TEXT: Romans 8:13

SUBJECT: Mortification #5

Tonight we continue our study of John Owen's book, The Mortification of Sin. It is a Puritan classic aimed at helping believers overcome their "remaining sin".

Last time, we learned "the vigor and comfort of our spiritual life depend much on the mortification of sin". In other words, you cannot be successful or happy unless you put your sins to death.

Why? Because unmortified sin:

Five very good reasons to get busy "Mortifying the deeds on the body".

In Chapters five and six, Owen tells you how to do it; how to "mortify your sins". First, he explains

What does it mean to "mortify sin"? Tonight, we learn what it is not; next week, what it is. May God's love be with us.

The serious believer wants to overcome his sins; to be rid of them for good! But that is not possible in this life.

Paul, for example was a holy man--gifted, earnest, mature. But even in old age, he "had not yet attained" the holiness he wanted, but "followed after" it. When would he have it? Only when the Lord comes again, to "change [Paul's] vile body and make it like His glorious body".

This is encouraging! It means it's okay to struggle. It means you can lose to temptation and still belong to Christ.

If you want to be saved, you must mortify your sins. But mortification is not annihilation! Don't read the Bible as though it were. God's calls to holiness are not demands for perfection!

Mortification is not like shooting fish in a barrel. It's more like hunting lions in the bush. It's hard and tiring, with the chance of being mauled now and then.

In short: Real mortification is perfectly consistent with frequent failures.

We needn't labor this point. "Mortifying your sins" isn't another way of saying, "Hiding them more effectively". In fact, the opposite is true. The more sincere you are, the more candid you are in confessing them.

Covering up sin is a terrible thing; making excuses for it; blaming others, and so on, are both wicked and dangerous. Owen says,

What does this mean? Something like this: Everyone is bent. But not everyone is bent in the same direction. A friend of mine is ambitious, intense, focused--a real "can do" person. Has she mortified her laziness? A man I know is allergic to alcohol. One sip and he breaks out in hives. Has he mortified his drunkenness? Laziness and drunkenness are sins, to be sure; these persons are never guilty of them. But have they mortified their sins?

Owen doesn't think so. He says,

In other words, it is not "sin" that must be mortified, but your sin! You're not told to mortify my sin--but yours. If you're mortifying every sin in the world but your own, you're not mortifying sin at all!

Temptations have a way of changing over the years. The poor young man resents the rich. But over the years, he joined them and now despises the poor. Has the sin changed? It has: Envy has given way to contempt. But has the heart changed? It hasn't. His sins aren't mortified; they're replaced.

Owen says,

Believers have to beware of replacing one sin with another. Especially gross sin with self-righteousness. You know, harlots publicans get into heaven before the Pharisees. Thus, if you've traded fornication and theft for pride and smugness, you've made a bad deal. You've not mortified your sins, but traded them in on a newer model.

The worst sinner can resist temptation once in a while! But this is not mortification. That is a regular struggle with sin with increasing victories over it.

Sin may be powerfully resisted for a time without mortifying it at all.

You may have a crisis of conscience. You've done something really bad and are shocked. Or you're caught doing something and publicly humiliated. Emotions take over; you hate your sin and beg God for grace to overcome it. Your resolve lasts for a while--till the shock wears off; till the embarrassment fades; till the emotions quiet down. And you're back at it. Your sin is not mortified.

Or maybe a calamity overtakes you and forces you to ponder your life. A man has a heart attack and is rushed to the hospital. During the trip there, he feels the evil of his ways and turns from them with great fervor. But when he gets there, he finds out: It was only gas. "Thank the Lord" he says. And returns to his sin.

This sort of "mortification" is seen in the Book of Judges. Israel turns to idols. God sends a judgment. The people cry to God. He sends a judge to save them. When all is back to normal, they return to their idols.

Now and then, they turned from their sins. But they never truly mortified them.

CLOSE AND APPEAL

"If you, through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live".

"Life" is promised to anyone who "mortifies" his sin. It is promised to everyone who "mortifies" his sin. It is promised to no one who won't "mortify" his sin.

So, Brothers and Sisters, let's get busy "mortifying" our sins. Not hiding them. Not trading them in for other sins. Not resisting them once in a while. But truly "mortifying" them.

This is a hard saying. Is it too hard for you? I think it is. Is it too hard for me? I know it is. But, "Is anything too hard for the LORD?" No it isn't. We're not alone in our battle with sin. The Holy Spirit is with us; and in us. When we yield to Him success is sure.

Despite all of our weaknesses and blindspots, we will "overcome the world". And here's why: "Because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world".

Remember that. "Mortify the deeds of the body". And "you will live".

May God bring it to pass. For Christ's sake. Amen.