I have made two half-hearted attempts to read this book since I got it last year. Somewhere mid the fourth chapter the highlighting stops. I became overwhelmed with trying to understand Owen that I had to give it up. I did this twice. They say the third time’s the charm, right?

Yesterday, I read chapter 1 for the third time. I hope I get it this time.

Owen is laying the foundation with Romans 8:13, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

I’m going to try and break this down:

1. Who? Believers; those who are “now no longer under condemnation” (Romans 8:1)
2. Our Duty: Mortify the deeds of the body
3. Promise: I will live
4. Means: by the Holy Spirit

Though Paul uses an if/then clause, Owen explains that this is not a strict if/then clause because eternal life is the gift of God. It is not a simple cause and effect: you forsake sin, you will live in eternal bliss. It is more likened to the means to the end. “There is a certain infallible connection and coherence between true mortification and eternal life.” The Holy Spirit is the cause and the means.

This duty is only prescribed for believers, “those who are quickened by the Spirit of Christ.” Here’s a great quote from Owen:

On the Holy Spirit as the cause and the means for our duty, this quote stopped me cold:

Mortification from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, unto the end of self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world.

I can think of several Christian programs/books out there that do this very thing when they encourage the signing of pledges, or they offer “steps” for living free of sin, or they encourage you to buy a product/book that promises to help.

What does Paul mean when he says, “Mortify the deeds of the body?”

1. Body = flesh, indwelling sin, corrupted flesh, lust, the old man
2. Deeds = works, outward actions expressed, but inward causes are chiefly intended
3. Mortify = put to death, “take away the principle of all [the old man’s] strength, vigor and power so that he cannot act or exert or put forth any proper actings of his own”

Remember that the old man was crucified with Christ on the cross, “utterly mortified and slain.” I died. Now, I am a new creation. Christ lives in me.

It is my constant duty to mortify my flesh, “but the whole work is by degrees to be carried on toward perfection all our days.” Remember that I should not feel frustrated; progress, though it may be slow, is being made.

The vigor, and power, and comfort of our spiritual life depends on the mortification of the deeds of the flesh.

So, if my spiritual life lacks vigor, power, and comfort, then perhaps there is sin in my life that the Spirit and I must go after and put to death.

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The foundation of Owen’s thought is Romans 8:13, but he does not remove it completely from the rest of Romans 8. He references preceding verses several times. God used these references to comfort me yesterday. It was wonderful to be reminded of who I am in Christ and of God’s promises for me.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:9-11 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.