Book Review: Romans Exposition of Chapter 8:5-17 The Sons of God and Charismatic Chaos

Anyone who reads Charismatic Chaos by John MacArthur should also read Romans Exposition of Chapter 8:5-17  The Sons of God by D. M. Lloyd-Jones before coming to any final conclusions on the topic of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in our times. I am writing this review to encourage people to read D. M. Lloyd-Jones' extremely thorough theological exposition of this important topic.

John MacArthur has been pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, since 1969. He has written numerous books and articles in a Reformed tradition. Wikipedia labels him "a conservative Baptist". He can be heard daily on the radio program "Grace to You". He is president of The Master's College and Seminary, a Christian university in Santa Clarita, California. John MacArthur is a deservedly well-respected authority in his field.

D. M. Lloyd-Jones was born in South Wales in 1899. First serving as a medical physician, he became a minister of a Welsh Presbyterian Church until 1938, when he went to London to serve with Dr. G. Campbell Morgan as minister of Westminster Chapel. He remained at this post for 30 years, long after Morgan's retirement in 1943. He retired from that post in 1968, but still continued to preach and write. He died in 1980. Lloyd-Jones has written volumes of evangelical/reformed theological works, many of which are compilations of his sermons. He was and is very widely read, an authority in his field.

MacArthur wrote Charismatic Chaos for the specific purpose of warning against and refuting what he perceives to be dangerous, biblically unsound teachings regarding the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in our times. His topics include speaking in tongues, experiential evidence of God's truth, prophecies today, miracles and other topics of a similar vein.

Lloyd-Jones wrote Romans-Exposition of  Chapter 8:15-17-The Sons of God as one of a series of highly expository sermons given between the years of 1955 and 1968. Lloyd-Jones' book is a biblical exposition, a digging out, of the meaning of the text stated in the title.

Many people today are interested in the topic of the Holy Spirit in the Christian life. Both Lloyd-Jones and MacArthur's books speak on this topic. MacArthur's is a negative presentation dealing with what he sees as excesses and pitfalls in the charismatic segment of the church today. Lloyd-Jones' is a positive expounding of the word of God. Both can be useful in their respective spheres. They need to be read together.

If I had to choose one book over the other, I would choose Lloyd-Jones'. Compared to Lloyd-Jones' book, MacArthur's book has relatively few direct scriptural quotations. Lloyd-Jones' book is packed with them. Of course, the books were written for different reasons. I would not be encouraged to seek the Holy Spirit in my own life after reading Charismatic Chaos, but after reading Romans Exposition of Chapter 8:5-17 The Sons of God, I am highly encouraged to pray and seek out this marvelous Being, who does manifest Himself inside a person in mysterious, yet very concrete and real ways.

Lloyd-Jones is anything but a charismatic. I have read several of his books, including his exposition of Romans 7. Lloyd-Jones is a perfectionist in the field of biblical exposition. His thoroughness is extreme, often tedious, and seemingly repetitive. He examines scripture with a fine tooth comb. He is passionate, but not flamboyant. He expounds with the thoroughness of a lawyer whose own son was on trial. His presentation is flat, dry, scholarly, thoroughly non-autobiographical. In all of Romans 8:5-17, he never once gave the slightest hint of any experiences he himself may or may not have had.

And yet, Lloyd-Jones gives a great exposition of scriptural evidence for the experiential manifestation of the Holy Spirit inside the believer today. But not only today, he traces the manifestation throughout New Testament times, early church times, pre-Reformation times, post Reformation times, and throughout the last century. He quotes extensively from church fathers and famous theologians and respected preachers of all eras, who themselves experienced directly the manifestation of the Holy Spirit within themselves. He includes theologians and preachers of all denominations. He quotes extensively from all, or very nearly all, the books and letters of the New Testament.

