04/23/24

Corruption Caused by Indwelling Sin

In chapter fifteen of Indwelling Sin, John Owen said he would now consider the many ways indwelling sin habitually corrodes grace and holiness in believers. At first, believers have many fresh springs and refreshing showers coming upon them, filling them up with a high rate of faith, love holiness, fruitfulness, and obedience. As it is with a flood, when these many streams run into a river, the river swells over its bounds, “and rolls on with more than ordinary fullness.” But if these springs are not kept open, if they don’t continue with an abundance of these showers, “they must needs decay and go backwards.”

One of these springs is a fresh, vigorous sense of pardoning mercy. Accordingly, when this is in a person’s soul, it results in the love and delight of God and leads to obedience to His will. “As, I say, is the sense of gospel-pardon, so will be the life of gospel-love.” Consider the sinful woman described in Luke 7:36 and following.

When a Pharisee had asked Jesus to eat with him, a woman who was known to be a sinner came and kissed his feet and anointed them with ointment. The Pharisee thought to himself, if Jesus were a true prophet, he would know what sort of woman is touching him, for she is a sinner. Knowing his thoughts, Jesus told him a parable about a moneylender and two debtors and asked which debtor loved him more. The Pharisee judged it was the one for whom the money lender cancelled the larger debt. Jesus confirmed he had judged rightly and then said to Simon:

Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little. (Luke 7:44-47)

So, when sinners are first converted, they are very sensible to their great forgiveness. Their recognition of the greatness of their sin greatly subdues their hearts and spirits to God, “and quickens them to all obedience.” Even cursed sinners as they were could be delivered and pardoned. “The love of God and of Christ, in their forgiveness, highly conquers and constrains them to make it their business to live to God.”

A second spring is the fresh taste they have of spiritual things that has such a savor and relish in their souls, that worldly pleasures are rendered sapless and undesirable. After tasting the wine of the gospel, they desire no other. When souls are first translated into the light of Christ, they see a new glory that defiled the desirableness of all earthly diversions. “They see a new guilt and filth in sin, that gives them an utter abhorrency of its old delights and pleasures.”

It’s as if a man that was kept a long time in a dungeon was brought forth suddenly into the sun light. He’d find so much pleasure and contentment in the beauties of the creation that he’d think he could never weary of it. Nor would he ever be content to be under darkness—for any reason—ever again. So it is with people when they are first translated into the marvelous light of Christ to behold the beauty of the new creation. “They see a new glory in him, that hath quite sullied the desirableness of all earthly diversions. And they see a new guilt and filth in sin, that gives them an utter abhorrency of its old delights and pleasures.”

The first way, then, that indwelling sin prepares individuals for decays and corruption in grace and obedience is it strives to stop or taint these springs by sloth or negligence. It prevails on the soul to forget or neglect thinking about the things that so powerfully influenced it to strict and fruitful obedience. If care is not taken, if the person is not diligent and watchful of the means appointed by God to maintain a living sense of them upon them, “they will dry up and decay.” And the obedience that should spring from them will as well.

Let the heart ever so little disuse itself to gracious, soul-affecting thoughts of the love of God, the cross of Christ, the greatness and excellency of gospel-mercy, the beauties of holiness; they will quickly be as much estranged to a man, as he can be to them.

Another way that indwelling sin works to taint these springs is to encourage formal, weary, powerless thoughts of those things which it should overcome in diligence thankful obedience. God said through Moses to Aaron he will be sanctified in all those who are near him (Leviticus 10:3). So are we to deal with the things of God whereby we have communion with him. When we begin to entertain them with slight and common thoughts, not using and improving them to the utmost, they lose all their beauty, and glory, and power towards them.

When we have anything to do, wherein faith, or love towards God is to be exercised, we must do it with all our hearts, with all our minds, strength, and souls, not slightly and carelessly, which God abhors; he does not only require that we bear his love and grace in remembrance, but that, as much as in us lies, we do it according to the worth and excellency of them.

So, when we consider gospel truths, we should strive to be changed into the same image or likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18). Otherwise, it will be like James tells us: “He is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like” (James 1:23-24). It makes no impression upon him because he does it only slightly. They talk of religion and spiritual things as much as they ever did in their lives, and perform duties with as much steadfastness as they ever did.

But yet have poor, lean, starving souls, as to any real and effectual communion with God. By the power and subtlety of indwelling sin, they have grown formal, and learned to deal about spiritual things in a careless manner, whereby they have lost all their life, vigour, savour, and efficacy towards them. Be always serious in spiritual things, if ever you intend to be bettered by them.

Indwelling sin will often stop these springs of gospel obedience by false and foolish opinions, corrupting the simplicity of the gospel. “False opinions are the works of the flesh.” They mostly come from the vanity and darkness of the minds of men with a mixture of corrupt affections. Owen said they have seen some who after they had received “a sweet taste of the love of God in Christ,” and walked with him for many years, despised all their own experiences and rejected the efficacy of truth. “We have innumerable instances hereof in the days wherin we live.”

