In Jesus Christ, I am not the old, fallen, sinful, unbelieving person.

I am decisively and irrevocably new.

And then, therefore, I will become in practice what I am in Christ.

What does it mean to become who you are in Christ?

In this episode of Light and Truth, John Piper opens Romans 7, 14 to 25, to show how Christians battle sin by living within their God-given identity.

This sermon was originally delivered at Bethlehem Baptist Church on August 26, 2001.

Paul speaks to us about our true condition, our true identity in Christ and our behavior.

How does he talk?

Because that'll be our pattern.

The way he talks is this.

You are a free man.

Act like it.

You are dead.

Reckon yourself dead.

He tells you your newness.

Who you are, your identity in Christ. And he calls you to become what you are, your identity in Christ,

and he calls you to become what you are.

For example, suppose your besetting sin is anger,

which it is for most people.

When we did a men's retreat some years ago, anger, when they filled out a form, was a head of lust in its troubling and widespread attacks on men's lives. just a seething frustration and anger.

About all kinds of things, the same would be true of women, I believe.

Anger is a very widespread and besetting sin.

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