Then again in chapter 7, Paul again refers to another very specific question, how our death and union First, indwelling sin is called a law. So then, if there is a sin present that seems out of sorts with one’s background and constitution, we may conclude that the devil is integrally involved. 7:13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? But it needs to be pointed out with clarity that the law of sin is a law in believers, but it is no longer a law unto them (like it is with unbelievers). If it be denied still again, it will press itself in the imagination still more. This, however, can only be true of a believer, not a non-believer, for only a believer has a renewed will and only a believer can oppose the law of sin. The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of the Remainders of Indwelling Sin in Believers A Summary of John Owen’s Work By Greg Herrick, Ph.D. Chapter One—Indwelling Sin and Romans 7:21 Introduction Owen is usually very clear at the outset regarding what he wants to talk about and the point he wishes to make good to his readers. Owen cites a text from the prophets as an example of what he means: Hosea 5:11 Ephraim will be oppressed, crushed under judgment, because he was determined to pursue worthless idols. 4:4-7), The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of the Remainders of Indwelling Sin in Believers. The captivity that sin forces upon believers is against the principle of their renewed wills. Happy New Year: Past, Present, and Future Perspectives, 4. 7:24 Wretched man that I am! He quotes Ecclesiastes 9:3: 9:3 This is the unfortunate thing about everything that happens on earth: the same fate awaits everyone; The hearts of all people are full of evil, and there is madness in their hearts during their lives—then they die. He explained that the phrase “to lead captive” refers to the success of the law of sin in a person’s heart and that when a certain sin, which had no previous opportunities in a person’s life and/or brings no pleasure to the flesh, takes such a root, we may conclude that Satan is directly involved. In our last study we considered indwelling sin as an internal law or principle and the properties which rightly make it a law; that is, its power and effectiveness. Since it is most certain that Paul is referring, at least initially, to himself, the question then remains does he mean himself as the Pharisee in his unconverted state, in which case he represents man in Adam, or is he referring to himself as Paul the Christian, in which case he represents all believers (surely we can agree that we are looking at universalized experience and not just that of the apostle). But there is another and related way to talk about “law.” That is, it can be viewed as something moral and inward, a principle if you will, that constantly inclines a person to act one way or another. The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of the Remainders of Indwelling Sin in Believers - Kindle edition by Owen, John. In abbreviated form, here are the four principles again: (1) the remainder of indwelling sin in believers still maintains great efficacy and power and constantly tries to incline them to evil; (2) believers have firsthand experience of the power of indwelling sin; (3) by grace there is kept up in believers a constant and ordinarily prevailing will of doing good in spite of the presence and contrary activity of indwelling sin, and (4) indwelling sin is effectually operative in rebelling and inclining to evil when the will of doing good is in a particular manner active and inclining unto obedience. 7:25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! There are two points to make clear regarding the “will to do good” that is in every believer. From this fact alone we learn of its power and success. In John viii.32 we read, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." Hosea 8:9 They have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey that wanders off. They are well suited to work on the soul and cause it to desist from its pursuit of sin. Owen makes this point clear: To will to do so [i.e., to will the good] is to have the habitual bent and inclination of the will set on that which is good,—that is, morally and spiritually good.10, From this truth Owen states his third principle, namely, that there is, and there is through grace, kept up in believers a constant and ordinarily prevailing will of doing good, notwithstanding the power of efficacy of indwelling sin to the contrary.11. In this first of his chapters on “indwelling sin” Owen has sought to make good on four principles which together form the foundation of insight into Paul’s doctrine and also form the foundation of the rest of Owen’s argument. It is able to contend against the renewed will in believers, even the holiest of them. This madness, bound up in the heart of all men, is well illustrated by the words of Jeremiah and Hosea: Jeremiah 2:24 You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness. The rage of sin consists in its persistent, importune, aggressive pressing toward evil. Both of these ideas, according to Owen, are to be found in the term “law” as it appears in Romans 7:21. Now it needs to be meditated upon and understood by the Christian that the will to do good will be met by a indwelling sin’s counteroffensive and this struggle is, per se, normal to the Christian life. Those who are not regenerate, who do not know the re-creating presence of the indwelling Spirit, are never said to be led captive to the law of sin. The “truth and consequences” of this reality of living in the “now/not yet”14 is supremely important for the Christian to understand and recognize in their own experience. That is their job. It still tarries in us and will do so to our dying day. Power Point Show MP3 audio. The will, for its part, though enabled by grace to offer habitual obedience to Christ, is first weakened, then cast aside, and finally rendered useless through sin’s relentless solicitations and temptations. He is dead in sin (Eph 2:1-3) and his will is always aligned with sin (Rom 8:7). In chapter four we saw