Man and His Need of Salvation
A Sermon on John 3:17
Originally preached March 10, 1957
Scripture
17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Sermon Description
In this sermon on John 3:17 titled “Man and His Need of Salvation,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches how the Bible not only tells what the gospel is, but it also tells why the gospel is needed. Often times people jump straight to the message of the gospel without looking at why people need the gospel. God’s word is clear on why Jesus had to come and Scripture tells that humankind loves darkness rather than light, and for this reason the whole world already lies under the judgment of God. But the light of the gospel pierces even the darkest cloud because it tells that despite humanity’s sin, rebellion, and evil, God sent His Son into the world. God so loved the world that He came and died in the place of sinners and rose from the dead so that they might have new life. God has overcome the power of sin and the devil so that all who believe in Jesus are not only restored to their original state of righteousness, but they are made even higher. This sermon calls all to believe in Jesus, repent of sins, and trust Him in order to become children of God, pure and holy. This gospel is truly good news.
Sermon Breakdown
- The world is already in a state of condemnation. This is evidenced by death, spiritual death, and our inability to find God.
- The world could not and cannot save itself. All have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. No one can deliver themselves from sin's guilt, tyranny, and restore righteousness.
- God's only way of saving us was in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Even God could not save men apart from Christ. Light and darkness cannot be mixed.
- God sent his Son into the world to save us, not condemn us. We were already condemned. Christ came to make the way of salvation, pardon, and reconciliation.
- God saves through Christ by Christ becoming man to save man. As man sinned, man must make atonement. Christ is fully God and fully man.
- Christ alone could save us by keeping the law, satisfying God's demands, bearing our sins, conquering the devil, giving us new life, uniting us to God, and delivering us from sin.
- We must see our need, condemnation, and Christ's free gift of salvation by faith to have life and escape condemnation.
The Book of John
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.