The Mortification of Sin
The following is an excerpt from “The Mortification of Sin” by the puritan author John Owen. I have been slowly reading through it for months now. It is incredibly meaty.
It encouraged me and convicted me recently and I thought I would share a portion of it here with any willing to read.
It is a very intense book to be sure. But it seems wise to me, if the wages of sin are truly death, (and they are Rom 6:23) to strive towards holiness with all our hearts, and to likewise be “intense” in our striving against sin. As Paul says in Ephesians 6, we all struggle against the powers of this dark word and against the spiritual forces of evil. And the writer of Hebrews gives us a sobering reminder in Hebrews 10:26 that “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left”. (read whole chapter for context here)
“Let’s not get carried away. We all stumble in many ways.( James 3:2)”, you might say.
Yes, we all stumble in many ways. The goal is not perfection, that is an impossible pursuit that only leads in guilt, exhaustion, and shame. Its called religion. I have fought and continue to fight this battle with my sense of the need to make some sacrifice for my sin. Yet, Hebrews 10:18 tells us that “where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.”
The gift of God really is eternal life in Christ Jesus, and this truth, when truly considered and consumed, propels a heart towards grace and holiness, and away from sin and death.
The healthy goal in seeking holiness is to obtain a heart that loves and treasures God and the things of God exceedingly, and hates sin and the “desires of this world” increasingly. Only a right heart can produce right living.
The Christian life is the process of God radically realigning a sinful heart’s values and treasures towards himself.
Sin in any capacity has a quick numbing effect. It keeps the heart from the Spirit induced fuel of holiness: heart felt affection for God and the things of God.
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In my own life, through seasons of intentional indwelling sin or mindless disobedience, I have found myself quickly stumbling into a sort of “spiritual sleepwalking”.
In these seasons, though I may be practicing many of the same “spiritual” acts and maintaining many of my religious habits, I find myself without any true heart for God, and taking little or no pleasure in Him or the pursuit of HIm. What was once my delight becomes duty once again. The things of God become dim and the things of the word begin to develop a sharp glaze of attraction.
Sometimes we need to be shaken with the truth of what is at stake in our seemingly menial sins.
Sometimes, we need to be gently reminded of the unfailing love of God presented in the Scriptures.
Right remembering produces right rejoicing. That is what Owen is saying here.
Remember the small fraction your human mind can comprehend of what God has done for you in His death and resurrection, and you will be compelled, as Paul was in 2 Cor 5:14 to live, die, and act for nothing less than the holiness of a reigning ruling God.
And when you are living like that, on mission, you will hate sin, and you will long to never go numb again.
Lord, give us grace. Give us your Spirit. Give us your Word.
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“Bring your lust to the gospel, not for relief, but for further conviction of its guilt. Look on him who you have pierced, and be in bitterness. Say to your soul, “What have I done? What love, what mercy, what blood, what grace have I despised and trampled on!
Is this the return I make to the Father for his love, to the Son for his blood, to the Holy Ghost for His grace? Is this how I thank the Lord?
Have I defiled the heart that Christ died to wash, that the blessed Spirit has chosen to dwell in?…
Do I account communion with him of so little value that for this vile lust’s sake I have left little room in my heart? How shall I escape if I neglect so great a salvation?
In the meantime what shall I say to the Lord? Love, mercy, peace, grace, goodness, joy, consolation, I have despised them all, and esteemed them as nothing, that I might harbor a lust in my heart.
Have I obtained a view of God’s fatherly countenance, that I might behold his face and provoke him to his face?
Was my soul washed that I might make room for new defilements?…
Shall I daily grieve the Sprit through whom I am sealed until the day of redemption?
Entertain your conscience daily with these questions. See if it can stand before this aggravation of its guilt. If this does not make it sink or melt in some measure, I fear your case is dangerous.”
