Always Be at it!
Do you mortify? Do you make it your daily work? Do not take a day off from this work; always be killing sin or it will be killing you. We must strike it as an enemy until it ceases living. Sin is laboring to bring forth the deeds of the flesh. When sin lets us alone, we may let sin alone. Sin is active when it seems to be the most quiet, and its waters are often deep when they are calm. Sin is always acting, conceiving, seducing and tempting. There is not a day but sin foils or is foiled. There is no safety but in a constant warfare from sin's perplexing rebellion.

Sin will not only be striving, acting, rebelling, troubling, and disquieting if not continually mortified, it will also bring forth great, cursed, scandalous, and soul-destroying sins (Gal.5:19-20). When sin rises to tempt, it always seeks to express itself in the extreme. Every unclean thought would be adultery if it could; every covetous desire would be oppression; and every thought of unbelief would be atheism.

It is like the grave that is never satisfied. Sin's advance blinds the soul from seeing its drift from God. The soul becomes indifferent to sin as it continues to grow. The growth of sin has no boundaries but the utter denial of God and opposition to him. Sin proceeds higher by degrees; it hardens the heart as it advances.

Mortification withers the root and strikes at the head of sin every hour. The best saints in the world are in danger of a fall if found negligent in this important duty. Negligence of this duty decays the inner man instead of renewing him. It is our duty to be "bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1), and every day to be growing in grace (I Pet. 2:2), and seeking to be renewed in the inner nature day by day (2 Cor. 4:16).

(From The Works of John Owen: volume six; published by Banner of Truth Trust: pages 9-14)

How do we mortify sin? part four

One of the first great lessons that every Christian should learn about their new life in Christ is that while they are now redeemed they are not yet without sin. In other words, the grace of God has not eradicated every remnant of sin's corruption and effects in their life. With Paul the apostle, we all can say:

"So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members" (Rom.7:21-23).

Here is the Christian life in daily experience. Our reach exceeds our grasp. We strive to follow the desires of our new nature (which is consistent faithfulness to Christ) but we find a roadblock in our way each time. And that roadblock is "the law of sin" housed in our members which works like a gravitational pull on our affections, thoughts, words, and deeds.

So, what are we to do? Are we helpless victims to the downdrag of indwelling sin? Thankfully we're not. For our face off with remaining sin is in God's strength through means of grace He has provided, whereby we can deal sin a mortal blow. This exercise is called "mortification." And for my past three posts I have been unpacking from Scripture the "how to" of mortifying or putting sin to death.

In this present study, we will look at the final means of grace for mortifying sin: it is by fixing our hearts on Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 12:1-2, the writer of Hebrews calls on his fellow Christians to "run with endurance the race that is set before us" - which is the race of Christian perseverance. Or as A.W. Pink (1886-1952) describes it: "...it is a call to constancy in the Christian profession; it is an exhortation unto steadfastness in the Christian life; it is a pressing appeal for making personal holiness our supreme business and quest." And in this strong call to "run with endurance the race that is set before us," the writer of Hebrews urges us to do two things: first, we are "to lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely" (12:1). This is a call to mortify sin. But the word-imagery used here is powerful. It is that of a runner who would remove anything that would hinder him from winning the race - whether it would be clothing or extra physical weight. Thus, in the Christian race there is nothing that hinders us most than "sin which clings so closely" to us. Hence, we are called to "lay aside" that sin!

But how do we do this? The answer to this question is the second call issued from Hebrews 12:1-2. We "lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely" by "looking to Jesus...the founder and perfecter of our faith." This is another way God gives us to kill sin. We fix our gaze on Christ, who is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

When Hebrews 12:2 says, "looking to Jesus", the verb translated "looking" means "to look away from one thing and to concentrate on another." So, rather than gazing and concentrating on sin and all its allurements - we fix our hearts and minds on Christ, treasuring Him, not only above sin - but above life itself (Phil.3:7-14). He is the goal, the aim, the sustainer, and the keeper of all that we are as His people (Rom.8:29).

In his classic book on the subject of mortification, John Owen (1616-1683) explained the practical outworking and effect of fixing our eyes on Christ as a means for putting sin to death. He noted four applications: First, 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 sins. Second, raise up your heart in faith with an expectation of relief from Christ. Third, place your faith particularly upon the death, blood, and cross of Christ; that is, on Christ crucified and slain. Finally, when you meditate upon the death of Christ, keep in mind the power available to us, and your desire to be conformed to Christ.

