Sermon: Mortification
by Chris Cumming

On the 18th of January of this year (2020), I presented to you the sermon, “Double-down” which shared with you a hands-on perspective to repentance.  I began that sermon with this statement:

“Back in July and August of 2014, I gave four sermons as part of a Holiness series.  You can see all these sermons at the Las Vegas site.  This sermon is the fourth in that series.  Each is a stand-alone sermon on the same overall subject: Holiness.”

So “Double-down” is part of the Holiness series of four (4) sermons.  From this one sermon, I have put together fourteen (14) sermons in what I call the, “Salvation series.”  You can see these sermon titles and subjects on the Sermons page of the Las Vegas site.  Each sermon has a key verse or two you heard in “Double-down.”  Today is the fifth sermon in this series. 

Note: Any scripture you see with an asterisk (*) is one found in the sermon “Double-down.”

Let us begin.

The name of this sermon is, “Mortification” and comes from the word, “Mortify.”  Let us look at the definition of this word:

Definition:
Mortify from the dictionary is defined as: subjugate by abstinence and discipline.  Better is the Strong's definition: G2289: to kill (literally or figuratively): - become dead, (cause to be) put to death, kill, mortify.

Notice that this killing of the sin or negative element is accomplished by the Spirit of God in us.  All holiness is accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit.  This fact is established in a key verse from the Double-down sermon:

Romans 8:13*
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. ~emphasis mine

Double-down Phrases:
--Mortify bad deeds and habits.

This phrase is best rendered in our spiritual minds as, “Kill bad deeds and habits.”  This is good but does God want more from us on this point.  If God wants us killing something, don’t we have to hate that which we kill? Turn to Proverbs 8:13.  Notice we are going from Romans 8:13 to Proverbs 8:13.

Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

God hates evil and He wants us to hate sin and evil.  Notice the commentary for this verse:

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil - All evil in general, evil thoughts, evil words, evil actions, evil company, evil worship, and evil doctrines; and by "the fear of the Lord", which shows itself in an hatred of evil, because of the loathsome nature of it, and being contrary to God and his will. ~John Gill

Notice another commentary:

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil - As it is impossible to hate evil without loving good; and as hatred to evil will lead a man to abandon the evil way; and love to goodness will lead him to do what is right in the sight of God, under the influence of that Spirit which has given the hatred to evil, and inspired the love of goodness: hence this implies the sum and substance of true religion, which is here termed the fear of the Lord. ~Adam Clarke

This is one fantastic commentary as it catches the essence of the verse.  Let us break it down for your meditations:

1] It is impossible to hate evil without loving good.
2] Hating evil will lead us to abandon the evil way.
3] Love of goodness [
holiness] will lead us to Godly action.
4] All this is done by the power of God in us; the Holy Spirit.
5] The Holy Spirit manifests in us hatred of evil and love of goodness.
6] All this is the sum and substance of true religion (
our piety).
7] All this is termed, "the fear of the Lord"

Now, does the Bible have another term for, "fear of the Lord"?  Turn to Job 28.

Job 28:28 
And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord,
that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. ~ emphasis mine

So what is the purpose of this sermon?  What is spiritual mortification?

Purpose: Learn to hate sin.  Manifest white-hot hatred for sin and all things negative.  Use this hatred to kill or mortify the sin from your heart, mind, soul and action.

What will be the result of doing this?  You will be led to a powerful love of goodness and holiness and this will lead you to Godly actions and all good works.

You cannot do this of yourself.  Both the white-hot hatred and the powerful Godly love are manifestations of the Holy Spirit in you or, as we say, Jesus Christ living in and through you by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Mortify sin and all evil and negative things.

Mortify sin.

Look at that first thing on the list again:
1] It is impossible to hate evil without loving good. To the degree that we hate evil, we love good.  The reverse, I believe, states it better: “The more you develop spiritual love in your heart, the less evil or propensity to sin is found therein.”  Indeed, by the power of the Holy Spirit goodness and holiness are manifested in the heart which pushes out, as the commentary above said, “all the evil in general, evil thoughts, evil words, evil actions, evil company, evil worship, and evil doctrines.

Let us look at several verses linked to this key verse of Romans 8:13.

