This morning we continue with our reading of John Owen's classic Overcoming Sin and Temptation. If you'd like to know more about this reading project, you can read about it right here: Reading Classics Together. We're into the real heart of the book now and are looking at specific instructions on how to put sin to death.

In the past few chapters we have been in the book's second section--a section that focuses on "the nature of mortification." In the past chapters and those to come Owen approaches the subject this way:

1. Show what it is to mortify any sin, and that both negatively and positively, that we be not mistaken in the foundation.
2. Give general directions for such things as without which it will be utterly impossible for anyone to get any sin truly and spiritually mortified.
3. Draw out the particulars whereby this is to be done.

He has already shown both negatively and positively what it is to mortify a sin and has given the general directions. He is now providing a list of instructions about how to actually do the business of mortifying sin.

Summary

1. Load your conscience with the guilt of sin
1. Begin with generals and descend to particulars
1. Charge your conscience with that guilt which appears in it from the rectitude and holiness of the law
2. Bring your lust to the gospel
2. Descend to particulars
   1. Consider the infinite patience and forbearance of God toward you in particular
   2. Consider the infinitely rich grace of God whereby you have been recovered to communion with him again
   3. Consider all of God's gracious dealings with you
2. Constantly long and breathe after deliverance from the power of it
3. Consider whether the distemper is rooted in your nature and increased by your constitution
   1. Particular sinful inclinations are an outbreak of original lust in your nature
   2. Without extraordinary watchfulness, your nature will prevail against your soul
   3. For the mortification of any distemper rooted in the nature of a man, there is one expedient peculiarly suited: bringing the body into subjection
      1. The outward weakening and impairing of the body should not be looked upon as a thing good in itself
      2. The means whereby this is done should not be looked on as things that in themselves can produce true mortification of any sin

Discussion

I continue to enjoy and to profit from reading this book. When faced with sin this past week I really felt my heart stirred by some of what I learned in reading the last chapter. How could I do this sin when I know how serious it is for me to ignore the work of the Spirit as He turns my heart from it? With an awareness of how serious sin is for a believer, how could I recklessly push forward and sin against God? It is always a delight to see a book impact my life. This is especially true when the book is as infused with Scripture as this one is.

I enjoyed this week’s chapter as well. I’ll admit, though, that I was quite confused by much of the first direction—load your conscience with the guilt of sin. Despite several readings I just could not get my mind around what Owen was trying to communicate. There were parts I understood: “Persuade your conscience to hearken diligently to what the law speaks, in the name of the Lord, unto you about your lust and corruption.” And I understand his direction about looking to the gospel for further conviction of sin. But I feel like I was only scratching the surface here rather than really digging in. Hopefully your comments will bring some clarity.

Thankfully, I gained more from the rest of the chapter. I enjoyed Owen’s exhortation to “get a constant longing, breathing after deliverance from the power of sin.” “Longing, breathing, and panting after deliverance is a grace in itself, that has a mighty power to conform the soul into the likeness of the thing longed after.” And I can see from my life when I began to long after deliverance from sin. There was a time when I really was not so troubled by my sin. I may have felt some guilt from it and may have dreaded its consequences, but I did not long after deliverance. But when God, in His grace, helped me to truly desire to see my sin put away, it made such a difference to my life. “Unless you long for deliverance you shall not have it.” Those words have proven true in my life.

I also appreciated Owen’s charge that we need to rise against the first actings and conceptions of sin. His illustration was a good one. When water is restrained by dikes or levees or walls or canals it follows the course we have set for it. But when those walls crumble, the water follows its own destructive course. It overflows the banks and runs to its inevitable conclusion. And sin is much the same. We need to restrain sin and to “nip it in the bud” before it comes to full bloom in our lives (I think I’m mixing metaphors now). And this it will inevitably do if we allow it. “Rise up with all your strength against it, with no less indignation than if it had been fully accomplished what it aims at.” We do this with our help, taking measures to avoid sickness or reacting immediately at the first signs of the onset of illness. Why should we not do this with our sin?

And finally, a brief note. Is it just my lack of understanding a strange sentence structure, or is there a rather important not missing from this sentence: “The means whereby this is done--namely, by fasting and watching, and the like--should be looked on as things that in themselves, and by virtue of their own power, can produce true mortification of any sin.”

Next Week

Next Thursday we will continue by reading chapter twelve (the end is in sight!).

Your Turn

As always, I would like to know what you gained from this chapter. Please post your comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Do not feel that you need to say something exceedingly clever or profound. Simply share what stirred your heart or what gave you pause. You can also post any questions that came up. Let's be certain that we are reading this book together. The comments on previous chapters have been very helpful and have aided my enjoyment of the book. I have every reason to believe that this week will prove the same.

This morning we continue with our reading of John Owen's classic Overcoming Sin and Temptation. If you'd like to know more about this reading project, you can read about it right here: Reading Classics Together. We're into the real heart of the book now and are looking at specific instructions on how to put sin to death.

In the past few chapters we have been in the book's second section--a section that focuses on "the nature of mortification." In the past chapters and those to come Owen approaches the subject this way:

1. Show what it is to mortify any sin, and that both negatively and positively, that we be not mistaken in the foundation.
2. Give general directions for such things as without which it will be utterly impossible for anyone to get any sin truly and spiritually mortified.
3. Draw out the particulars whereby this is to be done.

He has already shown both negatively and positively what it is to mortify a sin and has given the general directions. Last week he offered the first of his particular instructions on how to go about the business of mortifying sin. He told us to consider whether our lust has certain dangerous symptoms accompanying it and went on to describe certain conditions: Inveterateness (a state of being deep-rooted or habitual); secret pleas of the heart to countenance sin without a gospel attempt to mortify sin; applying grace and mercy to an unmortified sin; frequency of success in sin's seduction; arguing against sin only because of impending punishment; probable judiciary hardness; when your lust has already withstood particular dealings from God against it. This week he turns to a second instruction.

