluding ourselves. So the larger the number of tests which we have and which we can apply to ourselves, the better for us and the safer will our position be."

3. It affects eternal judgment: "You'll be judged in eternity by this. Can there be anything more terrible for a child than to arrive in the glory and find that the whole time he'd never grown?"

4. It leads to spiritual growth: Self-examination helps Christians move from spiritual infancy to maturity, from self-centeredness to kingdom-mindedness.

5. It has eternal consequences: "There is nothing more urgent for every one of us at this moment than to know that we are the children of God, not only because of the present, but because of the fact that we are going to die and because of the fact that the glory of eternity is there ahead of us."

Lloyd-Jones concludes his sermon with this exhortation: "Let's make certain. Let's not be content merely with words and with statements or anything superficial. Let's know that we are the children of God beyond any mistake."