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Sermon #5430

The Meaning of Salvation

A Sermon on John 5:31-35

Originally preached March 16, 1958

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Scripture

John 5:31-35 ESV KJV
If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that …

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Sermon Description

Is there convincing proof that Jesus was the Messiah? In part three of his series on John 5:31–35 in a sermon titled “The Meaning of Salvation,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones answers this question with a firm yes. The proof comes in the form of testimony from John the Baptist. As he testifies of Jesus as the Messiah, the Lamb of God, he offers one final prophetic affirmation that Jesus is indeed the consolation of Israel. Speaking of Jesus, John declares that He is the one who will come and baptize with the Holy Spirit. The Old Testament speaks of the coming outpouring of the Spirit, and John, as the last prophet, proclaims that Jesus will initiate and send that very outpouring. This fact alone demonstrates that Jesus is the Messiah. John the Baptist called the people to repent of their sins, be baptized in water as a sign of that repentance, and directed them to produce the fruit of repentance in their lives. In this message, Dr. Lloyd-Jones considers if John’s baptism was sufficient and how it compared to the baptism of the Spirit, and how they relate to the gospel and salvation.

Sermon Breakdown

  1. Jesus was speaking to Jews who were criticizing him for healing a man on the Sabbath.
  2. Jesus says his witness is true because God the Father testifies about him. The Jews sent people to ask John the Baptist who Jesus was, and John said Jesus was the Son of God.
  3. Jesus says he is telling them this so they can be saved. Salvation means being delivered from sin and its effects.

  4. John the Baptist's testimony about Jesus has two main parts:

  5. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He does this by dying on the cross for our sins.

  6. Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. This means Jesus does not just cleanse us externally like water baptism but works within us like fire to purify us and give us new life.

  7. The baptism of John the Baptist with water was a call to repentance and morality. But Christianity is not just about morality - it is about being made holy by the power of the Holy Spirit.

  8. The Holy Spirit enlightens our minds, gives us a desire for God and holiness, and delivers us from the power of sin. He writes God's law on our hearts.
  9. The Holy Spirit also gives us certainty of faith, joy, and power to live the Christian life and witness for Christ.
  10. We should ask God to baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire.

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.