“For the time that is past suffices…”

“For 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.” -Romans 8.13

If you have been reading my recent posts on Jeremiah and others you may have noticed occasional references to John Owen and the idea of “mortifying sins.” These thoughts have been coming out of an amazing book I read recently by Owen titled Of the Mortification of Sins in Believers. The words in this treatise really cut to the center of my idea of how a Christian should view the handling of their own forgiven sins. The phrases and ideas, which came from the mid-17th century, were incredibly pertinent to me here in the early 21st century. It truly is a wonder how God-filled works have this ability!

Because of the effect this book has had on me I would first like to recommend it to you guys and then lay out some quotes which I found particularly strong. The book, which is available in various forms, I would like to recommend as a part of the volume Overcoming Sin & Temptation, which contains two other Owen works on sin as well, and was compiled and notated by Justin Taylor and Kelly M. Kapic a few years back. Many people will complain about the difficulty of Owen’s writings, but if you are ever to read him, this volume would certainly be the best place for you to go. The editors did an excellent job of smoothing language and providing helpful footnotes to ease the reader through various rough spots.

Now, onto some quotes:

“Unless a man be a believer- that is, one that is truly ingrafted into Christ- he can never mortify any one sin.“

This is very challenging. So frequently we see our friends in need of help with some sort of addiction or harmful lifestyle choices and we want to help. However, the truth of the matter is that unless that person is a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ they stand no chance of ever truly killing off that sin.

“There is no death of sin without the death of Christ.“

This is so easy to forget and so often denied these days, but is there any honest argument which shows it to not be true? Of course not. Thus, we must be convinced and humbled by this amazing reality.

“Do you think he will ease you of that which perplexes you, that you may be at liberty to that which no less grieves him? No. God says, ‘Here is one, if he could be rid of this lust I should never hear of him more; let him wrestle with this or he is lost.’“

The fact that God sometimes leaves difficult sins with us in order to further our sanctification and obedience to him cannot be denied. There are many smaller sins which I have noticed as a result of the battle I have fought with the larger ones, that I probably would have just glossed over otherwise.

“Such a man as opposes nothing to the seduction of sin and lust in his heart but fear of shame among men or hell from God, is sufficiently resolved to do the sin if there were no punishment attending it.“

Ooo, this hurts! What is my motivation to avoid a sin? Is it my desire to be obedient to God or is it my desire to avoid the adverse consequences of my actions? This seems such an easy answer, but in practice it is so hard. I have to be focused always on maintaining the right motivation in my adherence to God’s commandments.

“Lust is such an inmate as, if it can plead time and some prescription, will not easily be ejected. As it never dies of itself, so if it be not daily killed it will always gather strength.“

This gets to the heart of the issue. If there is a sin which I still struggle with, I must be in the habit of daily killing it because otherwise it won’t just go away but will only grow stronger with each moment spent ignoring it. When the first inkling comes to sin I must be prepared to kill it or else soon my flesh will grow weary of fighting the temptation and would rather give in than be obedient. Be killing sin or else it will be killing me!