What is Christianity?
A Sermon on Galatians 6:15
Originally preached Jan. 12, 1964
Scripture
15For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Sermon Description
In this sermon on Galatians 6:15 titled “What is Christianity?” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones challenges Christians to regain a proper understanding of what the life of a follower of Jesus truly is. He asks a central question to help gauge spiritual health: “is Christianity central to everything in our lives, or is it small and narrow?” In the passage, Paul is addressing a false teaching in the church that did not hold Christianity up as a worldview around which the lives of people should revolve. Dr. Lloyd-Jones also shows how and why people need to come to Jesus in the first place. Before becoming followers of Jesus, anything that one has or has done avails to nothing. Good deeds, intellect, and even baptism does not secure an eternal future. In and of themselves, they are useless in bringing anyone closer to Christ. This relates to why all need to be born again. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones reminds, salvation is humanity’s most fundamental need. Listen as he preaches on the Christian life and why all are in need of being saved.
Sermon Breakdown
- The context of Galatians 6:15 is Paul summing up his message and driving home the main points he wants to convey.
- Our natural ideas about Christianity and salvation are completely wrong. We need to be born again to truly understand.
- Circumcision (religious observance) and uncircumcision (human reasoning) are useless and irrelevant in Christ.
- What matters is being a new creation - this means being made into something completely new, not just improving what already exists.
- We cannot take up Christianity like an interest or hobby. We must become nothing in order to become Christian.
- Christianity is not about following rules or modifying behavior. It is about God giving us new life and making us into new people.
- Our deepest need is for God himself, not just new ideas or a better life. We were made to know and have fellowship with God.
- God is perfect light, truth, holiness, righteousness, and justice. He cannot look upon sin. How can we know such a God in our natural sinful state?
- We are by nature the opposite of God - we are darkness, sin, unrighteousness, and injustice. We cannot come before God as we are.
- Our circumstances and externals do not defile us - our sinful hearts do. We need inner renewal and transformation.
- Knowledge of the truth is not enough - we need God to change our hearts and give us new desires and wills.
- When we become Christians, we become new creations - we are so changed that we can barely recognize ourselves. This is God's miracle.
- We cannot make ourselves Christians through effort and willpower. God alone can create - he makes Christians through the Holy Spirit.
- Christianity means gaining a new heart, new mind, new outlook, and new life. Everything becomes new.
- We become Christians through God's grace and power, not through anything we have or do. All else is useless - only a new creation matters.
Sermon Q&A
What Does Martyn Lloyd-Jones Mean by a "New Creature" in Galatians 6:15?
What is the main text and focus of Dr. Lloyd-Jones' sermon?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones focuses on Galatians 6:15, which states: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." His sermon explores what it means to be a "new creature" or "new creation" in Christ, and why external religious practices or philosophical thinking are ultimately irrelevant to salvation.
Why does Paul use such vehement language in Galatians according to Lloyd-Jones?
According to Lloyd-Jones, Paul uses vehement language because he is deeply concerned about people misunderstanding Christianity. Paul was indignant that false teachers were reducing the glorious gospel to something "small and petty and narrow and legalistic." Lloyd-Jones notes that Paul writes with righteous indignation because he cares deeply about the souls of the Galatians and doesn't want them to miss the true nature of salvation.
What does Lloyd-Jones say is wrong with most people's understanding of Christianity?
Lloyd-Jones states emphatically: "All our natural ideas with regard to what Christianity is and with regard to what salvation is are all together and entirely wrong." He explains that many people view Christianity as merely a series of prohibitions and restrictions—a cramped, confined life—or as a burdensome task. These misconceptions fail to grasp the transformative nature of true Christianity, which is about becoming a completely new creation.
What does Lloyd-Jones mean by "circumcision and uncircumcision"?
Lloyd-Jones explains that "circumcision" represents religious rituals, traditions, and practices (like baptism or church attendance in modern terms) that people rely on to make them right with God. "Uncircumcision" represents those who reject religion but trust in their intellectual capacity, philosophical thinking, or moral goodness apart from religious practices. He argues that both approaches are equally useless for salvation.
Why are both religious practices and intellectual achievements inadequate according to the sermon?
Both are inadequate because they cannot address humanity's fundamental problem—our sinful nature. Lloyd-Jones explains that our problem is not simply a lack of information or religious ritual, but a corrupt heart that needs complete transformation. He quotes Romans 7, showing how knowledge alone doesn't help us overcome our sinful tendencies: "For that which I do, I allow not, and what I would that I do not, but what I hate, that I do."
What does Lloyd-Jones mean by a "new creation"?
A "new creation" is not an addition to or improvement of what we already are. Lloyd-Jones explains it as God creating something completely new out of nothing. He says: "Creation means making something out of nothing... The New Testament way of describing the Christian is that he is a new creation." It involves receiving a new heart, new mind, new desires, and a new will—a complete transformation of one's nature by God's power.
Why is a new creation necessary according to Lloyd-Jones?
A new creation is necessary because of two realities: God's holy character and our sinful nature. Lloyd-Jones describes God as "light, and in him is no darkness at all," while humans are filled with corruption (as described in Galatians 5's list of the works of the flesh). Since "light and darkness" cannot mix, we need more than forgiveness—we need to be made completely new to have fellowship with God.
How does one become a new creature according to Lloyd-Jones?
Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that we cannot make ourselves Christians through self-improvement. Only God can create, and "the essential message of Christianity is that it is God who makes Christians." The Holy Spirit performs "the miracle of regeneration in the heart." We must simply turn to God as we are, abandon all self-reliance, and pray like David in Psalm 51: "Create in me a new heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me."
What is the relationship between the cross of Christ and becoming a new creation?
Lloyd-Jones explains that the Son of God came into the world "in order that he might die on that cross and thereby absolve us of the guilt of our sins and reconcile us to God, in order that God might give us this new birth." The cross is the means by which our forgiveness is secured, making possible our new creation. Through Christ's sacrifice, God can transform us into new creatures who live by faith in the Son of God.
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.