Indwelling Sin in Believers (John Owen) (#42)

Indwelling Sin in Believers

John Owen’s Indwelling Sin in Believers is a guide to knowing our enemy, a field-manual for the lifelong war Christ’s soldiers must wage against the sin that remains in them after conversion. Like an experienced general, Owen sets out the strategy and tactics of indwelling sin with unrivaled insight and clarity.

Based on Romans 7:21, “I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me,” Owen’s work shows that sin is a powerful inward law or principle lodged in the heart whose whole nature is enmity against God. This powerful river, flowing from the Fall, can only be brought under control by regenerating grace. However, sin’s enmity remains in believers after conversion, and the long war against it is one in which all Christians must engage.

Though this is a book about sin, it is no less about the all-sufficient grace of Christ. There is much here to strengthen and comfort the believer. Owen never lets us think that we must depend on our own unaided efforts. Nor are we sent to the law for help, since defeating sin is something the law cannot do. Our victory lies in seeing to it that the springs of grace remain open, and that communion with God in Christ remains our joy and delight.

This abridgement seeks to make Owen more accessible to present-day readers, but carefully retains the essence of his thought and as many as possible of his own expressions. It is a companion volume to Owen’s other writings, The Mortification of Sin and Temptation Resisted and Repulsed, also in the Puritan Paperbacks series.

About the Author

John Owen (1616 – 1683) was an English theologian and “was without doubt not only the greatest theologian of the English Puritan movement but also one of the greatest European Reformed theologians of his day, and quite possibly possessed the finest theological mind that England ever produced.  His writings fill 16 hardcover volumes on a wide range of theological topics, and he is best known for his works about the glory of Christ, putting sin to death, and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Table of Contents

1. The Enemy Within
2. The Law of Sin
3. Sin in the Heart
4. Enmity Against God
5. Aversion to Everything Good
6. Lusts at War With God
7. Captive to an Enraged Foe
8. The Deceitfulness of Sin
9. Prayer and Meditation Undermine Sin
10. The Mind on Guard Against Sin
11. Keeping the Heart
12. The Yielding of the Will
13. God’s Bridle on Sin
14. Sin Breaking Out
15. Blocking the Springs of Grace
16. “That Inbred Traitor, Sin”
17. What the Law Can and Cannot Do