Questions and Answers from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' Sermon on Romans 10:5-10

What is the main contrast that Paul makes in Romans 10:5-10?

The main contrast Paul makes is between two ways of righteousness or salvation - the righteousness which is of the law versus the righteousness which is of faith. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains: "He does it by making a kind of comparison and contrast between the law and the gospel as ways of righteousness and of salvation. 'Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, like this. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise.' You see, there's his contest. In verse five, he puts up what the law says. In verse six, he puts up what the righteousness of faith says."

According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, what was the fundamental error of the Jews regarding salvation?

The fundamental error of the Jews was that they misunderstood the way of salvation. They were trying to establish their own righteousness through keeping the law rather than submitting to God's righteousness through faith in Christ. Dr. Lloyd-Jones states: "They'd entirely misunderstood the way of salvation. They'd misunderstood the law and its object and its purpose, and clinging to the law and trying to establish their own righteousness by the law. They were altogether wrong and they're outside salvation."

What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the three main things the Jews were ignorant of?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies three main things the Jews were ignorant of: 1. "They're ignorant of God's righteousness, which we interpreted as meaning they were ignorant of what God demands." 2. "They were ignorant of their own inability, because here they are going about to establish their own righteousness, trusting to themselves, making this great effort." 3. "And thirdly, and more serious of all because of that, they had not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God... they were ignorant of the fact that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth."

What does God actually demand in His law according to this sermon?

According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, God demands absolute, perfect obedience to the entire law: "God demands an absolute obedience. 100% obedience to his law." He emphasizes that not only must we obey the external requirements, but we must have "clean hands and a pure heart" and "truth in the inward parts." The sermon stresses that God requires total allegiance - "heart and soul and mind and strength" - with no part held back.

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones explain the true purpose of the law?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that the law was never meant to be a way of salvation but rather to bring conviction of sin and condemnation: "Can't you see, my friend, that the law was never meant to be a way of salvation? The law was given that men might be condemned." He quotes Paul's description of the law as "the ministration of death" and "the ministration of condemnation" (2 Corinthians 3), and "the law of sin and of death" (Romans 8:2). Its purpose is "to bring the knowledge, to pinpoint it, to produce the idea of a transgression, to establish guilt."

What mistake did the Pharisees make regarding God's law?

The Pharisees substituted their own interpretations and traditions for the actual demands of God's law. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains: "The mistake was this, that though the law of God was there, open before them, they didn't look at that. They looked at their own preachings about it. They looked at their own refinements. They looked at their own comments upon it." Jesus condemned them for "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" and making "the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition."

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones describe the danger of relying on "zeal" in religious matters?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones warns that zeal without knowledge is dangerous: "There's nothing more fatal than to trust a zeal. Zeal is a wonderful thing as long as it is guided by knowledge and by understanding. But if it isn't, it can lead to fanaticism, which can make havoc in the church and elsewhere, and it can lead to this sort of blindness that afflicted the Jews." He notes that while zeal is "a most excellent thing" and "perhaps one of the great needs of the church today," it must always be "guided, safeguarded and directed by knowledge."

What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones say is a sign that someone has slipped back into justification by works?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that if Christians doubt their salvation when they fall into sin, it's a sign they've slipped back into thinking in terms of justification by works: "If you have a tendency to feel when you happen to fall into sin, if you have a feeling that you're not a Christian at all and have never been because of that sin, well, then you're still thinking in terms of justification by works... Never at any point or in any way must our salvation be based upon anything in us. It is altogether and entirely in the Lord Jesus Christ."

How relevant does Dr. Lloyd-Jones believe this issue of justification by works is in his own day?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones sees this issue as extremely relevant and perhaps even more pressing in his day than in centuries past: "I think the tendency to believe in justification by works is perhaps greater today than it has been since the end of the 15th century. This is the very essence of the modern problem." He connects it to ecumenical movements of his time: "This is the explanation of it all... people are talking vaguely and loosely, all this new false interest in Rome and all this idea that we're all one discounting this vital principle."

What hope does Dr. Lloyd-Jones offer to those who recognize they cannot satisfy the law's demands?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones offers the hope of salvation through faith in Christ rather than through works. He concludes by urging those who see the impossibility of self-justification to turn to Christ: "And when a man truly realizes the terms of the law and its demands and hears the law saying to me, if you keep that, it'll justify you... he says, 'O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me?' He's terrified... He sees the utter impossibility, and he ceases to attempt to save or to justify himself by the keeping of the law, and is delighted and thankful to listen to what the righteousness which is of faith has got to say."