Chapter 4 in the treatise "On the Mortification of Sin" is a watershed chapter in this work. It is the base and foundation for all practicality in this work. It is a short, easy to digest chapter and I hope that I will not give you indigestion from my evaluation of the chapter. I would also encourage you, reader, to meditate upon what is dealt with here. If you can master your soul, your job of mortifying will be that much easier.
At the very beginning of this chapter stands a sentence in italics that changed the way I thought about sin. Owen insists,
That the life, vigour, and comfort of our spiritual life depend much on our mortification of sin...
From these words opened up a new world in considering the state of my soul. If I was not about the work of mortifying sin, sin would be mortifying my spiritual life. However, Owen makes sure that we take this statement in balance and gives three observations:
1. "I do not say they proceed from it, as thought they were necessarily tied to it." You may be very diligent in the work of mortifying sin, but still may never "enjoy a good day of peace and consolation." God is the only one who decides the experiences and enjoyments of the believer. There are even seasons that the Lord puts us through where it seems we are cast from His presence. In these times there is a diligent work about the Gospel, but we are so depressed and cannot see light. Owen says this better when he states,
The use of means for the obtaining of peace is ours; the bestowing of it is God's prerogative.
2. Also, Owen has us remember that mortification is not the immediate cause to spiritual peace, vigour, comfort and life. In fact, Owen has us meditate upon the fact that these are fruits of our adoption in the family of God rather than mortification.
3. However, Owen does say that our spiritual life and strength does depend much on the work of mortification. If you are dispelling darkness and disobedience from your soul, peace, comfort, and spiritual gusto are sure to follow.
Owen now gives us the tools to now see how sin works in our hearts to destroy our spiritual life. Owen says,
Every unmortified sin will certainly do two things: (1) It will weaken the soul, and deprive it of its vigour (2) It will darken the soul, and deprive it of its comfort and peace.
Owen continues this point by illustrating this way, "When David had for a while harbored an unmortified lust in his heart, it "broke all his bones" and left him no spiritual strength; hence he complained that he was sick, weak, wounded, faith (Psalm 38:3)." Unmortified sin weakens the soul in three ways:
First, "It untunes and unframes the heart itself, by entangling its affections." Sin that is dwelling in your heart takes away your longing for God. It bears constantly on your mind to serve "the law of sin." Your affections are no longer tied to God, but to sin. This lust will cause your affections to be bound, not free to love God with "all your heart, soul, strength and mind." Your hunger and thirst for righteousness will be taken away (Matthew 5:6). Your desire to meet with the Lord early will disappear.
Second, "it fills the mind with contrivances about it." Not only are your affections tied up, but it will be all that you think about. The enemy at hand, [as we have seen previously], is constantly seeking to gain control of your soul. He is warring with your soul. He does this by filling your mind with thoughts about sin.
Third, "it actually hinders duty." You should be about worship and labor for God Himself. Rather you labor and serve your sin. This is what causes your soul to be weak. Your soul will only find strength when it is in fellowship with God. Sin destroys this fellowship.
Not only does it weaken the soul, but it darkens it as well. Sin is,
A cloud, a thick cloud, that spreads itself over the face of the soul, and intercepts all the beams of God's love and favour. It takes away all sense of the privilege of our adoption; and if the soul begins to gather up thoughts of consolation, sin quickly scatters them.
Mortification keeps sin from depriving the soul of peace, comfort and strength, but positively it also prunes all the graces of God and makes room for them in our hearts to grow. Think about it. If you desire for a plant to grow tall and strong and produce much fruit, do you allow weeds and waste to cloud and deprive the plant of nutrients? No! You remove all hindrances and allow the rain to water the plant, the sun to shine bright on its leaves, and the nutrients to be soaked in unhindered by outside weeds. Clear the Garden of weeds! Mortify your sin and remove the thick cloud of sin from your affections for God. Allow the Spirit to breathe life into you. Allow the Spirit to give you peace in this life. Sin in your heart will cause you to be between two great dark mountains. You will be unable to feel the warmth that comes from the Father; you will be stranded from His Spirit. Get rid of this sin, and you will experience spiritual life.
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