Recently I’ve been introduced to John Owen’s work on mortification. (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) “Indwelling sin is compared to a person, a living person, called the ‘old man’, with his faculties and properties, his wisdom, craft, subtlety, strength; this, says the apostle, must be killed, put to death, mortified-that is, have its power, life, vigor, and strength to produce its effects taken away by the Spirit.” Owen then adds “Indwelling sin always abides while we are in this world; therefore it is always to be mortified.”
All the days of my life will be spent in constant warfare, the battlefield…my soul. I take up this duty but how i deeply yearn for the end of this war.
I scream for deliverance! Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
I groan inwardly! When will the redemption of my body come?
When will sin rest? It is always crouching at the door!
But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! He has secured for us the sweet escape through the resurrection of Christ!
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body… Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. – 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 49
Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. – 2 Corinthians 4:14
5 Comments
March 23, 2008 at 7:59 pm
YES! The Mortification of Sin is one of the most influential non-bible books I’ve ever read. I highly recommend reading it along with Ralph Venning’s The Sinfulness of Sin.
March 24, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Mortification of Sin is one of those literary gems of the faith that you can’t put down once you’ve read it. Good stuff right there!
March 27, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Oh Yeah!!! Owen Rocks!!!!!!
March 27, 2008 at 5:06 pm
I call him the “Sin Specialist”
April 12, 2008 at 10:21 am
People should know that the word ‘mortified’ means DEAD. Christians have to die to sin. Kill the old man……..resurrect the new man who is in Christ. Christ is in God and thus we, being in God through Christ. LIFE is produced by this mystery of Jesus. We are ALIVE in Christ. Freed from having to sin………..hope this makes sense to you.