I would like to use something that Lloyd-Jones emphasized in this interview as a launching point to briefly discuss the nature of the authority by which we proclaim biblical truth, and the necessity of us as Christians refusing to compromise or give any ground whatsoever to those who would challenge the truth of the gospel.
One truly striking aspect of this interview is that Bakewell appears to genuinely enjoy interacting with Lloyd Jones. I suggest that she enjoys Lloyd-Jones so much because when she challenges him with questions to which she would expect some kind of attempt to accommodate or compromise with a differing point of view, Lloyd-Jones is utterly and yet winsomely uncompromising.
Lloyd-Jones is necessarily dogmatic about two main points: First, he rejects the secular view that mankind is autonomous, self-determining, and merely a highly evolved animal. He confesses, in opposition to this, the biblical view that man is created in the image of God, and that man was originally created perfect and righteous but sinned against God. As a result, man is a rebel against God, and that is the reason for all of his troubles. He asserts that man can only function truly and be truly happy when he “lives his life under God.” That is, he submits to and obeys God from his heart. That is the purpose for which he was originally created.
Second, Lloyd-Jones asserts that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not about giving us a better life or making us more wealthy or comfortable, as it was so often falsely portrayed by segments of the professing church in both his day and still is in ours. The gospel of Christ is about “reconciling us to God”(Rom. 5:10).
Lloyd-Jones doesn’t appeal to any sort of pseudoscientific arguments that might sound plausible to someone who is scientifically minded in order to make his case. Nor does he subtly compromise the Bible’s message by regarding its teaching about the creation of man and the fall as some kind of allegory that is not meant to be taken as literal history.
When Bakewell challenges Lloyd-Jones with the idea that his view will put him at odds not only with people who don’t share the Christian faith, but also with other Christians, he admits that this is so, but that he is bound to stand on the revelation of God above all else. Lloyd-Jones said,
“I know nothing about these things, primarily, apart from what I find in the Bible.”
Lloyd-Jones stands upon the word of God simply because it is the word of God. This is what really seemed to earn Lloyd-Jones the respect of Bakewell. It is also, without any doubt, what gives power to his testimony. The world may regard what the Bible says as foolishness, but true wisdom is the foolishness of God, not the wisdom of man (1 Cor. 1:25).
As a closing thought, it is worth noting that what Lloyd-Jone’s was speaking about 48 years ago is exactly the same issue that we Christians very often face when witnessing to others in our day. The secular worldview is developed into a more radical form that perhaps it was in 1970, but the fundamental issue is the same. Man is a rebel against God, and he cannot be reconciled to God through faith in Christ unless he first sees himself as a sinner—a rebel who has broken God’s laws and needs forgiveness of sins. Unless people come to the point where they realize that God is their creator, that they are created in His image, and that they have sinned against Him, they will never truly repent and believe in Christ, and the only kind of gospel they will ever believe in is the very sort of gospel that Lloyd-Jones decries in this interview—the kind of false gospel that promises health, wealth, and happiness. But they will never believe the gospel that will reconcile them to God (2 Cor. 5:20).
Lloyd-Jones did precisely what the apostle Paul did in Acts 17. If you haven’t done so in a while, go back and read Paul’s preaching in the Areopagus in Athens. Paul’s audience only valued the wisdom of man, but Paul preached them the same message that Lloyd-Jones did in this interview. Paul showed his listeners that God was their creator, that they had sinned against him, and that God commanded all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). Paul preached only what he knew from the Bible. So did Lloyd-Jones. So must we.
If we want to have power in our witnessing to others, and if we want to glorify God, we must, with the same uncompromising determination, stand boldly upon the word of God in our testimony before those who do not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our authority to proclaim the gospel is only a true authority if we preach the word of the King whose message we bear. If we boldly proclaim the word of God, we are delivering the message of the King of kings and Lord of lords. We have all the authority and credibility we need to be dogmatic. We must esteem the foolishness of God above the wisdom of the world.
If we don’t, we will have no testimony before the world at all. We will have no authority or credibility apart from our own opinion, and the only gospel we will ever convince men to believe is a false gospel. But if we truly desire to see men saved from sin and be reconciled to God, let us stand boldly on what we find in the Bible, and only on what we find in the Bible. It is the gospel that is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16), not the wisdom of man."
Article written by Chad Van Rens. Chad's blog can be found here at Theology Dad-
