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by
John MacArthur
All Rights Reserved
This message was published in The Master's Seminary Journal (TMSJ)
A copy of the
Journal,
and information concerning subscriptions can be obtained by writing:
The Master's Seminary Journal, 13248 Roscoe Blvd., Sun Valley, CA 91352
TMSJ 5/1 (Spring 1994) 3-22
It is puzzling how a Christian who has experienced liberation from
sin's dominion can at times give in to temptation in his daily life. The OT
account of Agag and the Amalekites is a good illustration of how Christians
should deal with sin. They should not try to co-exist with it, but should
remove it completely. Saul partially obeyed God's directive, but Samuel
obeyed it to the letter by killing King Agag. Christians obey God's command
to mortify sin by living a life in the Spirit and not acknowledging any
obligation to the flesh. Consistent effort to mortify sin in the body comes
through a life lived in the Spirit. Mortification is the believer's
responsibility and includes such responsibilities as abstaining from fleshly
lusts, making no provision for the flesh, fixing one's heart on Christ,
meditating on God's Word, praying incessantly, exercising self-control, and
being filled with the Spirit. Covering up sin, internalizing it, exchanging
it for another sin, or merely repressing it do not equate to sin's
mortification. Continuously and uncompromisingly removing sin--resulting in a
conscience free from guilt--is what the process entails.
And herein lies no small part of its power. . . . It
is never quiet, [whether it is] conquering [or] conquered.
Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it
whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will
be killing you.
John Owen[2]
God's Anger Against Amalek
An OT illustration may help to shed light on the Christian's relationship
to sin. In 1 Samuel 15, Samuel anointed Saul and solemnly gave him these
instructions from the Lord: "Now go and strike Amalek and utterly
destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and
woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey" (v. 3).[3]
God's command was clear. Saul was to deal ruthlessly with the Amalekites,
killing even their infant children and animals. Their whole tribe was to be
utterly and mercilessly leveled--no hostages taken.
What would cause a God of infinite love to mete out such a severe
judgment? The Amalekites were an ancient nomadic race, descendants of Esau
(Gen 36:12). They inhabited the southern part of Canaan and were perennial
enemies of the Israelites. They were the same tribe that viciously attacked
Israel at Rephidim shortly after the Exodus, in the famous battle when Aaron
and Hur had to support Moses' arms (Exod 17:8-13). They ambushed Israel from
behind, massacring the stragglers who were most weary (Deut 25:18). It was a
cowardly attack by the most powerful and savage tribe in the whole region.
God supernaturally delivered Israel that day, and the Amalekites fled into
hiding. At the conclusion of that skirmish, God swore to Moses, "I will
utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven" (v. 14). He
actually made it a point of the Mosaic law that Israel was to destroy
Amalek:
God's anger burned against the Amalekites for their wickedness. He
constrained even the corrupt prophet Balaam to prophesy their doom:
"Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end shall be
destruction" (Num 24:20). The Amalekites used to harass Israel by
coming into the land after crops had been sown and moving through the
farmland with their tents and livestock, razing everything in their path
(Judg 6:3-5). They hated God, detested Israel, and seemed to delight in
wicked and destructive acts.
God's instructions to Saul, therefore, fulfilled the vow He swore to
Moses. Saul was to wipe out the tribe forever. He and his armies were the
instrument through which a righteous God would carry out His holy judgment
on a sinister people.
The Folly of Partial Obedience
But Saul's obedience was only partial. He inflicted a crushing defeat
upon the Amalekites, routing them "from Havilah as you go to Shur,
which is east of Egypt" (1 Sam 15:8). As commanded, he killed all the
people, but "he captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive"
(v. 8).
Why did Saul spare Agag? Perhaps he wanted to use the humiliated king of
the Amalekites as a trophy to display his own power. Saul seemed motivated
only by pride at this point; he even set up a monument to himself at Carmel
(v. 12). Whatever his reasons, he disobeyed the clear command of God and
allowed Agag to live.
The sin was so serious that God immediately deposed Saul and his
descendants forever from the throne of Israel. Samuel told him,
"Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected
you from being king" (v. 23).
Then Samuel said, "Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites"
(v. 32).
