Warning Passages
A Sermon on Romans 8:28-30
Originally preached Feb. 23, 1962
Scripture
28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the …
Sermon Description
The Lord Jesus Christ said there will be those who will say they are His followers but the end will prove otherwise. The Bible warns about false professions, or as the Puritans called it, “temporary faith.” How does one understand the warning passages in light of Romans 8:28–30 where God is said to be in complete control over the Christian’s salvation from beginning to end? More importantly, perhaps, is how does one respond to the truth of false profession of faith? In this sermon on Roman 8:28–30 titled “Warning Passages,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones takes up these questions and others as he continues in his examination of the doctrine of final perseverance of the saints. He first outlines his interpretive principles, noting the important distinction between the visible and invisible church. The writings of the Bible are written to the visible church, says Dr. Lloyd-Jones, and one must remember that the visible church will be a mixed community of true and false professions. Second, he says, the primary purpose of the warning passages is to test one’s profession of faith in order that they may know whether it is true or false. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones not only identifies the true nature of the warning passages, but offers the church comfort, encouragement, and the God-ordained means to test oneself.
Sermon Breakdown
- The passage under consideration is Romans 8:28-30 which deals with the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints.
- The doctrine of election and predestination are part of something greater - the final certainty of our ultimate glorification.
- There are many passages that cause people to stumble in understanding this doctrine. They can be classified into three groups: those that seem to say one can fall away, those that seem to say our salvation is doubtful and depends on us, and the warning passages.
- We must consider the state and condition of the visible church which is a mixed multitude. Not all members of the visible church are necessarily Christians. There are those with temporary faith or false professions.
- The primary purpose of the warning passages is to test our profession of faith to see if it is genuine or spurious. Our profession needs to be tested and proven by what it produces in us.
- The parable of the ten virgins is a test of profession. The five foolish virgins represent those in the church with a false profession who are selfish and self-centered, only wanting benefits. The five wise virgins represent those with genuine faith who are concerned and make sure they have oil.
- The parable of the talents also represents a test of profession. The man with one talent displays an antagonistic attitude, burying the talent out of fear. He is like those in the church who call the Christian life narrow and hard.
- The parable of the sheep and the goats also represents a test of profession. The sheep, representing the righteous, do good works unselfconsciously and are unaware of them. The goats, representing the unrighteous, demand salvation as a right and boast of their works.
- Revelation 3:5 which speaks of not blotting names from the book of life is a negative statement for emphasis (litotes). It does not mean that some names will be blotted out. Names are written in the book of life before the foundation of the world according to God's foreknowledge. It is impossible for names to be blotted out.
Sermon Q&A
What Does Lloyd-Jones Teach About the Perseverance of the Saints?
What is the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints according to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?
According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints teaches that true believers will ultimately be glorified and cannot lose their salvation. As he explains, "The whole object of this statement is to give us a final certainty and assurance of our ultimate glorification." It is based on Romans 8:28-30, where Paul assures that those whom God has called, justified, and predestinated will be glorified. Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that this doctrine gives believers the assurance that nothing can prevent them from arriving at complete salvation and conformity to the image of Jesus Christ.
How does Lloyd-Jones address the warning passages in Scripture that seem to contradict this doctrine?
Lloyd-Jones addresses these warning passages by explaining that they serve a specific purpose - to test the genuineness of one's profession of faith. He categorizes them into three main groups: 1. Passages that seem to say one can fall away 2. Passages that suggest salvation depends on us 3. The warning passages themselves
He teaches that these passages don't contradict the perseverance doctrine but rather test whether our faith is genuine or merely temporary. "The primary purpose of these warning passages is to test us... to warn us against this terrible danger of having nothing but a false profession." He points out that these warnings help distinguish between living faith and dead faith, as James writes, "faith without works is dead."
How does Lloyd-Jones distinguish between the visible and invisible church?
Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that a key to understanding difficult passages is recognizing the distinction between the visible and invisible church. The visible church is "a mixed multitude" containing both true believers and those with merely temporary faith or false professions.
He states: "The visible church, like the children of Israel marching from Egypt to Canaan, is a mixed multitude." He explains that not everyone who belongs to a church is necessarily a Christian, and this explains why Scripture contains warnings and calls for self-examination. As he puts it, "For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly... But he is a Jew which is one inwardly" (Romans 2:28-29), and this principle applies equally to the church.
How does Lloyd-Jones interpret the parable of the ten virgins?
Lloyd-Jones interprets the parable of the ten virgins not as teaching that Christians can lose salvation, but as revealing the difference between true and false professors within the visible church. The key distinction is not that some lost their salvation, but that some never truly had it.
He explains: "The foolish virgins have got a purely selfish and self-centered attitude towards the whole thing. They want the privileges, they want the pleasures... but obviously they're not interested in anything else." The wise virgins, representing true believers, showed genuine concern and preparation, while the foolish ones, representing false professors, were careless and unconcerned about spiritual realities.
When the bridegroom says "I know you not," Lloyd-Jones explains this doesn't mean he once knew them and now rejects them, but rather "he's never known them in the way that we've seen this word always means in the scripture... You've never really belonged to me."
What does Lloyd-Jones teach about names being blotted out of the Book of Life?
Lloyd-Jones addresses Revelation 3:5 ("I will not blot his name out of the book of life") by explaining that this is a negative statement used for emphasis (a figure of speech called litotes), not a positive statement that some names will be blotted out.
He provides several reasons why this couldn't mean true believers can lose salvation:
- Other passages in Revelation (13:8, 17:8, 21:27) indicate names are written in the Book of Life "before the foundation of the world."
- If God wrote names in the Book before creation and then had to erase them, "God must have made a mistake" and would lack foreknowledge.
- There is never a positive statement in Scripture that anyone's name will be blotted out.
Lloyd-Jones concludes this is simply a dramatic way of emphasizing that true believers are secure, similar to Paul saying "I am not ashamed of the gospel" to emphasize that he gloried in it.
The Book of Romans
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.