Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Saving Faith in Romans 10

What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the key verses about saving faith in Romans 10?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies Romans 10:9-10 as the apostle Paul's summary of saving faith: "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." He emphasizes that these verses contain Paul's essential definition of what constitutes genuine saving faith.

What are the three divisions of saving faith that Dr. Lloyd-Jones suggests?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones proposes a threefold division for understanding saving faith: 1. The content of saving faith - what we must believe (that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead) 2. The character or nature of saving faith - how we believe (with the heart) 3. The proof of saving faith - the evidence of genuine faith (confession)

This sermon focuses primarily on the second division, the character or nature of saving faith.

Why does Paul reverse the order of "believing" and "confessing" in Romans 10:9-10?

According to Lloyd-Jones, Paul reverses the order for a specific reason. In verse 9, Paul puts confession first because he's concerned with how you can tell whether someone is a Christian - by what they say. But in verse 10, he puts belief first because he's describing the actual order of experience - belief in the heart comes first, and confession follows as a result. Lloyd-Jones explains: "What he says is the result of something else that had gone before the believing. So the believing in the heart comes first, and that then is given expression by what comes out of the mouth."

What serious error does Dr. Lloyd-Jones warn against regarding these verses?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones warns against interpreting these verses to mean that our act of believing and confessing is what saves us. He states: "There have been those who've misunderstood both these verses...by interpreting in this way that what the apostle is saying is that it is our belief and confession that saves us." He explains that this would turn belief into a "work" and contradict Paul's entire argument for salvation by grace. Faith is not the basis of salvation but rather "the instrument" or "the channel" through which Christ's work becomes effective in believers.

Why does Paul emphasize belief "with the heart" according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?

Lloyd-Jones explains that Paul emphasizes belief "with the heart" to safeguard against two key dangers:

1. The danger of going to extremes - swinging from works-based salvation to mere intellectual assent to propositions
2. The danger of superficiality - failing to see the profound nature of man's sin problem and the corresponding greatness of salvation

The heart in Scripture refers not merely to emotions but to "the center of personality, the very innermost citadel of the personality" - the whole being of a person.

What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the "modern fallacy" regarding unbelief?

The modern fallacy, according to Lloyd-Jones, is the assumption that unbelief is merely an intellectual problem rather than a heart problem. He criticizes both the secular world and certain theological movements (which he calls "South Bank theology") for assuming that people don't believe because they can't intellectually understand or accept Christianity's terminology or concepts.

Lloyd-Jones states emphatically: "The trouble with men is not in his head. It's in his heart. The problem is not an intellectual one. The problem is much deeper than that." He points to Romans 8:7 which states that "the carnal mind is enmity against God" and John 3:19 which explains that "men loved darkness rather than light."

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones use Paul's pre-conversion experience to illustrate his point?

Lloyd-Jones points to Paul (then Saul) before his conversion as a perfect example of how unbelief is not an intellectual problem. Paul was highly educated and intelligent, yet violently opposed Christianity. Lloyd-Jones quotes Acts 9:1, which describes Saul as "breathing out threatenings and slaughter" against Christians, and comments: "That's not cold intellectual detachment, is it? That's not a scientific view of the situation. He is not rejecting it because of his great brain and this detached, purely scientific point of view. No, he's governed by something else...Passion, hatred, venom, spleen."

What biblical passages does Dr. Lloyd-Jones cite to show that unbelief is a heart problem?

Lloyd-Jones cites numerous passages to establish that unbelief stems from the heart: - Romans 1:18, 21, 28 - People "hold down the truth in unrighteousness" and "did not like to retain God in their knowledge" - Romans 8:7 - "The carnal mind is enmity against God" - Psalm 14:1 - "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God" - Genesis 6:5 - "Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" - Matthew 11:25-26 - God has "hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes" - John 3:19 - "Men loved darkness rather than light" - Ephesians 4:17-19 - People are "ignorant because of the blindness of their heart"