Agag, evidently thinking that his life had been spared and feeling pretty
confident, "came to him cheerfully." "Surely the bitterness
of death is past," he said.
But Samuel was not amused. He told Agag, "As your sword has made
women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women."
Scripture simply says, "And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the Lord
at Gilgal" (v. 33).
The human mind instinctively recoils at what seems to be a merciless act.
But it was God who commanded this to be done. This was an act of
divine judgment to show the holy wrath of an indignant God against wanton
sin. Unlike his countrymen and their king, Samuel was determined to carry
out the Lord's command entirely. As it was, the battle intended to
exterminate the Amalekites forever ended before the goal was reached.
Scripture records that only a few years later, the reinvigorated tribe
raided the southern territory and took all the women and children captive--including David's family (1 Sam 30:1-5).
When David found the marauding Amalekites, "behold, they were spread
over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great
spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land
of Judah" (v. 16). He slaughtered them from twilight until the next
evening, killing all but four hundred who escaped on camels (v. 17).
The Amalekites are a perfect illustration of the sin that remains in the
believer's life. That sin--already utterly defeated at the cross--must be
dealt with ruthlessly and hacked to pieces, or it will revive and continue
to plunder and pillage his heart and sap his spiritual strength. He cannot
be merciful with his Agag, or indwelling sin will turn and try to devour
him. In fact, the sin remaining in Christians often becomes more fiercely
determined after the gospel initially overthrows it.
Scripture commands believers to deal with their sin by putting it to
death:
Life in the Spirit
In Rom 8:13 Paul also wrote of "putting to death the deeds of the
body." After declaring victory over sin in Romans 6, then describing
the ongoing struggle with sin in chap. 7, he describes the triumphant
experience of life in the Spirit throughout chap. 8. In the middle of that
chapter, the apostle declares that the distinctive behavior of those who are
led by the Spirit is that they continually put their evil deeds to
death.
It is significant that the Holy Spirit is mentioned only once in the
introduction to the epistle (1:4, "the Spirit of holiness"), and
not mentioned again until Rom 8:1. In Romans 8 alone there are at least
twenty references to the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8 portrays the Holy Spirit as the divine agent who frees believers
from sin and death (vv. 2-3), enables them to live righteously (4-13),
assures and comforts them in their affliction (14-19), preserves and
sustains them in Christ (20-28), and guarantees their final victory in
eternal glory (29-39). Right in the context of this profound teaching about
the Holy Spirit's role in the Christian's life, Paul has some important
things to say about mortifying sin. He begins by contrasting life in the
Spirit with life in the flesh and under the law. It is important to
understand these truths in their proper context:
In other words, there are only two kinds of people in the world--those who
are in accord with the flesh and those who are in accord with the Spirit. Of
course, there are in-the-Spirit people at many different levels of spiritual
maturity. In-the-flesh people also come in varying degrees of wickedness.
But everyone is either "in the flesh" (v. 8) or "in the
Spirit" (v. 9). There is no category called "in between."
What Paul suggests is that the Holy Spirit changes a person's basic
disposition when he is born again. He brings him into accord with Himself.
He actually indwells him (vv. 9, 11). Christians become partakers of the
divine nature (2 Pet 1:4). Their orientation to God changes. Where there was
enmity, there is now love (cf. Rom 8:28). In the flesh they could not please
God (v. 8), but now the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in
them (v. 4). Central to all of this is the reality that their whole mind-set
is new. Whereas the mind set on the flesh meant death, the mind set on the
things of the Spirit results in life and peace (v. 6).
If your mind-set--the fundamental orientation of your understanding, its
bent, its thought patterns--did not change when you made a profession of
faith in Christ, something is seriously wrong. That is not to suggest that
Christians cannot fall into old patterns and habits. But it does mean
that now that they are "in the Spirit," their thoughts toward God,
sin, and righteousness are radically different from when they were "in
the flesh." They have new holy affections and longings for godliness.
They have a love for God that transcends their attachment to this world (Jas
4:4). They can no longer blithely "indulge the flesh in its corrupt
desires" (2 Pet 2:10). They no longer have anything in common with
those "who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in
heaven" (Phil 3:19-20). And it is toward heaven that their minds are
now inclined. They set their minds on the things of the Spirit (Rom 8:5).
