The Mortification of Sin

Item: The Mortification of Sin
Rating: 4
Author: David J. Harris

Author

John Owen

Category Christian Living

Series Puritan Paperbacks

Rated 4.00 out of 5 based on 1 customer rating

(1 customer review)

Look Inside

Weight	0.15 kg
Dimensions	18.1 × 12.1 × 1.0 cm
page-count	144
format	Book
Original Pub Date	1656
Banner Pub Date	May 1, 2004
topic	Spiritual Growth
binding	Paperback, ePub, Kindle (.mobi), Paperback & ePub, Paperback & Kindle
series	Puritan Paperbacks
isbn	9780851518671

Book Description

In this abridgement of a classic work, the famous Puritan John Owen shows the need for Christians to engage in a life-long battle against the sinful tendencies that remain in them, despite their having been brought to faith and new life in Christ.

Owen is very insistent that believers cannot hope to succeed in this battle in their own strength. He sees clearly that the fight can be won only through faith in Christ, and in the power of the Spirit. Fighting sin with human strength will produce only self-righteousness, superstition and anxiety of conscience. But with faith in Christ, and with the power of the Spirit, victory is certain. The temptations in times like Owen’s and ours are obvious on every side; the remedy to them is clearly pointed out in this practical and helpful book.

Table of Contents Expand ↓

	Preface	vii
	Publisher’s Foreword	xi
1	Introduction	1
2	Why the Flesh Must Be Mortified	5
3	The Work of the Spirit in Mortification	14
4	How Life and Comfort Depend on Mortification	21
5	What Mortification Is Not	26
6	What Mortification Is	32
7	Only Believers Can Mortify Sin	40
8	God Requires Universal Obedience	49
9	The Dangerous Symptoms of Sin	54
10	Seeing Sin for What It Is	65
11	A Tender Conscience and a Watchful Heart	76
12	Humility	87
13	Wait for the Verdict of God	101
14	The Work of Christ and the Power of the Spirit	116

1 testimonial for The Mortification of Sin

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Rated 4 out of 5

David J. Harris – July 11, 2014

This work by Owen is the best I have read so far among books that deal with sin in the believer’s life. There are two unique features of this book that make it so:

1. John Owen gives a biblical balance between human responsibility and divine power. It seems that there are two ditches in approaching a Christian’s sin life, and everything I have read on the subject usually falls into one. Some authors/preachers ONLY emphasize human responsibility. They say “Stop!” but they never say how. Therefore, all the burden of dealing with sin is laid on inadequate shoulders. This is not only a problem in literature, but in the mindset of many conservative evangelicals. Christians are told to deal with sin, to just stop doing it, without any exhortation to trust in God. Grace has not part in the mortification process. Therefore they become weary and the end result is moral failure (even among leadership). The other ditch is an emphasis only on divine grace. Many voices are saying, in regards to sin, to “Let go and let God.” This emphasis on God’s power that ignores human responsibility leads men to a quetistic faith which disengages both the will and the mind, and can lead to many other errors.

Owen, however, looks to Scripture and draws careful conclusions, and gives the reader the full scope of dealing with sin. “Stop, because God will enable you to stop.”

2. John Owen goes far deeper than most books and sermons on a Christian’s sin life, and examines the motives. This subject comes up over and over again in the book. He expounds on the many and varied wrong motives, and shows that if any of these are behind our repentance (or false repentance) than we are not really experiencing “godly sorrow.” This issue of motive is something I have never really seen dealt with in books of this nature, but Owen shows the immense significance of it.

This was the first book I have read by Owen. I’m looking forward to see how this great saint of the Lord will help me in the future.