Owen goes on in the chapter to describe how Satan is a diligent, watchful, and crafty adversary. “He will neglect no opportunity, no advantage that is offered to him.” Wherever our spiritual strength is impaired by sin, or however our lusts pressure, Satan falls in with that weakness, and presses towards that ruin.” He gives his readers a few cautions to keep them from this corruption.

First, there are a great number of hypocrites in the body of believers. For others, you don’t know what the present temptations they struggle against. There may be some secret lust in their heart that the soul contends against faintly. But it does not make thorough work, vigorously mortifying it by the strength and power of grace.

But where indwelling sin has provoked, irritated, and given strength to a special lust, it proves assuredly a principal means of a general declension. For as an infirmity and weakness in any one vital part, will make the whole body consumptive, so will the weakness in anyone grace, which a perplexing lust brings with it, make the soul. It every way weakens spiritual strength.

Yet there is hope. Owen said a great sin will certainly give a great turn to the life of a believer. If it is cured in the blood of Christ, with the humiliation that the gospel requires, “it often proves a means of more watchfulness, fruitfulness, humility, and contention, than ever the soul before obtained.” If neglected, it certainly hardens the heart and weakens spiritual strength, enfeebles the soul, and discourages all communion with God. But if like a broken bone which is well set, it leaves the person stronger than before. If otherwise, it makes the person a cripple all their days.

These are the corruptions caused by indwelling sin.

10/3/23

Indwelling Sin Weakens Spiritual Strength

In chapter fourteen of Indwelling Sin in Believers, John Owen examined how of the power of Sin can flare-up. In chapter fifteen, he moved on to examine how this power could also be seen in the habitual decline from a state of communion with God. The ways and means by which this decline succeeds in the life of believers are many.

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

When a person is converted, they usually have many refreshing showers of God’s grace bathing their souls. This is produces in them an elevated amount of faith, love, holiness, fruitfulness and obedience. Like a river with many streams running into it, when there is a heavy rain, it overflows its banks. If these streams are not fed continually by showers, “they must needs decay and go backwards.”

The newly converted has a strong sense of God’s pardoning mercy. They are sensible of great forgiveness as was Paul when he said: “of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15). This subdues their hearts to all in God and quickens them to all obedience—that such a poor and cursed sinner should be delivered and pardoned. “The love of God and of Christ, in their forgiveness, highly conquers and constrains them to make it their business to live for God.”

Secondly, the fresh taste of spiritual things has such a savor and relish in their souls, that worldly pleasures are sapless and disagreeable. Having tasted the wine of the gospel, they desire no other. They have such a savor and relish for the grace of Christ upon their souls, that they cannot think of rejecting it. They then see a new guilt and filth in sin that leads to an abhorrence of its old delights and pleasures.

Now, whilst these and the like springs are kept open in the souls of converted sinners, they constrain them to a vigorous active holiness. They can never do enough for God; so that, oftentimes, their zeal, as saints, suffers them not to escape without some blots on their prudence, as men; as might be instanced in many of the martyrs of old.

Indwelling sin attempts to stop or taint these springs. It grooms the individual for decline and decay in grace and obedience by works of sloth and negligence. It prevails the individual to neglect the things that influenced it to strict and fruitful obedience. If diligence and watchfulness are not used, the means appointed by God to keep a quick and living sense of this grace will dry up and decay. And the obedience that springs from this grace will also dry up. Prevailed upon by spiritual sloth, a decay grows insensibly upon the whole soul because of indwelling sin. Thus, God often complained that his people had forgotten him—that they had grown unmindful of his love and grace.

When people begin to become weary of the things of God, those things by which we have communion with him, they deceive themselves by becoming a hearer of the word and not a doer. They look intently at themselves in the mirror of the word, but go away and immediately forget what they were like (James 1:23-24). Owen said it does not make an impression on them; it begets no image of their likeness. They become content with slight and rare thoughts of the things of God. They talk of spiritual things, and perform their religious duties, yet they have poor, starving souls as to any real communion with God.

By the power and subtlety of indwelling sin, they have grown formal, and learned to deal about spiritual things in a careless manner, whereby they have lost all their life, vigour, savour and efficacy towards them. Be always serious in spiritual things, if ever you intent to be bettered by them.

Oftentimes, indwelling sin will stop the springs of gospel obedience by false and foolish opinions, by corrupting the simplicity of the gospel. “False opinions are the works of the flesh.” They proceed from the vanity and darkness in the minds of men, with a mixture of corrupt affections. The apostle Paul was afraid the Corinthians would be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3) by a decay in faith, love and obedience.

