Coming Soon to a Court Near You

Court overturns father's grounding of a 12 year old girl.

I would laugh if it wasn't so sad. Once again we see that parents are considered incapable of raising their children. The courts know best, and the average guy wanting to protect his child is stripped of his parental authority.

Mortification of Sin - Chapter Ten

Seeing Sin for What It Is

After addressing the guilt and the danger of sin, Owen speaks of the present evil on pages 73-75:

Consider the present evils of it. Here are some of the many evils that attend unmortified lust:

i. It grieves the holy and blessed Spirit, Who is given to believers to dwell in them and abide with them.

ii. The Lord Jesus Christ is wounded afresh by it. His new creation in the heart is wounded; his love is foiled, His adversary is gratified.

iii. It will take away a man's usefulness in his generation.

Thus, we must keep in mind the danger of such lust. We must keep alive in our hearts the guilt, danger and evil of it. We should be much in the meditation of these things, and cause the heart and mind to dwell on them. We should engage our thoughts in these considerations. We should not let them go from us until they have a powerful influence upon our souls, and make us tremble.

Mortification of Sin - Chapter Nine

The Dangerous Symptoms of Sin

1. Firm establishment over a long period of time and settlement as a habitual practice. If a sin has been corrupting your heart for a long time, and you have allowed it to prevail and abide in power, without vigorously attempting to kill it, and heal the wounds that it causes, this is a serious condition. (pgs. 54-55)

2. Another dangerous symptom is when the beast pleads to be thought in a good state, yet all the while allows the continuance of a lust without any attempt at its mortification. (pg. 56)

3. A third dangerous symptom is when sin frequently succeeds in obtaining the consent of the will. When the will finds delight in a sin, even though it is not outwardly performed, the temptation is successful. (pg. 58)

4. A fourth dangerous symptom is when a man fights against a sin only because of the consequences or penalty of that sin. (pg. 59)

5. A fifth dangerous symptom is when it is probable that trouble over a sin or lust is a punishment from God. I am sure God sometimes leaves even His own children for former sins. 'O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?' (Isa. 63;17). No one would question that God deals with unregenerate men in this way, but how can a saved man know that there is the chastening hand of God behind his troubled heart? (pg. 61) (Please note that this is a difficult section, requiring another full page of explanation from Owen, at the end of which I still have questions.)

6. A sixth dangerous symptom is when your lust has already withstood particular dealings from God against it. This is described in Isaiah 57:17: 'Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry. I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.' (pg. 62) (Another difficult section, and I am not yet sure if I fully understand what Owen intends his readers to understand. However, I do understand fully the next statements that I list below.)

These six symptoms, and others with them, show a lust to be very dangerous, if not deadly. (pg. 63)

Before I proceed, I must give you one caution so that you will not be misled by what has been said so far. The evils mentioned may ensnare true believers, but do not conclude that because you experience these you are a true believer. These things may ensnare a believer, but they are not marks of a believer. A man might conclude, with equal show of reasoning, that he is a believer because he is an adulterer, since David fell into adultery. It is wrong to reason that you are a believer because you experience the struggles against sin that a believer also might. If you are looking for evidences of being a believer, look for those evidences that constitute a believer. Anyone who has these serious symptoms may safely conclude, 'If I am a believer, I am a most miserable one.' If such a man is seeking assurance, he needs to look for other evidences in order to have true peace. (pgs. 63-64)

Mortification of Sin - Chapter Eight

God Requires Universal Obedience

You cannot mortify a specific lust that is troubling you, unless you are seeking to obey the Lord from the heart in all areas! (pg. 49)

If we will do anything, we must do everything. So then, our need is not only an intense opposition to this or that particular lust, but a universal humble frame and temper of heart that watches over every evil, and seeks the performance of every duty that is pleasing to God. (pg. 51)

He who truly and thoroughly seeks to mortify any disquieting lust, must be equally diligent in all parts of obedience. We must see that every lust and every omission of duty is a burden to God. If we do not seek to obey in every area of our lives, our soul becomes weak. If we seek only to have victory over the sin that troubles us, and do not consider the filth and guilt of it, we are selfish and offer a constant provocation to God. There will not be any positive outcome to the spiritual duties we undertake, and we will not gain the victory over this great lust, if we do not seek universal obedience. (pg. 53)

Mortification of Sin - Chapter Seven

Once again, I have been deficient in keeping this blog updated. Hopefully I will rectify this situation in the next few minutes.

Only Believers Can Mortify Sin

Unless a man is a true believer, and grafted into Christ, he can never mortify a single sin. Mortification is the work of believers: 'If by the Spirit you...' (Rom. 8:13), that is, you believers, to whom there is no condemnation, (verse 1). Only believers are exhorted to mortification: 'Put to death therefore what is earthly in you' (Col. 3:5). Who should mortify? You who 'have been raised with Christ' (verse 1), and whose 'life is hidden with Christ in God', who also will 'appear with him in glory' (verse 4). (pg. 40)

We must let men know that mortification is their duty, but in its proper place; I do not encourage men to come away from mortification, but to come to conversion. He that shall call a man from mending a hole in the wall of his house, to quench a fire that is consuming the whole building, is not his enemy. Poor soul! It is not your sore finger but your great fever you need to notice. You set yourself against a particular sin, and do not realize that you are nothing but sin. (pgs. 46-47)