Summary

This chapter’s theme is this: Get a clear and abiding sense upon your mind and conscience of the guilt, danger, and evil of your sin. Owen follows this outline:

1. Consider the guilt of it
   • Though the power of sin be weakened by inherent grace, yet the guilt of remaining sin is aggravated and heightened by it
   • God sees a great deal of evil in the working of lust in the hearts of his servants
2. Consider the danger of it
   • Of being hardened by deceitfulness
   • Of some great temporal correction
   • Of loss of peace and strength
   • Of eternal destruction
3. Consider its present evils
   • It grieves the holy and blessed Spirit
   • The Lord Jesus Christ is wounded afresh by it
   • It will take away a man's usefulness in his generation

Discussion

I don’t know that any other chapter has given me more to think about than this one. It’s not just that it was tough going (and certain sections really were tough to read and absorb) but that Owen covered some aspects of thinking about sin that really were new to me. I’ll give a brief thought about each of the three headings he used: the guilt of sin, the danger of sin, and the evil of sin.

I doubt too many Christians can read Owen’s thoughts on considering the guilt of our sin and remain unaffected. Of course I wasn’t entirely sure that I read it correctly but after three or four go-rounds I am fairly confident. Owen says, “Though the power of sin be weakened by inherent grace, yet the guilt of remaining sin is aggravated and heightened by it.” He says also that “God sees a great deal of evil in the working of lust in the hearts of his servants.” I take this to mean that sin committed by a Christian is in a sense far more serious than sin committed by an unbeliever. Once God has given us light and life, we sin in a way that is different from how we sinned before. When we sin as Christians we sin in direct contradiction to the work of the Spirit in our lives. “We, doubtless, are more evil than any, if we do [sin]. I shall not insist on the special aggravations of the sins of such persons--how they sin against more love, mercy, grace, assistance, relief, means, and deliverances than others. But let this consideration abide in your mind--there is inconceivably more evil and guilt in the evil of your heart that does remain, than there would be in so much sin if you had no grace at all.” With the great blessing of new life comes the great responsibility to be free from sin. When we do sin, we blatantly disregard the Spirit’s work and leading in our life. Hence there is a whole new dimension to our sin and a whole new level of seriousness.

In his section on the dangers of sin, Owen warned of being hardened by sin’s deceitfulness, of the danger of temporal punishment, of the loss of peace and strength in relationship with God and of eternal destruction. The one that stood out to me was the danger of being hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. I believe it is for good reason that he listed this one first. No person can find himself on the road to destruction or even being punished by God in this life if he has not first been hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. “There is a treachery, a deceit in sin, that tends to the hardening of your hearts from the fear of God.” At the close of this section comes a dire warning and challenge: “Is it not enough to make any heart to tremble, to think of being brought into that estate wherein he should have slight thoughts of sin? Slight thoughts of grace, of mercy, of the blood of Christ, of the law, heaven, and hell, come all in at the same season. Take heed, this is that [which] your lust is working toward--the hardening of the heart, searing of the conscience, blinding of the mind, stupifying of the affections, and deceiving of the whole soul.” When we have low thoughts of our sin it means we must also have low thoughts of the work and person of Christ and low thoughts of eternal reward and punishment. If we get sin wrong, we get everything else wrong. Sin is deceitful and we must have a biblical understanding of it if we are to honor God with our lives. We must mortify sin lest we allow it to blind us to its realities.

Where the dangers of sin point to future realities, the evils of sin point to the present. Here Owen offers three warnings. Sin grieves the holy and blessed Spirit; the Lord Jesus Christ is wounded afresh by it; and sin will take away a man's [or woman’s] usefulness in his [or her] generation. I think it speaks volumes about a person’s heart whether or not these realities really concern him. Only one who has truly been born again will be concerned with grieving the Holy Spirit or wounding Jesus Christ afresh. Only a Christian will have a heart that is grieved by grieving God. Any man may fear and abhor the consequences of sin in his own life, but only a true believer will concern himself with how his sins affect God. “Among those who walk with God, there is no greater motive and incentive unto universal holiness, and the preserving of their hearts and spirits in all purity and cleanness, than this, that the blessed Spirit, who has undertaken to dwell in them, is continually considering what they give entertainment in their hearts unto, and rejoices when his temple is kept undefiled.” Does this thought motivate me to mortify the sin in my life? Does this thought motivate you to destroy the sin in yours? Or are we so self-centered that our first consideration is how our sin impacts our own lives and our own hearts? Those who truly love the Lord will prove this love by turning from sin.

Next Week

Next Thursday we will continue by reading chapter eleven.

Your Turn

As always, I would like to know what you gained from this chapter. Please post your comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Do not feel that you need to say something exceedingly clever or profound. Simply share what stirred your heart or what gave you pause. You can also post any questions that came up. Let's be certain that we are reading this book together. The comments on previous chapters have been very helpful and have aided my enjoyment of the book. I have every reason to believe that this week will prove the same.

This morning we continue with our fourteen week journey through John Owen's classic Overcoming Sin and Temptation. If you'd like to know more about this reading project, you can read about it right here: Reading Classics Together. We're into the real heart of the book now and are looking at specific instructions on how to put sin to death.

