Taking sin seriously
February 28th, 2010 by Todd JohnsonPut to death therefore what is earthly in you.
Colossians 3:5
Do you mortify? Do you make it your daily work? Do not take a day off from this work; always be killing sin or it will be killing you. We must strike it as an enemy until it ceases living. Sin is laboring to bring forth the deeds of the flesh. When sin lets us alone, we may let sin alone. Sin is active when it seems to be the most quiet, and its waters are calm. Sin is always acting, conceiving, seducing and tempting. There is not a day but sin foils or is foiled. There is no safety but in a constant warfare from sin’s perplexing rebellion. Sin will not only be striving, acting, rebelling, and disquieting if not continually mortified, it will also bring forth great, cursed, scandalous, and soul-destroying sins (Gal. 9:19-20). When sin rises to tempt, it always seeks to express itself in the extreme. Every unclean thought would be adultery if it could; every covetous desire would be oppression; and every thought of unbelief would be atheism. It is like the grave that is never satisfied. Sin’s advance blinds the soul from seeing its drift from God. The soul becomes indifferent to sin as it continues to grow. The growth of sin has no boundaries but the utter denial of God and opposition to him. Sin proceeds higher by degrees; it hardens the heart as it advances. Mortification withers the root and strikes at the head of sin every hour. The best saints in the world are in danger of a fall if found negligent in this important duty. Negligence of this duty decays the inner man instead of renewing him. It is our duty to be ‘bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God’ (1 Cor. 7:1), and every day to be growing in grace (1 Pet. 2:2), and seeking to be renewed in the inner nature day by day (2 Cor. 4:16).
John Owen, Works, VI:9-14
Good post Todd. Thanks, Some of my thoughts on this subject are “God is not mocked, what a man sows, that shall he also reap”. I think the best way to mortify the flesh is to stay busy sowing to the Spirit. Through regular personal and public prayer, reading the scriptures and other Godly books. Church involvment and fellowship ( true fellowship, not gossip and small talk) with other believers and finally, reaching out and sharing your faith with others must all be practiced on a daily basis. Then I find myself loving Jesus more and feeling closer to God and in a more peaceful state of mind and spirit. I think this is more effective than focusing on specific sins like lust, lying, greed, etc.. because then i find myself becoming frustrated and more parinoid, legalistic and uptight and unpleasant to be around because i find myself failing in these area’s when i think i should know better. (rom 6)
The bottom line is this. When I become a believer i have stepped out of Adam and into Christ. My flesh has been crucified with Christ ( like a snake getting it’s head cut off, the body of the snake may still wiggle and move for awhile but it’s dead nonetheless). Positionaly, I am now seen by the Father as perfect as Christ Himself because He has clothed me in His righeousness and justified (just-as-if-i’d never sinned) me and sees me in my glorified state even now. (rom 3) He can do this because He is God and is outside the time space continium. He sees the future as if it is now. Jesus said “it is finished” because His perfect work on the cross has enabled God to remain just and the justifier in displaying His character and love towards man while dealing once and for all with the sin issue. Therefore, my past, present and future sins are already forgiven. This is incredibly freeing and enables us to truly love God and be loved by Him. We now WANT to serve Him out of love and avoid sin and not out of a spirit of HAVE to. Big difference. Grace changes everything.
Having said all that, sin is it’s own thing that wants to destroy us. When we reap what we sow to the flesh, it is not God paying us back because He is angry with us, His anger has been satisfied at the cross, He is actually grieved because He sees what we lose when we sin. It’s the fruit of the sin(s) themself that eat away at our lives like a worm eating an apple.
Thanks Scott. Much to think about…
Yes, very well said Scott. I think if I could put Owen’s thoughts into one word it would be NEGLECT. Neglect through entertainment and amusements. Neglect through over indulgence. Neglect through complacency and laziness. Neglect of the Word and prayer. Neglect of the need for true anguish over the depravity of my own sinful heart, and neglect of daily tearful prayers that God would cause me to love Him more.
Perhaps the flip side of that same coin is Vigilance.
