I have recently taken up reading an older book, but one that appears to be timeless. The Rev. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones compiled many of his sermons preached at Westminster Chapel in a book entitled Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure. In this book, Lloyd-Jones makes the case that we need to care for body, soul and mind; taking an approach to counseling that encompasses the entire human being. My goal is not to share counseling techniques with you, rather to make you aware of a challenging chapter in this book that offers a possible solution to why, it seems, some Christians who grow up in religious homes or the church are either 1) more unhappy in their life and/or 2) leave the church altogether and never come back. His comparison is an observation of those who grew up in a religious home versus those who did not. Let me add this one caveat, this does not apply to all Christians who grew up attending church services, engaged in active ministry, worship and more. This applies to those who find that they have not achieved great spiritual maturity after many years and struggle with the realities of the Christian life in Christ. He writes: “There are so many people who never seem to arrive at the true Christian position because they are not clear in their minds about certain primary matters, certain fundamental things that should be dealt with at the beginning.” He goes on to write, “They often concentrate on the question of sanctification [doing], but it does not help them because they have not understood justification [right standing]. Having assumed that they were on the right road, they assume that all they have to do is to continue along it.” (pp. 24-25) Allow me to illustrate this. You are standing on one end of a field with a bow and arrow in hand. The target is on the other end of the field. You find your comfortable shooting position, you pull back on the bow, take aim and fire. A good shot knows that in order to be on target you must visualize clearly and shoot for center (barring the absence of wind and other elements). However, if your aim is askew by the smallest of measures at the shooting line, you will be off by a greater margin at the target. Therefore, if we do not have a proper understanding at the beginning of our Christian faith, as we attempt to grow closer and closer to God, in reality we will be moving farther away from him. However, this is a problem that can be corrected by understanding two very foundational points: 1) conviction of sin and 2) that the true Christian realizes God’s way of salvation is through Christ.
True Conviction of Sin
In our context today, “sin” is a 4-letter word, not to be addressed or discussed in the public square because of peoples’ choices and freedoms. However, the bible speaks of sin time and time again. Many churches today don’t preach on the issue of sin because it is not attractive and doesn’t bring happiness. Many Christians or people who fill the pews on Sunday mornings don’t want to deal with this issue because they are beat up through the week and don’t want to feel any worse than they already do. Yet we must start here if we want total freedom from our struggles and sin, which keeps us from God and prevents us from seeing Him for who He is! But in order to understand and experience the good we must come to grips with the realities of the bad. Lloyd-Jones goes as far as to say, “You must be made miserable before you can know true Christian joy. Indeed the real trouble with the miserable Christian is that he has never been truly made miserable because of conviction of sin. He has by-passed the essential preliminary to joy, he has been assuming something he has no right to assume.” (p. 28) Hearts that have not felt the conviction of sin will naturally wander astray.
Lloyd-Jones illustrates this with the story of Jesus being presented at the temple in Luke 2:33, when Simeon says to Mary, “Behold this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel…” (ESV, emphasis added). We can’t rise unless we fall first. To fall is to realize Paul’s argument in Romans 1-3, specifically that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23; cf. Romans 1:18). Every human being, whether they think they are good or know they are sinful is the “all” in that verse. This is evident in the life of the bold Apostle Peter who confessed that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus told Peter that he was going to betray the one he claimed to be the Messiah. Peter said never! And that very night Peter denied Jesus three times. This is Peter falling. But watch what happens at the end of John’s gospel (John 21:9-19). When the men come in from fishing, Peter is among them. They see the risen Jesus on the beach. Peter dives into the water, swims to dry land and runs to Jesus in excitement. John tells us that Jesus made a “charcoal fire” (John 21:9). What’s interesting is that the word “charcoal” is only used twice in the New Testament, both times in John. Once here and before in John 18:18, when Peter denies Jesus for the first time by a charcoal fire. Think for a moment how scents have an ability to bring back memories of certain events that are highlights in your life. They create very real and raw emotions. Can you imagine what Peter thought when he smelled the charcoal? I can only imagine he was thinking of what happened just a few days before, the night Jesus’ words came true that Peter would deny the Messiah three times. This is Peter’s fall, however, notice how Jesus picks him up. In John 21:15-19, Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Why did Jesus have to ask Peter three times? I believe it was Jesus’ way of forgiving Peter for the three denials and “raising up” Peter and restoring Him! But it was Jesus who did this because Peter was fallen and clearly could not do this at all because he was not good! This is one of Lloyd-Jones’ point, the conviction of since reveals there is nothing good in us at all (Romans 3:10-11).
Lloyd-Jones concludes, “The essential point is, that the way to know yourself a sinner is not to compare yourself with other people; it is to come face to face with the Law of God.” (30) The Law of God is defined in Mark 12:30-31, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”” (ESV) Do you love God with every fiber of your being? Do you love your neighbor or near one like that? To come up short is to fail entirely when it comes to the Law of God. We must be convicted that we fail daily, and I pray that God convicts me of this sin in my body, soul and mind. So much more could be said on this, but in order to walk in faith, we must be convicted of our sin. If we don’t understand this entirely, our Christian walk will be off the mark, leading to more struggles and the lack of joy in a life that promised you peace.
God’s Way of Salvation Is Christ
To simply remain on the conviction of sin, in that miserable state, is not the gospel or good news. This is where many churches that preach on sin fail because they never balance it with grace. Fortunately, Lloyd-Jones doesn’t miss this point in the gospel and it is the capstone of the chapter. Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (ESV, emphasis add) Or Romans 5:8, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (ESV) The gospel says, because I am nothing but a filthy rag, and salvation requires total and utter perfection, God sent His Son to be that perfection for us. So that, when Christ dies on the cross, my sins die with Him. But not only my sins, my old sinful life. And as Christ was raised to new life, I am given new life in Christ (Romans 6:5-14). Now that my sins are punished on the cross, in the body of Christ, God the Father can now forgive me and I am set free from my sin. We receive the gift of grace, the imputed righteousness of Jesus (think of imputed as a credit on an account), and now we begin the walk of sanctification, which is the process of becoming holy and looking like Jesus. However, what is necessary for us to focus on in our Christian walk is not the “doing all the good” although this is important as an expression of Love for God (cf. John 13:34; Galatians 5:14) because we are released from the law (Romans 7:6). But we must revisit our justification daily, which sees our sin conquered by Christ alone, which if we experienced true conviction in the beginning, the only emotion to experience now is joy!
And so my prayer for you is this, that you will experience true conviction of sin, repent before God and be set free because Christ died for you. And in that, no problem, worry, addiction, or anything else, can capture, seize or destroy your joy because you are saved by Jesus Christ alone and given the promise of eternal life!