By way of reminder, for the past few chapters we have been in the book's second section--a section that turns the focus from introductory materials to "the nature of mortification." In this portion of the book Owen is turning to this question: "Suppose a man to be a true believer, and yet finds in himself a powerful indwelling sin, leading him captive to the law of it, consuming his heart with trouble, perplexing his thoughts, weakening his soul as to duties of communion with God, disquieting him as to peace, and perhaps defiling his conscience, and exposing him to hardening through the deceitfulness of sin, what shall he do? What course shall he take and insist on for the mortification of this sin, lust, distemper, or corruption, to such a degree as that, though it be not utterly destroyed, yet, in his contest with it, he may be enabled to keep up power, strength, and peace in communion with God?"

In the past chapters and those to come he approaches the subject this way:

1. Show what it is to mortify any sin, and that both negatively and positively, that we be not mistaken in the foundation (the fifth chapter provided the negative and this week we look at the positive aspect).
2. Give general directions for such things as without which it will be utterly impossible for anyone to get any sin truly and spiritually mortified.
3. Draw out the particulars whereby this is to be done.

He has already shown both negatively and positively what it is to mortify a sin and has given the general directions. This week he is turning to particular instructions on how to go about mortifying sin.

Summary

As I mentioned, Owen is now providing specific instructions on how to mortify sin. He will do this under nine headings and in this chapter he gives the first of these: Consider whether your lust has these dangerous symptoms accompanying it. The outline looks like this:

1. Inveterateness (a state of being deep-rooted or habitual)
2. Secret pleas of the heart to countenance sin without a gospel attempt to mortify sin
3. Applying grace and mercy to an unmortified sin
4. Frequency of success in sin's seduction
5. Arguing against sin only because of impending punishment
6. Probable judiciary hardness
7. When your lust has already withstood particular dealings from God against it

Discussion

Because it has been a ridiculously busy week, I did not have the time I would have liked to be able to really ponder this chapter and to meditate upon it. I’ll have to be sure to return to it. But there were still at least two things that really stood out to me. Once more I am thankful that Owen was such a student of the human condition. He understood sin and its impact on us in such a deep way. And because of this knowledge he was able to bring the gospel to bear on it. We see that in evidence in this chapter in a powerful way.

“To mortify sin for this end, to satisfy conscience, which cries and calls for another purpose, is a desperate device of a heart in love with sin.” When the Spirit brings a sin to our minds it may be a temptation for us to refuse to put it to death. Instead of cooperating with the Spirit in mortifying that sin, we may hold onto it and satisfy ourselves with other evidences of God’s grace within us. We may see this sin and know that it is sin, but rather than fight against it, we simply content ourselves that we are Christians and then allow ourselves to be pleased with the other evidences of our conversion. This, says Owen, is a dangerous condition and one which is hardly curable. When God puts a yoke on our necks, we must be willing to do the hard work required to obey Him. We simply cannot ignore Him as He brings sin to mind. We cannot be so insincere and so hypocritical as to turn the grace of God into license.

In the next point, where he discusses applying Grace to an unmortified sin, Owen mentions a kind of sin I think we all have in our lives. They are secret sins and sins we hold on to because we really do like them. We have grown comfortable with their presence in our lives even though we freely admit they are sinful. Perhaps they involve foul language or bad temper; perhaps they involve copying DVDs or music; we laugh at these small and even respectable sins. We would rather go through life refusing to put these to death and allowing them free reign in our lives than allowing God to deal with them. When we do this, we apply God’s mercy to these sins, knowing that Jesus died to forgive even these. And yet we are unrepentant for them and are unwilling to let go of them. But, says Owen, “to apply mercy to a sin not vigorously mortified is to fulfill the end of the flesh upon the gospel.” We make a mockery of mercy and of God’s grace when we allow sin, and even the smallest sin, to run rampant.

As the book continues I look forward more and more to the chapters to come!

Next Week

Next Thursday we will continue by reading chapter ten.

Your Turn

As always, I would like to know what you gained from this chapter. Please post your comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Do not feel that you need to say something exceedingly clever or profound. Simply share what stirred your heart or what gave you pause. You can also post any questions that came up. Let's be certain that we are reading this book together. The comments on previous chapters have been very helpful and have aided my enjoyment of the book. I have every reason to believe that this week will prove the same.

This morning we continue with our fourteen week journey through John Owen’s classic Overcoming Sin and Temptation. If you'd like to know more about this reading project, you can read about it right here: Reading Classics Together. We’ve now passed the halfway mark of the book and are beginning to get into the details of how we are to go about mortifying sin.

By way of reminder, for the past few chapters we have been in the book's second section--a section that turns the focus from introductory materials to "the nature of mortification." In this portion of the book Owen is turning to this question: "Suppose a man to be a true believer, and yet finds in himself a powerful indwelling sin, leading him captive to the law of it, consuming his heart with trouble, perplexing his thoughts, weakening his soul as to duties of communion with God, disquieting him as to peace, and perhaps defiling his conscience, and exposing him to hardening through the deceitfulness of sin, what shall he do? What course shall he take and insist on for the mortification of this sin, lust, distemper, or corruption, to such a degree as that, though it be not utterly destroyed, yet, in his contest with it, he may be enabled to keep up power, strength, and peace in communion with God?"

In the past chapters and those to come he approaches the subject this way:

1. Show what it is to mortify any sin, and that both negatively and positively, that we be not mistaken in the foundation (the fifth chapter provided the negative and this week we look at the positive aspect).
2. Give general directions for such things as without which it will be utterly impossible for anyone to get any sin truly and spiritually mortified.
3. Draw out the particulars whereby this is to be done.

He has already shown both negatively and positively what it is to mortify a sin and this week he turns to the second of two general directions, without which it will be impossible for anyone to truly mortify sin.

Summary

This week’s chapter had but one point: “There will be no mortification of any sin without sincerity and diligence in a universality of obedience.”