How often do we really think hard about all that Jesus did by His suffering and dying to save us from our sins? Whenever we are tempted to sin, do we fight to fix our gaze on Christ and remember what He did to kill this sin for us? Do we also remember that by His death we are forever set free from sin's enslaving power, therefore, through Him we have the grace to "lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely to us?" To kill sin is to "look to Jesus." It is to be satisfied in all that He is for us and cast ourselves on all that He has done to liberate us from sin's power.

How do we mortify sin? part three

When it comes to living the Christian life, God has not left us to figure it out on our own or attempt to make it work by our mere strength. Instead, the Lord has amply supplied His saints with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, a new nature, and means of grace (like prayer, the Word of God, Christian fellowship, etc.) to sufficiently enable them to live for His glory in all things. And thankfully, such rich supplies for Christian living include what every believer needs to fight, subdue, weaken, and kill the "works of the flesh" (Gal.5:19-21; cf. Rom.7:14-24). In my last two posts we have been considering what "means of grace" God has specifically given us to effectively put sin to death, or "mortify sin" as the old divines would call it. We have observed three specific things: first, we mortify sin by remembering the truth of our death to sin's dominion and our new life in Christ (see Rom.6:1-11; Gal.2:20). Second, we mortify sin by abstaining from fleshly lusts (I Pet.2:11). And third, we mortify sin by making no provision for the flesh (Rom.13:14).

But in addition to these provisions God has made for us to carry out a proficient warfare on sin, we also mortify sin in this way: by saturating our hearts and minds in the Word of God. This can never be said enough: if we are going to kill sin, then we must employ with faithfulness and constancy the Word of God. But what this means practically, is that we must be diligent in the reading, study, meditation, and application of God's Word. We must be what Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) exhorted his own congregation to be: "Walking Bibles!" This means that God's Word must be what governs and rules and shapes our thinking, feeling, conservation, and conduct. Thus when it comes to sin - God's Word must be the final authority to determine for every Christian what sin is and how to deal with it.

So then, we need to be like the psalmist, in Psalm 119:11, "I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." The verb translated "stored up" literally means to "hoard" or "to reserve." The idea in this context of Psalm 119:11, is that we read the Word of God so that we remember and keep close at hand all that it says regarding sin and holiness. We read the Scriptures to remember the Scriptures. Therefore, if we are reading the Bible every once in a while, then it will not be a safeguard against sin. If we read the Scriptures casually, like some cheap novel, then we are setting ourselves up for sin's invasion. To store the Word of God in our hearts, we must be in the Word daily - and we must commit to memory what God's Word says regarding the nature and danger of sin.

But in addition to memorization, there also needs to be meditation on the Word. Again, consider the godly example of the psalmist. In Psalm 1:1-2, we read: "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." What keeps the godly man from "the counsel of the wicked", "the way of sinners", and "the seat of scoffers"? It is his meditation on "the law of the Lord." He meditates "day and night" on God's Word.

What does it mean to "meditate?" Its basic meaning is to "murmur", "mutter", or "muse" and hence, to speak to one's self. It was used to describe the low growling of a lion after he had trapped his prey (Isa.31:4) or even the cow chewing the cud. Both images capture something that takes a slow and methodical concentration. In the context of the believer meditating on the Bible, he is literally taking selected passages of Scripture, and mulling over them in his mind, vocally repeating them to himself. Moreover, he is asking those passages specific questions.

Of course, to be at the discipline of memorizing and meditating on the Bible takes time, planning, prayer, and strategy in our war on sin. We have to be deliberate and intentional to employ God's Word in the killing of sin. Thus we have to make the time to be in the Word. We also must pray as we come to the Word. We need the Holy Spirit to illuminate our understanding so that we see clearly what the Bible says about sin and how to conquer it. The end result will be developing a firm and godly conviction regarding any particular sin we're fighting. A conviction that goes beyond merely admitting sin is wrong, but actually controlling how we think and feel about the sin in accordance with God's Word.

How do we mortify sin?: part two

John MacArthur once said: "Mortification involves the cultivation of new habits of godliness, combined with the elimination of old sinful habits from our behavior." This statement sums up the practical outworking of what Romans 8:13 describes as mortifying or "putting to death" the sinful deeds of our body. This spiritual discipline is not for only a few elite Christians to practice, but it is for all believers in Christ. Moreover, it should be our daily practice - since the presence of indwelling sin is always there to ensnare us at every turn in all our thoughts, words, and deeds (see Rom.7:14-24).

