The Main Art of Spiritual Life

Martin Lloyd-Jones famously said the following:

“The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself… instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, who God is, and what God has done.”

Lloyd-Jones was saying that each Christian must daily do for themselves what preachers do on Sundays, that is, preach the gospel to themselves.

I find that a lot of Christians know this as a principle; they are less familiar with it as a practice. There is a learning gap between exhortation and application. If Christians fail to fulfil the duty, it’s not because they don’t feel as if it’s necessary, but because they are uncertain where to begin.

I can’t think of a better model for what Lloyd-Jones was describing than the end of Romans 8. Paul brilliantly exemplifies what it looks like to address oneself uncompromisingly with the truth of the gospel.

To appreciate this, it’s helpful to begin by considering the intended audience of Paul’s letter. Undoubtedly, they were a lot like us. They were full of an awareness of their personal failings, of severe lapses into sin, of oppressive temptations, of embarrassing fearfulness and dread. They understood the gospel in the heads but struggled to fully believe the gospel in their hearts. They repeatedly slid from the attitude of beloved sons to that of neglected orphans.

How does Paul deal with such spiritual disease? In verses 31-39, his remedy is a rapid-fire Q&A session. He extracts the doubts underlying brooding insecurities and holds each starkly before the light of truth. He does this repeatedly until the mood of anxiety is fully discredited.

Now, let’s see this principle worked out in practice.

Look first at vs. 31. Paul asks, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Notice the comparison Paul deliberately generates. In isolation, the objects of our fear look gargantuan. However, the perspective shifts if God becomes a point of comparison. By itself, death, for example, is a terrifying spectre. Next to God, death shrivels into a faint shadow lurking beneath the almighty radiance of the sun.

Having vanquished one fear, Paul moves on. The next worry he considers is that God’s grace will run dry. What does Paul say to this? “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all…” Paul’s point is to remind us of the love God has for us as indicated in the gift of his Son.  

No one who paid £100,000 for a car would refuse to pay an MOT to keep it on the road. Paul would have us keep this logic in mind as we worry about God giving up on us.

And so, Paul advances. The next objection to overrule is the fear that someone on Judgment Day will stand up and bring hidden evidence of guilt to light. I’m sure most of us can identify with the concern. Who doesn’t have some secret sin in his past that he hopes never reaches the headlines!

Once again Paul parries doubt with truth. He calmly asserts, “It’s God who justifies.” The reply is incontestable. God’s knowledge is perfect; God’s judgement is unassailable. If God declares us to be righteous in Christ, no accusation can stand. We have been cleared before the highest of courts. There can be no further scrutiny.

Much more could be said about the precise argument of Paul; however, the main point is that in Romans 8 we see the principle of preaching the gospel to oneself put into practice. We find an example of what it looks like to refuse to succumb to spiritual anxiety and to diligently combat groundless fear with gospel truth.

It’s worth recalling the quote at the start of this reflection. Lloyd-Jones says, “The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself.” That’s quite a claim. Lloyd-Jones is suggesting that the practice of Romans 8 is not an extreme measure for the spiritually diseased. Rather, it’s the daily exercise of healthy faith.

Let me encourage you this week not to give in to negative emotion, to spiritual despair, to self-loathing, to irrational worry. Although we do not have absolute control over our moods and emotions, we do have a lot more control that we often utilise. And the best lever we have by which to steer our hearts is the one Paul makes use of at the end of Romans: talking to ourselves. Rather than submitting to half-conceived fears, we need to identify the latent sources of our anxieties and see these concerns in the mirror of God’s truth. Only there will we see them for what they are – not mighty dragons with iron scales, razor teeth, and fiery breath, but little serpents whose heads deserve to be stamped on as quickly as they are seen.

By Joe Barnard