This month's snippet from Dr Lloyd-Jones to mark his centenary is based on Romans 1: 16 and is taken from the book The plight of man and the power of God which was originally given as a series of lectures during WWII.
'For 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.'
We do not hesitate to state that the only hope for men is to believe the gospel of Christ. We say so knowing full well all the talk about science and learning and culture. We say so knowing that at the end of this war, the world, in exactly the same way as at the end of the last war, will announce with confidence its plans and schemes for a new world, without taking any account of what the gospel has to say. Why do we say so?
First and foremost, Paul is proud of the gospel because it is God's way of salvation. Herein it differs from all else that has ever been offered to mankind as a view of life and a way of life; and therein lies always the main and chief reason why we should boast of it and exult in it.
At once, we see that it possesses an authority which is quite unique. For all other ideas with respect to life and its problems are man-made. At their best and highest, they never get beyond the realm of speculation and supposition. Sometimes they speak with an arrogant dogmatism and certainty, ever a characteristic of the lesser minds. The great minds and the profoundest thinkers have always acknowledged and confessed that they do not know. They have always been content to describe themselves as seekers. Their language always is 'I think', 'I imagine', 'I suppose'. They do not know, and they end by admitting that the ultimate problems of life are shrouded in mystery which is impenetrable to the human mind and its powers. The very fact that there are so many different and differing schools of thought bears eloquent testimony to this uncertainty and inability. The ancient world in which Paul lived had witnessed the rise of many schools of philosophy, each having its proponents and champions. Some made their boast in Aristotle, others in Plato, others in Socrates, others in Zeno. But all the systems ultimately ended on a query.
Numerous religions
But there was another fact in the ancient world which proved how inadequate all the schools were finally. And that was the endless number of religions that were to be found. Thought alone was known to be insufficient. There was something behind the world; there were unseen powers and agencies. Life could not be explained without invoking the gods. And the Roman Empire was full of the various religions. But Paul had something essentially different to offer and to preach.
Speculations could not save, but the gospel Paul preached was not speculation; it was a revelation from God himself. There was no need to be ashamed of such a message. And it is precisely the same today. Take all the writing, preaching and teaching of the past hundred years. In a sense, human ability and effort have never exerted themselves to such an extent. Philosophy has been glorified and man has claimed that he could solve the riddle of life and of the universe. Never has man been so proud of himself and his achievements and his understanding. But what has been the result of all this? What of life today? Is it not clear that we are precisely in the same position as was the world in the time of Paul?
Our knowledge has grown merely with respect to the externals of life, its amenities and pleasures. Life itself still remains an enigma, and the art of living seems to be as elusive as ever. The rival systems still fail and cannot satisfy our needs. But the gospel is not a human philosophy. It is not man's idea or the result of man's effort and seeking. It is the revelation of what God thinks and says concerning life.
Mere ethics?
But let us be careful to observe also, that the gospel is not merely a statement of what God desires and expects of us. It is no mere ethical and moral programme or social scheme. It is not simply a call to a higher and nobler kind of life. That was true, in a sense, of the OT and its revelation, but mankind had completely failed to respond to it. The gospel of Christ is not a repetition of that in a still more impossible form. It is not, then, solely the revelation of what God expects of us and the pattern of life to which he would have us conform. It is that, but according to Paul it is something still more wonderful. Were it merely that, it would be something to boast of and to glory in, for it is a mode of life which is infinitely higher than anything ever produced by man. But, finally, we could not exult and glory in it, for it would simply spell our damnation and proclaim our final failure.
God's action is good news
No, the glory of the gospel is that it is primarily an announcement of what God does, and has done, in the person of Jesus Christ. That was the essence of Paul's gospel, as he proceeds to show in the remainder of the Epistle. That was the gospel which was preached by all the apostles. They preached Jesus as the Christ. They made a proclamation, an announcement. Primarily, they called upon people to listen to what they called 'good news'.
They did not, in the first instance, outline a programme for life and living. They were not setters-forth of a point of view which they called upon people to accept. They did not go round the world in the first instance propagating a new order or a new scheme for living. They began by stating facts and explaining what they meant. They preached, not a programme, but a Person. They said that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God come from heaven to earth. They said that he manifested and demonstrated his unique deity by living a perfect, spotless, sinless life of complete obedience to God, and by performing miracles. His death on the Cross was not merely the end of his life but the result of his rejection by his own countrymen, it had a deeper and more eternal significance. It was something that had to happen in order that mankind might be reconciled to God. It was a transaction between God the Father and God the Son. It was the Son bearing our sins 'in his own body on the tree', and the fulfilment of the ancient prophecy of Isaiah, who had said that the Messiah would be 'bruised for our transgressions' and that 'by his stripes we shall be healed'.
Reconciling the world
Indeed, as Paul put it elsewhere, 'God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself' and making 'him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him' (2 Corinthians 5.21).
But that was not all. He had risen from the grave, had manifested himself unto certain chosen witnesses, and then ascended into heaven. From heaven, he had sent the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the early church, and he had brought unto them not only new understanding, but new life and power. Their lives had been entirely changed, and they now had life which was life indeed. That was the message. Its entire emphasis was upon what God had done. Its content was God's way of salvation and of making men righteous. Man had but to accept it and submit to it. Here indeed was something to be proud of as a message. Here was something which enabled one to face Stoics and Epicureans at Athens without a blush or an apology; here was a message which made the world's highest and greatest philosophies appear to be nothing but the prattling and babbling of babes.
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