In my last post I began to unpack the ways in which we carry out this discipline. So far, we have only covered two means of grace that should be exercised for the purpose of mortification. First, we mortify sin by remembering the truth of our death to sin's dominion and our new life in Jesus Christ (see Rom.6:1-11; Gal.2:20). Knowing who we are in Christ and the glory of what God has done for us in Christ is vital to healthy Christian living. And in the arena of killing sin, it is especially important that we understand that sin no longer has power over us to enslave us since we are now united to Christ in spiritual union. Secondly, we mortify sin by abstaining from fleshly lusts (I Pet.2:11). Having been set free from sin's former dominion, we have the power in Christ to say "NO!" to sin. We are not victims to the temptations of the flesh - but in Christ we can "abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against [our] soul" (I Pet.2:11). Thus, to kill sin is to refuse to sin by God's grace.

Another means though of mortifying sin is by making no provision for the flesh. In Romans 13:14, we are commanded "to make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." Now the question must be raised: what is the difference between "make no provision for the flesh" and the previous point from I Peter 2:11, "abstain from the passions of the flesh?" The difference between these two imperatives is that to "abstain" means just to stop sinning, whereas "to make no provision" carries the idea of not making plans to sin. The word translated "provision" in Romans 13:14 comes from a Greek term that carries the idea of "forethought" or "planning in advance." Hence, when we're commanded to "make no provision for the flesh", then we're being called to refuse accommodating the flesh in any way that will inevitably set us up for a fall.

Let's face it: this is why most Christians fall into sin - they foolishly set themselves up to gratify the desires of the flesh. And what's worse, it is our own wicked pride that leads us into that pit of sin. We say to ourselves, "I can handle this. I'm strong. I can beat this." So we watch television programs and movies that only stir up the lusts of the flesh; we listen to gossip that only excites our taste buds for more of those little trifles; we look at magazines or read books or view websites that fill our minds with ungodly, immoral images; or we keep company with people who have no passion or love for Christ whatsoever, allowing their godless worldview to slowly erode our thinking away from the Bible. And all the while, we're saying to ourselves in the stupidity of our pride: "I can handle this." No, you can't handle it - you're falling!

Consider again the counsel of Romans 13:14, "...make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." If you don't want to fall, then don't walk where it's slippery. To mortify sin we have to become strategists. We have to be aware of what is going to tempt us and seduce us and drag us into sin; and make strategic plans to stay away from whatever that is. For instance, if we struggle with the sin of gluttony, then we should plan to stay away from those foods and restaurants where the temptation to indulge ourselves is strongest. If we struggle with gossip, then we need to plan out how we are going to converse with others on subjects that will neither draw us into that sin nor the person we are talking with. To mortify sin we must become strategists.

But in addition to this, there must be a wholehearted commitment to give up whatever is necessary, even the most cherished things we possess, if doing that will help protect us from falling into sin. This is what Jesus meant by gouging out the "right eye" and cutting off the "right hand" (Matt.5:29-30). If we are going to mortify sin, then we must make no provision for the flesh - no matter what that self-denial will cost us. Anything that would ensnare us to sin must be eliminated immediately.

How do we mortify sin?: part one

Having underscored in my past three posts what mortification is and what it is not, I now want to turn our attention to a much more practical question: how do we mortify sin? Since mortification is the lifelong process and work of every Christian, by the divine power of the Holy Spirit, to crush, sap, root out, weaken, and subdue all known manifestations of indwelling sin - what then are the means of grace God has supplied for us to kill sin? Based on how we have defined mortification from Romans 8:13, we know that this is chiefly a work accomplished only through the power of the Holy Spirit. But understanding the importance and absolute necessity of the Spirit's role in our mortifying sin, we are still left wondering, "What do I do?" Answering this question will take up my next few posts.

In the first place, we mortify sin by remembering the truth of our death to sin's dominion and our new life in Jesus Christ. This is what we are commanded to do in Romans 6:11, "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." This divine imperative falls on the heels of Paul's incredible exposition concerning the death of every Christian to their former slavery to sin, as a consequence to their spiritual union with Christ (see 6:1-10).

Paul declares that because we have "died to sin" and have been united with Christ - we have received a new life whereby our life in sin is dead and gone (6:3-6). Hence, because we are no longer under sin's dominion, then we must count this as a fact everyday. This is the command of Romans 6:11. No matter how harassed we may be by the temptations of remaining sin (Rom.6:12-13; 7:14-25), it will never change the fact of who we are in Jesus Christ as His people who have been set free from sin's enslaving power.