Romans 8:13*
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Verses linked to Romans 8:13 (
with emphasis by me in several of the scriptures used)

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die:
Romans 6:21
What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?
for the end of those things is death.

Romans 8:6
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Galatians 6:8
For he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Note for "reap corruption":  "and die the second death in the world to come [the Kingdom]. ~John Gill

Another commentary has "corruption" as, "in the grave - the home to which the sensualist rapidly travels." ~Barnes Notes

But if ye do mortify the deeds of the body

1 Corinthians 9:27
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Galatians 5:24*
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Titus 2:12 [see Lesson]
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Through the Spirit (meaning by the Spirit or power of God):
Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit.

Ephesians 4:30
And grieve not
the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Ephesians 5:18
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;
but be filled with the Spirit.

Now to the commentaries on our key verse of Romans 8:13

For if you live ... - If you live to indulge your carnal propensities (inclination or tendency), you will sink to eternal death; Romans 7:23. ~Barnes Notes

Quoted verse:

Romans 7:23 
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

The commentary on Romans 8:13 continues.

Through the Spirit - By the aid of the Spirit; by cherishing and cultivating his influences. What is here required can be accomplished only by the aid of the Holy Spirit. ~Barnes Notes

Do mortify - Do put to death; do destroy. Sin is mortified when its power is destroyed, and it ceases to be active. ~Barnes Notes

The deeds of the body - The corrupt inclinations and passions; called deeds of the body, because they are supposed to have their origin in the fleshly appetites. ~Barnes Notes

Ye shall live - You shall be happy and saved. Either your sins must die, or you must. If they are suffered to live, you will die. If they are put to death, you will be saved. No man can be saved in his sins. This closes the argument of the apostle for the superiority of the gospel to the Law in promoting the purity of man. By this train of reasoning, he has shown that the gospel has accomplished what the Law could not do - the sanctification of the soul, the destruction of the corrupt passions of our nature, and the recovery of man to God. ~Barnes Notes

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For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die - Though μελλετε αποθνησκειν may mean, ye shall afterwards die, and this seems to indicate a temporal death, yet not exclusively of an eternal death; for both, and especially the latter, are necessarily implied. ~Adam Clarke

But if ye through the Spirit - If ye seek that grace and spiritual help which the Gospel of Christ furnishes, resist, and, by resisting, mortify the deeds of the flesh, against which the law gave you no assistance, ye shall live a life of faith, love, and holy obedience here, and a life of glory hereafter. ~Adam Clarke

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For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die - Such persons are dead, whilst they live, and shall die a second or an eternal death, if grace prevent not. It may be asked, whether one that has received the grace of God in truth, can live after the flesh; flesh, or corrupt nature, though still in such a person, has not the dominion over him: to live in sin, or in a continued course of sinning, is contrary to the grace of God; but flesh may prevail and greatly influence the life and conversation, for a while; how long this may be the case of a true believer, under backslidings, through the power of corruptions and temptations, cannot be known; but certain it is, that it shall not be always thus with him. It may be further inquired, whether such an one may be so left to live after the flesh, as to die and perish eternally; Christ expressly says, such shall not die that live and believe in him; grace, which is implanted in their souls, is an incorruptible and never dying seed; grace and glory are inseparably connected together; but then such persons may die with respect to their frames, their comforts and the lively exercise of grace, which seems to be here intended; as appears from the next clause,  ~John Gill

But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. - This is not to be understood of the mortification of the body itself; nor does it design any maceration or afflicting of it by any severities of life; nor of the destruction of the body of sin by Christ: or of the being and principles of sin in the saints by the Spirit of Christ; which is contrary to Scripture, to the experience of the saints, who find it in them, alive in them, and to their expectations, whilst in this world: nor is this mortification to be considered as a part of regeneration, which by some divines is made to consist in a sense of sin, grief for it, and hatred of it, in avoiding it, and in an expulsion of vicious habits and inclinations; but it should be observed, that the apostle is writing to persons that were already regenerate; nor does he ever exhort persons to regenerate themselves, which he would do here, if this was the sense; regeneration is a work of the Spirit of God, in which men are passive, whereas in the mortification here spoken of the saints are active, under the influence of the Spirit of God; besides, regeneration is done at once, and does not admit of degrees; and in and by that, sin, as to its being and principle, is so far from being destroyed, that it seems rather to revive in the sense and apprehension of regenerated persons: but it is a mortification of the outward actings of sin in the conversation, called, "the deeds of the body": and in the Claromontane exemplar, and in the Vulgate Latin version, "the deeds of the flesh": or as the Syriac version renders it, הופכי, "the conversations", or manners of it, and so the Ethiopic version; that is, its outward course of life: and it signifies a subduing and weakening the vigour and power of sin in the lives and conversations of the saints, to which the grace and assistance of the Spirit are absolutely necessary; and such who are enabled to do so, "shall live" comfortably; they shall have communion with Christ here, and shall live a life of glory with him hereafter. Such a way of speaking as this is used by the Jews; say they:

