What is a Christian?
A Sermon on Romans 1:11-17
Scripture
11For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; 12that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13I do …
11For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 12That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. 13Now I would not have you …
Sermon Description
How do you know that you are a Christian? What is a Christian and what does it mean to be a Christian? In this sermon on Romans 1:11-17, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones answers these questions which are perhaps the most important questions ever. He begins by confronting the fact that we are living in an age of utter confusion, especially in the Church. People claim to be Christians while completely contradicting Scripture in everything they do. That is why it is so important to be certain what a Christian really is. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that Christianity can be defined in verse 14 of Romans 1; A Christian is a debtor to both the Greeks and the Barbarians, the wise and the unwise. A Christian is someone who has something that others do not have, and feels the need to give it to everyone. They are not someone who hopes and is looking to find the meaning of life and the purpose of life, they are someone who has already found truth, has joy in it, and feels the need to share it with others. Dr. Lloyd-Jones then goes on to tell an analogy about a man who has the cure for a deadly disease in their pocket, and sees a man who has this disease. This man feels the need and urge to give this cure to the other man in need. A Christian is the same because they have the answers in their pocket and feel the need to share it with everyone around them. A Christian does not just feel this need to share it with the intellectual, but also the uneducated, because they all are in desperate situations without Christ. They do not only share it with people who are interested in having this truth, but also with people who have no interest in it at all. Dr. Lloyd-Jones concludes by explaining that the Christian not only has hope, but can give a reason for the hope within him.
Itinerant Preaching
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.