At the invitation of Carl F.H. Henry, Lloyd-Jones delivered the first Jonathan Blanchard Lectures, the five collectively titled “Sin: Its Diagnosis and Treatment”, at Wheaton College in August 11-15, 1947.
These lectures comprised Truth Unchanged, Unchanging published in 1950.
https://archive.org/details/truthunchangedun0000dmar/page/n7/mode/2up
"It is a poor physician who treats the symptoms and complications only and ignores the disease."
(Condensed from the first lecture "What is Man?")
Now. . . we find that the modern popular view of man and his nature departs radically from the Biblical and Christian view . . . This modern view can be best described, perhaps, as the cult of self-expression. . .
All this old talk about sin, say the self-expressionists, is utterly foolish, leading to self-repression, which is, they (assert), the only sin. What used to be called sin is just expression of self, the greatest and most vital passion that man has... Man, they say, is a creature possessing various powers, faculties, and instincts, and his highest good is to be found in the exercise of those powers. . . They insist on the rightness of the natural and instinctive.
The first criticism which we make of this modern cult of self-expression is that it fails to realize the true nature of self. It talks much about giving expression to self, and yet we can show very easily that its very ideas concerning that self are false, and do violence to man’s true nature… The Gospel answer to this modern cult is not a doctrine of repression, but rather a call to the realization of the true nature of the self.
The view that is so popular today tends to regard man as a mere aggregate of various powers and forces... What are these forces? Well, there is the very physical structure of the human body, and especially the various glands, notably the thyroid, pituitary, and (adrenal) glands, which tend to control some of the most vital functions.
Closely allied with that theory is another, which tends to think of man rather in terms of what are called the instincts. Man, or the self, according to this view, is determined by the interaction of the various instincts, or by the predominance of any one of the various instincts, such as the herd instinct, the protective instinct, the fear instinct, the sex instinct, the hunger instinct. Man’s essential personality, his real self, is considered to be only the product of these forces… According to this theory, man is what he is entirely as the result of his glands, his instincts, his heredity…and his self-expression means allowing these factors to have free play and exercise in his conduct.
According to Christ, man is not a mere collection of biological forces. For there is within man another element which transcends all these. This element is called the soul.
Now it is here we see what we must describe as the thorough dishonesty of this view and what entitles us to say that it is nothing but an attempt to justify and to rationalize sin…Thus we see that the whole modern view of self and of its real nature is sadly at fault. This view identifies the self with certain elemental forces in its make-up only, and therefore robs man of his greatest glory, his soul and his spirit, the sense in which he is independent of his body and all his powers, and greater than they.
Self-expression! Certainly! But what is man? A mere collection of impulses and instincts? No! Something infinitely more, something immeasurably bigger. An immortal soul with power to order and control those impulses and instincts, and to turn them to his use and service instead of being their slave.
The recognition of sin is really the crux of the whole matter. Were it not for sin the teaching of self-expression would be adequate. Were man perfect as God made him, all the impulses and instincts would be working in the right direction and serving the highest interests of man...It is sin that has introduced a complexity into the life of man. The Bible mentions concupiscence (sexual desire), for instance, as a trait which dominates us all by nature, twisting and perverting acts which in and of themselves are quite right and pure. The very faculties and powers which were designed to be the servants of man have become his masters. But for sin, it would be legitimate for him to allow his impulses to guide him. Because of sin there is nothing so dangerous as to allow them to do so.
Likewise, all the other forces, instincts and powers that are within man in and of themselves, are harmless, but as the result of sin become a source of danger. How tragic it is therefore and how foolish, to ignore sin! What an utterly false psychology! And yet that very principle is being advocated today. The whole fact of sin is being ignored; and the advice to give expression to self, therefore, is fraught with the most dangerous consequences conceivable.
On the purely human plane we have seen that this talk of self-expression is utterly degrading to the true self… For true self-expression has been revealed perfectly once and for all in Him. The question we shall all have to face therefore is, “What have you made of the self?” “How have you expressed it?” The consequences are eternal—life or death, heaven or hell.
Before we begin, therefore, to talk about freedom for self-expression, we must discover whether or not we have that true self which God has desired for all men…The one urgent question confronting every man is the question, “What of your self?” “Do you possess your soul?”
Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, came down to earth and lived and died and rose again in order to save. He has borne the punishment that we deserve on account of sin and for spoiling and marring the image of God upon us. But more, He restores our soul to us. He gives us a new nature and fills us with power that will enable us to express this new and true self even as He expressed it Himself. This self-expression expresses man as a son of God, well-pleasing in the sight of his Heavenly Father and as an heir to eternal life.
“Sowing and Reaping” on Galatians 6:7-8, preached Oct. 6, 1963
https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/other-sermons/sowing-and-reaping/
All of Mankind’s Troubles are due to the Fact that We have All Been Deceived by the Devil.
1. Firstly. Mankind is deceived about himself; his conceit, his self-centeredness, his self-confidence.
2. Secondly. Mankind deceives himself about God. Mankind mocks at God, sneers at God, ignores God.
3. Thirdly. Mankind deceives himself about life in this world. The essence of the modern view is that mankind can do whatever you like as morals don’t matter. Mankind deceives himself by making his own standards of what is right and wrong, and says that there is no eternal moral standard.