Comments on: The Mortification of Sin

By: Dr. Bill

Dr. Bill — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:29:52 +0000

One of my favorite Bible verses is “The law is a tutor to bring us to Christ” Galatians 3:24 (NASB). I like this verse because it is simple – without the ‘law’ against ungodly things we would not realize our need for a Savior and would not come to Christ. :)

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:54:50 +0000

Yep, that’s one of the steps to healing. The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin and works repentance in them. Thank God. Even if we or others cannot see our blind spots, the Holy Spirit reveals them to us.

By: David

David — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 04:31:29 +0000

To call people to repentance is to show them their present situation. It is like showing sick people that they are sick and need doctor. No one will come to Jesus without deep understanding his sin problem.

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 02:41:25 +0000

Thanks, Susan! Yeah, I don’t know how to reconcile Owen’s statement with what Jesus and John the Baptist preached at the beginnings of their ministries. Could it have been the special ministry of the one who was to prepare the way for the Lord to preach in that way? Perhaps. I’m guessing that Owen wrote those words based on pastoral care and having seen people come and go.

By: Susan Hong

Susan Hong — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:37:37 +0000

Thanks for the review Ben!
I found the first point particularly interesting. “If a church first calls the unbeliever to mortification and not conversion, the unbeliever will surely be lost. The gospel is the foundation of repentance and mortification.”

I thought of public figures who call people to leave their lifestyles of homosexuality or sexual immorality. Without knowing Christ or accepting the gospel first, is this call to repentance putting the cart before the horse? On the other hand, John the Baptist and Jesus began their ministries by also calling people to repentance and proclaiming the kingdom of God.

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:31:24 +0000

Thanks, Brian. I find the roots of my sins are in human approval and simply forgetting who God is! May God have mercy on us.

By: Brian Annear

Brian Annear — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 00:34:50 +0000

Thanks, Ben, for the Owen sparknotes.

I especially like the part about finding the root cause of a sin. Often, the root is deeply hidden, and superficial understanding doesn’t get near enough to the real problem. I find that the roots of my sins are often in some kind of insecurity and/or refusal to be aware of God in the present moment.

By: Ben Westerhoff

Ben Westerhoff — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:57:44 +0000

Henoch,

Thanks! You’ll love Owen. His pastor’s heart shines through on every page.

There are some updated English versions of Owen’s and the Puritans’ works. There’s a good collection of them here under “classics”:

http://www.monergismbooks.com/skin1/readersguide.html

By: henoch

henoch — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:57:45 +0000

Ben, this is great theology. And Owen is on my list of authors i want to explore, so thanks for the interesting article.
Is Owen’s work easily accessible and readable? i was just wondering, reading “thou”, “thy”, “yea”, “wilt” and so on… :)

By: Ben Westerhoff

Ben Westerhoff — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:41:50 +0000

Thanks buddy. I’d recommend the version with the J.I. Packer intro.

By: David

David — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:29:04 +0000

Great article Ben! And great book too! You just gotta love the puritans…