John Owens Mortification of Sin (Ordered)

Chapter 1-3 
Our bodies can not do the works he had to accomplish in us (Vicarium Navere Operam) without the endowment of the Holy Spirit.   We know the Spirit is alive in us when our bodies groan; when we are plagued by guilt. 

It is the spirit that is moving our frozen hearts and melting into us the love of God.   This love is a fire and can cause us the same type of pain. that is felt when we come in from the cold.  But we must leave the frozen old selves to become one in God's loving design.  

And what of those who are determined to do it by their own self, (without the aide of God's Grace)? They will find that the battle against sin waged outside of Christ is a cycle built on addiction and no recovery.  

You can for awhile build an addiction to accomplishment, but these efforts will become cold;  thinking that you have conquered the sin you will go back again to your old ways. The feeling of failure will become greater and greater till one day you no longer attempt to stop yourself from your natural desires.  

The natural desires of sin are built on a law of diminishing returns. The enjoyment that ones gets from sinning will become more and more dissatisfying.    The only satisfaction to cure the Christ shaped hole in your heart is to repent and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in this life.  
Chapters4 
now let the heart be cleansed by mortification, the weeds of lust constantly and daily rooted up (as they spring daily, nature being their proper soil), let room be made for grace to thrive and flourish, —

Owen, John (2010-07-29). Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers - Enhanced Version (Kindle Locations 559-561). Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Kindle Edition.

If you don't weed your garden than the weeds will choke any of the beneficial soil from it.  So it is with the hearts of man, if you don't feed on the word of god then the daily tribulations will choke off the fertile soil in which you will grow more and more in Christ each day.  Not saying that the end point is determined by our work, but it is a matter of when do you want peace in your life? Do you want to have a life of constant trials and in the end find the Lord has blessed you from the start? The question is time related.   The end point will be God's doing.  Also this does not mean you will be able to walk 100% in pure motives for sin lays dormant (more on this tomorrow).
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Chapter 5
 
Do not be deceived; the seeds of sin lay dormant in your repentant heart.  Do not turn away from your daily renewal with God, (E.G. reading the bible, fellowship with other believers, and prayer).  God does not cleanse us totally of our sin until the day we meet him (meaning when we die).   We must take care to understand that sin's dormancy can erupt when we are tired, over confident, or feeling any extreme emotions. Sin will attack us when we least expect it, like a Terrorist Splintered Cell.  We must dust ourselves off, and begin our walk again down the glory-road.

If we sin than we must not give up our desire to be sheltered by God's loving wing.

 Chapter 6:

2Co 4:15  For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

Do we go to Church to add anything to the LORD?  Nope.  But Worship is needed in the renewing of our minds.  We are driven to worship something, if it is not God, our LORD, our Christ than we are bound to the wages of sin.   The company of believers will encourage us to cling to the LORD in all of our endeavors.


As a man nailed to the cross; he first struggles, and strives, and cries out with great strength and might, but, as his blood and spirits waste, his strivings are faint and seldom, his cries low and hoarse, scarce to be heard; — when a man first sets on a lust or distemper, to deal with it, it struggles with great violence to break loose; it cries with earnestness and impatience to be satisfied and relieved; but when by mortification the blood and spirits of it are let out, it moves seldom and faintly, cries sparingly, and is scarce heard in the heart; it may have sometimes a dying pang, that makes an appearance of great vigour and strength, but it is quickly over, especially if it be kept from considerable success.


A sin left unscratched will not keep that sin from appearing as a rash. We, Christian Men, must use constant diligence in order to search our sin, tell of our sin to other men, and then ask the LORD to show us how to move from that sin.  It is a day to day journey into our hearts of darkness.  We can not bear this burden. If we do not cling to the cross (and allow Christ to feel us with his love), then we will become mastered by our rogue sins.

This chapter is so rich that I will probably re-read numerous times.  It has so much to say but the big idea I cam away with was the above.

Owen, John (2010-07-29). Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers - Enhanced Version (Kindle Locations 696-701). Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Kindle Edition







Chapter 7a: 
As Larry Kirk in his sermon on 11.20.2011 at Christ Community Church said, Justification only comes in this order:  (F)Faith + (J)Acceptance by God (Justification) = (C)results in a changed life of Good works lived for God.     The devil inside us all attempts to re-arrange the order of F+J=C; if we attempt this, there is no way out, and the road is a last exit ramp to Hell.    Tomorrow we will go further into the argument by John Owens in Chapter 7.

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