The Mortification of Sin

Questions to answer in this Equipping Hour 1. Who exactly were the Puritans? 2. What can they contribute to your everyday walk with the Lord? “The sum of all true wisdom and knowledge may be reduced to these three heads: I. The Knowledge of God, his nature and his properties. II. The Knowledge of ourselves in reference to the will of God concerning us. III. Skill to walk in Communion with God.” —John Owen John Owen (1616-1683) Communion with the Triune God 1. Communion with the Father — in Love 2. Communion with the Son — in Grace 3. Communion with the Holy Spirit — in Comfort “This is the will of God, that he may always be eyed as benign, kind, tender, loving, and unchangeable therein; and that peculiarly as the Father, as the great fountain and spring of all gracious communications and fruits of love. This is that which Christ came to reveal—God as Father.” —John Owen How to hold daily communion with the Son i. Continually keep alive a sense of the guilt and evil of sin ii. Consider sins you have not yet brought to God iii. By faith in Christ, believe the Gospel iv. Receive the righteousness of Christ fi “Objection. But it may be said, ‘Surely this course of procedure can never be acceptable to Jesus Christ. What! Shall we daily come to him with our lth, our guilt, our sins? May he not, will he not, bid us keep them to ourselves? They are our own. Shall we be always giving sins, and taking righteousness?’” —John Owen “Answer. There is not any thing that Jesus Christ is more delighted with, than that his saints should always hold communion with him as to this business of giving and receiving.” —John Owen fl “For if you live according to the esh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” —Romans 8:13 Romans 8:13 — The Morti cation of Sin 1. The persons to whom the duty is prescribed: “you” (in context, believers in Rome) 2. The conditionality of this duty: “if…you put to death” fi 3. The means of achieving this duty: “by the Spirit” fi fi “All other ways of morti cation are vain, all helps leave us helpless; it must be done by the Spirit… Morti cation from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, unto the end of a selfrighteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world.” —John Owen Romans 8:13 — The Morti cation of Sin 1. The persons to whom the duty is prescribed: “you” (in context, believers in Rome) 2. The conditionality of this duty: “if…you put to death” 3. The means of achieving this duty: “by the Spirit” 4. The duty prescribed: “put to death the deeds of the body” fi 5. The promise attached to this duty: “you will live” fi fl “The vigor, and power, and comfort of our spiritual life depends on the morti cation of the deeds of the esh.” —John Owen “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.” —John Owen “Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.” —John Owen 6 Reasons why we need to continually mortify sin 1. Indwelling sin always abides while we are in this world fl 2. Sin is still acting and laboring to bring forth the deeds of the esh fi “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 ghting against it to be vigorous at all times and in all conditions, even when there is the least suspicion.” —John Owen 6 Reasons why we need to continually mortify sin 1. Indwelling sin always abides while we are in this world 2. Sin is still acting and laboring to bring forth the deeds of the esh fi fl 3. Sin, if not continually morti ed, will bring forth great, cursed, scandalous, and soul-destroying sins 6 Reasons why we need to continually mortify sin 4. The Holy Spirit and our new nature are given to us to oppose sin and lust 5. Neglect of this duty makes the inner man decay instead of renewing him 6. Our spiritual growth is our daily duty “It is our duty to be ‘perfecting holiness in the fear of God’ (2 Cor. 7:1), to be ‘growing in grace’ every day (1 Pet. 2:2), so that our inner nature should be renewed day by day (2 Cor. 4:16). This cannot be accomplished without the daily mortifying of sin. Sin sets its strength against every act of holiness, and every degree of spiritual growth. We will not be making progress in holiness without walking over the bellies of our lusts. He who does not kill sin along the way is making no progress in his journey.” —John Owen What IS the morti cation of sin? 1. An habitual weakening of it 2. Constant ghting and contending against sin (a) Recognize and know the enemy (b) Work to be acquainted with sin’s strategies (c) Never relent in the assault fi fi 3. A degree of success in the battle “When the heart at any time recognizes sin and temptation in action, seducing it and forming sinful imaginations to put the lust into practice, the heart must immediately see what is happening, bring the sin to the law of God and the love of Christ, condemn it, and follow it to execute it to the uttermost.” —John Owen fi fi fl “Rise mightily against the rst sign of sin. Do not allow it to gain the smallest ground. Do not say ‘Thus far I shall go, and no further.’ If you allow it one step, it will take another. It is impossible to x boundaries for sin! It is like water in a channel. If it ever breaks out, it will ow on through the breach. It is easier to stop it in the beginning than after it has begun to run.” —John Owen “Set faith at work on Christ for the killing of your sin. His blood is the great sovereign remedy for sin-sick souls. Live in this, and you will die a conquerer; yea, you will, through the good providence of God, live to see your lust dead at your feet.” —John Owen