Even when they fail or fall to earthly temptations, they "joyfully
concur with the law of God in the inner man" (7:22). That is their
basic orientation and mind-set.
In contrast, "the mind set on the flesh is death" (v. 6). Paul
does not say that the mind set on the flesh causes death. He declares
that it is death. The state of mind that is dominated by fleshly
desires is a condition of spiritual death. In other words, those whose
thoughts and desires are altogether fleshly are already "dead in
[their] trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1). This cannot be a description of
the true believer in Christ.
Christians are no longer "in the flesh": "You are not in
the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But
if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to
Him" (Rom 8:9). The Greek word for "dwells" is okv
(oike), which means "I inhabit." Paul says that the very
Spirit of God indwells every person who trusts in Jesus Christ. The Spirit
is in believers, and they are "in the Spirit." They are not
"in the flesh."
Death in the Physical Body
But they are still "of flesh," and therefore their physical
bodies deteriorate and die. The germ of death inhabits them all. Because of
the curse of sin, they begin to die as soon as they are born.
For the Christian, however, this earthly life has more than death:
"If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the
spirit is alive because of righteousness" (v. 10). In other words, the
human body is subject to death (and is already dying) because of sin, but
the believer's spirit is already alive in Christ. Eternal life is his
present possession. Though the body is dying, the spirit is already endowed
with incorruptibility.
In v. 10 the word "body" clearly refers to the actual physical
body (not the flesh-principle), and the expression "dead" speaks
of physical death. Notice that vv. 10 and 11 use the word "body"
(sma [s_ma]) instead of "flesh" (srj [sarx])--the
word Paul used throughout the first nine verses. By contrasting "the
body" and "the spirit" in this way, he makes his meaning
inescapable. In verse 10, "the spirit is alive" refers to the
human spirit, the immaterial part of man's being. The body may be dying
because of sin, but the believer's spirit is fully alive and thriving
"because of righteousness"--because he is justified and therefore
already has "passed out of death into life" (John 5:24). Paul
simply says here what he also told the Corinthians, "Though our outer
man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day" (2 Cor
4:16).
In fact, the indwelling Spirit also promises "life to [our] mortal
bodies" in a future resurrection with a glorified body (v. 11).
Paul's point is that the body apart from the Spirit of God has no future.
It is subject to death. Therefore the Christian has no duty to the mortal
side of his being:
Paul once more draws the line of distinction as clearly as possible
between Christians and non-Christians. He is by no means warning believers
that they might lose their salvation if they live according to the flesh. He
has already made the point that true believers do not and cannot live
in accord with the sin principle (vv. 4-9). Besides, Paul began this chapter
with the statement, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus" (8:1). He will end it with the promise that
nothing can separate Christians from the love of God in Christ Jesus (vv.
38-39). A warning of the possibility of falling away would contradict the
very purpose for which he was writing.
Paul simply reiterates what he says again and again throughout his NT
epistles--that those whose lives and hearts are altogether fleshly are not
true Christians. They are already spiritually dead (v. 6), and unless they
repent, they are headed for eternal death. Meanwhile, their earthly lives
are a kind of abject bondage to sin. They are enslaved to their own flesh,
constrained to cater to its sensual desires.
What Is Mortification?
Christians, on the other hand, have a different obligation--not to the
flesh, but to the new principle of righteousness embodied in the Holy
Spirit. Therefore they labor by the power of the Spirit to mortify sin in
the flesh--to "[put] to death the deeds of the body." If you do
this, he says, "you will live" (v. 13).
Of course, Paul does not suggest that anyone can obtain life or merit
God's favor by the process of mortification. He is saying it is
characteristic of true believers that they put to death the deeds of the
body. Nothing is more natural than for people "led by the Spirit of
God" (v. 14) to mortify their sin. One of the proofs of their salvation
is that they do this. It is expected of them. It is the expression of their
new nature.
In other words, the true believer is not like Saul, who wanted to pamper
and preserve Agag, but like Samuel who hacked him to pieces without mercy
and without delay. Saul may have wanted to make a lap dog of Agag, but
Samuel knew that was utterly impossible. Similarly, a believer will never
tame his flesh. He cannot mollycoddle his sin. He must deal with it quickly
and severely.
