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Summary: In My Top 20 All Time Favorite Christian Works
Review: Aside from the Bible, this is, hands down, the best book on the challenges of personal godliness. Owen, who is a Puritan theologian, brings forth the issue of sin, why it is indwelling in every individual, how it causes enmity between us and God and why we will, in this life, continue to deal with it.This book is a must for those who are struggling with temptations of any kind (which pretty much includes everyone universally). Owen discusses how we battle sin, ways in which we can overcome temptations, how we allow sin to fester and build in our lives to an unhealthy point, and what we can do to avoid these types of problems. But let me warn you, this is not a "self help" book. Rather, this text is one which has the glory of God as its ultimate end, the awe we should all have for God, where our focus should constantly be, namely on God. This is, ultimately, how sin is conquered, according to Owen. Since too many of us are focused on everything else but God, sin is able to creep in easier and take hold of our lives. What is more, Owen discusses the grace of God and how God's grace and mercy covers our sins. Finally, mortification of sin is covered in great detail. What do we need to do to mortify sin? Why is mortification needed? How do we practice mortification? All these are covered and more. Another nice feature of this book is that it is formatted in such a way that it can be used as a study book for Bible studies, Sunday Schools, or any other type of group study setting since it includes a very nice Scripture index, and margin topic indicators, as well as a study guide for group discussions with very user friendly questions. I highly recommend this book for everyone no matter where you are in your Christian walk. This is the most detailed, heart wrenching work on sin and temptation that I have ever read. It can never be read too many times.
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Summary: Satan does not want you to read this book!!
Review: I read it cover to cover three times in row and bought copies for several others. It helps open your eyes to how Satan's forces infiltrate our lives, what his strategies are and how to combat it. I love the reverent classical language. It got me craving all the classic early christian works. Many modern christian books are fluffy and light. This is reverent and satisfying, yet you will crave more like it.
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Summary: Like a Roaring Lion Looking for Someone to Devour
Review: Owen has a piercing understanding of the human heart and its sinfulness. The overwhelming majority of this work deals with understanding sin, the power of sin, our adversary the Devil, the nature of temptation and the allure of evil. Expect to be cut (and cut deep) when you read this book. For anyone who has ever cried with Paul, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24), this book will expose the bone and marrow of your inner depravity and leave you with only one recourse--the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Owen deals only briefly with the actual practice of mortification (ie. destruction of sin), but his advice is to-the-point and very profound. He offers only two suggestions: look to Christ & seek the Holy Spirit. Owen's book is virtually an exposition of Romans 7 and Galatians 5. I would recommend Martin Luther's commentary on Galatians as a follow-up to this book. While Owen will expose the sinfulness of your heart, Luther will lift up the righteousness of the Savior Jesus Christ. (And do not be decieved, the first is as necessary as the second). This book is most highly recommended--both to those who have a deep sense of their own sinfulness and those who have no sense of sin at all.
Rating:
Summary: Like a Roaring Lion Looking for Someone to Devour
Review: Owen has a piercing understanding of the human heart and its sinfulness. The overwhelming majority of this work deals with understanding sin, the power of sin, our adversary the Devil, the nature of temptation and the allure of evil. Expect to be cut (and cut deep) when you read this book. For anyone who has ever cried with Paul, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24), this book will expose the bone and marrow of your inner depravity and leave you with only one recourse--the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Owen deals only briefly with the actual practice of mortification (ie. destruction of sin), but his advice is to-the-point and very profound. He offers only two suggestions: look to Christ & seek the Holy Spirit. Owen's book is virtually an exposition of Romans 7 and Galatians 5. I would recommend Martin Luther's commentary on Galatians as a follow-up to this book. While Owen will expose the sinfulness of your heart, Luther will lift up the righteousness of the Savior Jesus Christ. (And do not be decieved, the first is as necessary as the second). This book is most highly recommended--both to those who have a deep sense of their own sinfulness and those who have no sense of sin at all.
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Summary: Satan does not want you to read this book!!
Review: This is much more than a deep theological treatise. The editors have distilled three short wirtings of the great Puritan thinker and preacher, John Owen: The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of Indwelling Sin; Of Temptation; and Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers, and made them accessible to the modern reader. Because the doctrine of indwelling sin has been mostly forgotten or ignored by even conservative and evangelical preachers and writers, this book serves as a much needed slap on the face, reminding Christians that we NEVER, in this life, "get out of Romans 7 and into Romans 8". Using his comprehensive knowledge of Scriptures, he relentlessly pounds home the message that sin is a constant inhabitant in every human heart, and that, although (in believers) it is weakened and irreparably damaged in its ultimate goals, it nevertheless continues to harass and frustrate and cause great damage all our days. He proposes that the only antidote is to acknowledge sin's constant presence, noting from Rom. 7:21 that it is a "LAW present in our members, that WHEN WE WOULD DO GOOD, evil is present in us". In other words, it is especially at times when we want to do good and have every intention of being obedient and feel the desire to honor God that sin reveals itself as not an intruder, but a natural inhabitant of our heart, and sallies forth to sabotage and mar our best performance. In the section on mortification of sin, he addresses an issue mostly relegated to the Catholics of previous centuries. This book is without doubt essential reading for any Christian who wishes to live a holy life and please God. I have made significant practical changes in how I live my life as a result of reading it. Initially, it is shocking and painful to realize the truth of the extent of sin's presence and power in our lives- but it is the only way to learn the vigilance required to fight it.
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Summary: A needful reminder for a culture that has forgotten sin
Review: What happens when a culture forgets the doctrine of original sin? What happens when people turn their sinful nature into self-flattering, euphemistic terminology, using words like "wrong" and "mistake" instead of "wicked" and "depraved"? What happens when we hold to an anthropological view that claims humans are basically good creatures? Puritan thinker John Owen answers these questions in the most exhaustive and lucid treatment of indwelling sin, the temptation of believers, and the mortification of sin. One cannot read this book and remain unchanged. A humble self-examination will reveal that we are inherently sinful and in need of the imputed righteousness made possible by Jesus Christ on the cross. In addition, an accurate understanding of our sin will help make sense of the moral meltdown and cultural decline in America, hopefully encouraging the reader to find regeneration in a personal faith and relationship in Jesus Christ.
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