Mortification of any sin must be by a supply of grace. Of ourselves we cannot do it…. Let this, then, be fixed upon thy heart, that if thou hast not relief from him thou shalt never have any. All ways, endeavours, contendings, that are not animated by this expectation of relief from Christ and him only are to no purpose, will do thee no good; yea, if they are any thing but supportments of thy heart, in this expectation, or means appointed by himself for the receiving help from him, they are in vain.
— John Owen
Cited from The Mortification of Sin in Believers in The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold, vol. 6 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, n.d.), 81.
Recently, I came across The Mortification of Sin in Believers by John Owens. Grace supplied by Christ, according to Owens, is the way to bring about mortification. Mortification has to do with the mortifying or putting to death the inner impulses to sin and resisting the external temptations to sin. Christians have been united with Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry out the calling to mortify sin.
John Owen (1616-1683) was an English Puritan minister and prolific author. He served as rector of Fordham, Essex (1642), vicar at Coggeshall (1646), vice chancellor at Oxford (1652-1657), and dean of Christ Church Cathedral (1651-1660). From 1660 onward, Owen ministered as a preacher and writer. He was friend to John Bunyan, who helped in getting published Bunyan’s classic The Pilgrims Progress.
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