Owen published this in 1656, while Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, from various sermons he had preached. He wasn’t selling self-made discipline or promoting the idea of man conquering sin of his own accord.
For Owen, sin is put to death by the Spirit, with one’s faith set upon Christ, and no believer outgrows the work.
Paul calls believers to holiness right after quoting God’s promises to dwell among His people and be a Father to them (2 Corinthians 6:16–18). We don’t pursue holiness to earn His nearness. We pursue it because He has already promised it.
#Holiness
From “Morning & Evening” by Charles H. Spurgeon.
“Do not be afraid to dwell upon this high doctrine of election.”
O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:24–25, NKJV)
From “Morning & Evening” by Charles H. Spurgeon.
“It has no dominion; it is a broken-backed snake; we are in bitter conflict with it, but it is with a vanquished foe that we have to deal.”
At its fourth session in 1546, the Council of Trent set church tradition alongside Scripture. The Reformers answered that only God can bind the conscience, so every council, creed, and teacher answers to His Word, not the other way around.
#Reformation
Warfield gave this as a lecture, published in 1894, when critics were saying the Bible held “more of the error of man” than Christians had believed. His answer: the church has always received Scripture as God’s Word in every part, not a book we sift for pieces of it.