This must be the first mortal blow we give to indwelling sin. As each new day begins, we need to remind ourselves: "I am dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Sin has no authority over me. Sin has no right to bully me. I belong to God. I live in union with Jesus Christ who is now my life." This is the truth of what God's grace has done for all His people, despite how they may feel. And this is how we start each day to put sin to death.

In the second place, we mortify sin by abstaining from fleshly lusts. In First Peter 2:11, we are commanded: "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul." Probably the most simple and straightforward response to the ongoing attacks of indwelling sin, is to abstain from it. This verb translated "abstain" in First Peter 2:11, comes from a Greek term that means "to hold one's self away from." Used in the present middle construction, Peter is calling on all believers in Christ to be actively, unceasingly staying away from those things that pertain to the flesh. This means that whatever thoughts, words, images, sounds, feelings, and actions which are sinful in nature - must be at all costs, put away from ourselves. No sin of any kind should be entertained.

This is what Paul meant when he wrote to the Ephesian church, in Ephesians 4:31, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice." And again in Ephesians 5:3-4, "But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which is out of place..." The simple point of these prohibitions is this: "Stay away from it! Don't do it! Abstain from these things."

Martyn Lloyd Jones (1899-1981) once nailed down the directness of such a command when he said: "...stop doing it, stop it at once, never do it again! You have to be a total abstainer from these sins, these 'fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.' You have no right to say, 'I am weak, I cannot, and temptation is powerful.' The answer of the New Testament is, 'Stop doing it.' "

So, how do we mortify sin? Here is some of the most practical counsel of God's Word: just stop it! Abstain from sin. Understand this: we have no excuse here. We have been set free from sin's enslaving power, we have a new nature, a new life in Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit indwells us (Rom.6:1-8:17; I Cor.6:19-20; Gal.2:20; Eph.1:3-14; Col.3:1-5) - henceforth, there is no justifiable excuse whenever we give in to the temptation of indwelling sin. God has supplied us with all we need to put sin to death, and thus to abstain from its subtle and deceitful desires.

Defining Mortification: part two

One of the most helpful and graphic pictures that expresses how God wants us to treat any residual sin in our life, is the account in First Samuel 15 regarding God's command for king Saul to lead Israel in the extermination of the Amalekites. Through God's prophet Samuel, king Saul was ordered by the Lord to carry out a total destruction of the Amalekites, leaving no survivors - not even infants or animals. This people and all that belonged to them was to be wiped off the face of the earth (this was in fulfillment of Deuteronomy 25:17-19).

But king Saul did not obey God fully on this matter. Although by God's design and power, Saul and the army of Israel delivered a crushing blow against the Amalekites (I Sam.15:8); yet, Saul fell short of full obedience. In First Samuel 15:9, we are told that Saul spared the king of the Amalekites, Agag, and "the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good." Saul was not willing to destroy these enemies of God with utter destruction. Instead, motivated by his own greed, pride, and the fear of man, king Saul chose not to follow through in his obedience to the Lord.

As a result of his rebellion, the prophet Samuel declared God's judgment upon Saul and all his descendents: they were to be permanently removed from Israel's throne (I Sam.15:23). But in addition to this judgment, Samuel finished what Saul had merely started. He took a sword and literally hacked king Agag to pieces (I Sam.15:33). Samuel did what Saul was unwilling to do: to carry out God's command to the full.

Now when it comes to the Christian's responsibility to mortify sin (see Rom.8:13), this image of Samuel severing the life of king Agag, serves as a vivid and striking illustration. Rather than being like Saul and letting sin live, we must be like Samuel and hack sin to pieces! In short, there must be no mercy shown to the "Agags" in our life.

But what does it mean to "hack" sin to death? When we read in Romans 8:13 that we are to "mortify sin", what is the substance of this work? In my last post I began answering this question by pointing out that there are five ways to define biblical mortification, based on Romans 8:13. So far, we have considered the first three: (1) to mortify sin is chiefly a work of the Holy Spirit; (2) to mortify sin is a lifetime process for every Christian; and (3) to mortify sin is not to eradicate sin but to subdue it, to deprive it of its power, to break the habit pattern we have developed of continually giving in to the temptation of any particular sin.

