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...

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 ...