Chapter 7 – The Doctrine of Mortification (part 1)
The Doctrine of Mortification
(Arthur Pink, 1952)
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:13
1. Introduction
It is the studied judgment of this writer, and he is by no means alone therein, that doctrinal preaching is the most pressing need of the churches today. During the past fifty years a lot has been said about and much prayer has been made for a God-sent revival, but it is to be feared that that term is often used very loosely and unintelligently. Unless we are mistaken, if the question were put, A “revival” of what? a considerable variety of answers would be given. Personally, we would say a revival of old-fashioned piety, of practical godliness, of fuller conformity to the holy image of Christ. The “revival” we need is a deliverance from that spiritual apathy and laxity which now characterizes the average Christian, a return to self-denial and closer walking with God, a quickening of our graces, and the becoming more fruitful in the bringing forth of good works. Whether or not Scripture predicts such a revival we know not. Two things we are sure of: that whatever the future may hold for this world, God will maintain a testimony unto Himself (Psalm 145:4; Matthew 28:20) and preserve a godly seed on earth, until the end of human history (Psalm 72:5; Isaiah 27:3; Matthew 16:18). Second, that there must be a return to doctrinal preaching before there will be any improvement in practice.
Both the teaching of God’s Word and the testimony of ecclesiastical history testify clearly to the deep importance and great value of doctrinal instruction, and the lamentable consequences of a prolonged absence of the same. Doctrinal preaching is designed to enlighten the understanding, to instruct the mind, to inform the judgment. It is that which supplies motives to gratitude and furnishes incentives unto good works. There can be no soundness in the Faith if the fundamental articles of the Faith be not known and, in some measure at least, understood. Those fundamental articles are denominated “the first principles of the oracles of God” (Hebrews 5:12) or basic truths of Scripture, and are absolutely necessary unto salvation. The Divine inspiration and authority of the Holy Scriptures, the ever-blessed Trinity in unity (John 17:3), the two natures united in the one person of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 2:22, and 4:3), His finished work and all-sufficient sacrifice (Hebrews 5:14), the fall, resulting in our lost condition (Luke 19:10), regeneration (John 3:3), gratuitous justification (Galatians 5:4)—these are some of the principal pillars which support the temple of Truth, and without which it cannot stand. Of old God complained, “My people are destroyed [cut off] for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6), and declared, “Therefore My people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst” (Isaiah 5:13). When He promised “I will give you pastors according to Mine heart,” He described the same as those “which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jeremiah 3:15), and that knowledge is communicated first and foremost by a setting forth of the glorious doctrines of Divine revelation. Doctrinal Christianity is both the ground and the motive of practical Christianity, for it is principle and not emotion or impulse which is the dynamic of the spiritual life. It is by the Truth that men are illuminated and directed: “0 send out Your light and Your truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto Your holy hill, and to Your tabernacles” (Psalm 43:3). We are saved by a knowledge of the Truth (John 17:3; 1 Timothy 2:4), and by faith therein (2 Thessalonians 2:13). We are made free by the Truth (John 8:32). We are sanctified by the Truth (John 17:17). Our growth in grace is determined by our growth in the knowledge of God and the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:2 and 3:18). It is mercy and truth that preserve us (Psalm 61:7~ Proverbs 21 :28)—”understanding shall keep you” (Proverbs 2:11).
Pertinently is the inquiry made, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). The Hebrew word for “foundations” occurs only once more in the Old Testament, namely in Isaiah 19:10, where it is rendered “and they shall be broken in the purposes thereof.” As it is from our purposes that our plans and actions proceed, so it is from the “first principles” of the Word that its secondary truths are derived; and upon them both, precepts are based. “The principles of religion are the foundations on which the faith and hope of the righteous are built” (Matthew Henry). While those foundations cannot be totally and finally removed, yet God may suffer them to be so relatively and temporarily. In such case the righteous should not give way to despair, but instead betake themselves unto prayer. “Some thing the righteous ones may do, and should do, when men are attempting to undermine and sap the foundation articles of religion: they should go to the throne of grace, to God in His holy temple, who knows what is doing, and plead with Him to put a stop to the designs and attempts of such subverters of foundations; and they should endeavor to build one another up on their most holy faith” (J. Gill).