Now here are the final two ways that true mortification of sin can be defined: to mortify sin is to mortify all known sin. In Romans 8:13, it reads that we are to "put to death the deeds of the body." The term deeds is obviously in the plural. It refers to all known sinful acts which are the manifestation of indwelling sin that remains in our bodily members (cf. Rom.6:12-13; 7:23). It is not therefore one sin we must concentrate on to kill, but all known sin present in our lives.

Finally, to mortify sin is the responsibility of every Christian in the process of daily sanctification. What I appreciate so much about Romans 8:13, is that it expresses with great clarity the responsibility of the believer in the work of sanctification. We're told: "by the Spirit [you] put to death the deeds of the body." Mortifying sin is never done apart from the Holy Spirit, but it is also not the sole work of the Spirit leaving the Christian with nothing to do in this process. The truth is, based on Romans 8:13, mortification is not what the Holy Spirit does but rather it is what He empowers the Christian to do. It is the believer who puts to death the deeds of the body, as the Spirit of God gives him the strength and wisdom to carry out that work.

So, in putting sin to death, we must not buy in to this false idea that says, "Just let go and let God." God does not treat us as sticks and stones or as an empty glove that only needs a hand to fill it. Rather, we are personally involved in this lifelong work as the Holy Spirit empowers us to kill sin and live in pursuit of holiness (Col.3:5; Heb.12:14).

What then is the biblical meaning of mortification? Tying together the five different ways mortification has been defined from Romans 8:13, this is what we can conclude: mortification is the lifelong process and work of every Christian, by the divine power of the Holy Spirit, to crush, sap, root out, weaken, and subdue all known manifestations of indwelling sin.

Defining Mortification: part one

The greatest struggle, the most intense battle that every Christian faces everyday of their lives in this fallen world, is a war with "indwelling sin" (cf. Rom.7:14-24). This means that my spouse, my kids, my neighbor, my work, the economy, the government, or terroists will never qualify as my ultimate problem. In fact, not even the devil himself can take this position in my life. No, the supreme battle for a believer in Christ comes from the remaining power and influence of sin in his members.

But the most pressing question for a Christian facing this unpleasant reality is: how do deal with remaining sin? Or to be more practical: how do we effectively battle our pride, envy, jealously, bitterness, anger, and lust? In my last post I began answering these questions by bringing to our attention a principle work in our daily sanctification called "mortification." This term is taken from Romans 8:13, where Christians are exhorted: "...but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." In this verse, the phrase, "you put to death" is where the concept of mortification is derived. Thus, when it comes to battling with our personal sin, we are to mortify sin - and hence, to put it to death.

But it is not enough to simply tell a Christian, "You must mortify sin!" We need direction and guidance as to how. Therefore I began in my previous post to unpack this from the standpoint of considering what mortification is not. It is not therefore covering sin up, internalizing sin, exchanging one sin for another, by-passing the cleansing of our conscience, or merely repressing sin. If any of these examples describe how we have attempted to deal with sin, then we must realize that true mortification has not taken place.

So, what is true mortification? If we go to Romans 8:13, there are five ways to define biblical mortification: first, to mortify sin is chiefly a work of the Holy Spirit. In Romans 8:13, we're told, it is "by the Spirit" that we put sin to death. This is not a work therefore that Christians can ever do in their own strength. The Puritan, John Owen (1616-1683), said in this regard:

"All other ways of mortification are in vain. Men may attempt this work based upon other principles, but they will come short. It is a work of the Spirit, and it is by Him alone that we are to experience victory. Mortification from self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, to the end of a self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion."

Secondly, to mortify sin is a lifetime process for every Christian. The verb tense used for the term, "you put to death", is a present tense. This means that our war on the presence and influence of indwelling sin will never let up until we are taken to heavenly glory. There are no vacations, no weekend getaways, no breaks whatsoever from this work in the life of the believer. We will always have to be mortifying sin somewhere in our lives. Again, consider the wise counsel of John Owen:

"When sin lets us alone, we may let sin alone; but sin is always active when it seems to be the most quiet, and its waters are often deep when they are calm. We should therefore fight against it and be vigorous at all times and in all conditions, even when there is the least suspicion...Sin is always acting, always conceiving, and always seducing and tempting. Who can say that he has ever had anything to do with God or for God which indwelling sin has not tried to corrupt? This battle willl last more or less all our days. If sin is always acting, we are in trouble if we are not always mortifying. He that stands still and allows his enemies to exert double blows upon him without resistance will undoubtedly be conquered in the end."

