Faithful Steward Ministries and FSM Women's Outreach

John Owen – 05 Jan 2019

chapel@mountzion.org • www.ChapelLibrary.org

3. Mortification: The Work of Believers

The next thing we meet with in the words is the persons to whom this duty is prescribed, and that is expressed in the word ye, which in the original is included in the Greek verb thana-toute, “if ye mortify”; that is, you believers—you to whom “there is…no condemnation” (8:1); you that are “not in the flesh, but in the Spirit” (8:9); who are “quicken[ed] by his Spirit,” the Spirit of Christ (8:10-11)—to you is this duty prescribed. The pressing of this duty directly on any other persons is a significant result of the superstition and self-righteousness that the world is full of; it is the great work and design of devout men who are ignorant of the gospel (Rom 10:3-4; John 15:5).

Now, this description of the persons, in conjunction with the prescription of the duty, is the main foundation of the following discourse as it lies in this thesis or proposition:

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.