This site is a team effort by a group of pastors who are rediscovering the wealth of Biblical wisdom and spiritual guidance left to us by one of the great Christian scholars and physicians of the soul, the Puritan John Owen.
Currently, we are reading a book that offers encouragement to Christians who know that we are called to be conformed to the image of God’s Son, Jesus (Romans 8:29), but who are aware that their lives fall far short of that goal, and who are troubled by their failures in the daily struggle against temptation and sin.
This online class is for everyone who has ever cried out with Paul: “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. [. . .] So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” (Romans 7:19-21)
Owen was well aware of the conflict that rages in the hearts of Christians, and he addressed it in his book: “On the Nature, Power, Deceit and Prevelance of Indwelling Sin in Believers.” For our class we are reading an abridged, modernized translation of this work published by Banner of Truth Trust. You can read more about the book and purchase it from Amazon.com here: John Owen, Indwelling Sin in Believers, or directly from Banner of Truth.
Our hope is that Owen will inspire in you the same Christ-based, Spirit-inspired assurance that we have found!
We invite you to interact via the comments. Because comments are moderated for civility they may not appear right away.
After reading each section of the book, you may click on the link to take the Fun Quiz.
We hope you enjoy this book study!
Click on any active link to begin.
Hi Everyone, this study looks to be interesting. I thnk reading it in the original would be very challenging, as I get confused even in this version. I look forward to next week’s study. Sincerely, Betsy Goin
Hi Betsy!
First comment! Congratulations!
Don’t worry about how hard it seems. Stick with it and you will find that reading Owen can change the way you think about things.
Pastor Carl
Looking forward to reading this book
kwj.
Owen lived and wrote during one of the most tumultuous times in all British history – the English Civil War, which pitted the Royalist supporters of King Charles I and the Anglican religious establishment against the Parliamentary party of John Pym along with so-called ‘presbyterian’ and other ‘dissenting’ religious elements. The conflict was ignited in 1636 when the Archbishop of Canterbury (the famous Archbishop Laud) sought to impose a new prayerbook and liturgy on the Presbyterian churches of Scotland, thus provoking the swearing of the Solemn League and Covenant by the Scots. By 1667 (the year Owen wrote Indwelling Sin in Believers) King Charles I was dead, executed by Oliver Cromwell (absolute dictator in all but name) and his henchmen in 1649, along with thousands of other rank-and-file Englishmen (and Scots and Irish as well) of all parties who had perished in a series of murderous battles in the 1640s and 50s. By 1660, Cromwell was dead too, and King Charles II had been recalled from exile and restored to the Monarchy.
So, when Owen writes on page 5:
this was not a mere academic example. He and his contemporaries had seen it and lived it, from an all-too up-close-and-personal vantage point.
I’m finding this abridged & “made easier to read” version of John Owen’s book to be challenging as well! However, after reading the Pastor Rufus Barton’s chapter introductions & notes and the first 3 chapters, I got a one hundred on the first quiz – Very encouraging! Looking forward to the next link -
Thank you Pastors, for getting this together.
Looking forward to the next 3 chapters! I am very proud of myself for getting a one hundred on the first quiz!
Hi Kathryn!
Congratulations to you for the perfect score!
The next 3 chapters will be posted on Monday. The introductory comments to that section were provided by David Howard at Strasburg.
I know that Owen is a hard read for many people, but stick with it and you will benefit!
Pastor Carl
I, too thought the original might be a bit much for me so I purchased the easier one. I finished the first three chapters last night and read the commentaries/introductions and got all the questions correct. Thank you for having this Rufus, it’s very interesting and I think I’ll learn alot.
I would like to challenge the answers to questions 2 and 4 on Chapters 7 – 9.
In question #2,If I understand correctly, you are saying that:God’s preventing grace does not include (C)”Corporate exhortation by the body of Christ through prayer and mutual support”?
The very first mention of prayer is in Genesis 2:6,7 when God kept Abimelech, the Philistine King of Gerar, from taking Sarah as his wife. God told Abimilech that Abraham would pray for him.
– God’s preventing grace did include his servant’s prayer
In Samuel 7:5, Samuel told the house of Israel to put away their strange gods and to return to the Lord with all their hearts and that he would pray for them. It was then that God fought the battle through them and they won the victory against the Philistines.
— God’s preventing grace did include his servant’s prayer.
“And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. (Job 42:15a)
—God’s preventing grace did include his servant’s prayer.
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” ( 2 Chron 7:14)
– God’s preventing grace in a nation that is dying depends upon corporate exhortation by the body of Christ through repentance,prayer and mutual support.
All through the Scriptures we see prayer by the body of Christ in God’s preventing grace. Why does God ask us to “pray without ceasing.”
In question 4, you ask “Which of the following is NOT a result of prayer and meditation?” and the “correct” answer is “We gain a thorough understanding of God’s Word.”
I find this puzzling, because it is through prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to speak to me as I read God’s Word that I get a better understanding.