Discussion

The purpose of this chapter is to warn against the likelihood that as a person dedicates himself to putting a certain sin to death, he will overlook the disciplines which keep other sins at bay. Here is how Owen describes this:

A man finds any lust to bring him into the condition formerly described; it is powerful, strong, tumultuating, leads captive, vexes, disquiets, takes away peace; he is not able to bear it; wherefore he sets himself against it, prays against it, groans under it, sighs to be delivered: but in the meantime, perhaps, in other duties--in constant communion with God--in reading, prayer, and meditation--in other ways that are not of the same kind with the lust wherewith he is troubled--he is loose and negligent. Let not that man think that ever he shall arrive to the mortification of the lust he is perplexed with.

In other words, if a man is burdened by a particular sin and goes to war against it, but at the same time neglects communion with God and neglects prayer, reading the Bible, and meditating upon it, he should not expect to experience true mortification of his sin. Owen, always a master of the example, compares this to a man who is ill with a running sore (isn’t that something you want to picture first thing in the morning?) that has come about by indulgence and a poor diet. If that man focuses entirely on this sore and does so at the expense of taking care of the rest of his body, all of his work will be in vain. “So will his attempts that shall endeavor to stop a bloody issue of sin and filth in his soul, and is not equally careful of his universal spiritual temperature and constitution.” What a vivid word picture this is: “a bloody issue of sin and filth in his soul.”

People who do such a thing, says Owen, are people who mortify sin through a corrupt principle. They do so through self-love. “It is evident that you contend against sin merely because of your own trouble by it.” Such a person is not troubled objectively by the nature of his sin, but is troubled by the trouble his sin brings.

And these are the two major points I am taking away this week. First, that any mortification of sin, and really any real growth in the Christian life, depends on a wide obedience. We are not to be people who emphasize one thing one day and another thing the next day. Rather, we are called to be obedient in all areas all the time. This was something that has becoming increasingly clear to me and especially so as I’ve studied the topic of discernment. God expects that we will simply obey and that we will do so in every area. There is no shortcut and no easy route to godliness. Second, we are all prone to hating our sin not because of what it means to God but because of what it means to us. We may often hate our sin not because it is an offense to God and not because it proves that our natures are set against God, but because we hate what sin does to us and we hate how it shows itself in our lives. This motive, this selfish motive, is not one that God will bless.

Armed with what Owen has taught, we are now ready, I think, to get into the real nitty-gritty beginning next week.

Next Week

Next Thursday we will continue with the book’s ninth chapter. But you already knew that.

Your Turn

As always, I would like to know what you gained from this chapter. Please post your comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Do not feel that you need to say something exceedingly clever or profound. Simply share what stirred your heart or what gave you pause. You can also post any questions that came up. Let's be certain that we are reading this book together. The comments on previous chapters have been very helpful and have aided my enjoyment of the book. I have every reason to believe that this week will prove the same.

After an unplanned holiday hiatus, we continue today with reading through John Owen’s Overcoming Sin and Temptation. I should have known that I’d be unable to carve time out of my busy holiday schedule to give the book the time it deserves. Lesson learned. But we continue today with the seventh chapter. If you'd like to know more about this project, you can read about it right here: Reading Classics Together.

For the past three chapters we have been in the book's second section--a section that turns the focus from introductory materials to "the nature of mortification." In this portion of the book Owen is turning to this question: "Suppose a man to be a true believer, and yet finds in himself a powerful indwelling sin, leading him captive to the law of it, consuming his heart with trouble, perplexing his thoughts, weakening his soul as to duties of communion with God, disquieting him as to peace, and perhaps defiling his conscience, and exposing him to hardening through the deceitfulness of sin, what shall he do? What course shall he take and insist on for the mortification of this sin, lust, distemper, or corruption, to such a degree as that, though it be not utterly destroyed, yet, in his contest with it, he may be enabled to keep up power, strength, and peace in communion with God?"

In the past two chapters and those to come he approaches the subject this way:

1. Show what it is to mortify any sin, and that both negatively and positively, that we be not mistaken in the foundation (the fifth chapter provided the negative and this week we look at the positive aspect).
2. Give general directions for such things as without which it will be utterly impossible for anyone to get any sin truly and spiritually mortified.
3. Draw out the particulars whereby this is to be done.

He has already shown both negatively and positively what it is to mortify a sin and this week he turns to one of the two general directions, without which it will be impossible for anyone to truly mortify sin.

Summary

The summary for this chapter is as simple as it gets. Owen simply addresses one area: “There will be no mortification of any sin unless one be a believer.” He also provides an objection that may arise and answers this objection.

Discussion

This is one of those chapters that really should not even be necessary, for its point is obvious. Yet the history of the church shows that we cannot take it for granted. It is clear to those of us who believe that sin can only rightly be mortified if one is indwelt by the Holy Spirit; thus only those who are true believers can truly put sin to death. There can be no mortification unless one believes. Owen makes this point time and again:

• Unless a man be a believer…he can never mortify any one sin.
• There is no death of sin without the death of Christ.
• A man may easier see without eyes, speak without a tongue, than truly mortify one sin without the Spirit.
• Men must be gold and silver in the bottom, or else refining will do them no good.
• Mortification is not the present business of unregenerate men.
• Let the soul first be thoroughly converted, and then, “looking on him whom they had pierced,” humiliation and mortification will ensue.
• To kill sin is the work of living men; where men are dead (as all unbelievers, the best of them, are dead), sin is alive, and will live.
• Be sure to get an interest in Christ—if you intend to mortify any sin without it, it will never be done.

