Mortification of Sin

I was speaking with a friend not too long ago and we were discussing the low view of sin that the modern church has perhaps been guilty of; which, in my opinion, is one of the great faults of our beloved church. As part of the discussion I mentioned that mortification of sin should always be at the forefront of our thought and that we must, in humble reliance on the Spirit, learn to recognize how intensely sinful we are. We must see the struggle as Paul did in Romans 7, as Martin Luther did as he struggled to understand the doctrine of grace, and as the Puritans did. For the Puritans this was an area that was included in every aspect of their lives. They believed and understood that mortification of sin leads to pious living and we glorify God in so doing. Mortification of sin is the natural result of Sanctification. So then we must desire and strive for this with vigor always.

My friend then shared that it has been suggested to him that to get a more appropriate perspective and conviction of personal sin we might pray from the Westminster Larger Catechism and their treatment of The Ten Commandments. Since then I have been doing so and it is quite humbling to see what sins are being shown to me. Some I have already known and some I quite frankly have not. As a result of the humbling blessing this has been, I wanted to pass it on in the hopes that others may try this too. Perhaps it will help you to achieve a more vigilant focus on sin in your life and a desire to mortify it to the glory of God.

Here is a link to CRTA and the online version of the Westminster Larger Catechism if you do not have it. The question and answers you are concerned with are #100-#149 (which you will find a link to if you scroll just a little bit down).
CRTA - Westminster Larger Catechism
 
I pray this will be a blessing to you all.