Tried With Fire

In Sunday school, we've been going through The Mortification of Sin by John Owen, the Puritan Paperback version. I first read it as I was transitioning to reformed theology 10 years ago, and I am glad for the opportunity to reread this book again now that I am out of the cage-stage. While we are called to put to death the deeds of the body, we do not do this to earn our salvation but because we have been saved . This is also not asceticism and denial for denial's sake, nor do we achieve a higher plane of spirituality as a result. This is a normal part of sanctification, a call to daily, practical holiness, which is enabled by the Holy Spirit as he works within us. This past Sunday, one of the elders, Chad Boudreaux, taught the class on Chapter 6 which covers what mortification is . Chad is the chief compliance officer for his company. In my words, he is in charge of helping his company to "give no opportunity for the flesh" by establishing policies and proce...

For the past 10 years, my church has been hosting a theology conference. We've had some great speakers over the years, and this year's topic and speaker were announced yesterday. The topic is The Marrow of Salvation: Assurance, Legalism, & Antinomianism with Dr. William VanDoodewaard from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. Our pastor just preached a series on assurance, and I read The Whole Christ by Sinclair Ferguson last year, which goes into the practical application of the Marrow Controversy. Thus I am looking forward to the conference. What was the Marrow Controversy? Dr. VanDoodewaard will be giving the historical background in one of his talks, but in a nutshell, the dispute centered on whether a group of Scottish Presbyterians (labeled the Marrow Men) were advocating antinomianism. Spoiler alert - They weren't. They were defending the gospel. The dispute also centered around a book, The Marrow of Modern Divinity by Edward Fisher. I refrained from orde...

Without "absolutes" revealed from without by God Himself, we are left rudderless in a sea of conflicting ideas about manners, justice, and right and wrong, issuing from a multitude of self-opinionated thinkers. We could never know who God is, how He is to be worshipped, or wherein true happiness lies. If virtue is sought above harm as a road to temporal happiness, the striving and the progress starts and ends in self - but selfishness is itself a vice! No attitude of mind which does not acknowledge dependence upon Almighty God and seek to glorify Him has any element of good or virtue in it. If the mind of a student is ensnared by these theories and speculations, he will find it a sore task ever to be free of them. Indeed, it is a dolorous task, and something beyond the potential of the slothful or careless, to root out mercilessly ideas and dogmas with which the intellect has long been nurtured. With the world, indwelling sin, and early education all arguing the same way, i...

Let it be admitted on all sides that God, by His right of creation, is the supreme Lord of all things. Then their very existence consists in dependence upon Him, and they conform to that nature which He has implanted in each one of them. All creatures, by the fact that they are created, each with its due proportion of capacity and talent, are equipped to worship their Creator and to serve him. "All Thy works shall praise Thee" (Psalm 145:10). For this reason, we see the psalmist frequently urging all of creation to praise God. The eternal and unchanging method of divine worship is preached and practiced by all of the Church, be it militant upon earth or crowned in heaven; that is, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasures they are and were created" (Rev. 4:11). with which sings in concert the entire throng of creatures, "and every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, an...

I'm sharing some quotes from John Owen on regeneration at Out of the Ordinary today. It never hurts to be reminded of the awesome and mind-blowing work that God has done to secure our salvation. "All this is the work of the Holy Spirit. He brings us who were dead in trespasses and sins to life. He gives us a new heart and puts a new spirit within us. He writes his laws in our hearts, so that we may know and do the will of God and so walk in his ways. He works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. He makes them who were unwilling and obstinate to become willing and obedient, and that by their freedom of will and choice." Good stuff, isn't it? Read more here .

We've been sharing excerpts from our favorite dead theologians at Out of the Ordinary . It's my turn today, so I'm sharing from  The Holy Spirit by the Puritan, John Owen. "What, then, is holiness? Holiness is nothing but the implanting, writing and living out the gospel in our souls..." Read more here .

