TPW 86 John Piper's Distortion of the Gospel of the Reformation

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Welcome to the Protestant Witness. This is Pastor Patrick Hines here at Bernal Heights Presbyterian Church and I wanted to post what was actually my original very first response to John Piper to that whole issue when it first came to my attention and I found this in my archives back on Sermon Audio and I this this original program
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I think has got some pretty useful stuff in it and I reviewed some of the main sections of that sermon that Piper preached that was does
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God really save us by faith alone which is kind of the the atomic bomb he dropped when everyone else is you know supposed to be celebrating the
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Great Protestant Reformation. So anyway I thought I would go ahead and post this because I think there's some real useful parts to this and this is kind of my initial take on it and it's just as relevant now as it was when it was first preached and I just wanted to put this out there because more people need to speak to this issue.
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I was just looking at the Gospel Coalition website I was actually trying to figure out who from the General Assembly of the
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PCA that that spoke on the floor is actually part of some of these groups and I saw that what's the guy's name?
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What's his name? What's his name? What's his name? Kevin DeYoung. And he spoke in favor of the
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Nashville Statement on the floor of the PCA General Assembly and he is on the the council or the the board of the
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Gospel Coalition and lo and behold there's there's John Piper on there too. So you have all these gospel gospel gospel gospel gospel groups and you have an individual teaching who is very plainly denying the biblical gospel and very few people on these groups that are supposed to be protecting the gospel and making sure the gospel is accurate and things like that.
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I have pointed that out so I wanted to go ahead and post this as I think there's some pretty valuable material in it and I hope that you find this to be edifying.
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I saw a video put out by Paul Flynn I actually hadn't heard of him at Megiddo radio a friend here from church has listened to Paul Flynn and I've only only listened to a couple of his programs but I really like really like his program you know he's definitely a brother a good solid reform
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Presbyterian and very very bright very sharp and he was he was critiquing
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John Piper and I agree with a lot of what
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Paul Flynn had to say about Piper I've never been a huge John Piper guy just I just haven't as far as you know
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I guess for lack of a better way of putting it the reformed celebrity cult there's a few of them
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I like I like to listen to that I think are pretty good a friend of mine gave me the book future grace by John Piper it's probably been way
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I'm probably more than 10 years ago I think that he sent me that book in the mail right out of the gate in the book
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Piper rejects entirely the idea of a covenant of works and of course he's getting that from Daniel Fuller and you know
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Fuller Daniel Fuller did not believe in the inerrancy of Scripture which is a massive hole in the side of his ship
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I have another tape series by a good reformed scholar named
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Kim Rydelbarger and Rydelbarger did a lecture series on reformed approach to evangelism and throughout that series one of the things that he emphasized as being really important was the doctrine of biblical inerrancy oh no
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I'm sorry it was it was a series he did on the inspiration and authority of Scripture the one on evangelism is really good but this this tape series from that tells you how long ago
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I got it those tapes on the inspiration and authority of Scripture we're just outstanding
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I learned so much and Rydelbarger is really good on that topic because he did his doctoral dissertation on B .B.
