The world is content with external morality

I just finished John Owen’s “Indwelling sin in believers” and to say it has done a miraculous work in my life is an understatement. No one does it quite like Owen. And the Spirit has used his writings and the Holy Scriptures to radically transform me. Owen was probably the weightiest of the Puritan writers and his works continue to convict and compel Christians to this day. But why is it when I mention his writings or any other puritan writings few have read them or been changed by them?

It seems the modern day Christian is content with superficial, easy to read topical writings from contemporary authors. As J.I. Packer puts it “some readers find it hard to tune in, to Owen’s wavelength, not just because of his Latinised English with a fulsome rhetoric and an occasional word trips them up, but because they suffer from the shortcomings of of the present day literature.”

I remember recently giving a book to a friend by Jonathan Edwards and they told me after reading a chapter or two that they put it down saying “it made me feel dumb.” It does take a little more effort to read these great theologians but what better to devote yourself to than this? As A.W. Pink says “The Bible is no lazy man’s book” and neither are the theologians who dive into it and its meaty topics.

Very few theologians emphasize holiness and that is John Owen’s supreme theme throughout his writings. It is after all, God’s chief attribute. I have to agree with Packer who wrote the intro to Owen’s book on mortification that Owen’s writings literally “saved my spiritual sanity.” Lingering sin had thrown me into such a spiritual turmoil that I didn’t know what to do with myself. Owen addresses this and is resolved to explain from Scripture the theology of it- God’s will, wisdom, work, and ways regarding it. Saying this- “Suppose a man to be a true believer, and yet finds in himself a powerful indwelling sin, leading him captive to the law of it, consuming his heart with trouble, perplexing his thoughts, weakening his soul as to the duties of communion with God, disquieting him as to peace, and perhaps defiling his conscience and exposing him to hardening through the deceitfulness of sin- what shall he do? What course shall he take and insist on for the mortification of this sin, lust, distemper, or corruption?” His book on mortification contributes more than any other book on this topic of sin and mortification. Let me quote Packer again when he labors to talk about what Owen did for him as I feel his words deep in my soul. “He searched me to the root of my being. He taught me the nature of sin, the need that fight it and the method of doing so. He made me see the importance of the thoughts of the heart in one’s spiritual life. He made clear to me the real nature of the Holy Spirit’s ministry in and to the believer, and of spiritual growth and progress of faith’s victory. He showed me how to understand myself as a Christian and live before God humbly and honestly l, without pretending either to be what I am not or to be what I am. And he made every point by direct biblical exegesis. This small work on mortification is a gold mine and I cannot recommend it highly enough.”

The three books that have the greatest impact on my life are Indwelling sin in believers by Owen, The mortification of sin by Owen, and The sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink. These books by these men stress holiness and God’s sovereignty to a level which I’ve not seen equaled in any other writings and have impacted me more than words can describe.

When Owen labors to point out that motivation is the decisive test on our hearts it compels you to examine yourself. If the heart is wrong, lacking reverence, or love, or purity, or humility, or a forgiving spirit, but instead festering with pride, self-seeking ambition, envy, greed, hatred, sexual lust or the like, nothing that one does can be right in God’s sight.” Too often today, as like with the Pharisees, the moral life is reduced to role-play, in which prescribed and expected performance is everything and no attention is paid to the cravings, ravings, and hostilities of the heart so long as people do what it is thought they should. As John Flavel puts it- “few actually devote themselves to this “heart work” of allowing God to plow up the fallow ground of the heart” and lay all of our innermost thoughts before Him and ask God to cleanse us from our secret faults. The heart sins are the sins of deeper guilt but we are convinced as long as we keep them hidden from the outside world we are ok. But God sees. He knows.

The outward appearance of godliness and moralism by which we tend to assess ourselves is not God’s way of assessing us. As Owen says “What a man is in secret before God is what he is and nothing more.” When Scripture tells us to mortify sin, it’s not just that bad habits must be broken but that sinful desires and urging must have the life drained out of them. Therefore self scrutiny is a must! Daily examinations in the Scripture have to be a priority.

I look back at the last few years of my life in great sadness and realize so many of my motives were impure and led by pride and self exaltation. I’ve spent the last few months repenting and tearing down idols. I weep over where I failed Christ and took glory for myself. On the outside, I appeared godly but on the inside I was in turmoil, suppressing sin and hiding many idols and secret temptations. Oh how I praise Him for grace and bringing to light my sin and granting me repentance! Praying this blog motivates and encourages you to get these books and do some serious self examination in the Scripture. Let’s devote ourselves to the mortification of sin and pursuing holiness. He is worthy!