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Sermon #5647

God's Way of Redemption

A Sermon on 2 Timothy 1:12

Originally preached May 24, 1964

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Scripture

2 Timothy 1:12 ESV KJV
which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. (ESV)

Sermon Description

In this sermon on 2 Timothy 1:12 titled “God’s Way of Redemption,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones focuses his sermon on Paul’s letter to Timothy, where the apostle writes from prison and explains his confidence in whom he has believed. Jumping from Paul’s example, Dr. Lloyd-Jones dives into the importance of the gospel. Salvation is more than living morally and making good decisions. It is more than being a “good Christian.” Dr. Lloyd-Jones reminds that salvation is trusting in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross for the payment of sins. This is God’s plan for the redemption of all since the natural person is corrupt. They are under the power of sin and its total pollution. Humanity’s very nature can’t help responding to sin, Dr. Lloyd-Jones says. On their own, they are unable to overcome their disposition. Good works offer no assurance. Even the great Christian figures like Paul, Martin Luther, and Charles Wesley did not rely on their works for salvation. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that there is a work that saves, but it is not of humanity. The only work that saves is God’s work of sending His Son for humanity’s redemption so they may live eternally.

Sermon Breakdown

  1. The sermon text is 2 Timothy 1:12 - "For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."

  2. The sermon focuses on how Paul was able to face imprisonment and death without fear because of his faith in Jesus Christ.

  3. Men instinctively try to save themselves through good works and morality, but this is not what God demands. God demands perfect obedience and holiness.

  4. No man can save himself through his own efforts. All fall short of God's standards.

  5. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to save us through His grace. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life and died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.

  6. We are saved through faith in Jesus Christ, not by our own works. We must come to God in helplessness and cling to the cross of Christ.

  7. Paul was able to face suffering and death with confidence because he knew Jesus as his Savior. He trusted in God's promises and faithfulness.

  8. We must know Jesus Christ as our Savior and trust in Him alone for salvation. Only then can we face life and death with confidence.

Sermon Q&A

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Sermon Questions and Answers

What is the main message of the Christian faith according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?

According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the main message of the Christian faith is not just a philosophical viewpoint or attitude, but "the most practical thing in the world." It is a way of life that offers deliverance, release, triumph, joy, and salvation. The gospel enables believers to face any circumstance in life, including imprisonment, suffering, illness, loss, bereavement, and even death, without being ashamed or disturbed. As he states, "I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."

Why does Dr. Lloyd-Jones say people cannot save themselves by good works?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones emphatically teaches that people cannot save themselves by good works for several reasons:

  1. Our works, however good, never meet God's perfect standard: "When you and I have done everything we can do and more, it isn't what God demands."
  2. God demands perfect love: "Not that you and I should do good, but that thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind and all thy strength."
  3. Our works are always imperfect and incomplete: "Our works, however good they are, are always imperfect."
  4. God demands absolute perfection: "God demands absolute perfection because he is perfect himself."
  5. The more we try to please God through works, the more unworthy we discover ourselves to be: "The more they have tried to please God, the more unworthy they've discovered themselves to be."

How does someone become a Christian according to this sermon?

According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, someone becomes a Christian not through their own efforts, good works, or religious activities, but by:

  1. Recognizing their inability to save themselves: "Man cannot save himself."
  2. Acknowledging their sin and need for salvation: "We are all vile. We are all hopeless. We are all sinners."
  3. Believing in Jesus Christ and what He has done: "A man can only be saved and reconciled to God by Jesus Christ, the son of God and by what he has done."
  4. Coming to Christ in helplessness and faith: "I simply to thy cross I cling helpless. Come to thee for grace, naked, come to thee for dress, foul I to the fountain fly. Wash me, savior, or I die."
  5. Trusting in God's grace and purpose through Christ: "But according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."

What is the purpose of Christ's death on the cross according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?

According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the purpose of Christ's death on the cross was:

  1. To bear our sins and guilt: "God took your guilt and mine and put it there on his son."
  2. To satisfy God's justice: "The son was innocent. He'd never sinned... But he made himself responsible for our sins."
  3. To provide propitiation for our sins: "God hath set him forth as a propitiation for our sins."
  4. To expiate our guilt: "He's borne my guilt. O his own self, bear our sins in his own body on the tree."
  5. To reconcile us to God: "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them."
  6. To make forgiveness possible: "I cannot be blessed by God until I'm reconciled, until my sin is forgiven and dealt with and expiated."

What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones mean by "not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace"?

When Dr. Lloyd-Jones says "not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace," he means:

  1. Salvation is not based on human merit or effort: "Not by works of righteousness, which we have done."
  2. Salvation comes from God's sovereign plan established before creation: "His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."
  3. Salvation is an act of God's undeserved favor: "Grace means favor to people who don't deserve it at all. It is unmerited favor."
  4. Salvation is God's initiative, not ours: "It is God that saves us, that no man can save himself, but that God, in his great purpose and in his grace, has found a way to save us."
  5. Salvation is accomplished through Christ's work, not our own: "It's now made manifest by the appearing of his son, our savior, Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light."

Other Sermons

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.