It is so ordered that the continuance of sin in us shall be the ground, reason, and occasion, of the exercise of all grace, and of putting a lustre on our obedience. Some excellent graces, as repentance and mortification, could have no exercise if it were otherwise; and whilst we are in this world there is a beauty in them that is an overbalance for the evil of the remainders of sin.
-John Owen, Sin and Grace: Of the Dominion of Sin and Grace, p. 556
Owen is making the point that if you made a scale (of the old fashioned sort, a balance) and put the ugliness of sin in one side and beauty of the fight against sin, and repentance, in the other, the scale would tip dramatically toward the beauty of the fight.
Remaining sin in the Christian is ugly, but the struggle to fight against it is beautiful. Falling into sin is ugly, but repentance is beautiful. The dragon is ugly, but the fight against the dragon is romantic and beautiful. The dragon is vile, but getting back up after taking a shot from its tail is heroic and noble.
Remember, therefore, the ugliness of sin. See it for what it is. But remember that your battle against it is beautiful, even if it means you get knocked down from time to time, even if some blows are nearly fatal.
Christ, through his own righteousness, has already given us the victory. Only the fight remains.
- 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 (Romans 8:13).
- Where, O Death, is your victory?
Where, O Grave, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:55-57).