That is but a sampling. Clearly Owen wishes to make this point crystal clear. As one who believes I am certain that no true mortification can happen in those who forsake the Spirit—the one who is the active agent of mortification. I could well end there and close the cover on this chapter. But I’m glad I did not. Owen has things to say, even to those of us who already believe and who already know the truth that without believing upon the death of Christ there can be no death of sin. He cautions us against attempting to persuade unbelievers that they should be about the business of life change even before they have sought and found true heart change. “Unless a man be regenerate, unless he be a believer, all attempts that he can make for mortification, be they ever so specious and promising—all means he can use, let him follow them with never so much diligence, earnestness, watchfulness, and intention of mind and spirit—are to no purpose. In vain shall he use many remedies; he shall not be healed.” He goes on to say, “I wish that some whose trade it is to daub with untempered mortar in the things of God did not teach this deceit and cause the people to err by their ignorance.” Those who pursue supposed mortification but who do so without first turning to Christ, they are deluded and destroyed by their inability to overcome sin.

Christians, I think, are prone to demanding of unbelievers what they cannot supply. Too many Christians seem eager to demand change of unbelievers even before they demand or expect that these people come to Christ. What a tragedy it is if we demand what unbelievers cannot provide even while forsaking the call to the gospel—the only true remedy for their sin. In the “Objection” section Owen deals with those who would then say that unregenerate men are to never attempt to “better” themselves but are to let sin run amok. Through God’s common grace He restrains sin and we rejoice in this. But are primary call for unbelievers is not for men to kill sin, but to turn to Christ. The first things must come first.

Next Week

Next Thursday we will continue with the eighth chapter of the book. Though we are now well into our study, it is not too late for you to join in the fun!

Your Turn

As always, I would like to know what you gained from this chapter. Please post your comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Do not feel that you need to say something exceedingly clever or profound. Simply share what stirred your heart or what gave you pause. You can also post any questions that came up. Let's be certain that we are reading this book together. The comments on previous chapters have been great and have aided my enjoyment of the chapter. I trust this week will prove the same.

Today we continue reading the classics together by turning to the sixth chapter of John Owen's Overcoming Sin and Temptation. If you'd like to know more about this project, you can read about it right here: Reading Classics Together.

We are now in the book’s second section--a section that turns the focus from introductory materials to "the nature of mortification." In this portion of the book he will answer this question: "Suppose a man to be a true believer, and yet finds in himself a powerful indwelling sin, leading him captive to the law of it, consuming his heart with trouble, perplexing his thoughts, weakening his soul as to duties of communion with God, disquieting him as to peace, and perhaps defiling his conscience, and exposing him to hardening through the deceitfulness of sin, what shall he do? What course shall he take and insist on for the mortification of this sin, lust, distemper, or corruption, to such a degree as that, though it be not utterly destroyed, yet, in his contest with it, he may be enabled to keep up power, strength, and peace in communion with God?"

Through the last chapter and those to come, he will approach it in this form:

1. Show what it is to mortify any sin, and that both negatively and positively, that we be not mistaken in the foundation (the fifth chapter provided the negative and this week we look at the positive aspect).
2. Give general directions for such things as without which it will be utterly impossible for anyone to get any sin truly and spiritually mortified.
3. Draw out the particulars whereby this is to be done.

Summary

The chapter follows this outline:

1. Mortification consists in a habitual weakening of sin
2. Mortification consists in constant fighting and contending against sin
3. Mortification consists in frequent success

Discussion

I am going to need to keep my portion of the discussion a little bit short today. I am just about to head for Atlanta with my family, so we’ll be spending a good fifteen or sixteen hours driving over the next day-and-a-half. And somehow, though I read the chapter a few times in advance, with work and family and other pressing obligations, I didn’t manage to sit down and write this soon enough!

There were several areas in this chapter that spoke to me. It was a deep and dense and often difficult one. Yet there was one aspect that really hit home more than the rest. It was Owen’s comparison of the actions of a crucified man with a mortified sin. It’s an image, a metaphor, that I think will stay in my mind.

As a man nailed to the cross he first struggles and strives and cries out with great strength and might, but, as his blood and spirits waste, his strivings are faint and seldom, his cries low and hoarse, scarce to be heard; when a man first sets on a lust or distemper, to deal with it, it struggles with great violence to break loose; it cries with earnestness and impatience to be satisfied and relieved; but when by mortification the blood and spirits of it are let out, it moves seldom and faintly, cries sparingly, and is scarce heard in the heart; it may have sometimes a dying pang, that makes an appearance of great vigor and strength, but it is quickly over, especially if it be kept from considerable success.

And if that is true of a sin, if it at first fights hard but then, after a period of mortification, it must also be true of a sinner. When I first fight against a sin, a new sin that has been brought to my attention, I struggle hard. As Owen says, “When sin is strong and vigorous, the soul is scarce able to make any headagainst it; it sighs, and groans, and mourns, and is troubled.” It is difficult to put this sin to death and to vanquish it. Yet as time goes on, and as the Spirit helps me put that sin to death, I find that I struggle less. As that sin begins to be destroyed in my life, it cries sparingly and soon is scarce heard. I guess the metaphor breaks down eventually since that sin will sooner or later come calling again, raising its head to see if I’ve lowered my guard against it, but still, I think it’s an effective word picture and one that helps me understand why it is at first so difficult to fight and to beat those sins.

And I apologize, but that is all you’ll get out of me this time! I have much to do before we hit the road this morning. I trust you’ll be able to share your insights to make this discussion more worthwhile…

Next Time

Next Thursday, despite the date falling in the midst of holidays, we will continue with the seventh chapter of the book. Though we are now well into our study, it is not too late for you to join in the fun!

