Justification and Sanctification
A Sermon on John 1:16
Scripture
16For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
16And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
Sermon Description
The Christian life is fraught with hardship and even sin. How can the Christian reconcile being made right before God, yet still fight sin? Through this sermon on John 1:16 titled “Justification and Sanctification,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones helps the Christian see the distinction between justification and sanctification. He describes justification as an imputed righteousness. This is your new status before God. This happens all at once, like the removal of old dirty clothes and the dawning of bright new clothes. Sanctification is imparted righteousness. Dr. Lloyd-Jones elaborates that it is not instantaneous like justification, but is much more like a blood transfusion that takes time, eventually becoming the very lifeblood of the recipient. Furthermore, he describes that every Christian is justified to the same extent and has the same legal standing before God. However, not every Christian is equally sanctified. The Christian of thirty years may see more victory over sin than the Christian of thirty days. For the one struggling with sin, know that the standing before God is secured not by their holiness, but by the holiness of Jesus. Moreover, know that in the struggle with sin, the Holy Spirit is working righteousness until they are called home to glory.
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.