It was Jesus who said,
The language is often misunderstood. Paul is not calling for a life of
self-flagellation. He does not say believers should starve themselves, wear
camel-hair shirts, or deprive themselves of life's basic needs. He is not
telling them to mutilate themselves or live monastic lives or anything of
the sort. The mortification Paul speaks of has nothing to do with external
self-punishment. It is a spiritual process accomplished "by the
Spirit."
Paul is describing a way of life where Christians seek to throttle sin
and crush it from their lives, sapping it of its strength, rooting it out,
and depriving it of its influence. That is what it means to mortify sin.
How Does a Christian Mortify Sin?
Mortification involves the cultivation of new habits of godliness,
combined with the elimination of old sinful habits from one's behavior. It
is a constant warfare that takes place within the believer. Although a
Christian should expect his triumph over sin to be ever-increasing, his
mortification can never be wholly complete before he is glorified. He is to
remain perpetually committed to this task. He must see sin as a sworn enemy,
and commit himself to slaying it wherever and whenever it rears its head.
Obviously, mortification is the work of believers only. Unbelievers are
called to repent and flee to Christ. Those still enslaved to sin have no
means by which to put sin to death. The Holy Spirit--the agent of
mortification--does not indwell them. Their only hope is the salvation
offered to those who will trust Jesus Christ and entrust themselves to Him.
No one can mortify sin who is not "in Christ" and "in the
Spirit."
Scripture offers several practical means whereby believers can mortify
their sin. Their growth in grace depends on their obedience to these duties.
None of them is a fleshly or mechanical formula. They are not religious
activities or rituals. John Owen observed that most of the Roman Catholic
religious system consists of
Abstain from fleshly lusts. Peter wrote, "Beloved, I urge you
as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war
against the soul" (1 Pet 2:11). In other words, stop lusting. Abstain
from it. Stay away from it. "Flee immorality" (1 Cor 6:18). What
could be more direct?
Do you want to put to death the lusts in your heart? Then stop
entertaining them. Peter does not prescribe a program of therapy. He does
not suggest that it be treated as an addiction. He simply says abstain. Quit
doing it. You have no business indulging such thoughts. Put them away at
once. You yourself must do this; it cannot be done for you. There is
no point waiting for some heavenly power to erase this sin automatically
from your life. You are to stop it, and stop it immediately. Martyn
Lloyd-Jones said,
Now that teaching is also often put like this: you must say to a man
who is constantly defeated by a particular sin, "I think your only
hope is to take it to Christ and Christ will take it from you." But
what does Scripture say in Ephesians 4:28 to the man who finds himself
constantly guilty of stealing, to a man who sees something he likes and
takes it? What am I to tell such a man? Am I to say, "Take that sin
to Christ and ask him to deliver you?" No, what the apostle Paul
tells him is this: "Let him that stole, steal no more." Just
that. Stop doing it. And if it is fornication or adultery or lustful
thoughts, again: Stop doing it, says Paul. He does not say, "Go and
pray to Christ to deliver you." No. You stop doing that, he says, as
becomes children of God.[7]
Make no provision for the flesh. In Rom 13:14 Paul writes,
"Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in
regard to its lusts." In other words, simply refuse to accommodate
fleshly lusts. If you struggle with gluttony, stop loading up on junk food
when you shop at the market. If you are tempted with sexual desire, refrain
from filling your mind with images that feed your lust. If you do not want
to fall, do not walk where it is slippery. Refuse to furnish your mind with
the means to entertain evil thoughts. Make no preparations for the
possibility of sin. Thus you can slay sin before it breeds.
Fix your heart on Christ. The apostle John wrote, "We know
that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just
as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just
as He is pure" (1 John 3:2-3). It is an inexorable spiritual law that
you become like the object of your worship. Psalm 135 says,
Meditate on God's Word. The psalmist wrote, "Thy word I have
treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee" (Ps 119:11).
The Lord told Joshua,
Jesus prayed, "Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth"
(John 17:17). The truth of God's Word is the medium the Holy Spirit uses in
sanctification. Load your mind with it. Fill your heart with it. Ponder it
carefully and let it direct your walk.
