When you go out, fight your sin like a victor, not a victim.

Hi, I'm your host, Dan Kroover.

What gives you the strength to fight sin with hope instead of despair?

In this episode of Light and Truth, John Piper turned Sir Romans 8 verses 1 to 4 to show why the battle against sin begins not with guilt but with the unshakable verdict of no condemnation. This message was originally delivered at Bethlehem

Baptist Church on October 7th, 2001.

I have said in years gone by many times, and I'm going to say it again now,

the only sin that you can defeat in your life is a forgiven sin.

The only sin that you can get victory over in your life is a forgiven sin.

What I mean is this.

We must begin with the experience of joyful confidence that there is now over us no condemnation or we cannot make the least headway in transformation.

We will become legalists or letters or despairers. If we don't start with the conviction that there is, therefore,

now no condemnation on my head, and therefore I can make war triumphantly on sins, the forgiven sins in my life and win.

You get that turned around and you will perish.

You get that backwards and you will die.

Justification must precede and ground sanctification.

That's the fancy way to say it.

Being right with God must precede and empower doing right for God.

You get that turned around.

You've got another religion, not Christianity.

To which I know, some people respond with

oh my

this is just nitpicking

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