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Sermon #1133

A Spirit of Bondage

A Sermon on John 3:8

Originally preached March 27, 1966

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Scripture

John 3:8 ESV KJV
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (ESV)

Sermon Description

What is it that puts all people in bondage? In this sermon from John 3:8 titled “A Spirit of Bondage,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says that all are under the law of God because they are sinners, and no one can ever do anything to save themselves. How then can sinners be saved? The answer is found in the new birth. This is a supernatural and mysterious work wherein God gives fallen sinners a new nature. This is what Jesus told Nicodemus: “you must be born again.” Just as no one brings about a natural birth, so they also do not bring about a supernatural birth. This new life frees the Christian from the spirit of fear and bondage because they are no longer under the law and condemnation of God. Those who trust in God can have full assurance that Jesus loves them and has died to save them. They can go through life knowing that they have been forgiven of all sin and are now at peace with God. This assurance is not something reserved for only the most mature Christians, but every believer can come to a true and full knowledge that they have been adopted into the family of God.

Sermon Breakdown

  1. The sermon begins by emphasizing the importance of being born again according to John 3:8. Dr. Lloyd-Jones stresses that being born again is a miracle and the work of God.
  2. Dr. Lloyd-Jones then highlights the difference between being religious and being a Christian. He says being religious focuses on external things like buildings, vestments and ceremonies while being a Christian is about having a personal relationship with God. 3.Dr. Lloyd-Jones warns about the danger of reducing faith to mere religion and ceremony. He says the Christian faith is about knowing God personally through Jesus Christ.
  3. Dr. Lloyd-Jones then begins discussing the characteristics of someone who is born again. The first characteristic is having communion with the Holy Trinity - knowing God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
  4. Dr. Lloyd-Jones focuses on knowing the Holy Spirit. He says the work of the Holy Spirit in believers is sanctification - delivering us from sin and producing the fruit of the Spirit. The other work of the Holy Spirit is giving assurance of salvation.
  5. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that while you can be a Christian without assurance, having assurance is one of the greatest proofs of being born again. He contrasts assurance and self-satisfaction. Self-satisfaction comes from one's own efforts while assurance comes from faith in what God has done through Jesus Christ.
  6. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says assurance shows itself through being delivered from a spirit of bondage and fear. The born again person has peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
  7. The born again person also has the spirit of adoption, crying "Abba, Father!" They approach God as a loving Father, not just as a lawgiver.
  8. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says the devil can counterfeit many things but he can never give someone the spirit of adoption or make them cry "Abba, Father!"

Sermon Q&A

What Does It Mean to Be Born of the Spirit According to Martyn Lloyd-Jones?

What is the main difference between being religious and being truly Christian according to Martyn Lloyd-Jones?

According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the essential difference between being religious and being truly Christian is that true Christianity requires being born again. Throughout his sermon, he emphasizes that religion is often external, focusing on forms, ceremonies, rituals, and moral behaviors with religious trappings. In contrast, true Christianity is "this essentially spiritual thing" that Jesus was talking about with Nicodemus. Lloyd-Jones states: "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Religion can be practiced without inner transformation, but Christianity requires a spiritual rebirth.

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones describe the "spirit of bondage" that religious people experience?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones describes the "spirit of bondage" as the condition religious people often experience when they try to please God through their own efforts. This bondage involves:

  1. Being under the law and its demands
  2. Struggling to meet God's standards but realizing one's best is never enough
  3. Living in fear of judgment and condemnation
  4. Experiencing an "utter, absolute contradiction" in trying to do right but failing
  5. Being in spiritual slavery and carrying "a great load"

He quotes Paul's personal struggle from Romans 7: "That which I do, I allow not what I would, that do I not what I hate, that I do... O wretched man that I am." This bondage keeps people fearful, restless, and constantly striving without ever finding peace.

What is assurance according to the sermon, and how does it differ from self-satisfaction?

According to Lloyd-Jones, assurance is the certainty of one's salvation that comes as a work of the Holy Spirit, whereas self-satisfaction is what religious people experience. The key differences he highlights are:

  • Assurance is based entirely on the Lord and His work, not on oneself
  • Self-satisfaction comes from meeting one's own religious standards
  • Assurance acknowledges one's unworthiness yet rejoices in God's grace
  • Self-satisfaction is like the Pharisee who says, "I thank God that I'm not as other men are"
  • Assurance is "objective in its basis" (Christ's work) though "subjective in experience"
  • Self-satisfaction depends on one's own religious performance

Lloyd-Jones states this is "a very subtle and the most valuable test" because "the devil cannot counterfeit this."

What are the positive aspects of assurance that Lloyd-Jones identifies?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies several positive aspects of assurance that follow being born again:

  1. Peace with God: "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1)
  2. The spirit of adoption: We receive "the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father"
  3. Freedom from condemnation: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus"
  4. Joy and strength: "The joy of the Lord is your strength"
  5. Intimacy with God: Being able to approach God as Father rather than stern lawgiver
  6. Liberty: "The glorious liberty of the children of God" rather than bondage

Lloyd-Jones particularly emphasizes that this cry of "Abba, Father" is not just saying words but "comes from the depths and the vitals" - an "early mental cry" that expresses genuine relationship with God.

How did Martin Luther's experience illustrate the difference between religion and true Christianity?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones describes Martin Luther's experience as a powerful illustration of the difference between religion and true Christianity. Luther, before his conversion, experienced:

  1. A spirit of bondage while living as a monk
  2. Constant struggling, "fasting, sweating, praying, trying"
  3. The more he did, the more he saw "the righteousness and the holiness of God"
  4. Inability to find "this righteousness which would fit him to stand before God"
  5. No satisfaction in the "ceremonial and ritual and the whole tyranny of a religious system"

Lloyd-Jones contrasts this with Luther's eventual liberation through understanding justification by faith, which brought him out of bondage into freedom. He uses this example to warn against returning to religious systems that create bondage, asking: "Do we believe that Luther went through all this struggle in vain? Are we going to sacrifice it all?"

The Book of John

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.