05. CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 5 MORTIFICATION NEGATIVELY CONSIDERED The principal intent of the whole discourse The primary case of conscience What mortifying a sin is not (negative considerations) It is not completely destroying sin in this life It is not disguising sin It is not improving some natural disposition It is not diverting sin It is not an occasional conquest of sin Occasional conquests of sin, handling its outbreaks; times of danger
Having begun with the general principles of mortification, I come now to handling some practical cases that arise in this business of mortifying sin in believers. The first, which encompasses all the rest, lies under the following proposal: How do we fight indwelling sin in a way that maintains peace in our communion with God?
Suppose a man is a true believer, and yet he discovers a powerful indwelling sin that holds him captive to the law. It consumes his heart with trouble, confuses his thoughts, and weakens his soul with regard to his duties of communion with God. It disquiets his peace. Perhaps it defiles his conscience, and hardens him through the deceitfulness of sin. What can he do? What course can he take to mortify this sin, lust, compulsion, or corruption? Even though the sin is not completely destroyed, how can this man continue his contest with it in a way that maintains power, strength, and peace in his communion with God? In answer to this important inquiry, I will do the following:
Chapters 5 and 6 – The first principle of mortifying sin: show what it means to mortify a sin, both negatively (Chapter 5) and positively (Chapter 6). This is so that we will not be mistaken in laying the foundation for this endeavor.
Chapter 7 – The second principle: The ways and means a soul may use to mortify a particular lust. I will give some general rules for what is absolutely necessary to mortify a sin. The first general rule is to be sure to gain an interest in Christ. If you intend to mortify a sin without relying on Christ, it will never be done
Chapter 8 – The second general rule: lay out how this is to be done. In considering this course of action, it is not the doctrine of mortification in general that I am addressing, but the specific cases proposed.
Chapter 9 – Based on the two principles mentioned, I will give particular directions for guidance when a believer is under the weight of a disquieting lust or compulsion.
I. Mortifying a Sin -
1. Negatively (1.) Mortifying a sin does not mean completely killing it.
It does not root out and destroy it so that it no longer has any hold on us, or no longer resides in our hearts. This is the target, but it will not be accomplished in this life. Every man whose heart is set on mortifying a sin, intends to completely destroy it. He does not want to leave either root or fruit in his heart or in his life. He wants to kill it in such a way that it will never move or stir again. It will never cry or call, seduce or tempt, from now to eternity. He wants it exterminated. Now, by the Spirit and grace of Christ, there may be wonderful success, and an over-riding victory against a sin. He may realize nearly constant triumph over it. Even so, absolutely killing and destroying it should not be expected in this life.
Paul assures us of this fact with his caveat, “It is not as though I had already attained the power of the resurrection, nor had already become perfect.”80 He was a choice saint, a pattern for believers. He was one who in faith, love, and all the fruits of the Spirit, had no equal in the world. On that account, he ascribes perfection to himself in comparison to others, verse 15. He had not yet “attained,” he was not yet “perfect,” but he was “following after.” He still had a corruptible body, just as we have, that must be changed at last by the great power of Christ, verse 21. This is what we want to have. But God thinks it best for us to be complete in nothing by ourselves. In all things we must be “complete in Christ.”81 (2.) Mortifying a sin does not mean disguising the sin. When a man gives up practicing a sin only in some outward respects, others may see him as a changed man. But God knows that he has now added hypocrisy to his former sinfulness, and that he is now on a straighter path to hell than he was before. His heart has only become more cunning. He does not have a new heart that is more holy.
(3.) Mortifying a sin is not changing our natural disposition to a quiet, sedate one.
Some men have an advantage by their natural constitution. They do not have violent and unruly passions as many others do. If such men cultivate and improve their natural state by discipline, consideration, and prudence, then they may seem to be very mortified men, to themselves and to others. In reality their hearts may be a cesspool. Some people may never be bothered by the same kind of anger and unruly passions in a lifetime, that bother someone else every day. And yet the latter may have done more to mortify his sin than the former. They shouldn’t judge their mortification by the things that their natural state gives no life or vigor to. They need to judge themselves by their self-denial, unbelief, envy, or some other spiritual sin. Then they will have a clearer view of themselves.