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Warfield and of course Warfield is the guy who invented the word inerrancy in his struggle against German higher critical scholarship way back in the 19th century but anyway one of the things that Rydelbarger shares in that and those lectures on the inspiration and authority of Scripture is a conversation that he had with Michael Horton and John Gerstner in Michael Horton's living room talking about inerrancy and Gerstner tells the story of sitting in a
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Chicago hotel room with Daniel Fuller and talking to him about inerrancy and Daniel Fuller was on his way to to abandoning this this idea of biblical inerrancy that the
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Bible has no errors of any kind in it and the discussion that Gerstner described was just bizarre to me because Fuller was sitting there in that hotel room with Gerstner saying
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Jesus said that the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds and scientists have found a seed in South America that's smaller than a mustard seed
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Jesus is wrong and therefore the Bible has errors in it and Gerstner apparently from what the way
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Dr. Rydelbarger relayed the conversation was just in shock and Gerstner tried his best to point out look
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Daniel Jesus is not giving a lecture on botany what's he doing he's quoting from a local proverb so the people would know what he's talking about what's the point that the mustard seed which is the smallest of all seeds if you have just a little bit of faith you can say to this mountain go and be planted in the sea or this mulberry tree go be planted over there and it will obey you what's the point it's not a lecture on botany or the size of seeds the point is it just takes a little bit of faith that's all
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Jesus is not giving a botanical lecture now if Jesus had said that there's this seed in South America that didn't even have a name what the what his point have come across very well
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I just amazed me and Gerstner said and after that conversation I mean Fuller just he just wouldn't let go of that point
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Jesus was wrong when he said that it was the smallest using the superlative the smallest of all seeds because we know there's a seed in South America that's smaller than a mustard seed so he abandons biblical inerrancy over that I just thought wow that's really bad that's really weird and Daniel Fuller Piper sings the man's praises up one side down the other and the introduction to his book future grace
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I never finished it I read about the first third of it and I thought you know the the wheels have really fallen off here and I could see how important the covenant of works is to your your overarching understanding of the
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Bible and Piper made a number of statements in that book future grace just in the section that I read before I put the book down that were very troubling to me and I started wondering where where is this guy really coming from on this in the meantime though you know
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Piper has dialogue with NT Wright and Piper wrote a book called counted righteous in Christ where he argues
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I think pretty well for the the imputation of Christ righteousness however the the problematic kind of things that Piper has said have really come to full fruition now in this sermon there's a link here
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I'm not I'm not gonna listen to the whole thing because it's or I'm not gonna play the whole thing it's 40 minutes and 17 seconds long but it's called faith alone how not to use a reformed slogan it's on desiring
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God's a YouTube channel but I wanted to listen to it all the way up through actually listen to the whole thing and then listen to it all the way up to about 25 minutes and this is where he says a whole bunch of things that are that are exactly right and and very forcefully so you know
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Piper is a little bit has a little bit his pay pathos is a little bit distracting to me at times but he really he really nails the point but then makes a distinction
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I'm just gonna go ahead and tell you about it before he goes into it he makes a radical distinction between being justified before God and quote getting into heaven and quote evidently in his thinking those are completely different things and biblically they are not biblically they are not and we're gonna see that but I wanted to go ahead and just kind of start this video 25 minutes and five seconds into this so that gives us 15 minutes left and I'm gonna try to keep this video relatively short but I want to let you let y 'all listen to Piper in his own words and offer some responses to the things that he is saying here most radical statement on this is
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Galatians 5 verses 1 to 3 if you would push me to go
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I agree in fact when I was in seminary I did my
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Greek exegesis paper on Galatians 5 1 through 3 for this very reason I think it is one of the most powerful statements that justification is by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone and if you add anything at all to that whatsoever as the text itself says
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Christ will be of no benefit to you you become a debtor to keep the whole law to be justified before God and you are severed from Christ it says so our confidence for getting into heaven which is the same thing if you're a justified person you have been transferred from being an
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Adam to being in Christ and you will always be in Christ for the rest of eternity where God is 100 % for you he uses that phrase like how does 100 % for you but evidently evidently from what it sounds like and he makes it pretty clear people for whom
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God is for a hundred percent can still go to hell so very very troubling but the
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Galatians 5 1 to 3 maybe and you'll go there and really unpack it I don't know where he's going on this
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Galatians 5 1 to 3 for freedom Christ has set us free stand firm therefore and do not submit again to yoke of slavery to yoke of slavery look
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I Paul say to you that if you accept circumcision just one little effort at walking if you accept circumcision if you add that one little effort in addition to faith in Christ Christ is no advantage this is painful for me to because he is about to do exactly what he just said he's about to do the very thing he is now condemning in the sermon it's just it's painful listen to because what he's saying is true if you add anything to what it is that gets you into heaven
