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The Law is Holy, But Cannot Make Holy What Is Unholy

John Owen was a master of distinguishing between Law and Gospel, yet he never underestimated the goodness and beauty of the Law despite its apparent weakness. The quote below is one of the clearest and most precise expressions of the correlation of both the Law’s goodness and its inability to save sinners:

‘The law is holy,’ but it cannot make them holy who have made themselves unholy; it is ‘just,’ but it cannot make them so, – it cannot justify them whom it doth condemn; it is ‘good,’ but it can do them no good, as unto their deliverance from the power of sin.

-John Owen, Sin and Grace: Of the Dominion of Sin and Grace, p. 544

That is the classic Reformed position on the Law in relation to salvation: It is holy, but it cannot make a sinner holy; it is righteous and/or just, but it cannot justify the sinner; it is good, but it cannot make something that is bad good. In other words, the weakness of the Law is not actually the Law’s weakness – it is our weakness in relation to it. The Law is, as the Apostle Paul puts it, ‘weakened by the flesh.’

Hence the first use of the Law: to drive us to Christ and his gospel.

  • For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:3-4).
  • Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure (Romans 7:13)

Preaching for Edification (John Owen)

The general ends of preaching the word unto believers are:- [1.] The increase of spiritual light, knowledge, and understanding, in them; [2.] The growth of grace, enabling to obedience; [3.] Holy excitation of grace, by impressions of its power in the communication of the  mind, love, and grace of God, unto our souls;-which is attended with, [4.] An impression on the affections, renewing and making them more holy and heavenly continually; with, [5.] Direction and administration of spiritual strength against temptations and corruptions; and, [6.] Fruitfulness in the works and duties of obedience.

John Owen, Sin and Grace: Of the Dominion of Sin and Grace, p. 540

Owen’s idea of preaching (to believers) is that it (1) begins by targeting the mind (understanding) (2) in order to enable the will (3, 4) by awakening the affections (5) toward God and against sin (6) resulting in obedience.

Obedience to God is his primary goal, but the will must be reached through the understanding and by the affections. The preacher has to strive to reach the affections and the will, but he must begin by approaching or attacking the mind. When we change the order we become a different sort of preacher altogether.

The implication is that if we preach only to the mind (think academic preaching), then we are forgetting the primary goal – obedience. If we preach only to the affections (think emotionalism), we are forgetting the channel through which Christian affections are actually inspired – the mind – and we are neglecting the call to obedience. And if we preach only to the will (think moralism), we are short-circuiting the entire process. Mind, Affections, Will. Owen would argue that we must reach all three, and attempt to do so in that order.

Parrot-Prayers, Parrot-Science (John Owen)

John Owen comments that prayer and scientific discussion can have something in common – many do both simply by repeating what they have heard or what they think they should be saying. And in so doing, they give up their humanity.

…Just as birds are taught by men to say ‘Goodbye,’ or ‘Farewell,’ or ‘God bless you.’ Such prayers and desires are uttered by birds without the semblance of emotion or humanity, and with no notion of what they are saying – it is but an exercising of their tongues. In this exact way, many men are trained for the sciences and seem to be most wise.

-John Owen, Biblical Theology, p. 92

Requirements for Pastoral Preaching (John Owen)

What are some issues that the pastor must be concerned about if he is to be an effective preacher week in and week out? In chapter 5 of The True Nature of a Gospel church, John Owen sets forth ‘sundry things [that] are required unto this work and duty of pastoral preaching’:

1. Spiritual wisdom and understanding in the mysteries of the gospel…

2. Experience of the power of the truth which they preach in and upon their own souls…

3. Skill to divide the word aright…and this consists in a practical wisdom…to find out what is real, substantial, and meet food for the souls of the hearers – to give unto all sorts of persons in the church that which is their proper portion…

4. A prudent and diligent consideration of the flock over which any man is set, as unto their strength or weakness [etc.]…

5. Zeal for the glory of God and compassion for the souls of men.

(Works of John Owen, vol. 6, pp. 76-77).

You could remember the main points using the acronym PREACH. These are things that you should pray for and seek to cultivate in your life and ministry:

(1) Passion for God’s glory
(2) Right application of the Word,
(3) Experience of the power of the Word for yourself,
(4) Apprehension the gospel,
(5) Consideration of the flock, and a
(6) Heart for people

The Culture of the Inner Man (Part 2): For Those Who are into Transformation and Human Flourishing

It will be in vain for me to stock my library, or organise societies, or project schemes, if I neglect the culture of myself; for book, and agencies, and systems, are only remotely the instruments of my holy calling; my own spirit, soul, and body, are my nearest machinery for sacred service; my spiritual faculties, and my inner life, are my battle axe and weapons of war. M’Cheyne, writing to a ministerial friend, who was travelling with a view to perfecting himself in the German tongue, used language identical with our own: – ‘I know you will apply hard to German, but do not forget the culture of the inner man – I mean of the heart…Is is not great talents God blesses so much as likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God’ (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, Zondervan, p.9).

In my first post dealing with this quote, we noted the importance of dealing with issues of the soul rather than simply thinking about external gifts. I offer now another application of this quote:

Do not claim to be concerned with ‘culture’ if you are not primarily concerned with the culture of your own soul. Do you speak about redeeming culture and yet not think about your own redemption? Do you preach that Christ can restore culture and yet not regularly consider what he has done, and is doing, in your own soul? Are you more concerned with the broader culture than with your own personal holiness? Are you zealous for transformation and yet are not transformed? Do you harp about human flourishing in culture and yet find that your soul is not flourishing? Do you even consider these things?

In short, do you seek something in external culture that you rarely consider in application to your own soul? Consider well the culture of the inner man and believe that your own message applies to your soul:

…A man preacheth that sermon only well unto others which preacheth itself in his own soul

(Works of John Owen, vol. 16, p. 76).