Jeremiah 6, verse 14, “They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.” This verse, in its context deals with the nation of Israel and their turning away from the commands of the Lord. But a closer reading finds that this is chiefly directed at the leaders of the nation, those charged with teaching the nation the commands of the Lord. Looking back at verse 13, we see that the Lord, through the prophet Jeremiah, condemns them all, “from the least to the greatest.” All of them dealt falsely, there was no justice in them. Micah 6:8 reveals that the Lord “required justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.” These were not suggestions that the nation of Israel could take or leave, they were commands that were to be obeyed. Because the leaders in Jeremiahs time were soft on sin, the entire nation slowly fell into corruption. Much can be said of a comparison to the times we live in.
Now, I know that some will say that we live in the age of grace and the nation of Israel was under the law and hasn’t Christ freed us from the bondage of the law? Yes He has. But if you think that the law was abolished and done away with, then I suggest that you do not know much about the holiness, righteousness and justice of the sovereign God of heaven, not to mention the fact that He doesn’t change. Ephesians 2:10 states, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” God, through the mystery of our union with Christ, has ordained that we walk in good works. Works that He ordained before the foundation of the world.
What are these good works? Justice, love, mercy, humbleness, compassion, gentleness……and the list could go on and on and on. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law of God, he came to fulfill it, something we in our sinful nature could never do. If we have been saved, truly saved, we will realize that not only do we abhor sin, but we want to fulfill the Law. That is God writing His law on our heart! Will you or I succeed in fulfilling God’s law? Not in this life. Oh, and on a side note, I have met people who have told me that they do find a way to fulfill God’s law on a regular and consistent basis. I even had one gentleman tell me, without even batting an eye or showing any shame whatsoever, that he could go days without sinning. Pffffff……. That is a man who has no idea the depth of his sin, nor the holiness of God.
So, if we do know God, we will get a sense of His holiness and the depth of our sin and realize that there is a great gulf that no human could ever cross in his own works. It is only in Christ’s absolute obedience to the entire Law of God, and his death on the cross, where Gods just wrath was poured out, to the last drop, on his Son, that the gulf that separated us from God was bridged. Because of that perfect sacrifice, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
When this “peace with God” floods our soul, it isn’t long before we realize that while we have peace with God, a battle still rages. That battle is sin. Unfortunately it has been my observation that many pastors, and laity as well, do nothing to look into the battle with sin. Instead, pithy little slogans are preached, “Let go and let God,” or “it’s ok, no one is perfect,” or “just be controlled by the Spirit.” But in the end, if we truly understand the scriptures, we will understand that as a new creature, a new creation, we WILL bring forth fruit. Using the analogy in John 15, Christ is the vine who will supply the life giving nutrients for the fruit that we will bear. Fruit will be born of us, but it will not be “our” fruit, but we will be the conduit through which Christ displays that fruit. And at this point, it’s easy to say, “well then, sir, all I have to do is let God do the work.” Yes, you do, but Christ also said that we are to strive to enter the narrow gate in Luke 12:24. We are to strive to overcome all sinful tendencies, which will show the world who we belong to.
Having dwelt on this for quite some time, I have come to the conclusion that sin, in my own life, is a putrid, horrific thing. And yes, I use words that put sin in a very bad light, but, since I am surrounded by nothing but sin, I cannot even begin to grasp the utter sinfulness of sin as seen from God’s perspective. Paul himself could find no worse word for sin, than sin, see Romans 7:13. Yet, when was the last time you heard a sermon or a preacher talk about sin, and it’s sinfulness? When did you last read the Bible and fall under conviction of the horrendous nature of the sin in your own heart when held up to the righteousness of God through His Word? We take sin so lightly. We “heal the wounds of the people lightly,” which was the exact same case in Jeremiahs day.
This is why I consider Owen to be so important and I have embarked on this journey. My hope is that I will better understand the holiness of God, His righteousness, His perfections, as well as see the depths of the sin my flesh wallows in and desires. Am I saved? Most assuredly yes! Am I perfect? Yes, and no……. Perfect in that I am Justified and because of Christs active and passive obedience, I am one with Him. But on the other hand, imperfect in this life because I am captive to this fleshly, sin craving body and have not yet been glorified, Romans 8:28-30. Sanctification has happened, is happening, and will ultimately happen, which is another way of saying, I was saved at a point in time, I am being saved daily, and I will ultimately be saved either when Christ returns, or when I die. So, I need the Gospel every day, every minute, every second, and I need to strive by the power of the Holy Spirit to “be killing sin, or sin will be killing me,” to paraphrase one of Owen’s most famous quotes.
Also, as I blog through my study of The Mortification of Sin by John Owen, I want to mention that I am using the work that Owen originally wrote, as well as supplementing that with another book, Overcoming Sin and Temptation. As my pastor has said about his preaching, you preach from the overflow of the sources you study, I will be using other sources to clarify and better grasp this important work of Owen. I will try and make sure I provide citations and references to them when I use them.
Rated R For Reformed 