During the past century there was an increasingly marked departure from doctrinal preaching. Creeds and confessions of faith were disparaged and regarded as obsolete. The study of theology was largely displaced by engaging the mind with science, psychology and sociology. The cry was raised, “Give us Christ, and not Christianity,” and many superficial minds concluded that such a demand was both a spiritual and a pertinent one. In reality it was an absurdity, an imaginary distinction without any vital difference. A scriptural concept of Christ in His theanthropic person, His mediatorial character, His official relations to God’s elect, His redemptive work for them, can be formed only as He is contemplated in His essential Godhead, His unique humanity, His covenant headship, and as the Prophet, Priest and King of His Church. Sufficient attention has not been given to that repeated expression “the doctrine of Christ” (2 John, 9), which comprehends the whole teaching of Scripture concerning His wondrous person and His so-great salvation. Nor has due weight been given to those words “the mystery of Christ” (Colossians 4:3), which refer to the deep things revealed of Him in the Word of Truth.
The most conclusive evidences for the Divine origin of Christianity, as well as the chief glory, appear in its doctrines, for they cannot be of human invention. The ineffable and incomprehensible Trinity in unity, the incarnation of the Son of God, the death of the Prince of life, that His obedience and sufferings satisfied Divine justice and expiated our offences, the Holy Spirit making the believer His temple, and our union with Christ, are sublime and lofty truths, holy and mysterious, which far surpass the highest flight of finite reason. There is perfect harmony in all the parts of the doctrine of Christ. Therein a full discovery is made of the manifold wisdom of God, the duties required of us, the motives which prompt thereto. It is in perceiving the distinct parts and aspects of Truth, their relation to one another, their furtherance of a common cause, their magnifying of the Lord of glory, that the excellence and beauty of the whole are apparent. It is because many apprehend only detached fragments of the same that some things in it appear to be inconsistent to them. What is so much needed is a view and grasp of the whole—acquired only by diligent and persevering application.
There is much preaching, but sadly little teaching. It is the task of the teacher to declare all the counsel of God, to show the relation of one part of it to another, to present the whole range of Truth: thereby will the hearer’s mental horizon be widened, his sense of proportion promoted, and the beautiful harmony of the whole be demonstrated. It is his business not only to avow but to evince, not simply to affirm but to establish what he affirms. Of the apostle we read that he “reasoned with them Out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead” (Acts 17:2, 3). He was eminently qualified for such a task both by nature and by grace. He was not only a man of God, but a man of genius and learning. He made considerable use of his reasoning faculty. He did not ask his hearers to believe anything that he averred without evidence, but furnished proof of what he taught. He usually preached on the basic and essential doctrines of the Gospel, which he felt ought to be verified by plain and conclusive reasoning.
“And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks” (Acts 18:4, 19). Because such reasoning may be abused, it does not follow that it should have no place in the pulpit. To reason fairly is to draw correct consequences from right principles, or to adduce clear and convincing arguments in support thereof. In order to reason lucidly and effectively upon the truth of a proposition, it is usually necessary to explain it, then to produce arguments in support of it, and finally to answer objections against it. That is the plan Paul generally follows, as is evident from both the Acts and his Epistles. When he preached upon the existence of God, the first and fundamental truth of all religion, he reasoned simply yet impressively: “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by are and man’s device” (Acts 17:29); “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen” (Romans 1:20). When he enforced the doctrine of human depravity, he proved it first by a lengthy description of the character and conduct of the whole heathen world, and then by quotations from the Old Testament, and concluded “we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin” (Romans 3:19).
It is the teacher’s task to explain, to prove, and then to apply, for hearts are reached through the understanding and conscience. When he appeared before Felix, the apostle “reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come” so powerfully that the Roman governor “trembled” (Acts 24:25). But alas, solid reasoning, exposition of Scripture, doctrinal preaching, are now largely things of the past. Many were (and still are) all for what they term experience, rather than a knowledge of doctrine. And today we behold the deplorable effects of the same, for our generation lacks even a theoretical knowledge of the Truth. That which was termed experimental and practical preaching displaced theological instruction, and thus the grand fundamentals of the Gospel were brought into contempt. No wonder that popery has made such headway in the countries once Protestant. It may be that that satanic system may yet prevail more awfully. If it does, none will be able to overthrow it by any experiences of their own. Nothing but sound doctrinal preaching will be of any use.
