"Mortification & Vivification"
[I Peter 4:1-6]
September 9, 2007 Second Reformed Church
"Since, therefore." Since what we saw last week is true, since we believe the Gospel, since "Christ suffered in the flesh," and died, and rose, and ascended -- we understand and believe these things:
Jesus, the Righteous One, the Holy One, has made us, who were the unrighteous, the unholy, right with God. Through Jesus' Work Alone, we who believe in Him have been brought back to God, and God is now our Father.
We are now united in Christ. We have been symbolically buried with Him in baptism. And we have truly been raised from spiritual death to spiritual life; He has credited our accounts with the fulness of His Holy Life. And the Holy Spirit has been given to us: God, Himself, lives in us to instruct us and guide us and remind us of what Jesus said and did.
And Jesus ascended to the throne of the Son, where He reigns Supreme Victor over all.
Since we know and believe those things, and they are true. Therefore, Peter tells us four things in this mornings Scripture:
First, we are to be like-minded with Christ. What does that consist of? In this passage, Peter tells us that those who have suffered in the flesh -- those who are united with Jesus in His Passion -- have "ceased from sin," and they "live for the rest of the time in the flesh...for the will of God."
If we are like-minded with Christ, we have "ceased from sin." That sounds impossible. Surely, we have read that Peter, himself, sinned, and he considered himself to be one with Christ. So what is he saying?
Peter is telling us that those who are like-minded with Christ, those who are united with Him, those who believe in Him for Salvation Alone, they are no longer dead in sin, they are no longer slaves to sin, they no longer happily, unrepentantly persist in sin. No, these fight against sin with everything in their being. This is called "mortification."
If we are truly Christians, we are free from sin's hold over us, and we ought to be doing everything we can to put our sinful inclinations to death. We ought to resist them and not follow after them. We ought to deny sin, to refuse temptation, to die to that part of us that thinks we can get away with sin -- that sin has no cost.
Paul wrote, "How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:2-4). "And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Galatians 5:24). "Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm" (Ephesians 6:13).
Mortification is this putting to death of sin -- it is a life-long process -- one that we will be engaged in if we are truly Christians. How do we engage in this? John Owen, a Puritan minister, wrote about mortification, and he said that to mortify sin, we ought to first, understand what sin is, the dangers it brings, and how we may be made right after sinning, and keep these things before our mind. Second, he said that we need to know God’s Law, our call to holiness, and what holiness is. Third, we ought to long and pray to be delivered from sin. Fourth, we ought to give special attention to our favorite sins – those we so easily return to. Fifth, we ought to avoid those things that lead us into sin. Sixth, when we are tempted to sin, we ought to fight against it with everything we are. Seventh, we ought to keep before our mind the majesty and infinity of God. Eighth, we ought not to be at peace with ourselves about sin until God, Himself, speaks peace. Ninth, we ought to place our faith in Christ -- that He is willing and able to deliver us from sin. And tenth, we ought to rely on God, the Holy Spirit, Who lives in us and is working in us to bring us to sanctification -- holiness.
Also, if we are like-minded with Christ, we will "live for the rest of the time in the flesh...for the will of God." This is known as "vivification" -- the process of becoming fully alive in Christ. This happens as a result of Mortification and through the Work of the Holy Spirit in us.
Paul wrote, "Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one, and take the helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak" (Ephesians 6:14-20). "[Christ] died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised" (II Corinthians 5:15). "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works" (Titus 2:11-14).
If we are Christians, if we are like-minded with Christ, we will, on the one hand, be mortifying -- we be doing everything possible to keep ourselves from sin, and on the other hand, we will be vivifying -- we will be doing everything that God has called us to do -- all the good works that He has prepared for us. This is a hard, life-long work. Are we up for it? Our friends won't understand what's wrong with us -- they'll look at us like we’re sick, when we refuse to do the things we used to do. Can we say, "no," to the sin set before us?
Someone has said that we [Christians] have made little progress towards holiness, not because our goal is too lofty, but because we have been satisfied with so little. We think if we have kept from murder and rape, all is well. But the bar that God has set before us is that we stop sinning altogether and, instead, that we do everything He has commanded and do so in perfect holiness. And we make excuses that we are at least better than most, we are better than we have been, we can be allowed one small indiscretion...
No! Peter says, secondly, that if we are like-minded with Christ, we will understand that the time for unbridled sin is no more: if we are Christians, we may not live as non-Christians any more. We may not lust any more. We may not get drunk any more. We may not have discreet sexual encounters or join in orgies of flesh and food and drink. We may not engage in any form of idolatry. We cannot put anything above God or in God's Place, not even our feelings, not even our good intentions, not even our sympathy. If God has said that we may not do such and such, we ought to fight against ever doing that thing with everything that we are. If God has said that we are to do such and such, we ought to be about doing those things with everything that we are. Do we really believe that the wages of sin is death? Do we really believe that, apart from Jesus, the person who is a mass-murderer ends up in the same Hell with the person who stole a handful of pens from the office? There is no more time to engage in the sins of the world; if we are Christians, we must fight to deny them, and we must work hard to do all that God has called us to do. We have tended to say, "Believe in Christ, and nothing more will ever be required of you." While it is true that Salvation is through faith in Jesus Alone, it is not a faith that is alone. After we have believed, we have life-long work. There is no retirement in the Kingdom of God; there is no more time to play with the sins of the world.
Because, third, if we are like-minded with Christ, we know that the Day of Judgment is coming. The day is coming -- soon -- when every human being will be called before the Throne of God to be judged. And anyone one who has committed one sin, no matter how small, if he does not have Jesus, the answer from the Throne will be "Hell." This is not a game; we cannot leave the proclamation of the Gospel to someone else. Everyone we know should know that we believe that the only hope is salvation through Jesus Alone.
Because, fourth, if we are like-minded with Christ, we know that the Gospel is preached to the spiritually dead -- like we once were -- that they may live. Life comes one and only One Way -- through Jesus Christ Alone. This world is filled with walking corpses, and we are to tell them Who Jesus is, through our words and deeds, and God may be willing to bring them to life as well.
Dying to sin and living for Christ are not easy -- the Christian life is hard work. But Jesus has suffered in the flesh and brought us back to God -- we are forgiven of all of our sins, and we have been credited with Jesus' Holy Life. Jesus rose and ascended to His Throne on High, and we have been brought back to life and will rise on the last day, and we have been given the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, so we can resist temptation, deny sin, and live, doing all the good works that God has set before us.
Paul was specifically addressing sexual immorality, but we can understand the summary of our call in these words: "For this is the will of God for your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles, who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not man, but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you" (I Thessalonians 4:3-8).
Let us pray:
Sovereign God, when we consider the greatness of the Gospel, we are ashamed at the excuses we have given for giving in to sin and for avoiding the work You have set before us. Continue to mature us, continue to strengthen our desire for You and for being like-minded with Jesus. Turn us back to You, keep us from sin, and help us fight hard after holiness. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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