The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  1 John 1:7 The blood of Christ purges us from our sin, and no truth belonging to the mystery of the gospel is more plainly asserted: 'He has freed us from our sins by his blood' (Rev. 1:5). And, everyone who has an actual interest in the blood of Christ has a real purification from the future defilements of sin also. The Holy Spirit communicates the purifying virtue of the blood of Christ unto our souls and consciences, whereby we are freed from shame and have boldness towards God. His blood has a double consideration: not only atonement and reconciliation, but also purging and sanctification. He offered himself not just to make atonement, but also to sanctify us by the sprinkling of his blood. John Owen,  Works , III:438-447,  Voices from the Past , Richard Rushing, ed., Banner of Truth Trust, 2009, pg. 161.

Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat. Luke 22:31 Temptation will darken the mind, so that a man will not be able to make a right judgment of things as he did before he entered into it. Temptation can darken the mind by a sad tangling of the affections. When the affections are engaged, they have a strong influence in blinding the mind and darkening the understanding. Affections set at liberty by temptation will run on in madness. Previous thoughts of the hatred of sin, the terrors of the Lord, and a sense of the love and presence of Christ crucified, all depart and leave the heart a prey to its enemy. Temptation gives fuel to our lusts. It incites, provokes, and makes them turbulent beyond measure. Giving a lust or a corruption a suitable object, an advantage, or an occasion, heightens and exacerbates it and for a season makes it wholly predominate. We see it in the fear of Peter, the pride of Hezekiah, the covetousness of Achan, the un...

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. Psalm 32:3 As we walk with our God we desire his strength, comfort, power and peace. The realization of these, and thus the joy of our spiritual life, depends greatly upon the mortification of sin. The immediate cause of these privileges is our adoption at the hand of the Spirit. However, in our ordinary walking with God, the vigour and comfort of our spiritual lives depend much on our mortification. Mortification bears a cause and effect relationship to our joy. The vigour of our spiritual lives is not possible apart from mortification. Mortification keeps sin from depriving us of our healthy spiritual life. Every unmortified sin will certainly do two things: (1.) It will weaken the soul, and deprive it of its vigour. When David had for a while harboured lust in his heart, it broke all his bones, and left him no spiritual strength  An unmortiified lust will drin...

Congratulations to Eddie and Tommy, providential winners of The Mortification of Sin by John Owen! Thanks to everyone who entered.  Stay tuned for more giveaways in the future.

Two providential winners of John Owen's The   Mortification of Sin will be picked on Friday.  Enter the giveaway  here . Set your faith upon Christ for the killing of your sin, His blood is the great sovereign remedy for sin-sick souls.  Live in the light of Christ's great work, and you will die a conqueror.  You will, through the good providence of God, live to see your lust dead at your feet. By faith fill your heart with a right consideration of the provision that God has made in the work of Christ for the mortification of your sins.  By faith ponder this, that though you are in no way able to conquer your own disordered state, and though you are weary of fighting it, and though you are ready to faint, there is enough in Jesus Christ to give your relief! 'I can do all things through him who strengthens me' (Phil. 4:13). This helped the prodigal when he was about to faint; that there was enough bread in his father's house.  Even though he was a gre...

This month I'll be giving away 2 copies of The Mortification of Sin by John Owen.  This is the Puritan Paperback version which is slightly abridged and edited to help the modern reader. This work was written to encourage Christians to engage in a life-long battle against indwelling sin, even after having been brought to new life in Christ.  However, Owen believed this battle is not won by our own strength but by the power of the Holy Spirit. From the preface: I hope I may truly claim that my heart's desire to God and my main aim in the station in which the good providence of God has placed me is that mortification and universal holiness may be promoted in my heart and the hearts and lives of others, to the glory of God; and that in this way the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ may be adorned in all things.  If this little discourse may be in any way useful to this end to the least of the saints, I will look on this as an answer to the weak prayers with which it is ...

Regeneration and reformation are inseparable.  This spiritual renovation of nature in regeneration will infallibly produce a moral reformation of life.  This is produced by a creating act of the power of God, and it is applied into the essential faculties of our soul.  In regeneration, the creation does not consist in just a new course of action, but in renewed faculties.  It is thus called the 'divine nature' (2 Pet. 1:4).  Ephesians 4:22-24 describes the work of regeneration with respect both to its foundation and its progress. The Holy Spirit works on men suitably to their natures, even as the faculties of their souls, minds, wills, and affections are able to be affected and wrought upon.  He does not come upon them with involuntary raptures, using their faculties and powers as the evil spirit controls the bodies of those whom he possesses.   The true work of the Spirits is evidenced by a rational belief in the Scripture. The Spirit works by the mea...