No wonder, either, that practical godliness is also at such a low ebb, for the root which produces it has not been watered and has withered. “Where there is not the doctrine of Faith, the obedience of Faith cannot be expected . . . On the other hand, doctrine without practice, or a mere theoretical and speculative knowledge of things, unless reduced to practice, is of no avail . . . Doctrine and practice should go together, and in order both to know and to do the will of God, instruction in Doctrine and practice is necessary; and the one bringing first light will lead to the other” (J. Gill). That is the order in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable [first] for doctrine, [and then] for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” Thus Paul exhorted Timothy, “Take heed unto yourself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this you shall both save yourself, and them that hear you” (1 Timothy 4:16). So too he enjoined Titus, “This is a faithful saying, and these things [namely the doctrines of verses 3-7] 1 will that you affirm constantly, that [in order that] they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works” (3:8).
Alas, very, very few now preach the doctrine of Christ in all its parts and branches, in all its causes and effects, in all its bearings and dependences. Yet there can be no better furniture for the spiritual mind than right and clear apprehensions thereof. Our preservation from error lies therein; our spiritual fruitfulness depends thereon. Doctrine is the mold into which the mind is cast (Romans 6:17), from which it receives its impressions. As the nature of the seed sown determines what will be the harvest, so the substance of what is preached is seen in the lives of those who sit regularly under it. Where are the purity, the piety, the zeal, that close walking with God and uprightness before men, which were so pronounced in Christendom during the sixteenth and seventeen centuries? Yet the preaching of the Reformers and Puritans was principally doctrinal, and, under God, it produced such a love of the Truth that thousands willingly suffered persecution and great privations, and hazarded their lives, rather than repudiate the doctrines and ordinances of Christ. To say it matters not what a man believes so long as his practice is good is utterly erroneous. Indifference to the Truth betrays a heart that is not right with God.
It also requires to be pointed out that those men whose ministry was most owned and used of God during last century were those who followed in the steps of the Puritans. C. H. Spurgeon, Caesar Malan, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, and the great leaders of the Scottish Free Church disruption, gave a prominent place to doctrinal instruction in all of their preaching. An observant eye will soon perceive that there is a distinct spirit which attends different types of preaching, manifesting itself more or less plainly in the regular attenders thereof. There is a solidity and soberness, a stability and godly fear seen in real Calvinists, which are not found among Arminians. There is an uprightness of character in those who espouse the Truth which is lacking in those who imbibe error. Where the sovereignty of God is denied there will be no holy awe of Him. Where the total depravity of man is not insisted upon, pride and self-sufficiency will obtain. Where the impotence of the natural man is not stressed there will be no dependence upon the Holy Spirit. Where the holy demands of God be not maintained there will be the absence of its effects on the heart and life.
Thus may we judge and determine the Truth of preaching: “Whatever doctrine both depress and humble man and advance the glory of God, is true. It answers the design of the Gospel, which all centers in this: that man is to be laid low, and God to be exalted as the chief cause. It pulls man down from his own bottom, and transfers all the glory man would challenge into the hands of God: it lays man in the dust at God’s footstool. That doctrine which crosses the main design of the Gospel, and encourages pride in man, is not a spark from Heaven. No flesh must glory in God’s presence (1 Corinthians 1:29). The doctrine of justification by works is thrown down by the apostle with this very argument as a thunderbolt: ‘Where is boasting then? It is excluded. . .by the law of faith’ (Romans 3:27), that is by the doctrine of the Gospel. Boasting would be introduced by ascribing regeneration to nature, as much as it is excluded by denying justification by works. The doctrine of the Gospel would contradict itself to usher in boasting with one hand while it thrust it out with the other. Our Savior gave this rule long ago, that the glorifying of God is the evidence of truth in persons: ‘he who seeks His glory that sent him, the same is true’ (John 7:18). By the same reason also in things and doctrines” (Charnock, 1660).