Finally,Be strong in the Lord and His might. Put on the whole armor of God. That you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,but against the rulers,against the authorities,against the cosmic powers over this present darkness,against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the WHOLE armor of God, that you may be able to withstand the evil day, and having done all to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you CAN extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,Which is the WORD of God, Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. Eph.6:10-18.
Do we take this Battle seriously? The war was won at the cross,but the battle rages on. This is not a passive battle! But a violent and deadly battle, lives are lost, families are torn apart, friendships destroyed, and joy stripped away. Worst of all our effective witness for Jesus can be Hindered or destroyed.
Matthew chapter 11 vs 12 tells us ” From the day’s of John the baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force”. We must be violent in our battle against sin and Satan.
I can’t wait for the messages on the Sermon on the mount. Jesus is very clear how violent we are to be with our own personal sin, And how loving,patient and kind we are to be towards the sins of others. Blessing’s Eric
This led for a really great discussion at our Community Group on Sunday night. There was no shortage of input, as the passage affects 100% of the body of Christ.
“There is not a day but sin foils or is foiled.” Very powerful.
Although I agree with the point of the John Owen quote, I am finding it hard to relate to. Maybe it is because it is framed in terms of warfare and fighting and killing. I find it interesting that only men have responded so far. Maybe it is a girl thing but I tend to think in gardening terms of nipping sin in the bud or staying on top of the weeds before they have a chance to take root. I like what Scott said about sowing to the Spirit. Sin must be taken seriously when ever we become aware of it, but the rest of the time I think it is good to feed the spirit and rest in the knowledge that the battle has already been one.
Two corrections from the quoted passage: the Gal. quote should be Gal.5:19-20 and it should be 2Cor.7:1.
I just read this quote today “Sin is the only thing that God abhors. It brought Christ to the cross, it damns souls, it shuts heaven, it laid the foundations of hell” – Thomas Brooks. I remember when I was first saved I was told, now that I have asked Jesus into my heart it is like I have two dogs living in me and they are always fighting. The white dog is good and the black one bad. The only way to defeat the black dog is to feed the white dog and starve the black one. Kinda childish illustration but it’s still true. At this point I think we would all agree that we must be VIGILANT as Cody said in feeding the spirit and starving the flesh And when we NEGLECT these activities as Perry said, sin begins to decay instead of renew the inner man. But I must say it again, the only reason I can or even want to get up and fight this good fight is because “we don’t fight FOR victory, we fight FROM victory. Because of the cross, the Christian race starts at the finish line”- Jon Courson. Thank God for that! Good observation Terriann,#7 Where are the ladies? I mean didn’t EVE start this whole mess anyway? : p
Sorry Scott, It is the sin of Adam that we are all born into! 1 Cor.15:21,22 by a MAN death came… For as in Adam all die so also in Christ all shall be made alive. It is not Eve’s fault!!
I love this quote. The one by Spurgeon was great, too. Could you pop that one up in the comments if you get time, Pastor Todd?
I really appreciate you acknowledging and discussing indwelling sin in the believer. For some reason, Christians, (myself included at one time) think the battle is over when we come to Jesus. I have a kid that constantly struggles with assurance of salvation because she’s so frustrated, surprised and overwhelmed by her sin and her struggle with it.
Wow Michele, you really took me back. Your kid sounds like me during the first 20 years of my Christian walk. I had so little joy and rest in my salvation. But when I finally came to understand the Doctrine of Indwelling Sin, and ceased struggling with assurance, I stopped being “frustrated”, “surprised” and “overwhelmed” by my sinful heart. I began to accept the battle as part of my progressive sanctification and was no longer wallowing in despair over of my inability to be perfect. For the first time my strength came from my love for God and joy in His grace instead of fear of His wrath. Love and joy are far more powerful and effective than fear. And there is something else that I have learned since then. I used to think that as I advanced in my personal holiness and drew closer to the Lord as a result the less sinful I would feel. But what I discovered was exactly the opposite. This quote by John Murray says it best.
“Indeed, the more sanctified the person is, the more conformed he is to the image of his Savior, the more he must recoil against every lack of conformity to the holiness of God. The deeper his apprehension of the majesty of God, the greater the intensity of his love to God, the more persistent his yearning for the attainment of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, the more conscious will he be of the gravity of the sin that remains and the more poignant will be his detestation of it….Was this not the effect in all the people of God as they came into closer proximity to the revelation of God’s holiness?”
