Reading John Owen's Spiritual Mindedness

Romans 8:1

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Is the first affirmation of “no condemnation” conditioned by the second clause, “who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit”? I want to argue, strongly, in the negative. The first phrase, before the comma, defines the second phrase. The “therefore” refers to chapters one through seven. It is here that Paul contrast our lost estate over against the power of the God’s gift in Christ Jesus. While the wages of sin, a wage we richly deserve, is death, the gift of God is eternal life. We worked hard to earn death, Christ works harder to earn our eternal life. As our sin might increase, Christ’s grace increases all the more.

So, if we receive what we did not earn nor deserve, why does Paul introduce the activity of walking into our salvation? I think living the Christian life is not a burden but a gift. The Spirit equips us to avoid walking in the flesh and grants us the capacity or ability to avoid sin. Before God applied the benefits (merits) of the Cross to our account, we were slaves to our own sinfulness. Paul goes so far as to say that we were dead in our sins and trespasses. We became buried into Christ, baptized in the Spirit, we now raise to walk in the “newness of life.”

Every day, maybe several times a day, I want to remind myself that I am no longer condemned by God but have been made righteous in Christ Jesus my Savior and my Lord. There remains bountiful evidence that I continue to earn death, but Christ’s life is infinitely stronger than the death I deserve.

Salvation rest not in walking according to the Spirit, but in my new capacity to walk according to the Spirit. I get to be holy and righteous, unstained by the world, the flesh and the Devil. Righteousness is my privilege not my debt. Salvation rests solely in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

There are voices in my soul that chip away at the assurance inherent in this truth. Some voices are Roman Catholic and others are from Revivalist Protestantism. The Roman Catholic teaching is much clearer than the Revivalists teaching. The Church of Rome teaches that Baptism is the means by which God infuses the believer with the righteousness of Christ. The sacraments of Confession and Penance (or Reconciliation) is the means through which this infused righteousness, now lost through willful sin is restored. So the Christian life is a cycle of losing and regaining our right standing with God.  This status is regained through baptism and restored through confessing our sins and making satisfactory amends in order to reestablish one to the State of Grace. The power of the Christ lies in its making salvation possible, not in the effectual power to save us. Salvation is a cooperative venture. God does his part and we must do and continue to do ours.

Respecting salvation, Revivalism is identical to Catholicism. When we “accept Jesus Christ as our “Lord and Savior” we invite him into our hearts. He will not come to us unless we ask him and he will not stay in us unless to walk with him in righteousness. The Revival process is one of restoring our sin sick souls to a State of Grace. This is done through demonstrating a godly sorrow and changing those habits and thoughts in our lives that drove the Spirit out of our souls. We are saved or we have slide back into sin and condemnation. We are bound for hell, then for heaven, then for hell, then for heaven, then for hell again. This is an endless cycle of being saved, then being lost.

I have noticed that the preacher at Revivalist funerals often appeals to God on behalf of the deceased. A case is made that this person accepted Christ as their “personal Lord and Savior” and lived an unbroken life of Christian piety. This preachment is meant to assure those present that their loved one was saved and remained saved. They, thereby, deserve an eternal rest. This state does not seem to depend on God at all, or, if so, only tangentially. What is central to the assurance of a soul made fit for Heaven is what the person does. The message is clear. If you want to go heaven and avoid hell you must do two thing – one, believe in Jesus, and, two, life a righteous life to the very end. I look at the sons and daughters of the deceit, dubious Saint, and I know they know that mom or dad was not as steady a Christian disciple as the preacher seems to believe he or she was. 

In Catholicism and Revivalism, we gain, lose, and regain the Christian life in a perpetual cycle of spiritual death and revival.

I began writing this because I am reading John Owen’s book, “Spiritual Mindedness.” It is a book long treatment of Romans 8:6b. “to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”