Do you remember the kind of family member
that said, ‘I’m mortified!’
The kind of individual who was a-bit-prideful and liked
the dramatic moments of attention-seeking-self-deprication! For to be ‘mortified’ then was stated as a thing of shame and personal difficulty.
It was often a way to double-bluff on the reality of how things really were.
Into all of this, I’ve been reflecting on how this language is really helpfully used by the Puritans and other heros of the faith as the pattern of how Christ gets to shape your life and mine in the way that is pleasing to God our Father.

mortification means, ‘the act of mortifying the lusts of the flesh by self-denial. So what’s the deal in doing this in our lives as followers of Christ. There are some extreme view-points that people take in dealing with their sin, flesh and struggles. Two of the classic points of reference are best found somewhere between Kris Lundgaards book “The Enemy Within” together with what eminates from John MacArthur’s “The Gospel According to the Apostles”.

“The Enemy Within” is a modern day re-working of John Owen’s “Mortification of Sin”. “The Gospel According to the Apostles” deals with the issue of “Lordship Salvation”, that is, does salvation necessarily entail fruit, is repentance part of the gospel, can one take Jesus as Saviour without taking Him as Lord? One one hand, MacArthur laments that many people who claim to be Christians believe that spiritual growth may never occur. They accept living in a state of total moral defeat without pausing to question their profession of faith. They are comforted by their professions of faith, undaunted by the lack of further evidence of salvation. On the other hand, Lundgaard point out that the battle to mortify our flesh is never over, and our flesh comes after us even when we are at our best. Christians never rest. Regrettably, many Christians who do believe that saving faith is followed by fruit are in a state of denial about their flesh. They declare premature victory. They don’t take their sin as seriously as they should because they think they are supposed to pretend it isn’t there.

In almost every theological issue in history it’s mostly populated on either extreme of that issue. It is like a swinging pendulum, and most people end up clustering on one far side or the other. In the issue of personal holiness, the one extreme is to accept living in total defeat. The other extreme is living in willful ignorance of the battle. Both extremes are equally harmful.

I think that one of the most helpful examples of how to approach the dying-to-self and living-fully-to-Jesus wayn is found in Romans 7. “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do………For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. …….. Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”

Here some of my pointers toward
a balanced view of mortification:
Humble yourself; you and I are sinners and we sin!
Don’t become comfortable with any known or
suspected sin or struggle.
Don’t overdo the Calvinistic theology that says that as one of God’s elect, you’re safe and don’t have to make an effort!
Don’t flag in disgust with sin even though
the fight is lifelong.
Work hard at the practice of resisting the flesh.
Self-examination is a part of working out our salvation with fear and trembling!
Waging-war-on-self is always worth the battle.
Be assured that victory through the Holy Spirit is assured.
Being mortified is really good: it’s a habit
worthy of a lifetime!
Proud people can say the stuff, but don’t want to do the work!

Dying - painfully and purposefully, to experience less of ourselves, in a restriction of self, for an increase in the Holy Spirit’s presence and potency in all of our lives
is Gods will for you and I.
Go, get mortified!

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