that sin is, in its very essence, enmity against God. [Such people are] ‘in the snare of the devil, being taken captive by him at his will,’ 2 Tim ii 26. Who will rescue me from this body of death? God, for the most part, ordereth things so, and gives out such supplies of grace unto believers, as that they shall not be made a prey unto this or that particular sin, that it should prevail in them and compel them to serve it in the lusts thereof, that it should have dominion over them, that they should be captives and slaves unto it.56. Greg is currently serving as Project Director for KnowingGod.org, 4. This seems to have been the case with David when he “lay so long in his sin without repentance” (cf. The point that Owen wants to draw from all this is that there is “an exceeding efficacy and power in the remainders of indwelling sin in believers, with a constant working towards evil.”6 Though sin is a law in them it is not a law to them; its power has been broken, though it is still a law nonetheless—a law that is all the more deadly when it lies quiet in the soul. It opposes him in at least four ways, that is, by lusting, by fighting and warring, by bringing the soul under captivity, by generating madness and rage. Galatians 5:17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want. We cannot escape sin’s presence this side of death because God has designed it this way. Don't you desire these wonderful promises? It is powerful and constant, deriving much of its strength from the citadel in which it resides, namely, the heart. The second reason why sin often achieves such heights of madness is that it has been countenanced and allowed to prevail in a person. 8 Owen is not here setting up a “two-class” Christianity—as the Keswick higher life erroneously sought to establish from 1 Cor 3:1ff—but is rather saying that in the experience of every Christian, giving in to sin repeatedly creates an inability to distinguish truth from error and a concomitant weakness to deal ruthlessly with sin. The Power and Efficacy of Indwelling Sin (ch 9) - John Owen. You may want to read again Owen’s suggestions regarding how to do this. Absolutely not! If, on the other hand, we regularly consider the power of our indwelling sin, we will walk onto the battlefield clad with the armor of God. So then, by appealing to our minds directly and bringing circumstances about that cause us to reconsider our ways, God prevents us from going headlong into deeper and deeper sin. 7:21 So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. To E. M., 1857. Second, the interrupting of the operations of grace must come when the law of sin acts on these faculties of the soul in opposition to the law of grace. Then she will say, “I will go back to my husband, because I was better off then than I am now.”. Owen argues that, the spiritual habits of grace that are in the will do so resist and act against it; and the excitations of those habits by the Spirit are directed to the same purpose. Sometimes it leads to outward sin—and this is its ultimate aim—or sometimes it gets only as far as wearying and entangling the soul. 7:25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! For I do not do what I want—instead, I do what I hate. 7:24 Wretched man that I am! He fell into most appalling sin, and though he has since confessed and professed repentance, he has been utterly set aside from God's service. “Its prevailing against diligence, activity, and watchfulness, the constant renitence of the will” evinces its power. First, the will forfeits its hold on obedience, then debates with itself about the whole concept of obedience, and then finally relinquishes all control to the enemy. In its essence, indwelling sin is thoroughgoing enmity against all of God. 6:9 Those who long to be rich, however, stumble into temptation and a trap and many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. The way a believer is instructed to deal with sin is expressed quite well by David in Psalm 19:12-13: 19:12 Who can avoid sinning? In this section Owen explains the way in which Paul came to the realization of indwelling sin as a “law.” The apostle knew of the concept and had undoubtedly heard it spoken of and taught before. R. MacKenzie, ed. 21euJrivskw a[ra toVn novmon, tw'/ qevlonti ejmoiV poiei'n toV kalovn, o{ti ejmoiV toV kakoVn paravkeitai: 22sunhvdomai gaVr tw'/ novmw/ tou' qeou' kataV toVn e[sw a[nqrwpon, 23blevpw deV e{teron novmon ejn toi'" mevlesin mou ajntistrateuovmenon tw'/ novmw/ tou' noov" mou kaiV aijcmalwtivzonta me ejn tw'/ novmw/ th'" aJmartiva" tw'/ o[nti ejn toi'" mevlesin mou. The captivating power of indwelling sin in which it consists Chapter 8 Indwelling sin is proved powerful from its deceit Chapter 9 The deceit of sin in drawing the mind away from meditation and prayer Chapter 10 The actions of sin, by way of deceit, to divert the mind from obedient duties Now sin’s madness also has within it other properties such as fearlessness and a contempt of danger. In chapter six Owen shows how sin exerts its strength in that (1) it lusts; and (2) it fights or wars. At the beginning of chapter six Owen outlined two chief ways in which sin produces enmity against God, namely, by force and by fraud. The affections, wherein sin often begins, torture the soul with the constant and contradictory desires for what is forbidden and “out of bounds.” This, then, is how the law of sin plies its trade in the soul and interrupts the law of grace, if only for a season. Because the believer is in Christ and indwelt by his Spirit, the rule of grace is now “on the throne,” but there are seasons in which its rule and dominion, though never completely rendered powerless, is for a moment or two seriously weakened as the law of sin “goes to work.” The influences of the law of grace may be intercepted for a season and its government weakened by the power of sin. In reality, it is sin’s attempt to reverse the liberating power of our co-crucifixion and co-resurrection with Christ and the reign of grace in our hearts. It is better that the believer be aware of this before it happens and be prepared to work out holiness