Faithful Steward Ministries and FSM Women's Outreach

by John Owen – January 30th, 2019  

chapel@mountzion.org • www.ChapelLibrary.org

Chapter 4 “USEFULNESS OF MORTIFICATION” Continued

2. Why Life and Comfort Depend on Mortification 

a. Mortification alone keeps sin from depriving us

Mortification alone keeps sin from depriving us of these blessings. Every unmortified sin will certainly do two things: a) It will weaken the soul and deprive it of its vigor. b) It will darken the soul and deprive it of its comfort and peace.

1). Unmortified sin weakens the soul and deprives it of its strength.

Unmortified sin weakens the soul and deprives it of its strength. When David had for a while harbored an unmortified lust in his heart, it broke all his bones and left him no spiritual strength; hence he complained that he was sick, weak, wounded, and faint. “There is,” he says, “no soundness in my flesh” (Psa 38:3); “I am feeble and sore broken” (v. 8), “so that I am not able to look up” (Psa 40:12). An unmortified lust will drink up the spirit and all the vigor of the soul and weaken it for all duties. For,

1st. Unmortified sin unsettles the heart itself by entangling its affections. It diverts the heart from the spiritual disposition that is required for vigorous communion with God; it lays hold on the affections, rendering its object beloved and desirable, and so expelling the love of the Father (1Jo 2:15; 3:17); so that the soul cannot say uprightly and truly to God, “Thou art my portion” (Psa 119:57), having something else that it loves instead. Fear, desire, and hope, which are the choice affections of the soul and should be full of God, will be one way or other entangled with the unmortified sin.