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Being a Christian is a strange experience. I say that because we’re constantly in conflict. A duck has one desire—to do what ducks do. It flaps its wings, searches for food, and coasts along the water. The same goes for any other typical creature or thing. But Christians are a bit different: We regularly desire opposing ends (Rom. 7). That’s because our nature was corrupted by sin, but we’re being renewed every day in the likeness of Christ Jesus. What’s more, because non-Christians are created in the image of God, possessing a conscience, they know something of this experience—the moral vacillating—but they don’t know the full extent.
Resisting sin is a war. We’re in a life-and-death struggle with a corrupting influence within us. This is why even relatively good non-Christians don’t fully understand the struggle—they don’t have the Spirit, and the devil is happy for them to practice virtue so long as they never embrace the gospel. What he won’t abide is a heart that deeply loves the Lord, and a heart that’s truly inclined toward His ways comes only through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit.
John Owen penned perhaps the most well-known treatise on the subject, The Mortification of Sin, but the truth is that mortification is all over the New Testament. Mortification means to kill something, to put it to death: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you” (Col. 3:5). “Deny [yourself] and take up [your] cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24). “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13).
Killing things is messy, brutal work. Living in Florida has reminded me of how enduring life is: We had a hard freeze this past winter, and it seemingly killed every tropical plant in sight. Brown foliage hung everywhere. But many of those plants came back in force just a few months later. Sin is similar—if you don’t pull it up by the root, you’re not going to make much progress. But we can dig only so far in this life. We can’t ever quite get to the taproot. Sin will continue to ensnare us until we’re glorified. But God calls us to the killing, the weeding, the struggle—all by the power of His Spirit—so that we might become more like Him, love Him more, and finally one day enjoy His presence free from even the hint of sin. What a glorious day that will be.