One of the books that i really enjoyed reading while I was still in college was going through part one of Iain Murray's 2-volume biography on David Martyn Lloyd-Jones. This massive tome is food for the Christian soul. Christian biographies are helpful and instructive for a variety of reasons (it is not the purpose of this post to go into those things). John Piper's recent series (the swans are not silent) are great resources. Everything Iain H. Murray writes tends to be golden as well.
The Banner of Truth magazine recently put out an issue celebrating the spiritual legacy of Dr. Lloyd-Jones. Brian Hedges noted how Lloyd-Jones labored and battled for true Evangelical unity. This is a major issue in our day and age as well. ECT, Promise Keepers, and other ecumenical attempts to foster Christian unity have fallen way short of the biblical standard. During Lloyd-Jones day, "the beliefs which defined one as being Christian were minimized, if not lost; doctrine was being sacrificed on the alter of unity. Lloyd-Jones was grieved at this situation and feared the gospel would be increasingly more and more eclipsed in future years." Hedges points out how Lloyd-Jones sought to avoid two extremes. "He wanted to avoid both the shackles of sectarianism, which majored on minor issues (such as church government, mode of baptism, views on prophecy, etc.) and the precipice of ecumenism, which sought unityh at the expense of the gospel." Lloyd-Jones had strong convictions on secondary matters (issues like tongues, mode of baptism, etc) but he did not make those things the litmus test for Christian fellowship and unity. This is a matter i am increasingly trying to learn as i grow in spiritual maturity.
Jones summarized his convictions this way, "Let us labor for unity, by all means, but let us be sure that we unify around truth: the truth of the gospel."
Together for the Gospel
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