Monday October 25, 2010

Read Colossians 3:5-10

John Owen, the great Puritan wrote about what it means to put to death or mortify the sins of the flesh. He captured the essence of today’s verses. He wrote: Suppose a man to be a true believer, and yet finds in himself a powerful indwelling sin, leading him captive to the law of it, consuming his heart with trouble, perplexing his thoughts, weakening his soul as to duties of communion with God, disquieting him as to peace, and perhaps defiling his conscience, and exposing him to hardening through the deceitfulness of sin… To mortify the sin does not mean to kill it completely because that, though we pursue it, is not possible in this life.  He is to bring it to the point where it has no fruit or root in his life. Even Paul said he had not attained perfection…. Mortification of sin is not putting on a hypocritical face.  It must be a change of heart. It does not consist in the improvement of a quiet sedate nature...  A sin is not mortified when it is simply diverted. It will break out in another way... Occasional conquests of sin are not mortifications of it.  A man may think he has mortified sins when there is a sad eruption of it – when his conscience is struck, his peace is disturbed etc.  It may appear dead but arises again when the going is safe to cause havoc.  He may think he has mortified it when there is judgement, affliction or calamity. Psalm 78:32-37. This is not the putting to death of the lusts of the body.

The mortification of a lust is an habitual weakening of it. The heart is bent towards evil.  Lusts will darken the mind, extinguish conviction, and remove reason. By mortifying the flesh it will not rise up as regularly or as powerfully… We must contend and fight continually against sin. To know that a man hath such an enemy to deal with, to take notice of it, to consider it as an enemy indeed, and one that is to be destroyed by all means possible, is required hereunto. To labour to know the ways, wiles, methods, advantages, and occasions of its success, is the beginning of this warfare.  The godly man seeks to wound the lusts, kill it, load it up with things that are grievous each and every day.

Regular success over sin – bringing it in line with God’s law and condemning it – is another example of mortifying the sins of the flesh.

John Owen captured beautifully what it meant to mortify the sins of the flesh. Put positively it is a proactive pursuit of holiness, choosing at every turn or step to do and think and react in ways that please God. It means doing everything in my God given power not to give in to the lusts of the flesh.

Prayer:-

ÿ There are many people in churches struggling with sin and temptation. Spend time praying for the people in your congregation - namely that they would be free in Christ from the power and mastery of sin in their lives. Pray that those who are struggling will be strengthened and equipped to fight the good fight, to stand in the face of temptation and to choose that which pleases God.

ÿ