Sin & Hell Part 2

(you'll want to read my last post before you read this one)

Okay, then there is preparatory direction number 2 in chapter 10 in Owen's Mortification of Sin:

Get a clear and abiding sense upon your mind and conscience of the guilt, danger, and evil of the sin with which you are troubled. (pp. 65)

Crazy! In the last chapter he said to not fight sin with the law and alluded to the fact that if a man, “cannot fight against it with gospel weapons, it is very evident that sin has control over his will and affections, and has prevailed and conquered. (pp. 60)” It’s important for us to get a grasp on what this means. In the last post, consideration number 4, a dangerous symptom that accompanies a lust is fighting, “against a sin only because of the consequences or penalty of that sin. (pp. 59)” Notice the “only because”. Fighting sin because of its consequences ONLY because of the consequences is not a right and healthy way to fight sin. There are many factors at work. Once Owen lays out some of the complexities he comes back to considering how to fight sin in light of the judgment to come for sin. With that preface in view consider what he wrote in the following:

Danger 4 – The danger of eternal destruction.

To rightly understand this, consider two things:

First, there is a connection between continuing in sin and eternal destruction. God does graciously deliver some from continuing in sin so that they may not be destroyed. However, He will not deliver any from destruction that do indeed continue in sin! For any that lie under the abiding power of sin, the threats of destruction and everlasting separation from God should be held out (Heb. 3:12; 10:38). This is the rule of God’s proceeding – if any man ‘departs’ from Him, ‘shrinks back’ through unbelief, God’s ‘soul has no pleasure in him’; that is, God’s indignation shall pursue him to destruction (Gal. 6:8).

Secondly, he that is so entangled, as described above, is under the power of corruption, and has no clear evidence of participating in the grace of God. Such a one cannot claim any assurance that he is delivered from destruction. Destruction from the Lord should be an appropriate fear for him. Such a one should seriously consider this to be (pp. 72) the end of his course and ways. ‘There is…no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Rom. 8:1). True, but who shall have the comfort of this promise? Who can claim it for themselves? Those who ‘walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit’ (Rom. 8:4).

But you will say, ‘Does this not lead people away from faith? I answer, No. Whatever evidence we may have of our own salvation, we must acknowledge that an evil path leads to destruction. To believe otherwise is atheism. We are not throwing away the good evidence of a personal interest in Christ, but an evil path throws doubt upon the reality of it. We should surely fly from a path that leads to death! The realization that the end of such a path is destruction should move us to free ourselves from the entanglement of our lusts. (pp. 73)

This is difficult stuff. We all have sin. Even when we think we have conquered sin in our lives we still carry it with us. And yet he says, "He will not deliver any from destruction that do indeed continue in sin!" and, "Such a one cannot claim any assurance that he is delivered from destruction," and "Destruction from the Lord should be an appropriate fear for him." That is hard hitting stuff. We may be saved, but, "Whatever evidence we may have of our own salvation, we must acknowledge that an evil path leads to destruction." May we fight with the weapons of the gospel, not law...yet we have to realize that, "the realization that the end of such a path is destruction should move us to free ourselves from the entanglement of our lusts." So it's not a weapon of law per se. Considered in the context of the complexity of sin and all the weapons to fight sin we must consider the consequences or penalty of that sin. Doing this draws us to fight sin with blood wrought freedom in grace.

This is true! Don't you think? It seems that Christians constantly downplay the effects and destination that sin leads to. Some people that think they are Christians aren't. We can see that from Scripture passages like Matthew 7:21-23 that some will meet an end that they had no clue they were destined for. Yet, we know that if one is truly a Christian they cannot lose their salvation John 10:28-29.

I'm not being exhaustive by any means, but I'll cover more in a few more posts. Feel free to correct or just interact.

In Christ
Noah