Here are fit words to ponder with my cup of tea.

Eternal Life Ministries  is offering a free copy of Communion With God by John Owen to folks on their mailing list (US addresses only).  Click here for the offer form and here to be put on their mailing list.

Just when I tell myself "NO MORE BOOKS!", Soli Deo Gloria has printed Biblical Theology - The History of Theology from Adam to Christ by John Owen. This has only been available in Latin until this edition. At 912 pages, I would surmise that every paragraph is packed full. I have only read abridged versions of Owen, but this book looks worth the effort. The volume also includes his Defense of Scripture against Modern Fanaticism which is "an affirmation that the Bible is the perfect, authoritative, and complete Word of God. Owen also defends proper interpretation against what was known in his day as "inner light", and what is so common in our day - subjective, experience-driven interpretation." *sigh* However, I will do my best to restrain myself. Maybe this will give me incentive to finish the books I already have...

His obedience was not for himself but for us. We were obliged to obey and could not. He was not obliged to obey, but by an act of his own will, did. God gave him this honour, that he should obey for the whole church, so that by 'his obedience many should be made righteous '(Rom 5:19). The reason why I say that God gave him this honour and glory is because his obedience was to stand in stead of our obedience in the matter of justification. His obedience, being absolutely perfect, revealed the holiness of God in the law. The ten commandments written on tablets of stone were glorious. But how much more glorious they became when written in the hearts of believers. But only in the holiness and obedience of Christ was this full glory seen. And this obedience is no small part of his glory. Through his human nature the glory of God's holiness was revealed by his perfect obedience. Glory of Christ ~ John Owen pg. 58 This is something worth pondering.

I have been trying to wrap my mind around the concept of glory, specifically the glory of God as manifested in Jesus Christ. This was triggered by reading The Glory of Christ by John Owen. I'm reading the abridged Puritan Paperback and even this version has so much to take in. Each sentence by Owen is packed full of meaning that I have to read much more slowly than I am used to. Owen defines the glory of God this way in chapter 2: The glory of God includes both the holy properties of his nature and the things he has purposed to do. The only way we can know these things of God is 'in the face' or person 'of Jesus Christ', for he is 'the image of God' (2 Cor. 4:4). But Christ is especially glorious because he and he alone perfectly reveals God's nature and will to us. Without Christ we would have known nothing truly about God for he would have been eternally invisible to us. We would never have seen God at any time, either in this life or the next (Jo...

"They looked unto Him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed." Psalm 34:5 And here the troubled saint will find the most to enlighten him. In the example, in the patience, in the sufferings of Jesus Christ, there are stars of glory to cheer the midnight darkness of the sky of your tribulation. Come hither, ye children of God and whatever now are your distresses, whether they be temporal or spiritual, you shall, in the life of Jesus Christ and his sufferings, find sufficient to cheer and comfort you, if the Holy Spirit shall now open your eyes to look unto him. from Sermon 195 Looking Unto Jesus - Charles Spurgeon By beholding the glory of Christ by faith we shall find rest to our souls. Our minds are apt to be filled with troubles, fears, cares, dangers, distresses, ungoverned passions and lusts. By these our thoughts are filled with chaos, darkness and confusion. But where the soul is fixed on the glory of Christ then the mind finds rest and peace for 'to ...

Today was hectic. My plans were all changed from what I had intended. The legal stuff is reaching a head. I'm not wringing my hands like I would when I was an Arminian. However, I find that I am angry. I need to learn "Be ye angry and sin not". I am sitting here and listening to Worship Live by Sovereign Grace. Now of all times, I need to look up. Look up beyond my situation, beyond what man is trying to do, beyond what the devil would try to do, and see my glorious Lord - highly exalted and given the name that is above every name. "Only a sight of glory, and nothing else, will truly satisfy God's people. The hearts of believers are like a magnetized needle which cannot rest until it is pointing north. So also, a believer, magnetized by the love of Christ, will always be restless until he or she comes to Christ and beholds his glory." from the Glory of Christ by John Owen When tears are great and comforts few We hope in mercies ever new We trust in You Note...