Your Turn

I would like to know what you gained from this chapter. Feel free to post comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Do not feel that you need to say anything shocking or profound. Just share what stirred your heart or what gave you pause or what confused you. Let's make sure we're reading this book together. The comments on previous chapters have been great and have aided my enjoyment of the chapter. I trust this week will prove the same.

Today we continue reading the classics together by turning to the fifth chapter of John Owen's Overcoming Sin and Temptation. If you'd like to know more about this project, you can read about it right here: Reading Classics Together.

This is the first chapter in the book’s section—a section that turns the focus from introductory materials to “the nature of mortification.” In this portion of the book he will answer this question: “Suppose a man to be a true believer, and yet finds in himself a powerful indwelling sin, leading him captive to the law of it, consuming his heart with trouble, perplexing his thoughts, weakening his soul as to duties of communion with God, disquieting him as to peace, and perhaps defiling his conscience, and exposing him to hardening through the deceitfulness of sin, what shall he do? What course shall he take and insist on for the mortification of this sin, lust, distemper, or corruption, to such a degree as that, though it be not utterly destroyed, yet, in his contest with it, he may be enabled to keep up power, strength, and peace in communion with God?”

Through the coming chapters, he will approach it in this form:

1. Show what it is to mortify any sin, and that both negatively and positively, that we be not mistaken in the foundation.
2. Give general directions for such things as without which it will be utterly impossible for anyone to get any sin truly and spiritually mortified.
3. Draw out the particulars whereby this is to be done.

In this chapter, chapter 5, he looks at the negative aspect of the first point, seeking to teach “what mortification is not.”

Summary

The chapter follows this outline:

1. Mortification is not the utter destruction and death of sin
2. Mortification is not the dissimulation of a sin
3. Mortification is not the improvement of a quiet, sedate nature
4. Mortification is not the diversion of sin
5. Mortification is not just occasional conquests over sin

Discussion

I was glad to see in last week’s discussion that many people found more benefit in the chapter than I did. It’s strange how these things work. Though I certainly did not dislike the chapter, I found it perhaps just a bit lacking compared to the ones preceding it. So I was glad to find myself feasting again this week as I read the opening chapter of the heart of the book.

In this chapter Owen describes what mortification of sin is not, certainly an important thing to know for anyone who wishes to be serious about destroying indwelling sin. With hearts that are deceitful and desperately wicked, it makes good sense that we would accept all manner of substitutes for the genuine work of mortification. Yet all the while, our sin would not be truly mortified, but would instead go into hibernation for a while before reappearing and working its evil once again.

Owen offered five things we may confuse with mortification. Of these, two stood out to me above the others. The first is that we are prone to divert our sin rather than dealing with it properly. In other words, we may see a sin in our lives and guard against allowing it to erupt in a particular form, yet all the while we allow it to erupt in a different, more subtle form. I thought here of Jerry Bridge’s book Respectable Sins and had to agree that we can channel one sin into another, perhaps allowing a sin that is overt to become one that is somehow more respectable in our eyes. I was struck by his description of old men who see certain lusts of youth fall away. I have known men who wished to be old so they could escape lusts that have plagued them, convinced that old age would bring respite. Yet, if Owen is correct here, those sins, if not dealt with now, will simply morph into other sins with the onset of old age. “He has changed his master, but is a servant still.”

The second point that jumped out to me was that mortification is not just occasional conquests over sin. In this case I did not understand “occasional” as meaning “every now and again” as much as “at particular occasions.” We have all experienced “eruptions” of sin that have scared us. Perhaps we have exploded in temper and been terrified by the violence we committed (or very nearly committed) and vowed to stay in control the next time. Or perhaps we have allowed a lust to lead us to a point where we very nearly committed a grave sin. In these cases our natural temptation is to castigate ourselves and to abhor our sin. But we can too easily allow abhorrence to take the place of true mortification. We can take comfort in our own disgust of sin. Owen’s descriptive metaphor is well worth reading again:

The whole man, spiritual and natural, being now awakened, sin shrinks in its head, appears not, but lies as dead before him: as when one that has drawn nigh to an army in the night, and has killed a principal person--instantly the guards awake, men are roused up, and strict inquiry is made after the enemy, who, in the meantime, until the noise and tumult be over, hides himself, or lies like one that is dead, yet with firm resolution to do the like mischief again upon the like opportunity. … So it is in a person when a breach has been made upon his conscience, quiet, perhaps credit, by his lust, in some eruption of actual sin--carefulness, indignation, desire, fear, revenge, are all set on work about it and against it, and lust is quiet for a season, being run down before them; but when the hurry is over and the inquest past, the thief appears again alive, and is as busy as ever at his work.

This speaks of the necessity of true mortification and not some cheap and easy substitute. Any man can vow to avoid sin and can do so for a time through his own power. Only through the Spirit can we truly root out the sin that plagues us. Only in His power can it be truly put to death.

Next Time

Next Thursday we will continue with the sixth chapter of the book. Though we are now well into our study, it is not too late for you to join and you’ll find yourself only 25 or 30 pages behind.

Your Turn

I would like to know what you gained from this chapter. Feel free to post comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Do not feel that you need to say anything shocking or profound. Just share what stirred your heart or what gave you pause or what confused you. Let's make sure we're reading this book together. The comments on previous chapters have been great and have aided my enjoyment of the chapter. I trust this week will prove the same.

Today we continue reading the classics together by turning to the second chapter of John Owen's Overcoming Sin and Temptation. If you'd like to know more about this project, you can read about it right here: Reading Classics Together.

