This particular chapter off John Owen’s “The Mortification of Sin” I must say has found homage in my heart and mind as the Word of God pierces through me as a intensely sharpened two edged Sword, searing my heart of any infirmities and sin it uncovers. I have dwelt on this chapter for days now seeking to engrave this Biblical thought into my mind in the war against all sin.

I will present two quotations from the chapter in two posts. (It is a must to read both so as to understand better this remedy and not misconstrue.)

With dear John Owen, in all the gravity and radical seriousness I can muster up, in our battle for holiness and mortification of sin, I tell you:

Charge your conscience with the guilt of indwelling sin!

Charge your conscience with the guilt of indwelling sin. Not only should you acknowledge that it brings guilt upon you, but you should charge your conscience with the guilt of its actual risings and out-breakings.

I shall develop this direction with some more specific instructions.

First, let us consider indwelling sin in relation to the law of God.

Allow the guilt displayed in the holy law to speak to your conscience. Lay your particular corruption next to the law and let its pressure weigh heavily on your conscience. Consider the law in its holiness, spirituality, severity, and see if you can stand before it in your corruption. Allow the terror of the Lord as displayed in the law to affect you greatly. Consider how righteous it is that every one of your transgressions should receive a just reward of judgment. Perhaps your conscience might seek to escape the ramifications of this line of reasoning. You might say that you are not under the condemning power of the law and that you have been freed from it. There is therefore no need to be troubled by it. But,

i. Tell your conscience that it cannot be assured that you are free from the condemning power of sin while your unmortified lust dwells in your heart. Perhaps the law has full dominion over you and you are indeed a lost creature! It is best to consider seriously what the law has to say.

Assuredly, he that pleads in the deepest part of his heart that he is truly freed from the condemning power of the law, and yet purposely allows the least sin or lust to be entertained there, cannot upon gospel authority have any proof of spiritual security. How can he consider himself truly delivered from the very sin that he is entertaining?

ii. The law was commissioned by God to judge sin wherever it finds it, and bring it before His throne. Here you stand before God and His law has found you out and is condemning your sin. If you can plead pardon, that will be well and good, but if not, the law will do its work and you will be condemned.

iii. The purpose of the law is to discover sin and the guilt of it. It should awaken and humble the soul and reveal sin in all of its horrible colours. If you are unwilling to deal with it on this account, this is an indication of a hard heart under the deceitfulness of sin. This is a door that many professing believers have entered, which has led them into open apostasy. They have claimed deliverance from the law so that they might ignore its guidance and direction. They do not want to measure their sin by the law any more. Little by little this attitude influences their daily lives, and allows their will and affections to run all manner of abominations.

It is important, then, for your conscience to pay attention to the law as it speaks concerning your lust and corruption. If your ears are open, the law will speak with a voice that will make you tremble. The law will cast you to the ground and fill you with astonishment. If you intend ever to gain the victory in mortification, you must tie your conscience to the law. Do not allow it to dodge the law’s arrows. Allow the law to give you a clear view of your guilt. As King David says, ‘My sin is ever before me’ (Psalm 51:3).

—John Owen, The Mortification of Sin (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1656/2004), 76-78.

Read the rest of this great work on Christian sanctification, holiness and mortification of sin, here.