Owen said this is often what happens. He has seen some, who after receiving a sweet taste of the love of God in Christ, and having walked humbly with God for many years, being deceived by false and foolish opinions. They despised their own experiences and rejected all the efficacy of truth. There were innumerable instances then (and now). They put an unspeakable value on the pardon of sin in the blood of Christ and delighted in the gospel discoveries of spiritual things, and walked in obedience on account of them. But they were beguiled and turned aside from the truth in Jesus, to despise the springs of their former obedience.

And this is one way whereby indwelling sin produces this pernicious effect, of drawing men off from the power, purity, and fruitfulness attending their first conversion, and engagements to God, bringing them into habitual declension, at least as to degrees, of their holiness and grace. There is not a thing we ought to be more watchful against, if we intend effectually to deal with this powerful and subtle enemy.

Indwelling sin does this by catching people by surprise in their watch against the return of Satan, who left off from tempting Jesus only until there was a more opportune time (Luke 4:13). It is like this with believers as well. If the person does not stand continually on guard against him, Satan will quickly gain advantage, and disrupt their fruitfulness and obedience. He accomplishes this by having carnal lusts prevail over their convictions, making their soul fit to entertain returning devils.

Satan is a diligent, watchful and crafty adversary. He will not neglect any opportunity or advantage that is offered to him. Where ever our spiritual strength is impaired by sin, or where our lusts press us, Satan aligns with the weakness and presses towards its ruin. “All the actings of the law of sin are subservient to this end of Satan.”

Indwelling sin entangles the soul in the things of the world. And when he discovers that has happened to a person he has been cast out of, he is encouraged to pursue after them. He seeks by his temptations, to impel them by their own lusts. “And oftentimes by this advantage he gets so in upon the souls of men, that they are never free of him more wilst they live.”

“Believers come forth from the spring of new birth with some purity and cleanness.” Yet sometimes they associate with others whose profession may run towards heaven even as their does, but they are muddied with sin and the world. These are often corrupted and so decline from their first purity, faith and holiness. In other words, “in the body of believers, there is a great number of hypocrites.” We cannot say for certain who is or isn’t one, but know for certain there are some. So, take heed how you give yourself up in conformity to the professors you meet with.

Owen continues on with his reflections on how many professors are also sick and wounded. He said sin works by cherishing some secret particular lust. Where indwelling sin has provoked and given strength to a special lust, it proves to be a principal means of a general decline. Just as an infirmity and weakness in any vital part will make the whole body ill, so will the weakness caused by a perplexing lust do to the soul. “It every way weakens spiritual strength.”

It is so with men brought into spiritual decays by any secret perplexing corruptions. It may be they have had a vigorous principle of obedience and holiness; indwelling sin watching its opportunities, by some temptation or other, has kindled and inflamed some particular lust in them. For a while it may be they take notice of it, sometime they complain, but think they will do as in former times, until being insensibly weakened in their spiritual strength, they have work enough to do in keeping alive what remains and is ready to die.

A great sin will certainly give a great turn to the life of a believer. However, “if it be well cured in the blood of Christ, with that humiliation which the gospel requires, it often proves a means of more watchfulness, fruitfulness, humility, and contention, than ever the soul before obtained.” Like a broken bone, if it is well set, it leaves the limb stronger than before. But if not, it makes a man a cripple all his days. “These things we do but briefly name, and sundry other advantages of the like nature, that sin makes use of to produce this effect, might also be instanced in; but these may suffice to our present purpose.”

02/21/23

The Effects of Indwelling Sin

In chapter fourteen of Indwelling Sin in Believers, John Owen said he was now ready to examine how the power of Sin is demonstrated by the effects it has in the lives of believers. There are two kinds of effects. First is the great actual flare-ups of sin in their lives. Secondly, there is the habitual decline from the state and condition of obedience and communion with God, “which they had obtained.” Both originate with the law of sin, and both are convincing evidence of its power and efficacy.

First, Owen considers the eruptions of actual sin in the lives of believers, that are recorded in Scripture. The examples Owen gives are not of the ordinary sort of believers, but men with a distinct reputation, “on account of their walking with God.” Noah, Lot, David, Hezekiah, among others. An ordinary method could not have turned them. “It was a poison that no athletic constitution of spiritual health, no antidote could withstand,” namely indwelling sin.

These men did not fall into their great sins at the beginning of their profession of faith. “But after a long course of walking with God, and acquaintance with all these things.”

Who can look to have a greater stock of inherent grace than those men had? To have more experience of God and the excellency of his ways, the sweetness of his love. And of communion with him than they had? Who has either better furniture to oppose sin withal, or more obligations so to do than they? And yet we see how fearfully they were prevailed against.

Are we more holy, wise, and watchful than David, of whom it was said, that he was “a man after God’s own heart?” Or, are we better than Hezekiah, who appealed to God himself, that he had served him “with a whole heart?” (2 Kings 20:3) These men are metaphorically given as buoys to us. That we may discover the sands, the shelves, the rocks “whereupon they made their shipwreck.” And it would have been to their ruin, “had not God been pleased, in his faithfulness, graciously to prevent it.”

