Sunday, March 12, 2006

Quote for Thought - John Owen

"The choicest believers, who are assuredly freed from the condemning power of sin, ought yet to make it their business all their days to mortify the indwelling power of sin...Mortification from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, unto the end of a self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world." - John Owen from "Temptation and Sin"

4 comments:

Ben said...

So, is it just me, or is he contradicting himself? What exactly is he advocating?

Nathan Wells said...

No, not if I had quoted more - he is talking about the efficient cause of the mortification of believers.

Here's more:

"The principal efficient cause of the performance of this duty is the Spirit: [GREEK] -- " If by the Spirit." The Spirit here is the Spirit mentioned verse 11, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God, that "dwells in us," verse 9, that "quickens us," verse 11; "the Holy Ghost," verse 14;1 the "Spirit of adoption," verse 15; the Spirit "that maketh intercession for us," verse 26. All other ways of mortification are vain, all helps leave us helpless; it must be done by the Spirit."

Ben said...

So, what's the difference between doing it yourself and doing it by the Spirit?

Nathan Wells said...

Let me think about that before I reply - to be honest for me, that is a hard question and one that I cannot rattle off the top of my head.