Here it is perfectly clear: the more I read the Bible and see the
picture of the Christian man, the more I understand the nature of sin and life
in this world, and what God has done for me in Christ, then the more I shall
desire the things of God and hate the other. So I suggest that the best
practical step is to read God's word, and to be thoroughly soaked in it. There
is a very simple, practical test that one can apply at this point. I wonder
what the result would be if we all kept a chart for one week and put down on
paper the amount of time which we spent in reading God's word and things which
help us to understand it, and the time we spent reading newspapers and novels
or watching films? Now I am just asking the question. We say we believe in
salvation. We believe God has given us this gift, so then, I ask, what are the
relative amounts of time that we give to these things? Working out our own
salvation means that we do everything we can to feed this life, to stimulate
it, to enable it to extend and develop and grow.
And the other thing,
clearly, is prayer: prayer for an increasing knowledge of God, for a greater
measure of the Holy Spirit and for a greater understanding of this word; prayer
for guidance, for leading and for understanding. If I believe in God and that
he has done this for me, why do I spend so little time with Him? Why do I not
long for Him more and more? That is how we work it out and I must follow and
obey every prompting and leading that I am conscious of in this direction. The
fathers used to regard the Christian life as a whole time occupation. They used
to spend their time with it and, I feel, it is one of the greatest
condemnations of us today that we are guilty of not working out this amazing
salvation that God has given to us.
But, then, what is the
manner in which we do this? The Apostle says that we are to do it 'with fear
and trembling'. Here again we must define our terms. He does not mean that we
must do it in fear of losing our salvation. You will find that in the New Testament
these words never carry that implication. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians 'I
was with you ... in fear, and in much trembling' (1 Cor 2:3), he did not mean
that he was afraid that he would lose his soul. Neither is it a kind of craven
fear, one of self torment. It means humility and a holy reverence, or, if you
like, a holy vigilance and circumspection. It means that as I work out my
salvation, I should realise the tremendous seriousness of what I am doing.
I wonder whether this is not
the thing which needs to be emphasised most at the present time, not least in
the ranks of evangelical people? I wonder why it is that the whole idea of the
godly man has somehow or other got lost amongst us? Why is it that Christian
people are not described as 'God fearing' people? Why is it that there is such
a difference between us and the Christian of a hundred or two hundred years
ago, or the Puritan of the seventeenth century? They were truly Christian.
'Methodist', too, was a kind of nickname given to people because of their
methodical life. I wonder why it is that somehow or other we have lost this
particular sense of the Christian life? I have no doubt but that the
explanation is that it is an overreaction on our part from the pure legalism
that was so common at the turn of the century when many people had lost the
true spirit of the New Testament. They imposed a certain kind of life upon
themselves and upon their children; they laid down rules and regulations; and
people then reacted and said, 'That is pure legalism, not Christianity.' But
now we are so much like everybody else because we have forgotten this about
'fear and trembling', vigilance and circumspection. Sometimes I am afraid we
have been so anxious not to give the impression that to be Christian means
being miserable, that we have imagined that we must be smiling and laughing all
the time and we have believed in this so called 'muscular' Christianity…………
And, lastly, I must work out my salvation with fear and trembling,
for this good reason: the New Testament teaches me that if I fail to do so
myself, then I must not be surprised if God begins to do certain things to me.
Do you remember the teaching of Hebrews 12:6-note? 'Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom
he receiveth.' (cp He 12:5-note)It is put still more strikingly in 1 Corinthians 11, where Paul
says that there were many in the church at Corinth who were sick, and there
were even some, he said, who were dead, and he tells us that the reason for
that was that they had not examined themselves before partaking of the Lord's
Supper, and were partaking unworthily. Such a man, Paul said, 'eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the
Lord's body' (1Co 11:29).
The doctrine of the New Testament can be put into this form: if God
has called you and given you his salvation, he destines you for salvation and
he is going to perfect you. His method is to put promptings within us. He
energizes our mind and whole outlook, but if we fail to practise these things,
then God, in His very love to us, is going to chasten us a sickness, an
illness, a disappointment, a loss, a sorrow. These are ways which God uses
because of our failure and our recalcitrance. 'It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God'
(Heb 10:31-note).
The love of God is as great as that. The Christian man who is not
doing his utmost to live the Christian life is a fool, and he must not be
surprised if certain things begin to happen to him. If you are a child of God,
He is going to bring about your perfection and if you do not do it yourself to
please Him in this way, then, I say, you may well find that God will do it to
you in one of these other ways. That is a very wonderful thing. I am not saying
that every Christian who suffers is being chastised, but I do say that God does
do that, and if we fail to respond to His appeal, then we must not be surprised
if we experience His chastening.”
Martyn Lloyd-Jones