Then Owen turned to the habitual decline from zeal and holiness that they had obtained; a state and condition “which are found in many believers.” It often falls out, that instead of manifesting the promises of spiritual growth and improvement, decay and decline are found in many of the saints of God. This is principally from the strength and efficacy of indwelling sin. Owen then observed how some of the saints so decline “from that growth and improvement in faith, grace, and holiness, which might justly be expected from them.”

One example he gave was of men who seem to retain a good zeal for truth. Although they make a good outward appearance, they are found “to be the most abominable.” They cry out against errors, but not for the sake of truth. They do so to support their views and interests. “Let a man be on their party, and promote their interest, be he ever so corrupt in his judgment, he is embraced and it may be, admired.” Notice how Owen’s words apply equally to our time:

This is not zeal for God, but for a man’s self. It is not “the zeal of thing house hath eaten me up;” but “Master, forbid them, because they follow not us.” Better it were, doubtless, for men never to pretend to any zeal at all, than to substitute such wrathful selfishness in the room of it. . .

We need then go no further than this wretched generation wherein we live, to evince the truth of the observation laid down, as the foundation of the instance insisted on. The Lord give repentance before it is too late.

James’ epistle noted the general rule, “that lust, or indwelling sin is the cause of all actual sin, and all declensions in believers.” In the covenant of grace there is abundant provision made, not only for preventing decline and decay in believers, “but also for their continual carrying on towards perfection. The word of the gospel and its ordinances, are given to us for this end (Ephesians 4:11-15). They were all given in order to prevent the decay and decline in the saints, “for building up the body of Christ.” They were designed for our safe-guarding and deliverance from all their attempts and assaults.

So that we no longer live as children, tossed to and fro, carried by craftiness and human into deceitful schemes. “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). This is the purpose of all gospel ordinances, “namely to preserve believers from all decays of faith and obedience, and to carry them on still towards perfection.” These are the means by which God causes the vine to grow and produce fruit.

We see people living under and enjoying all the means of spiritual thriving, yet they wither and waste away instead of becoming fat and flourishing. This argues there is some secret powerful distemper, whose noxious qualities hinder the virtue and efficacy of the means they enjoy. “This is indwelling sin.” In the midst of all the precious means of growth and flourishing, it can bring leanness on the souls of men.

It may well make us tremble, to see men living under, and in the use of the means of the gospel, preaching, praying, administration of sacraments, and yet grow colder every day than other, in zeal for God; more selfish and worldly, even habitually to decline, as to the degrees of holiness which they had attained to.

In addition to these means of spiritual growth and improvement, there are also the supplies of grace continually provided to the saints from Christ Jesus, who communicates spiritual life to all who are his. He gives out sufficiently to afford them a strong, vigorous, thriving, flourishing life. He comes not only to provide life to his sheep, but he came to give it abundantly (John 10:10), “so that they may be fat and fruitful.” So it is with every member of the whole body of Christ. “The end of all communications of grace, and supplies of life from this living head. Is the increase of the whole body, and every member of it.”

The withering and decay of any member of Christ’s mystical body is not a result of his failure to communicate grace for an abundant life. Rather, it is from the powerful intervention and opposition of indwelling sin. Where lust grows strong, a great deal of grace will be spent just to keep the person alive. It spends its strength and power in withstanding the continual assaults of violent corruptions and lusts, “so that it cannot put forth its proper virtue towards further fruitfulness.”

This is clear evidence of the efficacy of indwelling sin. Namely, that it is able to prevent and check the mighty power of grace. “This makes so many trees barren in fertile fields.” It compels the fruitful vineyard to bring forth so many wild grapes. So great is the power and efficacy of indwelling sin, that it often leads saints to decline in their walk with God, as with Samson.

Such is this indwelling sin, if not watched over; it breaks all the cords made to bind it; it blunts the instruments appointed to root it up; it resists the instruments appointed to root it up; it resists all healing medicines, though ever so sovereign; and is therefore, assuredly of exceeding efficacy.

The end result of recognizing this power of sin is that we must be careful to avoid and prevent its scheming. Of all the effects it produces, there is none more dangerous than how it habitually weakens many believers from their former ways and attainments, notwithstanding all the sweetness their souls have found in them.

09/18/18

The Captivating Power of Indwelling Sin

in the public domain; by Johannes Gossner, 1851

In chapter seven of Indwelling Sin in Believers, John Owen continues his reflections on the way indwelling sin exerted its enmity on the believer. Here he describes its captivating power and the madness that comes from its growth and success. He begins by citing Romans 7:23, where Paul said he sees a law waging war against the law of grace in his mind and making him captive to the law of sin. After quoting verse 24 (“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”), he said he intended to declare what this meant.

