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So, Ya Wanna Be Happy, Eh?

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Well, according to John Owen, you’d best be about the business of killing the power of indwelling sin in your life or it won’t happen.

Well, almost.

Let me explain. Tim Challies invited his blog followers to join in reading a classic work of Christian literature. This time round, we’re reading John Owen’s work on killing sin. In Chapter 4 of Owen’s classic work, ‘Of The Mortification of Sin in Believers’, we are taught that if we want ‘joy, real joy, wonderful joy’ (as the old gospel chorus goes), then we must be killing sin in our life. But…(I knew you were going to say that), Owen makes it clear that joy & life & vigor are not necessarily connected to mortification. In other words, you may be killing indwelling sin (pride, selfishness and so on), and yet find little joy. He cites Heman, of Psalm 88 fame, for an example. No, what is the true root of our joy is our justification, our adoption through Christ Jesus.

And yet, with all that said, the ordinary relationship of joy & life & vigor depends upon the killing of sin (envy, jealousy, gossip, to point out just three) in our lives. Owen then goes on to give several reasons why we must be about this responsibility:

  • Mortification prevents sin from weakening the soul and depriving it of its strength. It does this by:
    • untuning, unframing and entangling the affections of the heart
    • filling our thoughts with ways we can sin (and, perhaps, not be caught in it)
    • breaking out and hindering our spiritual duty to God
  • Those sins left alone darken the soul and keep comfort and peace from it.
  • Putting sin to death clears room in our heart for more of God’s grace and its benefits

One of the pieces of assurance I tell people they can have, that God is doing a work in their life, is this: you’re fighting against your sin. So…

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You can join in the conversation here, or over at Tim’s place.


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