For a couple of years I met every Friday morning with a group of friends and we would read books together. We read some great books like Os Guinness’ The Call and Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy. These were enjoyable and beneficial times. One thing we often found frustrating, though, was that books are really not meant to be read at the pace of one chapter per week with long periods of analysis after each chapter. This may be particularly true of a book like Overcoming Sin and Temptation where the chapter divisions are seemingly less logical than in many other books. All this to say that I found this week’s chapter was short and really did not have quite as much gold to mine as in the previous ones (and, I’m sure, as in the ones to come). It was necessary, no doubt, but seems like a short pause before digging into the real treasure that is to follow.

Summary

The chapter outline goes something like this. Following on the chapter’s main point that the life, vigor, and comfort of our spiritual life depend much on our mortification of sin, we have these divisions:

1. Life, vigor, and comfort are not necessarily connected to mortification
2. Adoption and justification, not mortification, are the immediate causes of life, vigor,and comfort
3. However, in the ordinary relationship with God, the vigor and comfort of ourspiritual lives depend much on our mortification of sin
   1. Mortification alone keeps sin from depriving us of vigor and comfort
      1. Every unmortified sin will weaken the soul and deprive it of its vigor
         1. It untunes and unframes the heart itself, by entangling its affections
         2. It fills the thoughts with contrivances about it
         3. It breaks out and actually hinders duty

      2. Every unmortified sin will darken the soul and deprive it of its comfort andpeace
   2. Mortification prunes all the graces of God and makes room for them in our heartsto grow
   3. As to our peace; as there is nothing that has any evidence of sincerity without it,so I know nothing that has such an evidence of sincerity in it

Discussion

As you already know, I found less to chew on in this chapter than in the ones that preceded it. But this is certainly not to say that it was an unprofitable read. Owen’s warning was well taken—that a refusal to mortify sin will and must have to consequences: it will weaken the soul, depriving it of its vigor and it will darken the soul, depriving it of its comfort and peace. I also found this worth pondering: “[Sin] is a cloud, a thick cloud, that spreads itself over the face of the soul, and intercepts all the beams of God’s love and favor. It takes away all sense of the privilege of our adoption; and if the soul begins to gather up thoughts of consolation, sin quickly scatters them.”

And, of course, the chapter’s closing words were pure gold. “Mortification is the soul’s vigorous opposition to itself.” We are too often prone to believe that sin is extrinsic and is caused by forces outside of ourselves. “The Devil made me do it!” we say. But sin comes from within. Sure, we need to oppose the devil. But even more so, we need to oppose our own sinful flesh.

Maybe I am just a restless person, but I flipped ahead one page to take a peek at chapter five. Already I like what it promises. “These things being premised, I come to my principal [concern] of handling some questions or practical cases that present themselves in this business of mortification of sin in believers.” I’m ready!

Next Time

Next Thursday we will continue with the fifth chapter of the book (which will mark the beginning of the book’s second part). We have only just begun so there is still plenty of time for you to get the book and to read along.

Your Turn

I would like to know what you gained from this chapter. Feel free to post comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Do not feel that you need to say anything shocking or profound. Just share what stirred your heart or what gave you pause or what confused you. Let's make sure we're reading this book together. The comments on previous chapters have been great and have aided my enjoyment of the chapter. I trust this week will prove the same.

Today we continue reading the classics together by turning to the second chapter of John Owen's Overcoming Sin and Temptation. If you'd like to know more about this project, you can read about it right here: Reading Classics Together. The opening portion of the book, which we will complete next week, is based upon an exposition of Romans 8:13: "If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." Owen came to three conclusions: The choicest believers, who are assuredly freed from the condemning power of sin, ought yet to make it their business all their days to mortify the indwelling power of sin; The mortification of indwelling sin remaining in our mortal bodies, that is may not have life and power to bring forth the works or deeds of the flesh, is the constant duty of believers; The vigor, and power, and comfort of our spiritual life depends on the mortification of the deeds of the flesh. Last week was encouragement on the necessity of putting sin to death. This week we move to this portion of the exposition: “The Holy Spirit is the great sovereign cause of the mortification of indwelling sin.”

Summary

The Holy Spirit is the great sovereign cause of the mortification of indwelling sin

1. Other remedies are sought in vain
2. Why mortification is the work of the Spirit
1. The Spirit is promised of God to be given unto us to do this work
2. All mortification is from the gift of Christ, and all the gifts of Christ are communicated to us and given us by the Spirit of Christ
3. How the Spirit mortifies sin
1. By causing our hearts to abound in grace and the fruits that are contrary to the flesh
2. By a real physical efficiency on the root and habit of sin
3. By bringing the cross of Christ into the heart of a sinner by faith
4. If the Spirit alone mortifies sin, why are we are exhorted to it?
   1. All graces and good works which are in us are his
   2. It is still an act of our obedience

Discussion

First, and by way of observation, I’d say that this chapter, though significantly shorter, was considerably more difficult than the previous one. It seemed that there were more difficult words and tough phrases than last week. Just when I was starting to get cocky and thinking that Owen wasn’t so difficult after all!

I carried one main thought out of this chapter. Much of this portion concerned “papists”—hardly a term in common use these days. This may serve to antiquate the chapter a little bit, but I think there is still much to learn from it. After all, I think Roman Catholicism is a perversion of true Christian theology and a system that so carefully incorporates man into God’s work. Owen would agree. While I may not be Roman Catholic, I still feel the temptation to allow my man-centered desires to interfere with God’s gracious work. Maybe this is what Owen means when he writes of “the natural popery in man.” I may not wear rough garments or take vows and orders as an attempt to mortify sin, but I may still look to myself and my remedies rather than to God and His remedies. Just as Catholicism has invented ways of mortifying sin, I may also invent ways and means and find them just as powerless to bring about true and lasting change.