Turning from the general to the particular. In taking up our present subject (D.V.) we shall endeavor to make good a half-promise given by us seventeen years ago, for we stated at that time that if we were spared we hoped to devote a series of articles to this important truth. Some of our readers may be inclined to challenge the accuracy of our present title, considering that the duty of mortification pertains far more to the practical side of things than to the doctrinal. The objection would be well taken if the popular distinction were valid, but like so many of the expressions now in vogue this one will not stand the test of Scripture.
The term “doctrine” has a much wider meaning in the Word of God than is usually accorded it today. It includes very much more than the “five points” of Calvinism. Thus we read of “the doctrine which is according to godliness” (1 Timothy 6:3), which is very much more than a species of intellectual proposition intended for the instructing of our brains, namely the enunciation of spiritual facts and holy principles, for the warming of the heart and the regulating of our lives.
“The doctrine which is according to godliness” at once defines the nature of Divine doctrine, intimating as it does that its design or end is to inculcate a right temper of mind and deportment of life Godwards: it is pure and purifying. The objects which are revealed to faith are not bare abstractions which are to be accepted as true, nor even sublime and lofty concepts to be admired — they are to have a powerful effect upon our daily walk. There is no doctrine revealed in Scripture for a merely speculative knowledge, but all is to exert a powerful influence upon conduct. God’s design in all that He has revealed to us, is to the purifying of our affections and the transforming of our characters. The doctrine of grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world (Titus 2:11, 12). By far the greater part of the doctrine (John 7:16) taught by Christ consisted not of the explication of mysteries, but rather that which corrected men’s lusts and reformed their lives. Everything in Scripture has in view the promotion of holiness.
If it be an absurdity to affirm that it matters not what a man believes so long as he does that which is right, equally erroneous is it to conclude that if my creed is sound, it matters little how I live. “If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (1 Timothy 5:8), for he shows himself to be devoid of natural affection. Thus it is possible to deny the Faith by conduct as well as by words. A neglect of performing our duty is as real a repudiation of the Truth as is an open renunciation of it, for the Gospel, equally with the Law, requires children to honor their parents. Observe how that awful list of reprehensible characters mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:9,10, are said to be “contrary to sound doctrine” — opposed to its beneficial nature and spiritual tendency: that is that conduct which the standard of God enjoins.
Observe too how that the spirit of covetousness or love of money is designated an erring “from the faith” (1 Timothy 6:10): it is a species of heresy, a departure from the doctrine which is according to godliness — an awful example of which we have in the case of Judas.
Mortification, then, is clearly one of the practical doctrines of Holy Writ, as we hope to show abundantly in what follows.
Romans 8:13 supplies the most comprehensive description of our subject to be found in any single verse of the Bible, setting forth as it does the greatest number of its principal features: “For if you live after the flesh, you shall die; but if you through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.” This is a most solemn and searching verse, and one which has little place in modern ministry, be it oral or written. If Arminians have sadly wrested it, many Calvinists have refused to face its plain affirmations and implications.
Five things in it claim our best attention:
First, the people addressed.
Second, the awful warning here set before them.
Third, the duty enjoined upon them.
Fourth, the effectual Helper provided.
Fifth, the promise made to them.
The better to focus our minds, and to enable us to grapple with the difficulties which not a few have found in the verse, before seeking to fill in our outline we will ask a number of pertinent questions.
What is the relation between our text and the context? Why are both of its members in the hypothetical form — “if”? Does the “you” in each half of the verse have reference to the same people, or are there two entirely different classes in view? If the latter is the case, then by what valid principle of exegesis can we account for such? Why not change one of them to “any” or “they”?
What is meant by “live after the flesh”? Is it possible for a real Christian to do so? If not, and it is unregenerate people who are mentioned, then why say they “shall die,” seeing that they are dead already spiritually? Are the terms “die” and “live” here used figuratively and relatively, or literally and absolutely? What is imported by “mortify” and why “the deeds of the body” rather than “the lusts of the flesh”?
If the “you” perform that task, then how “through the Spirit”? If He is the prime Worker, then why is the mortifying predicated of them? If there is conjoint action, then how are the two factors to be adjusted? In what manner will the promise “you shall live” be made good, seeing they already be alive spiritually? We know of no commentator who has made any real attempt to grapple with these problems.