Owen began by noting Paul said the soul was made captive to the law of sin, and not to any specific sin. For the most part, God gives believers grace so that they won’t be “made a prey” to any particular sin, so it will not have dominion over them. For if such a sin gained power over the individual, whether it was big or small, “it becomes in him in whom it is a sin of boldness, pride, and presumption.” The prevalency of sin within the soul is certainly from Satan, but it has “no peculiar footing nor advantage in the nature, constitution, or condition of the sinner.” And yet, if we succumb to the temptation of a particular sin, it will likely take advantage of something within our “natural constitution.”

When any lust grows high and prevailing more than others, upon its own account, it is from the peculiar advantage that it hath in the natural constitution, or the station or condition of the person in the world; for otherwise the law of sin gives an equal propensity unto all evil, an equal vigour unto every lust. When, therefore, it cannot be discerned that the captivating sin is peculiarly fixed in the nature of the sinner … the prevalency of it is peculiarly from Satan.

Owen said Paul was not describing in the Romans 7 passage how we are captivated by some specific sin, but rather the enslavement of the law of sin. “We are compelled to bear its presence and burden whether we will or no.” Sometimes an individual hopes and prays that they may be freed from a specific sin. And as the result of a gracious gift from God, people are sometimes actually freed from their captivity to a specific sin. They may even begin to hope they are freed from the law of sin, “but after a while see it is quite otherwise.”

Sin acts again, makes good its old station; and the soul finds that, whether it will or no, it must bear its yoke. This makes it sigh and cry out for deliverance.

Captivity is “misery and trouble,” said Owen; and no one willingly puts himself into that kind of trouble. He may choose its causes, the ways and means leading up to it, but not the captivity itself. “Whatever consent, then, the soul may give unto sin, which is the means of this captivity, it gives none to the captivity itself; that is against the will wholly.” This leads to the following.

The power of indwelling sin is great. We see this in how the will strives to be free from it. If the will faced no opposition from indwelling sin, or if the opposition was weak, then there would be no great evidence of its captivating power. But the persistent striving and resistance against the diligence, activity and watchfulness of the individual’s will is evidence of its power. The result is a variety of ways by which the soul is successfully held captive.

And there are several degrees of the success of the law of sin in the soul. Sometimes it carries the person unto outward actual sin, which is its utmost aim; sometimes it obtaineth the consent of the will, but is cast out by grace, and proceeds no farther; sometimes it wearies and entangles the soul, that it turns aside, as it were, and leaves contending,—which is a success also. One or more, or all of these, must be, where captivity takes place.

What could be a more wretched state than this condition? All captivity is dreadful, but its greatest aggravation stems from the condition of the tyrant to whom any one is enslaved. When the soul is graced with a loathing of sin, with a hatred of the least discrepancy between itself and the will of God, what could be worse than being held captive by this law of sin? This condition is then peculiar to believers.

Unregenerate men are not said to be led captive to the law of sin. They may, indeed, be led captive unto this or that particular sin or corruption,—that is, they may be forced to serve it against the power of their convictions. They are convinced of the evil of it,—an adulterer of his uncleanness, a drunkard of his abomination,—and make some resolutions, it may be, against it; but their lust is too hard for them, they cannot cease to sin, and so are made captives or slaves to this or that particular sin. But they cannot be said to be led captive to the law of sin, and that because they are willingly subject thereunto. It hath, as it were, a rightful dominion over them, and they oppose it not, but only when it hath irruptions to the disturbance of their consciences; and then the opposition they make unto it is not from their wills, but is the mere acting of an affrighted conscience and a convinced mind. They regard not the nature of sin, but its guilt and consequences. But to be brought into captivity is that which befalls a man against his will; which is all that shall be spoken unto this degree of the actings of the power of sin, manifesting itself in its success.

Lastly is the rage and madness that stems from the opposition of the law of sin to God and the law of his will. The Preacher said there is evil and madness in the human heart while we live (Ecclesiastes 9:3). This evil is the result of indwelling sin. It seems to consist of a violent, persistent pursuit of evil or sin. “It is the tearing and torturing of the soul by any sin to force its consent and to obtain satisfaction.”

It riseth up in the heart, is denied by the law of grace, and rebuked;—it returns and exerts its poison again; the soul is startled, casts it off;—it returns again with new violence and importunity; the soul cries out for help and deliverance, looks round about to all springs of gospel grace and relief, trembles at the furious assaults of sin, and casts itself into the arms of Christ for deliverance. And if it be not able to take that course, it is foiled and hurried up and down through the mire and filth of foolish imaginations, corrupt and noisome lusts, which rend and tear it, as if they would devour its whole spiritual life and power.

