Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' Key Teachings on God's Restoration in Ezekiel 36

What does Ezekiel 36:35-36 reveal about the nature of God's restoration?

According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, Ezekiel 36:35-36 reveals that God's restoration is comprehensive and complete. The text describes the land becoming "like the garden of Eden," indicating that God doesn't merely patch things up but fully restores what was lost. Dr. Lloyd-Jones emphasizes: "When God determined on salvation and decided to undo the effects and consequences of the fall, he decided to do the whole thing and to put man back where he was, nothing less like the Garden of Eden." This restoration is so thorough that it actually puts believers in a position beyond what Adam originally had in Christ.

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones explain the primary purpose of salvation?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones teaches that salvation's primary purpose is to vindicate God's character and display His glory, not merely to benefit humans. He states: "Salvation, therefore, is primarily designed to vindicate God's character and to display the glories of God." This is why the text emphasizes that "the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I, the Lord, build the ruined places." Dr. Lloyd-Jones warns that any conception of salvation that doesn't ultimately showcase God's glory is not true Christian salvation, as its grand objectivity extends beyond our subjective blessings to declare "that he is the Lord and that beside him there is no other."

What are the three principles of salvation that Dr. Lloyd-Jones outlines in this sermon?

The three principles Dr. Lloyd-Jones outlines are:

1. Salvation restores people to the position God intended for them: "This great and wondrous salvation is something that restores men to the position in which he was meant to be."

2. God's salvation is unmistakably evident to others: "God's way of saving men is such that when he does save them, it is clear to everybody that he's done it."

3. It is manifestly God's work alone: "This work of God in salvation is not only something that is evident to all others. It is, as I say, equally manifest and obvious and evident that it is God and God alone who has done it."

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones differentiate between human efforts at moral reform and true salvation?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones draws a sharp distinction between human moral reformation and divine salvation: "What a difference there is between a man trying to pull himself together and to live a better life and a man rarely being born again." He describes human efforts as "a man making a mighty effort of the will," while true salvation is "God, the eternal creator, taking the man and smashing him and then molding and making him anew after the image of Christ." This difference is "the difference between morality and true Christian holiness." Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that salvation is entirely God's work, not human achievement: "I'm not here because I've pulled myself together or have exercised the will. I'm a sinner saved by the grace of God."

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones explain the relationship between sin and God's glory?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones teaches that sin is fundamentally an attack on God's glory, not merely the commission of particular wrongs: "Sin is ultimately simply an attack upon God and upon his greatness and his glory." He traces this to Satan's original rebellion: "Sin, let us never forget, started with Satan... That bright angelic spirit that first raised himself against God and disputed his godhead." When sinners fall, it gives God's enemies cause to mock: "What had the heathen been saying? Well... when they saw the children of Israel there in the captivity of Babylon... the heathen said they talked about their God and that he was the only God... Well, if they had been right, they would never have been in this position." This is why God's salvation is designed not just to rescue sinners but to vindicate His name.