Sanctuaries of Evil

The following blog entry is part 7 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.)

I’ve taken 3 weeks off this blog, but hopefully no one has taken 3 weeks off of fighting sin.  We left off talking about Owen’s first (there are 11 total) particular direction for mortifying sin, namely - to consider the symptoms that accompany your sinful desire.  After an examination of sin’s symptoms Owen now encourages his reader to dwell on the actual sin itself.

He says: “Get a clear and abiding sense upon your mind and conscience of the guilt, danger, and evil of the sin with which you are troubled.  Cause your heart to dwell on them.  Let them begin to have a powerful influence on your soul, until they make it tremble.” (page 65)

Consider the Guilt.

Perhaps a guilty Christian is worse than a guilty non-Christian.  A Christian knows better.  A sinning Christian willingly tramples on grace.  A Christian may be saved from sin, but that does not make a Christian any less guilty of sin.  Don’t tell yourself otherwise.

Consider the Danger.

If sin is left unchecked it can harden someone’s heart so badly that they end up lost forever, happy to continue toward sin and away from Jesus.

Hebrews 3:12-13

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 10:38

“…but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him."

As well, If sin is left unchecked a Christian may undergo temporal discipline from God.

Psalm 89:30-32

If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules,
31if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments,
32then I will punish their transgression with the rod
and their iniquity with stripes.

Consider the Evil.

Considering the danger of sin concerns us with the future.  Considering the evil of sin concerns us with the present.  Don’t just consider what may happen because of your sin.  Consider how evil and hurtful it is right now.  Truly, our sin grieves the Holy Spirit of God, wounds our Lord Jesus afresh, and renders us completely useless.

As Owen says, we should consider these things until we tremble.  That may seem extreme.  In our culture it is.  But it’s also necessary.  The voice condemning our sin must become louder than the popular voice affirming it.