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Christ we have no benefit to you he's exactly right and the irony is he's about to do the very thing
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Paul condemns that's true it is wildly radical it's wildly radical because what that is saying is if a person is relying upon if their confidence for entering heaven is is based on anything other than Jesus Christ or anything alongside of Jesus Christ Christ will be of no benefit to you and you have to keep the whole life by yourself it's one or the other it's
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Christ or you save yourself you can't mix the two at all and sadly ironically amazingly that's exactly what
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Piper's about to do I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision he is obligated to keep the whole law yep that's why the
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Roman Catholic Church's gospel can't save anyone and has never saved anyone that's why at least
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I know Eastern Orthodox theology at least from what I'm seeing it's quite a bit more fluid but the vast majority of the individuals
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I've talked to they're relying upon their own works to made possible by grace but still relying upon their own works
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Christ will be of no benefit to you Christ will be of no benefit to you so if you choose to rely just a little bit on law -keeping as a way of getting justified as a way of getting into a position where God is a hundred percent for you
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I think that to get into heaven God's got to be a hundred percent for you see everything he's gonna go on to say here requires you to make the hard distinction between getting justified getting into a getting into a position he's doing all these hand motions getting into a position where God is a hundred percent for you apparently that's not enough to get you into heaven just listen
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Christ is of no advantage to you again
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I just I have to say it and what he's gonna go on to say and preach and teach here if you believe it
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Christ will be of no advantage to you either if you go the route of justification by faith plus a little bit of law -keeping you go the route of justification by total law -keeping that's quite true oh and and if you and if you believe what
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Piper's gonna go on to say here you are going the direction of total law -keeping by yourself without Christ for getting into heaven nothing for three again mark that be that big asterisk maybe in the iPhone 10 you can put an asterisk by one of the reasons why they're good reasons to read paper books hey
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I like Kindles ma 'am I use my Kindle for everything and it keeps track of where I am and all the books and all my different gadgets
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I love that thing it even reads to me but you know I usually read a paper Bible though I will say that verse 3
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I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision he is obligated to keep the whole law it's
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Christ alone or you save yourself alone one of the other Paul is so clear you can't mix works with grace and any attempt to do so and Christ is out of the equation you get to keep it all you're by yourself which means you're going to hell there are two ways of justification the way of law keeping which requires your perfection yep and the way which depends on Christ's perfection these two paths into the place where God is a hundred percent for you are
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I don't like his constant use of that phrase these two paths into the place where God is a hundred percent for you does that mean what does that mean you know what that sounds like that sounds like the
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Council of Trent we are therefore said to be justified gratuitously because nothing that proceeds justification proceeds from us either faith or works and they say that faith is the foundation and the root of all justification faith is how in Roman Catholicism you get into a place where God is a hundred percent for you and then from that position where God is already a hundred percent for you then you can do the works of transformation you're justified entirely by by faith alone and by the grace of God alone but your final justification your final salvation getting into heaven is from a position where God is a hundred percent for you already but there's these other things that you need to do
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I don't see the difference between what he's saying here what he's going to go on to say and session six of the
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Council of Trent read it so distinct they cannot be mixed at all even though I'm about to mix them this is just so painful to watch because everything he's saying here is just spot -on the guy is knocking it out of the park and he's about to do the very things that he is here denouncing by making this hard distinction between justification and getting to heaven as if they're completely different things if you are trusting
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Christ for a righteous standing where God is a hundred percent for you which is not getting into heaven just bear that in mind you cannot mix one quiver of effort to establish your own righteousness but you can for getting into heaven this is this is exactly what
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Romans chapter 16 verses 17 and following is talking about subtlety of speech smooth words of flattery and if you are seeking to establish your own righteousness your own record of virtue as an entrance into the position where God is a hundred percent for you you cannot which isn't gonna get you in heaven that's the thing to bear in mind here we're
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God is a hundred percent to get you in a position where God is a hundred percent for you a hundred percent for you again that sounds an awful lot like Roman Catholic theology you're it is entirely gracious that you get into a state of grace you know what the state of grace means
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God is a hundred percent for you same thing different words you see and that's that's what heresy and false doctrine and false gospels always are they're never new what
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Piper's gonna go on to say here is not new everything he's saying we've heard before and what you get with every generation are nuanced and interesting repackagings of the same old thing mix the slightest faith in Christ as your all -sufficient they are mutually all -sufficient for what dr.
