A53715:293
Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers
Of the mortification of sin in believers: the 1. Necessity, 2. Nature, and 3. Means of it. With a resolution of sundry cases of conscience thereunto belonging. By John Owen, D.D. a servant of Jesus Christ in the work of the Gospel.
London: printed for Nathanael Ponder, 1668
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
First, We know so little of God, because it is God who is thus to be known; that is, he who hath described himself to us very much ⟨p. 135⟩by this, That we cannot know him: What else doth he intend where he calls himself invisible, incomprehensible, and the like? That is, He whom we do not, cannot know as he is; and our farther progress consists more in knowing what he is not, than what he is. Thus is he described to be immortal, infinite; that is, he is not as we are, mortal, finite, and limited. Hence is that glorious description of him, 1 Tim. 6.16. Who only hath Immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see. His light is such as no Creature can approach unto: He is not seen, not because he cannot be seen, but because we cannot bear the sight of him. The Light of God (in whom is no Darkness) forbids all access to him by any Creature whatever: We who cannot behold the Sun in its glory, are too too weak to bear the beams of Infinite Brightness.
First, We know so little of God, because it is God who is thus to be known; that is, he who hath described himself to us very much ⟨p. 135⟩by this, That we cannot know him: What else doth he intend where he calls himself invisible, incomprehensible, and the like? That is, He whom we doe not, cannot know as he is; and our farther progress consists more in knowing what he is not, than what he is. Thus is he described to be immortal, infinite; that is, he is not as we are, mortal, finite, and limited. Hence is that glorious description of him, 1 Tim. 6.16. Who only hath Immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see. His light is such as no Creature can approach unto: He is not seen, not because he cannot be seen, but because we cannot bear the sight of him. The Light of God (in whom is no Darkness) forbids all access to him by any Creature whatever: We who cannot behold the Sun in its glory, are too too weak to bear the beams of Infinite Brightness.