Sunday Leftovers (11/12/06)

While the reality of indwelling sin in the life of the believer is known by most believers, Calvin was right when he said “No one knows the one-hundredth par of the sin that clings to his soul.” When just external activity is considered, disobedience and sin may seem superficial and peripheral. Yet when the activity of the heart — the desires we have, the motives for what is done (both sinful and “righteous”), the thoughts we have that are never enacted (cf. Mt. 5:20-48) — then Calvin’s comment rings true. [John Piper has offered some helpful counsel in his devotional, “Imperfection: the Mark of All the Perfected (Two Things that Relate Directly to Your Life).”]

Yet the great confidence of the believer is the work of Christ on the cross that has provided victory. Victory! Mortification is the result of acting on the truth that Christ has fully defeated sin and death. His death means we are free (Rom. 6:6-7) and that in Him, we are holy and blameless and beyond reproach (Col. 1:19-22).

Yet mortification is more than just an appropriation of the truth that Christ’s work is sufficient for us to say “no” to sin. Mortification is cultivating a satisfaction, love, and delight for Christ above all things. So guarding our hearts (Prov. 4:23) means not just denying sin (as mortification is often understood to mean), but it also means that we foster a passionate love for Christ.

How is this accomplished?

Here Thomas Watson is helpful:

The first fruit of love is the musing of the mind upon God. He who is in love, his thoughts are ever upon the object. He who loves God is ravished and transported with the contemplation of God. “When I awake, I am still with Thee” (Psalm 139:18).…By this we may test our love to God. What are our thoughts most upon? Can we say we are ravished with delight when we think on God? Have our thoughts got wings? Are they fled aloft? Do we contemplate Christ and glory? Oh, how far are they from being lovers of God, who scarcely ever think of God! “God is not in all his thoughts” (Psalm 10:4). A sinner crowds God out of his thoughts. He never thinks of God, unless with horror, as the prisoner thinks of the judge. [All Things for Good, p. 74.]