all the days of their lives. But God deals with us in the context of our pursuit of sin. and Ph.D. from Dallas Theological Seminary. How sad it is, Owen says, to be treated (by the law of sin) so maliciously against the judgment of one’s mind, and against one’s will, strivings, and efforts; this is truly a miserable and wretched condition. The question is one of degree, not kind. All pretensions to the contrary are just that, pretensions. Believers who act like this have thrown off the reign of grace for a season and are inviting the painful, chastening hand of God. Specifically, it is in an inward, compelling law, not something external to us. His essay concerning “indwelling sin” is true to form. Indwelling sin – its deceitfulness 70 Chapter 9. philadelphia: presbyterianboardofpublication 2:11 I will put an end to all her celebration: her annual religious festivals, monthly new moon celebrations, and weekly Sabbath festivities—all her appointed festivals. Intro. Lamentations 3:32 . But again, there are seasons where sin’s madness violently lays hold of the soul and possesses the mind so that it casts off all restraint whatsoever and maintains its stubborn resolve to “venture all” upon the way of sin. 2:10 Soon I will expose her lewd nakedness in front of her lovers, and no one will be able to rescue her from me! They stand sentinel, keeping watch over potential influencers. If the law of sin were not successful in particular sins, it could not be said to lead captive at all. The way for Christians to realize the presence, power, and efficacy of indwelling sin is to try, by the Spirit, the word, prayer and fellowship, to keep the moral law of God. In chapter’s one through three we learned that indwelling sin acts as a law within believers (cf. Second, Owen also says that when a sin is “prevalent unto captivity” and “where it brings in no advantage to the flesh,” it is from Satan. First, we need to realize that the seat and residence of grace is in the entire soul, including all of the mind, the will and the affections. Thus, in short, indwelling sin produces enmity toward all of God in all of us. We should rather die than yield even one step to it. So the law of sin is exactly that in believers—a law attempting to exert its power, influence, and penalties. This is evidenced by the fact that the apostle refers to it as a “law” (cf. He has a passion to teach and disciple others, and holds a Th.M. Though God sends calm “reasonings and considerations” as well as “calamity and mercy,” there is often no response. Owen makes it clear at this point that when Paul speaks about the believer’s captivity to the law of sin, he is not speaking about captivity to particular sins, but rather to the law of sin, that is, every believer according to the good design of God, must “bear the presence and burden” of sin in this life. Please do not punish my unintentional sins. (Rom. But the law of sin admits several degrees of success. 12 Owen seems to be appealing here to the fact that men and women are made in the image of God and that many also have the influence of Biblical preaching as well as the testimony of Christians’ godly lives. But how does sin do this? The message of the cross meets our deepest need for pardon and power as we seek to overcome indwelling sin. They may, however, be forced to serve particular sins against their better judgment and convictions. While fraud is dealt with in chapter eight, force is unpacked along four distinct yet related lines in chapter’s six and seven. How do we explain this? 19:13 Moreover, keep me from committing flagrant sins; do not allow such sins to control me. None can aim at greater success than to lead their enemies captive.55. Indwelling sin – its assaults on the soul 43 Chapter 7. 57:17 I was angry because of their sinful greed; I attacked them and angrily rejected them, yet they remained disobedient and stubborn. Besides, of how great concernment a full and clear acquaintance with the power of this indwelling sin (the matter designed to be opened) is unto believers, to stir them up to watchfulness and diligence, to faith and prayer, to call them to repentance, humility, and self-abasement, will appear in our progress. Indwelling Sin is based on Romans vii. One danger to which we are exposed from indwelling sin arises from the fact that sin is within us, and therefore it has a great power over us. Few things trouble the soul of the child of God as much as the presence of indwelling sin and the sober realization of the inability of the flesh to overcome it. But sin should be dealt with violently upon its first actings. 2 There has been much discussion and dispute over the precise identification of the “I” in Romans 7:14-25. Owen explains: …it is one thing for a man to know in general that there is a law of sin; [it is] another thing for a man to have an experience of the power of this law of sin in himself. This does not mean, however, that God ordains our captivity to particular sins. There are moments when the emotions loathe the duty of worship and prayer to God and the mind struggles to sustain good and accurate reflection on God. In order to talk about the power of indwelling sin in believers, Owen has chosen Romans 7:21 as his text. 7:15 For I don’t understand what I am doing. 15o} gaVr katergavzomai ouj ginwvskw: ouj gaVr o} qevlw tou'to pravssw, ajll* o} misw' tou'to poiw'. Owen says that this madness is, …the tearing and torturing of the soul by any sin to force its consent and to obtain satisfaction. Does debt affect giving in modern times in light of the Israelite tithe and slaves? 1 John Owen, The Works of John Owen: The Nature, Power, Deceit and Prevalency of the Remainders of Indwelling Sin in Believers, ed. It is preached to all…But they are few that know it in themselves…But this is that which the apostle affirms,—not that the doctrine of it had been preached unto him, but that he had found it by experience in himself…For a man to find his sickness, and danger thereon from its effects, is another thing than to hear a discourse about a disease from its causes.7. 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