(4.) Mortifying a sin is not diverting the sin to another outlet.
Simon Magus left his sorcery for awhile, but his covetousness and ambition remained; and so it would have found another release. Therefore Peter tells him, “I see you are filled with bitterness.”82 In effect he is saying, “Despite the profession you made, despite abandoning your sorcery, your lust is as powerful as ever. It is the same lust, only its streams are diverted. It flows another way now, but it is still the old bitterness.” A man may recognize a lust, resolve to prevent its outburst, and take every precaution to ensure it will not break out again. But the same corrupted habit simply vents itself some other way. It is like someone who heals a weeping sore and thinks he’s cured. But his flesh is still infected, and it breaks out in another place. This diversion of sin, with its altered behavior, is often brought about by changes in areas of our life that have nothing to do with grace. A change in our relations, interests, or plans may bring it about. A change in a man’s constitution, brought on by natural progress in the course of his life, may produce such changes. Older men do not usually continue in their pursuit of youthful lusts, even though they never mortified them. It is the same as bartering lusts, leaving one to serve another. A man may exchange pride for worldliness, sensuality for legalism, pride in himself for the contempt of others. He shouldn’t think he mortified a sin just because he abandoned it for another. He has changed his master, but he remains a servant to his sin.
(5.) Mortifying a sin is not getting occasional victories over it.
There are two occasions or seasons when a man who is wrestling with a sin may think he has mortified it:
[1.] It happens when he has a regrettable outburst that rattles his complacency and terrorizes his conscience, It has a potential for scandal, and it obviously provokes God. This is a wakeup call that shocks and startles him. It fills him with disgust for his sin and for himself. This sends him to God, and makes him cry out as for his very life. It stimulates him to abhor his lust like hell itself, and so he sets himself against it. Now that the whole man, both spiritual and natural, has been awakened, sin pulls in its head. It takes a low profile, and seems dead before him. It is like someone who sneaks into an army camp at night and kills an officer. Instantly the guards awake. The men are roused, and a search begins for the enemy. In the meantime, the killer hides himself until the uproar is over, or he lies down like someone who is dead. Yet he is firmly resolved to do the same thing again, as soon as he has an opportunity. When the Corinthians were accused of sin, they quickly mustered themselves to destroy it.83 It is the same way when a person’s conscience has been pierced, perhaps by his lust in an outbreak of actual sin. Caring, indignation, desire, fear, revenge, all with axe in hand, are bent on working against the sin. And so, for a season, the lust is quiet. It has been run to ground like a fox in a hunt. But when the hurry is over and the inquest is past, the thief appears again, alive, and as busy as ever at his work.
[2.] It happens when he is convinced that he has mortified it in the crucible of some judgment, disaster, or pressing hardship. The heart is consumed with thoughts of how to flee from the present troubles, fears, and dangers of his sin. A person convicted in this way, believes he can escape only by relinquishing his sin to gain peace with God. It is the anger of God that disturbs him. To be rid of God’s anger, men resolve to put away their sin. They vow that sin will never again have a place in them. They will never serve it again. Accordingly, the sin is quiet. It does not stir. It seems to be mortified. It is not that it has received a wound. It is merely because the person’s soul has regained its faculties. It asserts itself with thoughts that are inconsistent with the behavior of sin. Once such thoughts are laid aside, sin returns to its former life and vigor. In Psalms, the Israelites provide a good example of this frame of mind: “Despite all this, they continued to sin, and did not believe his wondrous works. Therefore God consumed their days in futility, and their years in trouble. When he killed them, then they sought him. Then they returned to him, and inquired after him early. They remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. Nevertheless they flattered him with their mouth, and they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not right with him, nor were they true to his covenant.”84
I have no doubt that when they sought him, and returned to him, and inquired after God early, they fully intended to relinquish their sins. It is expressed in the word “returned.” To turn or to return to the Lord is done by relinquishing sin. They did this “early,” with earnestness and diligence. And yet, despite all this, their sin was unmortified, verses 36, 37. This can be the state we are in after numerous defeats under trial. This can often lead to a great deception in the hearts of believers when sin remains.
There are many other ways through which people deceive themselves, and assume they have mortified their lusts. They think they are invincible. And then they succumb again and again to sin, bringing upheaval and worry on themselves.