Pray without ceasing. On the night Jesus was betrayed, He took His
disciples with Him to Gethsemane and told them, "Pray that you may not
enter into temptation" (Luke 22:40). Later He found them sleeping and
rebuked them for their prayerlessness. He told them, "Keep watching and
praying, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but
the flesh is weak" (Matt 26:41).
"Lead us not into temptation" was part of the model prayer He
gave the disciples (Luke 11:4). Prayer is an effective and necessary means
for heading off sinful temptations before they can attack. Look at
prayer as a preemptive strike against fleshliness. By drawing a believer
near to the Lord and focusing his thoughts on Him, prayer both steels
against fleshly temptation and weakens the temptations when they come.
Watch and pray. Identify the circumstances that lead you into sin, and
pray specifically for strength to face those situations. Pray for a holy
hatred of sin. Pray that God will show you the real state of your sinful
heart. The psalmist prayed this prayer for sanctification:
Exercise self-control. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal
5:23)--and it is also one of the means through which the Spirit enables
Christians to mortify the deeds of the body. Paul wrote,
Paul does not speak of punishing the body through self-flagellation or
neglect. He certainly does not advocate anything that would physically
weaken or injure the body. No athlete would do such things.
The present writer once met a man who wore a belt studded with nails that
constantly tore at his flesh. He felt he was punishing his body and atoning
for his own sins. Many misguided people over the ages have attempted similar
means to deal with the body. Martin Luther as a young monk almost destroyed
his body with excessive fasting before he discovered that God's Word says,
"The just shall live by faith" (Rom 1:29). In the Philippines at
Easter each year, there are men who actually have themselves crucified in a
bloody ritual that they believe makes them holy.
That is not at all the spirit of what Scripture calls for. It is a
watchful self-discipline that refuses to pander to the appetites of the body
at the soul's expense. Jesus said, "Be on guard, that your hearts may
not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of
life, and [the Day of the Lord] come on you suddenly like a trap" (Luke
21:34).
Be filled with the Holy Spirit. "Do not get drunk with wine,
for that is dissipation," Paul wrote, "but be filled with the
Spirit" (Eph 5:18). To be Spirit-filled is to be controlled by the Holy
Spirit, just as to be drunk is to be under the influence of alcohol.
Believers are to be utterly yielded to the Spirit's control.
This brings the discussion full circle to its beginning in Rom 8:13.
Christians mortify sin "by the Spirit." It is the Holy Spirit's
power in them that actually does the work of mortification in those who
yield to Him. Once again, however, it is emphatically true that this does
not mean they are passive in the process. As John Owen wrote,
There are many more duties related to mortifying sin--such as clothing
oneself with humility (1 Pet 5:5), having the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5),
putting away spiteful feelings toward others (Eph 4:31-32), putting on the
armor of God (Eph 6:11-17), laying aside sinful attitudes (Col 3:8-9),
adding the graces of spiritual growth to one's life (2 Pet 1:5-7), following
the know, reckon, yield, obey, serve pattern of Romans 6. This basic
category of being filled with the Spirit encompasses all of these.
It is really as simple as this: "Walk by the Spirit, and you will
not carry out the desire of the flesh" (Gal 5:16). The fruit of the
Spirit will overgrow and choke out the works of the flesh.
"Let us [therefore] cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor 7:1).
Strike Sin at Its Head
John Owen wrote, "He that is appointed to kill an enemy, if he leave
striking before the other ceases living, doth but half his work."[9] Christians
must be always at the task of mortifying sin. They may slaughter a whole
tribe of Amalekites, but if they deliberately permit one Agag to escape, God
will not be pleased with their efforts.
The flesh is very subtle and deceptive. A particular sin may leave the
believer alone for awhile to make him think he is rid of it. But it can come
back with a hellish fury if he is not on guard. Sin perpetually stalks him;
he must be continually mortifying it. This is a duty he cannot rest from
until he rests in glory.
Give sin an inch, it will take a mile. If it can gain a footing in
Christians' lives, it will send forth roots and grow like kudzu. It will use
them and abuse them and inflict as much disaster as possible. Owen wrote,
Mortification abates [sin's] force, but doth not change its nature.
Grace changeth the nature of man, but nothing can change the nature of
sin. . . . Destroyed it may be, it shall be, but cured it
cannot be. . . . If it be not overcome and destroyed, it
will overcome and destroy the soul.