“It is a doctrine, as I believe, taught us in Holy Writ, that when a man is saved by divine grace, he is not wholly cleansed from the corruption of his heart. When we believe in Jesus Christ all our sins are pardoned; yet the power of sin, albeit that it is weakened and kept under by the dominion of the new-born nature which God doth infuse into our souls, doth not cease, but still tarrieth in us, and will do so to our dying day. It is a doctrine held by all the orthodox, that there dwelleth still in the regenerate, the lusts of the flesh, and that there doth still remain in the hearts of those who are converted by God’s mercy, the evil of carnal nature. I have found it very difficult to distinguish, in experimental matters, concerning sin. It is usual with many writers, especially with hymn writers, to confound the two natures of a Christian. Now, I hold that there is in every Christian two natures, as distinct as were the two natures of the God-Man Christ Jesus. There is one nature which cannot sin, because it is born of God—a spiritual nature, coming directly from heaven, as pure and as perfect as God himself, who is the author of it; and there is also in man that ancient nature which, by the fall of Adam, hath become altogether vile, corrupt, sinful, and devilish. There remains in the heart of the Christian a nature which cannot do that which is right, any more than it could before regeneration, and which is as evil as it was before the new birth—as sinful, as altogether hostile to God’s laws, as ever it was—a nature which, as I said before, is curbed and kept under by the new nature in a great measure, but which is not removed and never will be until this tabernacle of our flesh is broken down, and we soar into that land into which there shall never enter anything that defileth.”
C. H. Spurgeon
Thanks, Perry, the Spurgeon quote was really helpful. I wonder what he meant by hymn-writers getting this wrong. I’ve read Wesley was into perfectionism–perhaps he influenced others. (Ha! I’m such a gossip, I’m even drawn to controversy from the past!) “….and we soar into that land into which there shall never enter anything that defileth.” Man, just meditate on that for a bit. Don’t you long for that country?
OK, here’s some more from brother Keith Green, poor guy. I love him best when he’s not beating on us, but completely humbled:
“Help me, oh help me, please help me, my Jesus,
Save me from sins that I thought were all gone
Kill me with kindness
And break through my blindness
I know till I’m dead,
I can never live on…”
I think in light of the victory we already have in Christ, as we continue to live day by day in this world awaiting our change, and aware of our sinful nature. A Scripture that comes to my mind is when Jesus says” He who has been forgiven much, loves much”. The world and secular psychologists’ reject the concept of sin because of the NEGATIVE feelings it generates in people and low self esteem as the result. The bible is then rejected and christians become an irritant to a non-believing world. But when we are faithful to the word and the preaching of the word verse by verse we should become increasingly balanced. Therefore, as we become more and more aware of how deep our sinful nature really is, we should become more greatful of the cross of Jesus and how much we have been forgiven and in turn more loving towards God and people. Love covers a multitude of sins.
Right, Scott. Satan always lies to us about our sin; He tells us, “It’s OK, go ahead, it’s not going to hurt anything.” Then after we fall, he tells us, “You’re not saved, how could you be when you sin like that?” We should always remember the truth when faced with our sin: God crushed His only Son to pay for it. This is how dangerous it is, how horrible, but how forgiven it will forever be.
Hey, if this thread isn’t dead, and anyone is interested in why Spurgeon was concerned about the hymns of his time, the book I finished last night went into a lengthy critique of sentimental, a-biblical type hymns from the Victorian era, celebrating the “Higher, deeper walk”, very Man and feelings-centered. I’ll bet this is what he’s referring to. Consider how the church, within a century, went from singing stuff like this: (from “Rock of Ages”)
Not the labors of my hands
Can fulfil Thy law’s demands
Could my zeal nor respite know
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone
Thou must save
And Thou alone
To this:
(From one of my least favorite songs of all time, “In the Garden” )
And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells Me I am His own….
Um, to say it’s my “least favorite” is getting carried away. I actually have a Country rendition of it that I like.
You crack me up Michele!