"what shall a man do that he may live? it is replied, ימית עצמו, "he shall mortify himself";''

which [is to say] "he shall humble himself"; walk humbly before God and men, in his life and conversation.  James 4:10 and Micah 6:8 ~John Gill


Now a piece from the Biblical Illustrator:

Romans 8:13*
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Sin and death, or grace and life

I. If sin live in us, we shall die.

1. To live “after the flesh” is to obey the orders of our corrupt nature; to gratify its sinful desires without regard to or in contradiction of the will of God. And this will appear if we consider—

(1) The actions of a carnal man (Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:12; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Corinthians 6:10).

Quoted verses:
Galatians 5:19-21
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Ephesians 5:12
For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

Hebrews 13:4
Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

(2) His words (Matthew 12:34; Ephesians 5:4; James 3:6).

Quoted verses:
Matthew 12:34
O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

Ephesians 5:4
Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

Note:  This particular verse needs abundant study for clarity and true meaning of words and phrases.  One example is in the word, "jesting."  This from the commentary: jesting: when it is with wantonness, and excites unto it, and is inconsistent with truth, and when the Scriptures are abused by it, and not our neighbour's edification, but hurt, is promoted by it, ought not to be used. ~John Gill

James 3:6
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

(3) His thoughts (Proverbs 23:7; Matthew 15:18; Psalm 10:4; Philippians 3:19; 1 John 2:15).

Quoted verses:
Proverbs 23:7
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

Matthew 15:18
But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

Psalm 10:4
The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

Philippians 3:19
Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind (set their affection upon) earthly things.

1 John 2:15
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

2. Now, mark the consequence of living after the flesh; “ye shall die I” (Romans 8:6; 1 Timothy 5:6; Ephesians 2:1; Romans 6:2). What else could be reasonably expected? There are but two eternal states, and every man is training up for one of these. The carnal man is unfit for heaven; for all the joys and employments of the blessed are spiritual.

Quoted verses:
Romans 8:6
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

1 Timothy 5:6 [see Lesson]
But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.


Ephesians 2:1
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Romans 6:1-2
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

II. If sin die in us, we shall live.

1. To mortify sin is to put it to death, as the magistrates put a felon to death by due course of justice; he is suspected, apprehended, tried, and executed. Crucifixion is the manner of killing it which God has appointed (Galatians 5:24). This is—

(1) A violent and painful death.

(2) A scandalous death.

(3) A slow and lingering death.

Quoted verse:
Galatians 5:24
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

2. By what means may we effectually mortify sin? “Through the Spirit.” We must first have the Spirit, that we may experience His sanctifying power. The Spirit helps us to mortify sin—

(1) By enabling us to discover it, and by showing us its abominable nature; filling our souls with a sincere dislike to it, and a holy determination to destroy it.

(2) By giving us faith, and leading us to Christ for pardon, righteousness, and strength.

3. This promised help of the Spirit does not exclude the use of means on our part. The Spirit so works in us, as also to work by us. The duty is ours; the grace is His.

4. Thus doing, we “shall live.” There is no condemnation to persons of this character. This is an evidence that they have “passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). They live indeed, for Christ liveth in them. They live to God; and in this, their gradual sanctification, consists their meetness for [the Kingdom], where sin shall be all done away. But, oh sinner, what will be the end of thy present pursuits? (Romans 6:21). ~Biblical Illustrator

Quoted verses:
John 5:24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Romans 6:21
What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

At this point, I was moved to find an appropriate quote from someone on crucifying the deeds of the flesh.  However, our key verse for this entire says it best:

Romans 8:13*
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

You shall live!!


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