Every honest Christian will testify that becoming a believer
does not erase the tendency to sin. He still derives pleasure from sin. He
still struggles with sinful habits. Some of those habits are so deeply
ingrained that he still battles them after years of spiritual warfare
against them. He falls into appalling, shameful sins. The truth is, he sins
daily. His thoughts are not what they ought to be. His time is often wasted
on frivolous and worldly pursuits. From time to time his heart grows cold to
the things of God. Why does all this happen if sin's dominion is broken?
Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from
Egypt, how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the
stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear
God. Therefore it shall come about when the LORD your God has given you
rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which the LORD your
God gives you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory
of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget (Deut 25:17-19,
emphasis added).
The Amalekites were fearful warriors. Their intimidating
presence was one of the reasons the Israelites disobeyed God and balked at
entering the Promised Land at Kadesh-barnea (Num 13:29).
Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen,
the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to
destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they
utterly destroyed (v. 9).
In other words, motivated by covetousness, they kept all the
best possessions of the Amalekites, collecting the spoils of victory,
willfully disobeying the Lord's instructions.
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness,
which is idolatry: for which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the
children of disobedience (Col 3:5-6, KJV).
They cannot obey partially or halfheartedly as they seek to
eliminate sin from their lives. They cannot stop while the task remains
incomplete. Sins, like Amalekites, have a way of escaping the slaughter,
breeding, reviving, regrouping, and launching new and unexpected assaults on
their victims' most vulnerable areas.
What the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did:
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for
sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the
Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but
according to the Spirit. Those who are according to the flesh set their
minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the
Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death,
but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on
the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law
of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh
cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit,
if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have
the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. And if Christ is in you,
though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of
righteousness. But 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 indwells you (vv. 3-11,
emphasis added).
In other words, life in the Spirit is markedly different from
the life of the unbeliever. All true Christians are "in the
Spirit." They "do not walk according to the flesh, but according
to the Spirit." Those who walk according to the flesh are unbelievers,
and Paul is quite definite in making that clear: "If anyone does not
have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him" (v. 9). Later he
adds, "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons
of God" (v. 14).
So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live
according to the flesh--for if you are living according to the flesh, you
must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the
body, you will live (Rom 8:12-13).
Again Paul uses the word sarx ("flesh") in the
sense of "sin principle"--and equates it with "the deeds of
the body." If you live in accord with the flesh--if you live in response
to bodily impulses--you "must die."
If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from
you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish,
than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand
makes you stumble, cut it off, and throw it from you; for it is better for
you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to
go into hell (Matt. 5:29-30).
Jesus was not speaking in literal terms, of course, though many
have misunderstood the passage that way. No less than the great theologian
Origen had himself castrated in a misguided effort to fulfill this command
literally. Jesus did not call for self-mutilation, but for
mortification of the deeds of the body. Mortification, in the words of
Puritan John Owen, means that
--The old man,' with his faculties, and properties, his wisdom, craft,
subtlety, strength; this, says the apostle, must be killed, put to death,
mortified,--that is, have its power, life, vigor, and strength, to
produce its effects, taken away by the Spirit. [4]
Rom 8:12-13, the verses where Paul introduces the idea of
mortifying sin, signal a major turning point in the logical thread that runs
through Romans 8. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said,
It is here for the first time, in this chapter, that we come to the
realm of practical application. All we have had up to this point has been
a general description of the Christian--his character, his position. But
now the Apostle has really come explicitly to the doctrine of
sanctification. Here we are told exactly how, in practice, the
Christian becomes sanctified. Or, to state it differently, here we are
told in detail and in practice how the Christian is to wage the battle
against sin.[5]
Paul does not promise immediate freedom from sin's harassment.
He does not describe a crisis-moment sanctification, where the believer is
immediately made perfect. He does not tell the Romans to "let go and
let God" take over while he sits idle. He does not suggest that a
turning-point "decision" will solve the matter once and for all.
