Graces. not Gifts
A Sermon on John 1:16
Originally preached April 26, 1964
Scripture
16And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
Sermon Description
What does it mean to be a Christian? In this sermon titled “Graces, not Gifts,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches from John 1:16 to tell his hearers that the Christian is the one who has received the fullness of God. He preaches that the process of sanctification is part of the Christian life, and therefore it must be part of the Christian message. The only reason God can give gracious fullness of salvation is because He Himself is full to the infinite extent. When God gives salvation, He both imputes and imparts the righteousness of Christ to the believer. This does not mean the Christian life will be easy. Dr. Lloyd-Jones illustrates sanctification as a garden. A person can tend to the soil all their life and never produce any fruit, for they have forgotten to plant seeds. In this illustration Dr. Lloyd-Jones also tells his hearers that the vines are produced by God, and the toiling for His glory must be devoted to ridding the garden of weeds. It is a great encouragement that God is the protector. Listen as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches about God’s graces.
Sermon Breakdown
- The sermon text is John 1:16 - "And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace." This verse summarizes what makes us Christian - receiving the fullness of Christ.
- A Christian is someone who has received the fullness of Christ, not just someone who is good, dutiful or a church member. Receiving Christ's fullness is what accounts for everything else in the Christian life.
- The fullness of Christ is mediated to us by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit works indirectly by enlightening our minds, stimulating prayer, leading us, giving us assurance and helping us persevere.
- The Spirit also works directly by sanctifying us and making us more like Christ. This is a vital part of our salvation. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil and restore us to our original state before the Fall.
- The righteousness of Christ is not just imputed to us, it is imparted to us. We are born again and made partakers of the divine nature. The Spirit makes Christ's fullness actual and real in us.
- The Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit in us - love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. This fruit is the character of Christ himself being formed in us.
- The fruit of the Spirit refers to graces, not gifts. Gifts are for service, graces are for sanctification. We must not confuse the two.
- The first three fruits - love, joy and peace - describe our essential condition. Love is love for God, others and even enemies. Joy is joy in the Holy Spirit, not happiness. Peace is peace with God, others and within ourselves.
- The next three fruits - longsuffering, gentleness and goodness - describe our relationship with others. Longsuffering means being patient with difficult people. Gentleness is kindness to others. Goodness is concern for the good of others.
- The final three fruits - faith, meekness and temperance - describe our character before God. Faith means faithfulness and loyalty. Meekness is humility. Temperance is self-control and discipline.
- These fruits show that we have received of Christ's fullness. They are the marks of Christ's character in us, produced by the Spirit. We must examine ourselves to see if these fruits are evident in our lives.
Sermon Q&A
What Does Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Teach About Sanctification?
What is the difference between justification and sanctification according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, justification is about being forgiven, but sanctification goes much further. He states, "The Gospel not only offers us forgiveness, it does that and thank God for it. The first thing we all need is forgiveness." However, he emphasizes that "there's nothing more utterly wrong than to think of the Christian merely as a man who's forgiven and is then left where he was." Sanctification is the ongoing process where we are "conformed to the image of His Son" and where "Christ be formed in you."
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones describe the fruit of the Spirit?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones describes the fruit of the Spirit as graces (not gifts) that reflect Christ's character. He explains, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." He classifies these nine manifestations into three groups: the first three describe our essential condition (love, joy, peace), the second three describe our relationship to others (long suffering, gentleness, goodness), and the final three reflect our character before God (faith/faithfulness, meekness, temperance/self-control).
What is the role of the Holy Spirit in sanctification according to Lloyd-Jones?
According to Lloyd-Jones, the Holy Spirit works both indirectly and directly in sanctification. Indirectly, He works "upon us in enlightening our minds, in stimulating us to prayer, in leading us, in working assurance in us, in seeing to our perseverance." Directly, the Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit in us - "building us up, this work of producing in us the lineaments of Christ." Lloyd-Jones emphasizes, "It is the Holy Spirit who does this. It is the fruit of the Spirit."
How does Lloyd-Jones explain the balance between God's work and our responsibility in sanctification?
Lloyd-Jones uses a garden analogy to explain this balance. He states, "Think of it in terms of a garden... A man can dig his garden and break up the bits of earth and rake it... But if that's all that he does, he'll never have anything there at all." The seed (God's work) contains the life and power, but our responsibility is to "keep down the weeds." He concludes, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling... because it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do." Our work is "mainly negative" but "very important," while the fruit itself is produced by the Spirit.
What is the ultimate goal of sanctification according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones teaches that the ultimate goal of sanctification is complete conformity to Christ. He states that Christ "came to destroy the works of the devil in their entirety" and "in order that we might be restored to the original condition in which God made man." The goal is that "we shall see him as he is and we shall be like him." He explains that sanctification is the process by which Christians are "changed into the same image from glory to glory," becoming progressively more like Christ until final glorification.
How does Lloyd-Jones distinguish between the fruit and gifts of the Spirit?
Lloyd-Jones makes a clear distinction: "The fruit of the Spirit does not mean gifts, it means graces." He points to 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 for spiritual gifts, which are "a part of service" rather than sanctification. He warns against confusing these, noting that the Corinthian church had many gifts but lacked sanctification. He emphasizes that the fruit (graces like love, joy, peace) reflects Christ's character, while gifts are for service in the church. "When you are talking about sanctification, there is nothing which is more confusing than to confuse gifts and graces."
What evidence should a Christian look for to know they are being sanctified?
According to Lloyd-Jones, Christians should look for the fruit of the Spirit in their lives as evidence of sanctification. He urges believers to "think of yourself, therefore, as a Christian from this moment, not in terms of what you don't do, but in terms of what you are, what you show, what you manifest." The evidence includes growing love (even for enemies), joy "unspeakable and full of glory," peace "that passeth all understanding," long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control. He asks, "Are we able to see and are others able to see the fruit of the Spirit in us?"
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.