Mortification and Belief
Posted on Thursday, December 06, 2007 at 1:33 PM by David Zavadil
"Mortification is the soul’s vigorous opposition to self, wherein sincerity is most evident." - John Owen
When we contemplate our position in Christ, why do we most often focus on what we are not instead of what we truly are? Every ounce of my natural man can't stand the thought of puting away sin, of mortifying the old man. I rationalize my sinful attitudes and behaviors by arguing, "At least I am not... or I don't act like ..." I focus on what I am not, failing most often to see who I really am, a blatant sinner. I joyfully confim Romans 3: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and then use the same passage as an argument for why I should not or do not mortify my sin. The thought of mortification is so, pardon the play, mortifying that I yield to the flesh more often than not.
I have been telling the congregation of Eastminster PCA that too many of us are professing Christ but living another way. We talk the talk, but fail to live the walk. What would happen if we truly lived as we profess? We would flee sin, the hatred of sin would be so strong we would be driven to our knees in prayers of confession. My major failure with repect to mortifing sin all revolves around my belief. I give assent to the Scriptures on sin, Christ's forgiveness and my redemption in Christ. My unbelief then leads me to ry to work my way into His good grace or to fail to trust and have faith that God's work will be effective in my life. As I mortify my sinfulness, my faith is challenged, and my faith in Christ is enriched. As I see who I really am, I cannot but run to the Cross. We have all believed the deception that we are not that bad, and no one could be that good. Do I, do you really believe that?
Heb 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
The Great High Priest, knows all that we go through, struggle with, dwell on and harbor deep within. He pours out his grace upon His children, calling us to run to Him. When I mortify my sin, I am stripping myself of an encumbrance keeping me for Jesus. Each sin put aside is a burden lifted giving us more strength for the journey. I wonder what would happen in Churches if we really believed and practiced the mortification of sin. What other areas of our faith would be challenged and increased? If we put our sin to death, would we really believe that we can do all things through Christ who strenthens us? (Phil 4:13)
Posted in Commentary (RSS), Fear of God (RSS)
|