I may use and insist upon means that were never appointed by God for this purpose; I may ignore the means that God has, in His grace and wisdom, appointed for this purpose; and, like Luther, I may always mortify, but never come to any sound mortification. “They have sundry means to mortify the natural man, as to the natural life here we lead; none to mortify lust or corruption.” This is the mistake of men ignorant of the gospel, and too often it is the mistake I make. As Owen says, “Duties are excellent food for an unhealthy soul; they are no [remedy] for a sick soul. He that turns his meat into his medicine must expect no great operation.” There is a lot to think about in those words. Do I turn meat into medicine; food into a cure? Do I misuse the wonderful means of grace God has given, thinking that they can mortify my sin when really they are meant to feed me, but not to cure me? Am I trying to “sweat out a distemper with working?”

I am looking forward to continuing with the book next week, but even more so, am looking forward to moving on to the second part where, I suspect, the rubber really begins to meet the road.

Next Time

Next Thursday we will continue with the fourth chapter of the book (which will mark the end of the book’s first part). We have only just begun so there is still plenty of time for you to get the book and to read along.

Your Turn

I would like to know what you gained from this chapter. Feel free to post comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Do not feel that you need to say anything shocking or profound. Just share what stirred your heart or what gave you pause or what confused you. Let's make sure we're reading this book together. The comments on previous chapters have been great and have aided my enjoyment of the chapter. I trust this week will prove the same.

“Be killing sin or it will be killing you…”

This week we continue reading the classics together by turning to the second chapter of John Owen’s Overcoming Sin and Temptation. If you'd like to know more about this project, you can read about it right here: Reading Classics Together. Last week we read the first chapter which was an exposition of Romans 8:13: "If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." Owen came to three conclusions: The choicest believers, who are assuredly freed from the condemning power of sin, ought yet to make it their business all their days to mortify the indwelling power of sin; The mortification of indwelling sin remaining in our mortal bodies, that is may not have life and power to bring forth the works or deeds of the flesh, is the constant duty of believers; The vigor, and power, and comfort of our spiritual life depends on the mortification of the deeds of the flesh.

Summary

The thesis of the second chapter is this: “Believers ought to make the mortification of indwelling sin their daily work.” The question we must ask ourselves and the exhortation of the author is this:

Do you mortify;do you make it your daily work;be always at it while you live;cease not a day from this work;be killing sin or it will be killing you.

The rest of the chapter is given or to reasons that we must be at the business of killing sin. It follows this outline:

1. Indwelling sin always abides; therefore it must always be mortified
2. Indwelling sin not only abides, but is still acting
3. Indwelling sin is not only active, but will produce soul-destroying sins if not mortified
4. Indwelling sin is to be opposed by the Spirit and the new nature
5. The results of neglecting the mortification of indwelling sin
6. It is our duty to perfect holiness in the fear of God and grow in grace every day

Discussion

This week I focused in on individual phrases rather than the chapter as a whole. Owen is an eminently quotable author who can distill a chapter or a section to a sentence or to a phrase. The most notable example must be this: “be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Who, having read that phrase, will ever forget it? The challenge is laid down in just those nine words. We are at war and there is going to be a victor. Will it be us or will it be sin? Owen says also, “When sin lets us alone we may let sin alone.” As much as I hate sin and long to be free from it, I know that I will be in constant conflict with it until the day I die. It is then, and only then, that sin will leave me alone. It is then, and only then, that I may leave it alone.

Here are a few of the other phrases that I highlighted not just to mark them, but so I could return to them and ponder them.

“He that is appointed to kill an enemy, if he leave striking before the other ceases living, does but half his work.”

“Sin does not only still abide in us, but is still acting, still laboring to bring forth the deeds of the flesh. When sin lets us alone we may let sin alone; but as sin is never less quiet than when it seems to be most quiet, and its waters are for the most part deep when they are still, so ought our contrivances against it to be vigorous at all times and in all conditions, even where there is least suspicion.”

“Who can say that he had ever anything to do with God or for God, that indwelling sin had not a hand in the corrupting of what he did?”

“There is not a day but sin foils or is foiled, prevails or is prevailed on.”

“Sin aims always at the utmost; every time it rises up to tempt or entice, might it have its own course, it would go out to the utmost sin in that kind. Every unclean thought or glance would be adultery if it could; every covetous desire would be oppression, every thought of unbelief would be atheism, might it grow to its head.”

“[Sin] has no bounds but utter relinquishment of God and opposition to him.”

“It is our participation of the divine nature that gives us an escape from the pollutions that are in the world through lust.”

“Not to be daily mortifying sin is to sin against the goodness, kindness, wisdom, grace, and love of God, who has furnished us with a principle of doing it.”

“By the omission of this duty grace withers, lust flourishes, and the frame of the heart grows worse and worse.”

“Sin does so remain, so act and work in the best of believers, while they live in this world, that the constant daily mortification of it is all their days incumbent on them.”

I think the one that will stay with me the longest and that will continue to reverberate in my mind (and I hope this is especially true when I am lured and enticed by sin) is this: “Sin aims always at the utmost.” Though sin may compel me to do something that seems small and nearly harmless, sin’s ultimate aim is always greater. Its aim is always more dangerous. Sin aims at the greatest fulfillment of any sin and aims even further to cause me to utterly relinquish God and to be in opposition to Him. What seems small and harmless is really just the first rocks shifting in what aims to become a terrific landslide.

Next Time

Next Thursday we will continue with the third chapter of the book. We have only just begun so there is still plenty of time for you to get the book and to read along.

Your Turn

I would like to know what you gained from this chapter. Feel free to post comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Do not feel that you need to say anything shocking or profound. Just share what stirred your heart or what gave you pause or what confused you. Let's make sure we're reading this book together. Last week’s comments were great and really aided my enjoyment of the chapter. I trust this week will prove the same.