In the previous excerpt from the book “Overcoming Sin and Temptation” we saw that one of the principal methods to mortify sin is by having a thorough knowledge of one’s own temperaments, to be well versed in the realm of self. It is because many of us are strangers from our own selves, whether willfully or not, that we are in grave difficulty when we labor to mortify our sin. How can we if we are novices to our own persons?

But then there is a great danger here. I’m sure you too can testify to this fact that many moments of despair arrive in the soul of a man when trapped in the labyrinth of introspection. Yes, we must keep watch over our own souls diligently, but that is not to say that eyes looking in is the whole of our occupation in a life striving for holiness. Far from it. Owen reminds us that it is not only by looking into ourselves but more so it is looking up to God.

To mortify our lusts is not only by being experts in our own tendencies and  having a full picture of the vileness of our own hearts, but it is to bring all our pains, sorrow and sins, not burying them deeper in our hearts so as to hide them and suppress them, but to bring them up, all the way up to the throne of grace in the Gospel of God in Jesus Christ to reveal them in their true abominable colors and fill us with a surpassing love to Christ!

Affirming the importance of honest introspection does not blind Owen to the fact that this exercise will lead a person to despair if it is not also paralleled with a study of the grace of God. Since sin entered the world, it has become challenging for people to rightly view themselves, God, and his work. We are prone to have “hard thoughts” of God that tend to keep us from turning to him.ⁱ Owen’s goal is not to have people remain focused on their sin but rather to embrace the redemption accomplished in Christ. The aim is not despair but freedom for what Owen often calls “gospel obedience.”ⁱⁱ Obedience rightly understood is always a response to God’s love.

A crucial work of the mind in the process of sanctification is the consistent consideration of God and his amazing grace.ⁱⁱⁱ This does not mean considering God as an abstract metaphysical principle. Rather, the Christian meditates upon him and with him. This distinction makes all the difference, placing the discussion within the framework of relationality, rather than mere rationality. Owen’s challenge is most instructive: “when we would undertake thoughts and meditations of God, his excellencies, his properties, his glory, his majesty, his love, his goodness, let it be done in a way of speaking unto God, in a deep humiliation . . . in a way of prayer and praise—speaking unto God.”^iv The invitation here is not to impersonal theological studies but rather to life-changing encounters with Yahweh.

One of the great promises of God is that he will preserve his people. In fact, the idea of the “perseverance of the saints” is frequently misunderstood, according to Owen, for so often discussion about remaining in the faith focuses on human efforts, as if it is up to us to avoid losing our salvation. In truth, the Christian hope rests not ultimately upon our own diligence, but on God’s faithfulness.^v

It is God, not us, who will ultimately persevere, and that is why he is able to promise us eternal life: “where the promise is, there is all this assistance. The faithfulness of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the power of the Spirit, all are engaged in our preservation.”^vi Christians can be confident about their growth in sanctification and eternal security because they are confident in the God who promises it.

Ever deepening communion with God occurs as the Spirit draws us to the Father through the Son.^vii The Father will allow none to be snatched from his hand, the Son incarnate is a truly sympathetic high priest who is the lover of our souls, and the Spirit applies the atoning work of Christ to us. Thus, Owen reminds believers to keep these truths in mind as they face temptation, bringing their “lust to the gospel,” lest they lose sight of the sufficient sacrifice and restorative grace found in God’s work.

“What love, what mercy, what blood, what grace have I despised and trampled on! Is this the return I make to the Father for his love, to the Son for his blood, to the Holy Ghost for his grace?”^viii Notice that the love is preexistent, the blood shed, and the grace extended. The believer is not working to secure these realities, but seeking to live in light of them.

Christians stand in the shadow of the cross, having experienced the tender mercy of God. They aim not to convince God that they are worthy of his love, but to grow in their knowledge and fellowship with him. It is through this ever-growing communion with the Father, Son, and Spirit that the believer is most able to resist sin and temptation. “Let a soul exercise itself to a communion with Christ in the good things of the gospel—pardon of sin, fruits of holiness, hope of glory, peace with God, joy in the Holy Ghost, dominion over sin—and he shall have a mighty preservative against all temptations.”^ix

—Kelly M. Kapic, Introduction; Life in the Midst of Battle: John Owen’s Approach to Sin, Temptation, and the Christian Life.

John Owen, Overcoming Sin and Temptation (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2006), p31-32

Read more of “Overcoming Sin and Temptation” here.

You can also purchase the book in paperback here, or read it in pdf here.

If you’ve found great help in John Owen’s Mortification of Sin I am persuaded that you would find the same in this work, if not more so. It is my hope and prayer that it would lead you ever close to the Lord Christ Jesus as you tread the Pilgrim’s life of holiness for the glory of God.

P.S. Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor has done an awesome job in this. I’m sure you would appreciate it as much as I have.

Footnotes

1. E.g., Works, 2:34-35; 6:377, 570-72; 7:521; 9:37-39; 11:389-390, 581, etc. [↩]
2. E.g., Works, 1:441; 2:180-181; 3:323, 634; 8:536; 11:379-424, etc. [↩]
3. Works, 6:222. [↩]
4. Works, 6:225. [↩]
5. This is the argument made at great length in Owen’s massive book, The Doctrine of the Saints’ Perseverance (1654), Works, 11:1-666. [↩]
6. Works, 6:142. [↩]
7. Owen unpacks the idea of fellowship with God within a Trinitarian framework in his Of Communion with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (1657; Works, 2:1-274). To place Owen’s approach within the larger context of his thought, see Kapic, Communion with God: The Divine and the Human in the Theology of John Owen, especially chapter 5. [↩]
8. Works, 6:58. [↩]
9. Works, 6:144. [↩]