The whole context makes it quite evident what particular classes of people are here addressed:
First, it is those who are in Christ Jesus, upon whom there is now no condemnation (verse 1).
Second, it is those who have been made free from the law of sin and death, and had the righteousness of Christ imputed to them (verses 2-4).
Third, it is those who give proof that they are the beneficiaries of Christ, by walking not after the flesh, but after the spirit (verse 4).
In what immediately follows, a description is given of two radically different classes:
1. those who are after the flesh, carnally minded;
2. those whose legal standing is not in the flesh, but in the spirit, who are spiritually minded because indwelt by the Spirit of God (verses 5-11).
Fourth, concerning the latter — “we” as opposed to the “they” of verse 8 — the apostle draws a plain and practical conclusion: “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh” (verse 12) — the endearing appellation there used by Paul leaves us in no doubt as to the particular type of characters he was addressing. Manton had a most able sermon on this verse, and we will, mostly in our own language, epitomize his exposition.
Man would gladly be at his own disposal. The language of his heart is “our lips are our own: who is lord over us?” (Psalm 12:4). He affects supremacy and claims the right of dominion over his own actions. But his claim is invalid, He was made by Another and for Another, and therefore he is a “debtor.” Negatively, not to the flesh, which is mentioned because that corrupt principle is ever demanding subjection to it. Positively, he is debtor to the One who gave him being.
Christians are debtors both as creatures and as new creatures, being entirely dependent upon God alike for their being and their well-being, for their existence and preservation. As our Maker, God is our Owner, and being our Owner He is therefore our Governor, and by consequence our Judge. He has an absolute propriety in us, an unchallengeable power over us, to command and dispose of us as He pleases. We have nothing but what we receive from Him. We are accountable to Him for our time and our talents. Every benefit we receive increases Our obligation to Him. We have no right to please ourselves in anything. This debt is indissoluble: as long as we are dependent upon God for being and support, so long as we are bound to Him. Sin has in no wise cancelled our obligation, for though fallen man has lost his power to obey, the Lord has not lost His power to command.
By virtue of his spiritual being, the saint is still more a debtor to God:
First, because of his redemption by Christ, for he is not his own, but bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:9). The state from which he was redeemed was one of woeful bondage, for he was a slave of Satan. Now when a captive was ransomed he became the absolute property of the purchaser (Leviticus 25 :45,46). The end which Christ had in view proves the same thing: He has “redeemed us to God” (Rev. 5:9).
Second, because of his regeneration. The new nature then received inclines to God: we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works (Ephesians 2:10). Having brought us from death unto life, renewed us in His image, bestowed upon us the status and privileges of sonship, we owe ourselves, our strength and our service unto God as His beneficiaries. The new creature is diverted from its proper use if we live after the flesh.
Third, because of our own dedication (Romans 12:1). A genuine conversion involves the renunciation of the world, the flesh and the devil, and the giving up of ourselves unto the Lord (2 Corinthians 8:5). Since our obedience to God is a debt, there can be no merit in it (Luke 17:10); but if we pay it not, we incur the debt of punishment (Matthew 6:12,15). Since the flesh has no right to command, the gratification of it is the yielding to a tyrannous usurper (Romans 6:12,14). When solicited by the flesh, the believer should reply, “I am the Lord’s.”
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the body, you will live.” Here are two sharply contrasted propositions, each one being expressed conditionally. Two eventualities are plainly set forth. Two suppositions are mentioned, and the inevitable outcome of each clearly stated. Both parts of the verse affirm that if a certain course of conduct be steadily followed (for it is far from being isolated actions which are referred to) a certain result would inevitably follow. This hypothetical form of presenting the Truth is quite a common one in the Scriptures. Servants of Christ are informed that “If any man’s [literally “any one’s,” that is of the “ministers” of verse 5, the “laborers” of verse 9, work abide which he has built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s [“one’s,” “minister’s”] work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss” (1 Corinthians 3:14, 15). Other well-known examples are, “for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ,” and “For if I build again the things which I destroyed [renounced], I make myself a transgressor” (Galatians 1:10; 2:18). “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3, and cf. 10:26). Our text, then, is parallel with, “For he who sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption: but he who sows to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:8).