Ordinarily it does not rise up to these heights. “Though sin be always a fire in the bones, yet it flames not unless Satan come with his bellows to blow it up.” It is provoked and heightened by some great temptation, building upon some previous sin. Sin does not reach this height of madness at its first assault. “The great wisdom and security of the soul in dealing with indwelling sin is to put a violent stop unto its beginnings, its first motions and actings.” If it gains entrance to the soul and finds any reception, it gains strength and power.

The effects produced by this rage and madness include casting off—for a time—the yoke or rule of the government of the Spirit and the law of grace. Remember that where grace has dominion, it can never be fully dethroned. It will still keep its right and sovereignty, “but its influences may for a season be intercepted” by the power of sin. In this case, sin is like an untamed horse that casts off its rider and runs away. Owen then encouraged his readers to consider how this was done.

The seat and residence of grace is in the soul—the whole inner person—including the mind, will and affections. The whole person is a “new creature,” (2 Corinthians 5:17). “Its rule or dominion is the pursuit of its effectual working in all the faculties of the soul, as they are one united principle of moral and spiritual operations.” So then interrupting the rule or dominion of grace must consist of the faculties and affections of the soul acting contrary to how they act when they are ruled by grace.

Sin darkens the mind. It enflames the affections, “heated with the noisome lusts that have laid hold on them.” It weakens the will’s ability to obey the law of grace, and then renders it useless by “the continual solicitations of sin and temptation.” First the will lets go of its hold and debates whether it should yield or not; at last giving up to its adversary. It then takes away the power of self control, of considering the consequences of your actions.

And for the affections, commonly the beginning of this evil is in them. They cross one another, and torture the soul with their impetuous violence. By this way is the rule of the law of grace intercepted by the law of sin, even by imposing upon it in the whole seat of its government. When this is done, it is sad work that sin will make in the soul.

Turning to Paul’s exhortation in Romans 6:12, Owen warned his readers to not let sin reign in their bodies, to make them obey its lusts. Be careful to not let it get dominion over you even for a moment. The rage and madness of sin neutralizes your self-control, your ability to consider the consequences of what you are about to do. Secretly resolved to accomplish their lusts, they despised what God could do for them, even though it costs them their souls. Thus is the captivating power of indwelling sin.

09/7/18

Walk Humbly Before God

Photo by ajay bharjav GUDURU from Pexels CCO license

In chapter five of Indwelling Sin in Believers, John Owen described how “Aversion to Holiness” was part of our continuing enmity against God. He said where there is mutual enmity there is mutual “aversation,” an older term for intense aversion. He described its meaning as a turning from God and all things associated with Him in disgust. Then in chapter six he begins to unpack how enmity against God was seen in opposition to God and his law. “Where there is enmity, there will be fighting; it is the proper and natural product of it.”

The force of indwelling sin is first seen in its general inclination to lust after things opposed to God and his law (Galatians 5:17). These cravings are not just physical as with drunkenness. They also exist in the mind (Ephesians 2:3)—“the faculties and affections of the soul.” When an individual is in this lustful state of mind, every intention of their heart is set continuously on evil (Genesis 6:5).

It is in the heart like poison that hath nothing to allay its venomous qualities, and so infects whatever it touches. And where the power and dominion of it is broken, yet in its own nature it hath still an habitual propensity unto that which is evil, wherein its lusting doth consist.

Owen likened indwelling sin to a river. While its springs and fountains are open, its water flows continually. If you merely try to restrict it with a dam, it will rise and swell until it overflows its banks. But if you dry up the springs that feed the river, what remains may be restrained. However, as long as there is any running water, “It will constantly press upon what stands before it.”

So is it with indwelling sin; whilst the springs and fountains of it are open, in vain is it for men to set a dam before it by their convictions, resolutions, vows, and promises. They may check it for a while, but it will increase, rise high, and rage, at one time or another, until it bears down all those convictions and resolutions, or makes itself an under-ground passage by some secret lust, that shall give a full vent unto it. But now, suppose that the springs of it are much dried up by regenerating grace, the streams or actings of it abated by holiness, yet whilst any thing remains of it, it will be pressing constantly to have vent, to press forward into actual sin; and this is its lusting.

This habitual inclination manifests itself by its readiness “to join and close with every temptation whereby it may possibly be excited.” Just as fire will burn whatever is combustible, temptation will consume anything that may possibly excite it. And not only does the person have to address the outward temptation of sin, but also where it dwells within their own heart. So what is temptation?

It is raising up in the heart, and proposing unto the mind and affections, that which is evil; trying, as it were, whether the soul will close with its suggestions, or how far it will carry them on, though it do not wholly prevail. Now, when such a temptation comes from without, it is unto the soul an indifferent thing, neither good nor evil, unless it be consented unto; but the very proposal from within, it being the soul’s own act, is its sin. And this is the work of the law of sin,—it is restlessly and continually raising up and proposing innumerable various forms and appearances of evil, in this or that kind, indeed in every kind that the nature of man is capable to exercise corruption in. Something or other, in matter, or manner, or circumstance, inordinate, unspiritual, unanswerable unto the rule, it hatcheth and proposeth unto the soul.

