Thousands of Christian books are published every year that offer practical suggestions on how to change. These books cover a multitude of topics ranging from pornography addiction, drug or alcohol addiction, lust, greed, anger, pride, marriage conflict, and divorce (just to name a few). While some of these books are excellent, many of them lack a Gospel centered foundation. For some reason, an author of a book on porn addiction will spend more time identifying specific inappropriate sexual activities, and how those activities have negatively affected the Christian, as opposed to explaining how the person can defeat that sin (the Gospel). Meanwhile, instead of leaving the Christian with the ability to defeat the addiction, the Christian is left tempted, and curious about the darker realms of sin that are out there.
Christian books are actually tempting Christians to sin (instead of helping them to do the exact opposite). The same can be said about Christian books on gambling, money, sex, anger, etc. After reading a detailed example of a scheme pulled off by the author of a book on gambling, the struggling reader is left with a fresh idea in his mind of how to improve his odds, instead of a Gospel centered strategy of how to go about stopping that sin.
You likely have some sort of sin that you feel trapped in. It can be a hopeless experience, full of guilt, sadness, anger, and secrecy, especially when that sin has a direct effect on someone you love such as a spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, parent, brother, sister, or friend. These people may have no clue that you are stuck in that sin either. You may have done an excellent job at keeping it a secret from them. However, the thought of them finding out has run through your head, and you might even have planned your response if you get caught.
Or maybe your sin is public, and people haven’t treated you the same since they found out? Whatever the case, you don’t have to be trapped in your sin any longer. Jesus died on the cross to forgive you for your sins. His resurrection enables you to rise out of your circumstance, and to live a life pleasing to Him. You don’t have to live in constant shame, and you don’t have to be afraid to change. Because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you have become a new person, a person who can defeat sin by the power of the Holy spirit. If you aren’t a Christian and feel hopelessly lost in your sin, believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and start the process of putting your sin to death today!
Puritan pastor John Owen (1616-1683) was an expert on this topic. He wrote a book on how a Christian can defeat sin (The Mortification of Sin) . Owen understood what many Christian authors have forgotten today, that by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, the Christian is able to escape their sinful lifestyle and live a life pleasing to God. The main verse Owen used to prove his point was Romans 8:13:
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live”. (ESV).
OR as John Owen likely read it during the 17th Century:
“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live”. (KJV)
Mortify is an ancient word that simply means to kill. So what do mortification have to do with you? How can you escape your current sinful circumstance? Having done ministry work with youth, and men, I will tend to use porn addiction as my main reference in my examples below. However, the same advice is true regardless of the sin you are in. Owen offers a variety of points on how to do kill sin, all of which have helped me tremendously and I think will help you.
1) Stop living a lifestyle of unrepentant sin or it will eventually kill you. Owen wrote: “Do you mortify (kill sin)? 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”. In order to quit your porn addiction, gambling addiction, etc, you have to make conscious steps on a daily basis to stop doing it. This means avoiding the sin at all costs. If it’s porn, put your computer in a public place, lock it down with software, enlist a trusted friend to hold you accountable, ditch the smartphone if it is the delivery device for your daily fix. If it’s gambling, give your credit cards and cash to your wife or mom. Find something else to do with your time when you have that urge to go place bets. It’s a daily battle, and it will get easier over time. It’s too easy to give in to the temptation, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Christian is able to defeat the sin.
2) Killing your sin isn’t going to be easy. Owen wrote: “Let no man think to kill sin with few, easy, or gentle strokes. He who hath once smitten a serpent, if he follow not on his blow until it be slain, may repent that ever he began the quarrel. And so he who undertakes to deal with sin, and pursues it not constantly to the death”. It’s a battle to defeat an addiction. Sometimes you gain the upper hand, other times you feel like you are pinned to the floor. You have to commit for the long haul regardless of how tiring the battle may seem. Buying a shelf full of books that tempt you isn’t beneficial to your struggle. You have to commit yourself to the cause, and do what is necessary to accomplish the mission. If you do it alone, you will likely fail. If you ignore it and convince yourself your sin will go away when your circumstance changes, you are in for a rude awakening. Get started now, and kill that sin.
3) By the power of the Holy Spirit it is possible for you to change. Owen wrote: “All other ways of mortification are vain, all helps leave us helpless, it must be done by the Spirit”. Do you feel hopeless in your quest to defeat your sin? Have you tried to quit it on many occasions only to find yourself back at it again? It is possible to overcome your sin when you’re a Christian, and knowing this is an important part of the process. I encourage your to study the Gospel message, and apply its truth in your life. Because of Jesus death, burial, and resurrection, you have the ability to be free from your sin. While you will never stop sinning entirely, the Holy spirit enables you to rise out of your circumstance and change. To do this, you need to stop worrying about being perfect, recognize that Jesus is perfect (on your behalf) and because of that, you are able to change.
4) You’re going to have to make some substantial changes including confession. Owen wrote: “Temptation is like a knife, that may either cut the meat or the throat of a man; it may be his food or his poison, his exercise or his destruction”. Not only is the Christian told to confess their sins to God (1 John 1:9) but also to “confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16). This is a frightening thing for the person trapped in sin. Confession is an important part of the process of killing sin. If you have a porn addiction, you should confess this to your wife. Before you do this, you should spend some time in prayer, and seek wisdom and guidance from an older/wiser friend on how to go about it. If your sin is against someone who doesn’t really know you well (such as lusting for a coworker) you should not confess directly to that person, but instead to God. If you confess your sins to a stranger/coworker/acquaintance, you might end up getting fired for sexual harassment, so be wise in how you handle your confession. Whatever the case, you have to get the sin off your chest and ask for forgiveness. Remember, the person you are confessing to is going to be hurt. Don’t become defensive and tell them that your sin is somehow their fault. That will only hurt them more. Remember, you are trying to be wise in your confession. Whatever the situation may be, confession is a precursor to forgiveness, and forgiveness is at the heart of the Gospel message. You confessing your sins may make your situation more complex now, but you will no longer be trapped in that guilt, and the selfishness of sinning against a loved one in secret.
5) Your life is on the line so make it a priority. Commenting on the first half of Romans 8:13 Owen wrote: “The vigor and power and comfort of our spiritual life depends on our mortification of deeds of the flesh”. A lot of people don’t kill their sin. They end up getting caught one day and their loved one hands them divorce papers. Recognize that if you are a Christian, your ministry and witness will be effected by your sinful lifestyle. God can use anyone to accomplish His will, however, why should He bless your ministry if you have all kinds of secret sin going on behind the scenes? Why should He make you a minister if you are doing the very things you are advising others not to do?
If you are trapped and feel like you can’t escape your sin, know there is hope. If you struggle with substance abuse problems, seek medical advice regarding your situation. If you suffer with porn addiction, get started on the road to victory immediately. Whatever your sin may be, make a commitment today to kill it. Seek biblical counseling from a trusted person. The Word of God along with the power of the Holy Spirit, will help you overcome your battles. Don’t quit, don’t give up. Whatever you do, don’t lose hope. Take some practical steps today to stop your sin. With the power of the Spirit, you can do it!
For more details on this topic I recommend you grab this book which offers modern translation to the archaic English, along with some helpful insights into John Owen’s points.
The Religious Nerd 