How Bad is It?

The following blog entry is part 6 in a series of blog posts entitled “A Fight Worth Picking,” in which I’m writing about John’s Owen’s Biblical principles for fighting sin in ‘The Mortification of Sin.’  I’ll be referencing Banner of Truth’s 2004 edition, abridged by Richard Rushing.  (If you’d like a detailed outline of Owen’s work, click here.)

John Owen gives 11 particular directions for mortifying sin.  His first direction (the subject of this article) is to consider the symptoms that accompany your sinful desire.  As we fight our sin, it is good for us to know what we’re up against by evaluating how bad a state we’re in.  Imagine a sick person sitting before a doctor and asking, “how bad is it?”  We need to ask the same question in terms of our sin, which will help us to (as we should) take our sin very seriously.  Here are 6 questions about our desires that help us to see how deadly our sin may be...

1.  Is it an old, familiar desire?  If so, you’re in serious trouble.

“Indwelling lusts grow rusty and stubborn because they have long continued in ease and quiet.  Such a sin will not be easily ejected.  It will never die by itself, and if it is not daily killed it will only gather added strength.” (page 56)

2.  When convicted of sin, do you search your heart to find some evidence of good to ease your conscience?  In other words, when convicted of sin, rather than feeling the weight of it, do you tell yourself what a good person you are and how far you have come?  If so, you’re in serious trouble.

3.  Do you give in to the desire frequently?  It’s one thing to have a sinful desire and to resist actually sinning.  It’s another thing to give in over and over again, growing accustomed. If this is the state you’re in, you’re in serious trouble.

4.  Do you agonize more over the consequences of your sin (worldly sorrow) than the sin

itself (godly sorrow)?  Are you more concerned with the personal pain of your sin than the pain it causes (and has caused) God?  If so, you’re in serious trouble.

“If you avoid sin due to fear of embarrassment or hell, you are sufficiently resolved to do the sin if there were no punishment attending it.” (Chapter 9)

5.  Has God handed you over to this sin as punishment?  Is it possible that you have persisted so long in this sin that God has handed you over to experience the full weight and consequence of your sin?  If so, you’re in serious trouble.

6.  Have you been disciplined by God for this sin and yet persist, hardening your heart?  Think back.  Is it possible that God has handed you over to this sin before… and you just keep on running back to it?  If so, you’re in serious trouble.

This should be our conclusion as we continue this fight against our flesh:  We’re all in serious trouble.

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Note:  These are all important steps in fighting sin.  It may seem to some that Owen is not actually equipping us to deal with our depravity, he is just causing us to wallow in it and become more depressed.  You may be thinking, "Enough already, when is he going to tell me how to kill sin!?"  But understand that where we fail most significantly in this fight against sin is in not grasping the full gravity of our condition.  Most of our fight is convincing ourselves how deep a pit we're in.  Don't assume you "get that" because you feel bad over your sin.  When was the last time you wept over it?  This process is painful and good and right.  So, for those of you following this blog and applying it, be encouraged to keep going.