The (personal) mortification of sin - "Principles whereby to continue mortification"

The (personal) mortification of sin

Romans 8:1-4

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

"Principles whereby to continue mortification"

Ferdinand Foch, a general in the French army during World War I and eventually Marshal of France, only a week after taking command of 9th Army, was forced to fight a series of defensive actions to prevent a German breakthrough. It was then that he spoke the famous words: "Hard pressed on my right. My center is yielding. Impossible to maneuver. Situation excellent. I attack."

During the Battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War, when faced with tough fighting between the blocking Chinese divisions and the withdrawing Marines, Oliver P. Smith said: "We're not retreating, we're just advancing in a different direction."

We are fighting a battle, and we need to make sure that our first principles of this battle our correct.

This exercise in personal mortification is taken from John Owen's book, "The Mortification of Sin." He outlines two basic principles that we should keep in mind when we are attempting to mortify sin.

The first principle

You must be a believer to mortify sin.

Unless you are a believer you will not be able to mortify even one sin. It may look like mortification, but God will not be pleased. You must be Christ's, and have the Spirit living in you (Rom. 8:8-9). If you are not regenerate you should not start mortifying, but rather the first step is for you to be converted. If you not converted and you try to mortify sin it will delude, harden and destroy you.

1 Peter 1:22-23

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God

Mortification is the work of faith alone. Make sure you have an interest in Christ, that you truly are a Christion, or trying to mortify sin will do no good, but rather do the opposite.

The second principle

You must be sincere and diligent.

Without sincerity and diligence in attempting to obey everything that God says, all of his law, there is scarcely any hope to mortify one sin in particular. Sin must be hated for what it is, a violation of a holy God's character. This is what drove Christ to the cross. If sin is so bad that the Son of God had to humble himself to become a man and suffer the full wrath of God on the cross, shouldn't it be loathsome and despised by us.

Isaiah 58:5-7

Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?"

Attacking a sin because it is bothersome is not a good reason to mortify. It must be because we consider it a great offense against a holy God, and a affront to the cross of Christ. Jesus Christ must be the motivation. And if he is, won't all sins be sins that we should attack. If we do anything to destroy one sin, we must do everything to destroy all sins. The one sin you are trying to mortify could be punishment for your coldness towards him in other areas. So if you don't go after them all, you may not be able to mortify the one.

2 Corinthians 7:1

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

James 2:10-11

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

We must be equally diligent in all parts of obedience, and know that every lust, every omission of duty, is troubling to God.