Not only does indwelling sin stir up lusts by proposing “inordinate figments” to the will, it also seeks to assault the soul and rule over it. Referring to Romans 7:23, Owen said there seems to be two laws within us—the law of sin and the law of grace. “But contrary laws cannot both obtain sovereign power over the same person, at the same time.” So they war against each other. The law of sin will oppose the general purpose and course of the law of grace within the believer and it will oppose particular duties.

The general purpose and course of the believer’s heart is to walk in universal conformity to the Spirit of Christ in all things. Yet we also see where we falter in the pursuit of this purpose. The frame of the heart is changed. Its affections are entangled; there are eruptions of unbelief and distempered passions. Carnal wisdom and all its manifestations are set to work. “And all this is from the rebellion of this law of sin, stirring up and provoking the heart unto disobedience.”

We cannot walk according to the law of grace “because of the contrariety and rebellion of this law of sin.” It opposes everything commanded by or approved by the law of grace. Not only does indwelling sin oppose the law of grace; it also assaults to soul. It attempts to rule over us. And this warfare consists of the following things.

It attacks the soul by stirring up sin by “the vanity of the mind,” or “the sensuality of the affections” or the folly of the imaginations.”
It attacks the soul “when the law of grace is not actually putting it on duty.” It will relentlessly attack again and again.

Rebuke them by the power of grace; they withdraw for a while, and return again. Set before them the cross of Christ; they do as those that came to take him,—at sight of him they went backwards and fell unto the ground, but they arose again and laid hands on him,—sin gives place for a season, but returns and presseth on the soul again.

It also attacks by entangling the affections and drawing them into a struggle against the mind.

If the law of sin gets a hold upon one or more affections, “it hath gotten a fort from whence it continually assaults the soul.” So the primary duty of mortification of the flesh is directed at the affections: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). If the law of sin can possess any affection, it will make it the base of its assault against the soul.

Now, then, when this law of sin can possess any affection, whatever it be, love, delight, fear, it will make from it and by it fearful assaults upon the soul. For instance, hath it got the love of any one entangled with the world or the things of it, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life?—how will it take advantage on every occasion to break in upon the soul! It shall do nothing, attempt nothing, be in no place or company, perform no duty, private or public, but sin will have one blow or other at it; it will be one way or other soliciting for itself.

Owen said this was the sum of how the law of sin fought and warred against our souls. Reflecting on these things is advantageous to believers, as they will teach us “to walk humbly and mournfully before God.”

11/4/16

Who Will Deliver Me?

The last half of the seventh chapter of Romans (7:13-25) has been a matter of theological debate from the time of the early church. Is Paul describing himself while under the law, before salvation or afterwards—his condition under the grace of salvation? The Puritan author John Owen can shed some light on the passage in his seminal work, Indwelling Sin in Believers. In the first chapter of Indwelling Sin, Owen acknowledged the dispute over how to understand the passage, but quickly declared the apostle was describing the condition of the regenerate person, “with respect to the remaining power of indwelling sin.” As if the title wasn’t a dead giveaway.

Clear thinking on this passage is essential, for we live in a time where there are renewed disputes about how to understand the doctrine of original sin. But before turning to Owen’s work, I want to note some of the biblical arguments for both positions. In his New American Commentary: Romans, Robert Mounce said that both positions could be persuasively argued. In support of Paul writing of his experience before conversion in 7:13-25 are several phrases throughout the passage. Paul said he was “sold under sin” (v. 14). He knew that nothing good dwelt in him (v. 18). He was “captive to the law of sin” (v. 23) and a wretched man in need of deliverance (v. 24).

The dramatic contrast of chapter seven with the victory of chapter eight in Romans is further evidence to argue for a preconversion setting. In chapter seven Paul was crying out for deliverance. In chapter eight, he said a believer was set free from the law of sin and death (v. 8:2) and controlled by the Spirit of God (v. 8:9). Another strong argument for Paul describing his spiritual experience before conversion in chapter seven is the “quagmire of impotence and misery” described there. “How could this be the abundant life that Jesus came to bring (John 10:10)?”

On the other hand, throughout the entire passage (7:13-25) Paul used the present tense—over twenty times. For example, in verse fifteen Paul said: “I do not understand my own actions.” If he was speaking of his life before conversion, would he not have said something like: “I don’t understand what I did.” Then there are statements that seem incompatible with the experience of a nonbeliever, as in verse 22: “For I delight in the law of God in my inner being.” Earlier, in Romans Paul said about those who were outside of Christ although they knew God, they sought to suppress the truth of God (1:18-21). There was no one who was righteous, who seeks God (3:10-12).

