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Sin is On its Way Out

It is now time in this last newsletter of October 2014 to look at the actual work of mortifying our sin. We have considered John Owen’s thoughts on the need for mortification, the nature of mortification and what we have to consider in preparation for the work. Now it is time to ask the question, “What will be the means or the agent of the mortification of our sin?”

The first time I got to the end of Owen’s work on Mortification, I was eager to hear the answer to all my struggles. I was looking for the pearl of wisdom that I had not yet received, the one piece of truth that would make all the difference. What Owen had to say was nothing new. It was the same things that I have heard over and over in my life as a Christian. I felt somewhat disappointed. If he had nothing new to say, what hope had I in dealing with my sin?

That’s when I stopped to take stock of the implications of what I was thinking. Quite clearly, I questioned whether the good news of the Gospel in terms of my sin was true. I questioned the power of God and the promise of God to deal with my sin. Isn’t that what we all do when we keep seeking the one golden nugget of insight that will make all the difference in the battle?

And so, let us turn back to setting our gaze on Christ. The first thing we need to realize is that Christ has provided the resources to deal with our sin. First of all, we are united with him in death and raised with him in life so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin (Romans 6:1-7). We have been set free from the enslaving nature of sin and have been given a new nature which can say no to sinful temptations. Also, it is because of God’s grace to us in Christ that we even have the motivation to fight sin. Grace sets us free so that we can fight sin (Romans 6:14). How wonderful that Christ has provided an assured end in glory for us who believe, so that we can fight sin with the confidence that it won’t be our end.

Christ hasn’t only forgiven us and assured our future, he has given us his very Spirit so that we can start making headway against sin even now, in this life. The Spirit’s work is a sanctifying work (2 Thess. 2:13, 1 Peter 1:2). It is by the Spirit that we are born again and are given a new nature. This means, to put it in the words of Tim Chester, that change is in our DNA. We will change. Those who truly believe cannot help but do so, because God is at work behind our working.

Friends, the problem with our fight against sin is not that God hasn’t given us the means to fight it, but that we don’t trust that it is enough. We don’t expect that our great high priest, Jesus Christ, is at work through his Sprit in those who love him. Or, if we believe he is, we believe it is too good to be true for us. Expectation is key in the fight against our sin. As Owen says,

“I shall freely say, this one thing of establishing the soul by faith in expectation of relief from Jesus Christ, on the account of his mercifulness as our high priest, will be more available to the ruin of your lust and distemper, and have a better and speedier issue, than all the rigidest means of self-maceration that ever any of the sons of men engaged themselves unto.” (p.135)

One of the reasons I become discouraged about my sin and lack of change is that I expect it to happen in my time, according to my schedule, according to my efforts. The reasoning goes, “I put so much into fighting this particular sin and trying to deal with it, that I expect it to be lessened if not gone.” God has his own good timing for all things, even the mortification of our sin. Could God not, in a moment, remove a particular sin that I am plagued with and seem to make no headway against? Sure, but he often doesn’t. That’s okay, though, as he has taken away its penalty in the death and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ. In no way am I near making peace with my sin. I pray for the strength to fight until the day I die and am glorified (which, by the way, will be the biggest change). I am learning, however, that while I keep fighting, I need to keep repenting and I need to keep trusting that God is at work whether I see it or not.

Let us keep fighting the good fight, then, with our eyes filled with Christ and the hearty encouragement of our brothers and sisters in the faith. Let us fight to change, knowing that we are called to fight sin through faith (Rom. 1:5), but that the responsibility for the change is God’s according to his promise.

If I were to summarize Owen’s work on Mortification in one paragraph (a difficult task indeed) this would be it:

We aim to mortify our sin through the Spirit, trusting that Christ has provided all that is necessary for the work and not with the expectation of perfection in this life, although we will never be satisfied with anything less than perfection. This means that in this life we will never be satisfied with sin, or cease to struggle with it, but praise God for the struggle! For it is life in you, the very Spirit of life, that opposes your sin. Dead men do not struggle, but wholeheartedly embrace their sin to their own destruction. Therefore, let us who are guilty beyond measure (though declared not guilty) look to Christ in faith and patience for our sanctification through the Spirit which is the purpose of God for us. In this we can be assured, for when have or will the purposes of God ever be thwarted?

* Quotes referenced from: Kapic, K., & Taylor, J. (Eds.). (2006). Overcoming Sin and Temptation. Three Classic Works by John Owen. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books.