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Piper in Christ as your all -sufficient righteousness that cannot get you into heaven it can get you in a position where God is 100 % for you but it can't get you to heaven listen closely exclusive it's one or the other law keeping to establish my righteousness or faith alone and what
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Paul the Apostle is talking about when he speaks of faith apart from works faith not by works faith apart from obedience faith apart from deeds of law that we have done he is talking about the righteousness that gets us into heaven dr.
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Piper the fact that you have now separated these two things from one another getting justified and getting into heaven is bizarre to me and this is going to resonate with a lot of reform folks are going to hear this and say yeah that's exactly what we believe and that's what the
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Bible teaches but listen carefully the wheels are about to come off listen one last question what is this and this is where things become very murky and I've preached on this topic a lot
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I did a four -part series on the Lordship controversy and I did an entire sermon on what is faith in Jesus Christ is a very important question is what is faith in Jesus Christ and it's a saving grace it's a saving grace is something
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God creates in the heart of the center of the proclamation of the gospel whereby we receive and rest upon Christ alone for our salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel listen to how he defines faith here what's it like what is faith what kind of thing is faith critical question is a receiving of Christ for who he really is the beautiful supreme all -satisfying treasure that he is that sounds pious it's also very ambiguous it is receiving
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Christ for the sufficient satisfying beautiful treasure that he is that that in one sense is true but that doesn't really help us here what is faith in Jesus Christ it is receiving
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Christ but it's also relying on resting on his righteousness to get you into heaven as our divine substitute it is the receiving of Christ see it would be better to say it is the receiving of Christ as the one who has fully discharged the debt that we owe to God for our sins he has paid for all of them past present future original and actual sin and his righteousness is legally imputed to our legal account before God so that we stand justified before him that's what faith in Jesus Christ is it is it is a renouncing of reliance and confidence upon anything other than Jesus Christ or anything alongside of Jesus Christ faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace we receive and rest upon him alone as he is offered to us in the gospel for our salvation for getting into heaven for forgiveness for righteousness not as health insurance now this is an interesting part he says not as health insurance
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I think that what he's probably criticizing there is the health and wealth gospel the prosperity gospel the idea that may you come to Jesus and you should be healed of all your afflictions
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I think I think that's why he says not as health insurance um Piper has has ripped to shreds the the prosperity preachers and rightly so the
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Benny Hinn's and Kenneth Copeland's and Hagen's and Creflo dollars and all those other weird charismatic types that believe in that if you're a
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Christian you should never be sick and you should have you know amount mountains of money and private jets and everything else or fire insurance how many hundreds of thousands of people are in our churches who have not received
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Christ as the beautiful glorious infinitely all satisfying sovereign and substitute and treasure that he is and I'm not saying very true very true that's why
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I did that series the whole lordship issue the reason there are so many people who think that they're excuse me that they're
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Christians and they're not is because of a false gospel that's been preached there has been no call to repent no call to turn from sin and to embrace
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Christ and we're gonna get more into that here at a moment John Piper is the is the master of the long pregnant pause
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I'm just kind this is why faith inevitably transforms the heart that is not a helpful way of saying that that is not a helpful way of saying that that's why our confession the
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Westminster Confession speaks of faith we are justified by faith alone by but that faith is never alone in the person justified but as always and ever accompanied by all other saving graces to say faith transforms our life no
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God transforms our life God transforms our life through the means of grace and through the process of sanctification is a different category here our persons are accepted in the sight of God solely completely and only by the blood and righteousness of Christ that is imputed to us and received by faith alone that's why the
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Westminster Confession chapter 11 on justification says that we are justified not for anything wrought in us or done by us but only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone you gotta love the way our confession anticipates all these errors it is not for anything wrought in us or done by us but only for the righteousness of Christ so to say faith inevitably transforms our lives it makes it it makes it sound like faith is actually works in some way now it's okay to speak of faith working yes but the way he's describing this is not overly helpful
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James 2, here we go. He saw it. He saw what people were doing with faith alone.
