Riddle Me This, Owen

I’ve been wondering…why is it that I am much more bothered by a sin someone committed against me, than the fact that I committed that I went ahead and blundered into the same sin? How is it that, when the person sinned against me, I did not learn a lesson and allow this to persuade me from sinning in the same way? I should have known better, but I went ahead and did it anyways. Winningly, even.

I’ve got so many questions about sin and so much to learn about my own willingness to fall into it. I’m hoping John Owen’s unparalleled ability to bring Scripture to bear on sin will help me sort these things out.

As you may know, we’ll be read John Owen’s Overcoming Sin and Temptation together beginning this Thursday. And this is the last reminder! If you’d like to read more about this effort, simply click here: Reading Classics Together: Overcoming Sin and Temptation [2]. At last check, well over 100 people had indicated that they were going to join in. So why not succumb to the peer pressure and join in? You need only read one short chapter per week and return here to discuss it (or even just to read other people’s thoughts about it). There’s still time to join in!

Endorsements

Here are just a few endorsements for the version of Overcoming Sin and Temptation that we’ll be reading together:

"The greatest Christian writers are those who most powerfully project to spiritual readers the knowledge of God, of ourselves, and of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Among these are Augustine, Calvin, Edwards, and the Puritan John Owen, who ought to be better known than he is. The editors of this volume have worked hard to make Owen's unrivalled insight into the Christian's inner war with sin accessible to all, and the result is truly a godsend. Filled with classic devotional theology which, like Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, needs to be read again and again to be properly grasped, we have in the three treatises presented here a companion for life."
     —J. I. PACKER, Professor of Theology, Regent College

"No writer has taught me more about the dynamics of the heart and the deceitfulness of sin than John Owen. Reading his writing has been lifechanging, although at times his seventeenth-century style can be a challenge to modern ears. How grateful I am that Kapic and Taylor have invested their time and considerable skills to bring Owen's profound and practical teaching to a modern audience. Read this book carefully; it will help you understand your heart and experience God's grace."
     —C. J. MAHANEY, Sovereign Grace Ministries, Gaithersburg, Md.

"John Owen's three treatises on sin, mortification, and temptation are a priceless treasure. To read them is to mine pure spiritual gold. Unfortunately, as in mining, reading Owen is hard work. Now, through skillful editing, Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor have made Owen's work accessible to modern readers while still retaining his unique writing style. Anyone concerned about personal holiness will profit from reading this new edition of a classic work."
     —JERRY BRIDGES, Navigators Community Ministries Group

"Sin is tenacious, but by God's grace we can hate it and hunt it. John Owen provides the master guide for the sin-hunter. Kapic and Taylor bring together three of Owen's classics, clarifying them in simple ways--but all the substance, the careful, hounding arguments are still there to train our spiritual sight and love our souls."
     —MARK DEVER, Senior Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, D.C.