John Owen reminded me this morning about the encouragement that is available to me in the truth of Galatians 5:16-17: "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh..." As Owen put it, "one main reason why the Spirit and the new nature are given unto us [is] that we may have a principle within us whereby to oppose sin and lust." Let this be a relief and an encouragement to you as you battle against sin today!
"Not to be daily employing the Spirit and new nature for the mortifying of sin is to neglect that excellent succor [assistance, relief] which God has given us against our greatest enemy...His graces, as well as his gifts, are bestowed on us to use, exercise, and trade with. Not to be daily mortifying sin is to sin against the goodness, kindness, wisdom, grace, and love of God, who has furnished us with a principle of doing it."
And one more: "Exercise and success are the two main cherishers of grace in the heart; when it [grace] is suffered to lie still, it withers and decays: the things of it are ready to die (Rev. 3:2); and sin gets ground toward the hardening of the heart (Heb. 3:13). This is that which I intend: by the omission of this duty grace withers, lust flourishes, and the frame of the heart grows worse and worse; and the Lord knows what desperate and fearful issues [outcomes] it has had with many."
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