Mounce said he thought Paul was revealing his difficulty “meeting the radical demands of the Christian faith.” He used his own experience to describe the inevitability of spiritual defeat when a believer fails to trust in Christ for victory over their indwelling sin. Recognizing our inability to live up to our desire to do what is right (chapter 7), we know that in Christ, we are more than conquerors (chapter 8). “Sanctification is a gradual process that repeatedly takes the believer through this recurring sequence of failure through dependency upon self to triumph through the indwelling Spirit.”

Douglas Moo pointed out that most of the early church fathers thought the verses described a preconversion Paul. However, Augustine had a change of heart that seems to have been at least partly due to his battle with Pelagius over the freedom of the will. We see this in his work, A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians. Augustine wrote this treatise in response to two letters he received from Pope Boniface. One was from Julian and the other from eighteen bishops, including Julian. The letters challenged the catholic faith and attacked Augustine personally. In chapter 22 of book one, Augustine said he once thought that Paul was describing a man under the law (preconversion).

But afterwards I was constrained to give up the idea by those words where he says, “Now, then, it is no more I that do it.” For to this belongs what he says subsequently also: “There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” And because I do not see how a man under the law should say, “I delight in the law of God after the inward man;” since this very delight in good, by which, moreover, he does not consent to evil, not from fear of penalty, but from love of righteousness (for this is meant by “delighting”), can only be attributed to grace.

Almost all of the Reformers, particularly Luther, agreed with Augustine that the passage depicted a believer in Christ. Writing in the century after the Reformation, Owen was clearly influenced by their thought. His opening declaration was:

It is of indwelling sin, and that in the remainders of it in persons after their conversion to God, with its power, efficacy, and effects that we intend to treat. This also is the great design of the apostle to manifest and evince in chap. 7 of the Epistle to the Romans.

Beginning with verse 7:21, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand,” Owen observed four things. First, Paul referred to indwelling sin as “a law.” Second, he experienced this law within himself. Third, despite the inhabitation of this law of sin, the general framework of believers is to do good. And fourth, when the believer would do good, evil is close at hand.

By calling indwelling sin a law, Owen thought Paul meant it was an inward principle that inclines and presses the believer towards actions agreeable and consistent with its own nature, namely that of sin. It is a law in them, but not to them. “Though its rule be broken, its strength weakened and impaired, its root mortified, yet it is a law still of great force and efficacy. There, where it is least felt, it is most powerful.”

In saying he found this law within him, Paul meant that he found it within himself. It is one thing to know in general there is a law of sin. It is entirely another thing to experience the power of the law of sin within your being. Owen saw this experience of the law of sin is the great preservative of divine truth in the soul. When we are taught it from the Scriptures and then find it exists within us, we truly know it. “He shall find the stream to be strong who swims against it, though he who rolls along with it be insensible of it.”

Notwithstanding the indwelling of the law of sin, the habitual inclination of believers is towards good. “There is, and there is through grace, kept up in believers a constant and ordinarily prevailing will of doing good, notwithstanding the power and efficacy of indwelling sin to the contrary.” Good things come from the good treasures of the heart. But you can only see the evidence of this disposition by its fruits. “A will of doing good without doing good is but pretended.”

Whenever a believer would do good, they should consider two things. While there is a gracious principle residing within the will, there is also a contrary principle inclined towards evil. So then, “Indwelling sin is effectually operative in rebelling and inclining to evil, when the will of doing good is in a particular manner active and inclining unto obedience.”

So this is a description of the person who is a believer and a sinner. And “everyone who is the former is the latter also.” Their actions and operations are implied in these expressions: “When I want to do right, evil lies close at hand” (Romans 7:21); and: “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:17).

Owen then concluded his first chapter for Indwelling Sin as follows:

Awake, therefore, all of you in whose hearts is any thing of the ways of God! Your enemy is not only upon you, as on Samson of old, but is in you also. He is at work, by all ways of force and craft, as we shall see. Would you not dishonour God and his gospel; would you not scandalize the saints and ways of God; would you not wound your consciences and endanger your souls; would you not grieve the good and holy Spirit of God, the author of all your comforts; would you keep your garments undefiled, and escape the woeful temptations and pollutions of the days wherein we live; would you be preserved from the number of the apostates in these latter days;—awake to the consideration of this cursed enemy, which is the spring of all these and innumerable other evils, as also of the ruin of all the souls that perish in this world!

So John Owen and Augustine see Paul speaking of life after conversion. Douglas Moo and others see him remembering his life before conversion. Personally, I find truth in both positions. Experientially, the truth of Owen’s metaphor of swimming against the stream rings true for me. Awareness of the stream of indwelling sin and the strength of its current within me is stronger now than before my conversion. But unconverted, that same stream would have swept me faster downstream, though I was insensible to it. Whether preconversion or postconversion, the answer is still the same: “Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

A digital copy of Owen’s work, Indwelling Sin in Believers, is available here.

Faith Seeking Understanding

Charles Sigler, D.Phil.

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