God's Great Plan of Salvation
A Sermon on Romans 1:16-17
Originally preached March 16, 1956
Scripture
16For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is …
Sermon Description
What is salvation? Christians may use this word out of context and Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones discusses what the Bible means by the terms “being saved” and “salvation.” Romans 1:16–17 is filled with meaning regarding what happened as a result of the fall of humanity. In the sermon “God’s Great Plan for Salvation,” Dr. Lloyd-Jones conveys that the Christian has a three-fold deliverance from sin through the power of salvation: deliverance from the guilt of sin, the power of sin, and the pollution of sin. Dr. Lloyd-Jones goes on to explain that salvation also has an implication of time: the Christian has been saved, is being saved, and will be saved. Paul glories in this because it emphasizes his point that he is not ashamed to preach this message of reconciliation and deliverance. This gospel applies to both the Jews and the Gentiles, those who followed the law and those who did not, and it shows that all have hope in Christ by grace through faith. Christians were previously under the wrath and destruction of God, but salvation restores them again in the hope of glory.
Sermon Breakdown
- The apostle Paul tells us why he is not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
- There is something about the true gospel that exposes it and its preacher to charges of foolishness and persecution. We must have the right reasons for not being ashamed of the gospel.
- Paul gives his reasons for not being ashamed of the gospel in Romans 1:16-17. Verse 16 is his answer in general. Verse 17 explains his answer.
- The great words of Romans and the gospel are in Romans 1:16-17. We must understand these verses to understand the rest of Romans.
- Paul's first reason for not being ashamed of the gospel: It is the power of God for salvation. The gospel is not mere philosophy or ideas. It is salvation and deliverance.
- To understand salvation, we must understand man's original state, the Fall, and sin. Salvation delivers us from sin's guilt, power, and pollution.
- Salvation also reconciles us to God and restores our communion with Him. Before the Fall, man enjoyed fellowship with God. Salvation restores this.
- Salvation also restores to us the hope of glory. Apart from salvation, we are under God's wrath and condemned to destruction. Salvation gives us eternal life.
- We can view salvation in terms of time. We have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. Parts of salvation are complete, and parts are ongoing or future.
- Paul's second reason for not being ashamed of the gospel: It is God's way of salvation. The gospel is not man's ideas or what we must do to save ourselves. It is what God has done to save us.
- The emphasis of the Bible and Romans is on what God does, not man. God acts to save us, while man sins and falls into degradation apart from God.
The Book of Romans
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.