Third, to mortify sin is not to eradicate sin but to subdue it, to deprive it of its power, to break the habit pattern we have developed of continually giving in to the temptation of any particular sin. We cannot eliminate indwelling sin in this life. It will be with us until we die (see Rom.7:14-25). However, in the work of mortification, we can sap sin of its strength, rooting it out, and depriving it of its influence. And this is really at the heart of what it means to mortify sin. It is a lifelong process of draining sin's power and influence which has been wielded over us. We are literally seeking day by day through the Spirit to take away everything that gives sin its strength and power in our lives.

In my next post, we will consider the last two ways that Romans 8:13 defines mortification.

Mortification: The Christian Response to Personal Sin

One of the great acid tests of proving whether or not someone is a Christian, is to ask the question: how do you deal with your own personal sin? For instance, do you repent of it or do you molly coddle it and make excuses for it? Also, is your heart broken over personal sin because it is an offense against God or because it just makes you feel bad? Further, when you do sin, do you keep short accounts with God - confessing it immediately to Him for what it is as "sin?" All of these questions are vital for our own self-examination as professing Christians.

Think about it: there are a lot of people in the visible church who cry down the sins they see in others, but do not ever consider the vileness, guilt, and pollution of their own sin. They are the proverbial "hypocrite" whom Jesus warns us about in Matthew 7:1-5. They are quick to point out the "speck" of sin in their brother's eye, while never seeing the "log jam" of sin in their own. It is a tragically comedic picture of the fool who is always condemning others for the tiny particle of dust in their eye, while not seeing the massive tree trunk gaping out of his own eye. In short, such a person never deals with his own personal sin. But what's worse, by never giving admission to his sin but instead denying it - he is actually proving that he is a total stranger to saving grace (see I Jn.1:8,10).

So, again, how do you deal with your own personal sin? If you are a true believer in Jesus Christ, what do you do about the sin that remains in you (cf. Rom.7:14-25)? The biblical answer to these questions takes us to a passage of Scripture that I intend to camp out in for my next several posts. The passage is Romans 8:13, which says: "...but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." In the language of exhortation, this verse describes what is true of every Christian, in relation to the remaining influence and corruption of sin that dwells in our bodies: by the power of the Holy Spirit, a Christian seeks to kill sin wherever he finds sin in his flesh.

This is how a Christian deals with his own personal sin. In fact, this is a Christian's only course of action he takes by virtue of his life in the Spirit - he puts sin to death! This means that even if a Christian may fall in a state of going back to certain sins, it is only for a season; because his new nature and the indwelling presence of the Spirit will renew him to repentance and declare a revived war on personal sin. In other words, a true Christian does not and cannot live in sin (see Rom.6:1-14; I Jn.3:9), though they commit sin - but instead, the Christian life is a life of war on all known sin that remains in our mortal bodies.

Now the theological term for this warfare is what's called "mortification." This word is derived from a Greek verb Paul uses in Romans 8:13, translated in the words: "you put to death." The King James Version of the Bible actually translates these same terms as "mortify." So then, when it comes to dealing with personal sin in our lives as Christians, we are called by God to "mortify sin."

But what does this mean practically? How do we mortify or put sin to death? My first approach to these questions must be to underscore what mortification does not mean. First, to mortify sin does not mean covering sin up. You can obscure sin from the sight of others, but that is not mortification. Until we confess and forsake our sin we have not begun the work of mortification (Prov.28:13). Second, to mortify sin does not mean to only internalize sin. If you forsake the outward practice of some evil yet continue to ruminate on the memory of that sin's pleasure - beware. Although you may have moved that sin into the privacy of your imagination, where it is known only to you and God, yet it has not been truly mortified. Third, to mortify sin does not mean to exchange one sin for another. What good is it to trade stealing for lying or to trade gossip for gluttony? Neither sin has been mortified. Fourth, to mortify sin does not mean to by-pass the cleansing of our conscience. Having a good conscience is to work through the issue of our guilt. We should be ashamed of our sins, and let that sorrow do its full work in our hearts to produce a deep, honest repentance (II Cor.7:10). Finally, to mortify sin does not mean to merely repress sin. To push sin back rather than to deal with it forthrightly in the light of God's Word, will not bring about true mortification. Instead, it will only create more problems as it remains brushed under the proverbial rug, and allowed to fester and gain more influence. This therefore is not mortification.