Putting Sin to Death

God, in His work of regeneration, grants us new hearts that trust in Christ and repent of our sin, and we enter the kingdom of God (John 3:1–8). Yet the Lord’s work to transform us does not end at regeneration. Having trusted in Jesus, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who initiates and sustains in us the process of progressive sanctification as He operates in us so that we work out our salvation in fear and trembling (Rom. 8:11; Phil. 2:12–13).

In progressive sanctification, “we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness,” as Westminster Shorter Catechism 35 puts it. By this work of God’s free grace, we begin in this life to “bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Cor. 15:49). We become more and more like Christ. As noted in the catechism, one side of sanctification consists in dying to sin. Theologians frequently call this the mortification of sin, and Paul makes mention of it in today’s passage.

Christians frequently refer to themselves as sinners, which is appropriate because the presence of sin remains in us even after we come to Christ. Nevertheless, in understanding ourselves to be sinners, believers must not forget that we are not compelled to sin, for our hearts have been changed. Those who do not trust in Christ inevitably sin because they have no power to do otherwise, but Christians have been freed from the dominion of sin, as we read in Romans 8:12. Therefore, believers do not have to give in to sin, for they have the power of the Holy Spirit to put their remaining sin to death. Dr. R.C. Sproul writes in his commentary on Romans that “we are not under any obligation to fulfill the lusts of our fallen nature. We are debtors to the Spirit.”

Putting sin to death involves starving it of what it needs to come to full fruition. Those who mortify sin say no to it when they feel the first stirrings of sin in their hearts, not allowing those stirrings to bear fruit in sinful action. They do not meditate on wicked things but seek to renew their minds according to Scripture (Rom. 12:1–2). Importantly, as John Owen writes in his classic book The Mortification of Sin, those who seek to put sin to death do not just seek to deal with a few besetting sins; rather, they pursue obedience to God in all of life. Owen says that “you cannot mortify a specific lust that is troubling you, unless you are seeking to obey the Lord from the heart in all areas.” If we do not strive to serve God in all things, we cannot expect to have victory over specific sins.