John Owen lived from 1616-1683 and is widely considered one of the most influential puritan writers. His collective works have been compiled into 40 volumes of modern translation. He devoted his life to God’s Word and the teaching on the centrality of Christ in all things. He also knew the reality of the “fall” and the effects of sin in the life of the believer. His famous words still echo today: “Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.”
The Christian life is an incredible contrast. On one hand, there is incredible freedom that a new identity in Jesus brings. There is unending joy and peace that comes when you know the Creator of the Cosmos has adopted you as a son or daughter through the atoning sacrifice of his Son on your behalf. By faith in Christ alone, it is a joy to know that you have been given His Word and His Spirit to guide, equip and encourage. On the other hand, we know it also to be true that we have been given marching orders. Those who have trusted Christ are also called to “daily take up your cross and follow Christ.” This is a call to daily die to ourselves (our fleshly desires) and walk in the footsteps of Jesus. We are to make war on our sin.
Sin is more than a mistake—it is offending a Holy God. To treat sin as though it is “not that bad” or “no big deal” is to forget that very sin cost Jesus His life. Matthew Henry is quoted as saying, “The way to preserve the peace of the church is to preserve the purity of it.”
At the cross, we see the true cost of sin. John MacArthur reminds us: “The reality of sin is most clearly seen in the cross. God’s hatred of sin is so profound that He poured out His wrath on His own beloved Son.” If the penalty of sin is so great that God Himself stepped down from Glory to give His life as a ransom for many – we must not squander this new inheritance, but discipline ourselves to honor Him.
The Mortification of Sin
John Owen, in one of his greatest works, On the Mortification of Sin, warned that sin (especially that we have not repented of) is never laying dormant: “Sin always aims at the utmost; every time it rises up to tempt or entice, might it have its own course, it would go out to the utmost sin of that kind.” In other words, sin never takes a day off – it wants to rule.
A.W. Tozer similarly wrote, “The complacency of Christians is the scandal of Christianity. Time is short, eternity is long, the church is asleep, and the world is perishing.” Killing sin daily is essential to our walk with Christ; it is the evidence of a transformed heart that bows at God’s Word and knows to take sin seriously (Philippians 2:12–13).
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Practically Killing Sin
So what does “killing sin” look like in a disciple’s life? John Bunyan (Pilgrim’s Progress), said: “Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will make a man cease from prayer.” We must remember that we are equipped with all we need for the call to discipleship. We have been given the privilege of Prayer, God’s Holy Word, fellowship with other believers and the universal and local church. Obedience is not just “religious duty” to be carried out every day, it is the very outworking of God’s work in you.
Here are a few practical ways we can kill sin daily:
1. Confess Quickly
• 1 John 1:9 reminds us to confess quickly and be cleansed. Owen said, “Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live.”
2. Run to the Word of God and know it!
• Jesus confronted temptation with Scripture (Matthew 4). MacArthur stresses, “The true believer will desire holiness and pursue it.” Be armed with the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).
3. Walk according to the Spirit, not the flesh.
• Romans 8:13 says, “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” The Spirit enables you to do what the flesh does not. Tozer put it this way, “The Spirit-filled life is not a special, deluxe edition of Christianity. It is part and parcel of the total plan of God for His people.”
Christ’s Victory is Our Hope
We do not battle or kill sin with despair – but in hope. Christ has already won Victory.
“Victory was won at Calvary, victory that gave me liberty, now I can live eternally, victory was won at Calvary”
Jesus not only paid the debt of our sin, but defeated sin’s power. We do not earn God’s favor through killing our sin, but it is living out the victory Christ secured. Henry says this, “Those that would conquer must fight, and those that would win must run.” Discipleship is war on sin, but it is also a life lived in the hope and power of the resurrection.
Bunyan, thinking on the path of the pilgrim, wrote: “No sin against God can be little, because it is against the great God of heaven and earth. But yet there is no sin too great for the blood of Christ to pardon.”
We do not fight alone or in vain. Christ is with us, His Spirit is within us, and He intercedes above us.
Final Thoughts
The life of discipleship is one of discipline and daily mortification. Owen’s call to holiness is needed as much today in the church as it was in the 1600s: “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” A disciple must be on guard— because sin is still present. But, oh, how much greater is the good news? That Christ is sufficient for every need, His Spirit is present, and grace reigns. For the gift is not like the trespass. Praise Christ for the love we know in Him, the forgiveness He secured by His shed blood, and the life He has called us to.