It's not about speaking in tongues. Lloyd-Jones barely mentions that topic. He does not deny the existence of tongues today, but his purpose is very different than to expound upon phenomena. There are only one or two sentences in the whole book about tongues, although he talks extensively about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Lloyd-Jones' main arguments concerning the presence of the Holy Spirit in Christian experience are presented in the eighteen chapters (Yes! Eighteen entire chapters!) dealing with the assurances of sonship given in verses 14, 15, and 16 of chapter 8. He presents the assurances in three tiers, or levels.

Before going into those verses, Lloyd-Jones states that all Christians, true Christians, born-again believers, have the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, dwelling within them. Verse 9 of Romans 8 states this very clearly. But how does a Christian become assured, or certain, of his or her salvation, since an eternity in either heaven or hell is at stake?

Verses 14 through 16 address the issue of assurance of salvation. Lloyd-Jones expounds verses 14, 15, and 16 as three distinct and separate levels of assurance. Tier one in verse 14 presents sonship in terms of the Christian's walk, his or her daily obedience to the precepts and commandments of God. Obedience to God's word indicates the presence of the Holy Spirit within. This first level is where the greatest emphasis of MacArthur's teaching resides. Both authors greatly emphasize the importance of obedience to God's word as a proof and assurance of genuine salvation. One cannot be a genuine Christian without enduring obedience to God's written word.

But Lloyd-Jones moves on to verse 15 and presents it as a distinct tier of assurance, that is, the Spirit of sonship within, which cries out, "Abba, Father". The Holy Spirit who dwells within believers impassions them to have filial feelings of affection towards God the Father. This is a level of assurance distinct from the walk of obedience to God's word. Christians indwelt by the Holy Spirit have love towards God, similar to the love of a child towards his father. This love expresses itself by crying out to God the Father in prayer, in worship, and in praise.

Verse 16 is a yet higher tier of assurance distinct from the first two. Verses 14 and 15 show what the believer expresses towards God (obedience, worship, prayer, and praise), while verse 16 shows what God Himself expresses towards the believer. It is this last tier, verse 16, which is entirely absent from MacArthur's book, Charismatic Chaos. But Lloyd-Jones presents this last tier as the crowning joy, the highest of all possible experiences a person can have in this life.

Verse 16 says in the New King James version, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,". Lloyd-Jones spends eight chapters expounding this verse. He carefully shows that this verse is not a repetition in different words of either of the other two verses, 14 or 15. He expounds from scripture, comparing scripture with scripture throughout all parts of the New Testament. And, as I indicated above, he quotes from the autobiographies and writings of church theologians and preachers of all denominations and of all church ages. Clearly, something is happening in the hearts of Christians of which MacArthur's book gives no hint at all.

Lloyd-Jones states directly in more than one place that not all Christians experience this witness of the Holy Spirit within themselves. In fact, many do not. He expounds the witness of the Holy Spirit within believers as coming wholly of God. There is nothing anyone does to earn, merit, or convince God to give him or her this witness. But the Holy Spirit does so manifest in many, many Christian both today and throughout the church ages.


Based on an abundance of comparative scriptural evidence and the autobiographical writings of numerous well-respected and highly significant Christians throughout church history, Lloyd-Jones presents the conclusion that the witness of the Holy Spirit within a believer is both real and much to be desired. Therefore, he encourages all Christians to eagerly and earnestly seek this witness for themselves, mainly through prayer.

The witness does not take the form of phenomena, such as speaking in tongues, although Lloyd-Jones does not deny that such a phenomenon may exist. But the witness is much more wonderful than any external phenomena, since it is a manifestation within the heart and subjective experience of a believer of the very Person of God Himself.

In conclusion, anyone interested in knowing the Holy Spirit should read Charismatic Chaos by John MacArthur, but more importantly, Romans Exposition of Chapter 8.5-17 The Sons of God by D.Martyn Lloyd-Jones. The former book may spare the reader from falling into certain pitfalls, but the latter book will ground the believer in biblical and historical reasons for pursuing an intimate knowledge of this great and Holy person of the triune God.