TEXT: Romans 8:13

SUBJECT: Mortification #4

Tonight, we come the Chapter 4 of John Owen's great book, The Mortification of Sin. Owen was a Puritan scholar and pastor; he wrote the book to help believers overcome their "remaining sin".

Thus far, he has made two main points: (1) Believers must mortify their sins; and (2) We must do it depending on the Holy Spirit.

Now we come to a result of mortifying our sins. Or, looking at it the other way, a consequence of not mortifying our sins. Here it is:

In other words, you cannot be a strong or happy believer unless you mortify your sins.

Before making his case, Owen offers two cautions:

Job, for example, was the holiest man in the world, yet suffered terrible agonies of soul.

Another example is Heman the Ezrahite, who wrote Psalm 88. What kind of man was he? One who "Cried out day and night before the LORD". What did he get for his trouble? Let him tell you,

Here is a good man, sincere and prayerful. He mortified his sins but had no comfort.

David is another. A very holy man; he cried,

"How long will you forget me,

O LORD, forever?

How long will You hide

Your face from me?"

How do we explain this? Owen ascribes it to the sovereignty of God. He says,

That is a very good point. The friends of Job linked his problems with a hidden sin. We may do the same thing: If a believer doesn't have peace of mind or assurance, it's because he's a hypocrite or disobedient.

That's not so! Ordinarily, if one mortifies his sins, he will be comforted. But not always.

"God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform".

We need to respect His "judgments" that are "unsearchable" and His "ways" that are "past knowing".

The second caution is this:

These are due to the grace of God in Jesus Christ, given to us by the Holy Spirit. Our Lord doesn't say, "Without mortification, you can do nothing" . But "Without Me".

Mortification, in other words, is not magic. It is a way of receiving comfort, but not its source.

Having said all this, John Owen returns to the point,

Again: You can't be a strong or happy Christian unless you are putting your sins to death.

Why is that? Five reasons:

The Bible often compares sin to sickness. Not in its cause, but in its effect. What does sickness do to your body? It weakens it. Sin does the same thing to your soul.

David is a prime example. In Psalm 32, we find him aware of his sin, but not mortifying it. The result? "My bones grew old through my groaning all day long, my vitality was turned into the drought of summer". A few Psalms later, he says, "My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness; I am feeble and severely broken". A bit later, he cries, "My iniquities have overtaken me so that I cannot look up...therefore, my heart fails me".

Not even David was strong with his sins unmortified. And neither are you.

This a good point. The grace of God comes to us through various means. Things like Bible reading, prayer, meditation, fellowship, the Lord's Supper, and so on.

The problem is: When you're not mortifying your sins, your devotion to these things is reduced. You either don't do them at all. Or you do them--but half-heartedly.

Many sick people die--not of their sickness--but of starvation. Their sickness makes them unable to eat. Or to keep food down. The same is true of our souls. When we are cherishing a sin, we don't read the Bible very well; we don't pray much; and so on. Thus we grow weaker and weaker.

Here's what he means: You cannot grow in grace without sensing God's love and favor. Sin does not remove God's love. But it does reduce our sense of His love. Psalm 51:12 says, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation". Not that David's sin took away God's gift; it didn't. No, but it robbed him of its enjoyment.

Without this sense of God's lovingkindness, you cannot be strong or happy. And unless you mortify your sins, you cannot have it.

The soul is like a garden. If you don't weed it, the flowers will be overgrown by thorns, thistles, bamboo, ivy, iceplant, or other worthless growth. Weeding it permits the flowers to grow to their full height and beauty.

Graces are like the flowers. Sins are like the weeds. If you want the former to grow, dig up the latter. Do you want to be more loving? If so, mortify your pride, envy, and impatience. For the soul's not big enough for grace and unmortified sin. One or the other must go.

The grace of God that justifies a sinner also makes him holy. This means: Unless you are becoming holy, you have no reason to believe you are saved. The holiness is never perfect in this life; backsliding is possible; stagnation is too. But, in general, are you becoming holier? If so, you can have peace, for God has redeemed you.

But how do you become holier without mortifying your sins? By the very nature of things, it can't be done. And so, you must mortify your sins--not to obtain eternal life--but to "know you have eternal life".

That is a very great blessing. And a strong reason to "Mortify the deeds of the body".

Let's go back to the beginning: "The vigor and comfort of our spiritual life depend much our mortification of sin".

Do you want to live a vigorous Christian life? Or is an anemic life what you're looking for? Do you want to have comfort in this life? Or is the daily fear of going to hell what you want?

If you want "vigor and comfort" in this life, get busy "mortifying your sins". May the love of God be with you. Amen.