On the contrary, he speaks of a continuous struggle with sin, where he is
persistently, perpetually "putting to death the deeds of the
body."
mistaken ways and means of mortification. . . . Their
vows, orders, fastings, penances, are all built on this ground; they are
all for the mortifying of sin. Their preachings, sermons, and books of
devotion, they look all this way.[6]
But sin cannot be annihilated through legalism, monasticism,
pietism, asceticism, pharisaism, celibacy, self-flagellation, confessional
booths, rosary beads, hail Marys, or any other external means. The
instrument of mortification is the Holy Spirit, and His power is the energy
that works in Christians to carry out the process. All the means of
mortification are simple commands of Scripture that they are to obey. The
following will highlight some of the key ones.
I do not know of a single scripture--and I speak advisedly--which tells
me to take my sin, the particular thing that gets me down, to God in
prayer and ask him to deliver me from it and then trust in faith that he
will.
Here is perhaps the most straightforward, obvious means of
mortifying sin: stop doing it. Too many people think they must wait
for an extraordinary experience, a miracle from heaven, a sign from the
Lord, or whatever. They think some special divine intervention is necessary
to free them from a sinful practice or pattern of thinking. No, that is
precisely the error Romans 6 refutes. You are free from sin; now stop
doing it. "Abstain." Reckon yourself dead to sin, and do not do it
anymore. "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (Jas 4:7).
It is as simple as that.
The idols of the nations are but silver and gold, the work of man's
hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they
do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear; nor is there any breath
at all in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, yes,
everyone who trusts in them (vv. 15-18, emphasis added).
If the heathen become like the lifeless gods they worship, how
much more like Christ will Christians become, since they have the Holy
Spirit working to accomplish that very goal? As they fix their hearts on
Christ, they discover their worship has the effect of conforming them to His
image: "But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the
glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to
glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Cor 3:18).
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall
meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according
to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous,
and then you will have success (Josh 1:8).
Do you want to have success in the battle against sin?
Familiarize yourself with the Word of God. Meditate on it "day and
night" (cf. Ps 1:2). Let it be a lamp to your feet and a light to your
path (Ps 119:105). As the truth begins to penetrate your heart and mind, it
will confront and attack your sin.
Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any
excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these
things (Phil 4:8).
"Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you" (Col
3:16). You will discover that "the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God" (Eph 6:17) is the most effective weapon for hacking the
flesh to pieces.
Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back
Thy servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me; then I
shall be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression. Let
the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy
sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer (Ps 19:12-14).
Prayer must include confession and repentance if it is to be
effective in mortifying sin. John wrote, "If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). And the writer of Hebrews says,
"Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace,
that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need"
(Heb 4:16).
Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all
things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an
imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in
such a way, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body and make it my
slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be
disqualified (1 Cor. 9:25-27).
The word "buffet" in that passage is a translation of
the Greek word popizv (hupopiaz), meaning "to strike under the
eye." Athletes discipline their bodies for mere earthly prizes. If they
are willing to do that, should not Christians also be willing to exercise a
similar kind of self-control for the heavenly prize?
He doth not so work our mortification in us as not to keep it still an
act of our obedience. The Holy Ghost works in us and upon us, as we
are fit to be wrought in and upon; that is, so as to preserve our own
liberty and free obedience. He works upon our understandings, wills,
consciences, and affections, agreeably to their own natures; he works
in us and with us, not against us or without
us; so that his assistance is an encouragement as to the facilitating
of the work, and no occasion of neglect as to the work itself.[8]
In other words, it is worth repeated reminders that Christians
cannot abandon their own responsibility and passively wait for God to
mortify sin on their behalf. The Spirit-filled life is an active, vigorous,
working endeavor, where they work out their own salvation with fear and
trembling (Phil 2:12). When they obey, they then discover it is actually God
who is at work in them "both to will and to work for His good
pleasure" (v. 13). God both molds their wills to obey and then gives
them the energy to work according to whatever pleases Him. That is the
Spirit-filled life.
Every unclean thought or glance would be adultery if it could; every
covetous desire would be oppression, every thought of unbelief would be
atheism, might it grow to its head. . . . It proceeds
toward its height by degrees, making good the ground it hath got by
hardness. . . . Now nothing can prevent this but
mortification; that withers the root and strikes at the head of sin every
hour, so that whatever it aims at it is crossed in. There is not the
best saint in the world but, if he should give over this duty, would fall
into as many cursed sins as ever did any of his kind.10