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They were turning it into a doctrine that claimed you could be justified by a faith that had no good works whatsoever, didn't produce any transformation in your life.
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What would he say today? What would James say today? The same thing he said in James 2.
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And I did a sermon on James 2, 14 and 26. I preached on that passage a couple times. I really think it's one of the most important passages for our day and age because there is so much of this easy believism.
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There is so much of this antinomian false gospel where basically people are told that if they pray a magic prayer they're going to heaven whether they have any desire for holiness or want to pursue
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Christ or have any desire for the Word of God or to grow in grace or love for the church at all.
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He said no to such faith. He said it's dead faith without works is dead, 217.
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He said it's like a body without breath, 226. He made a number of comments here that I thought were a little bit off as I'm recalling listening to this.
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Listen to what else he says here. He said it's like energy with no effect, 220, he says it's like energy with no effect, 220, he says.
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Okay, here's what verse 20 says. But do you want to know, oh foolish man, that faith without works is dead? He says it's like energy with no effect, 220.
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I don't know how that phrase could remotely be connected to 220. Energy without effect.
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Energy with no completion, 222. Energy with no completion, that's,
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I don't understand why he's using that word. He said if there's justifying faith, there will be, it has, works.
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True. So he says, I will show you my faith by my works,
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I will show you, they will be confirmed by my works, I will show you my faith by my works.
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Yeah, and the thing is, you know, faith, assenting to the truth of the gospel, receiving and resting on Christ, that's invisible.
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I mean, if a person has faith in Christ, you can't see their active faith. So there is a sense in which, yes,
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I show people my faith by my works. That doesn't mean faith is works.
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It just means that it's always accompanied by a transformed life. God makes us alive in Christ. And God dethrones sin's tyrannical power in us.
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That's what Romans chapter 6 is all about. We who were once the slaves of sin become slaves of righteousness.
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We have been set free from the dominion and the tyranny and the power of sin. And we will begin the process of sanctification and begin to become holy.
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Yes. All of which Paul would agree with because of Galatians 5, 6.
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In Christ Jesus' name, circumcision or uncircumcision counts for anything.
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But only faith working through love.
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The kind of faith that works through love is the only kind of faith that justifies.
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Yes. No love, faith is dead. Correct. Dead faith doesn't justify.
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Right. Dead faith. Right. Really, what that is really getting at, what that's saying in Scripture, is it has to be a divinely given faith.
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Because if it's divinely given by the effectual call of God's grace, then it's going to be accompanied by everything else
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God does in the life of every redeemed sinner. Namely, the process of sanctification begins, the power of sin is dethroned.
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Romans chapter 6 explains that in great detail. And the struggle with sin will then commence. The only kind of faith that counts for justification is the kind that produces love.
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That bears the fruit of love. The faith which alone justifies is never alone.
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Yep. Westminster Catechism. But always yielding a transforming fruit.
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So, when James says those controversial words in verse 24 of chapter 2, a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
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Now, his interpretation of this I found to be a little odd. Listen closely to what he says here. I don't think I agree with the way he understands this.
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I take him to mean not by faith which is alone. So, he does think that he's talking about justification in the same way
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Paul is. That's really troubling to me. Because the fact is,
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James 2 .24, you see it end up by works a man is justified and not by faith alone. The question you need to ask yourself is justified with regard to what?
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James 2 .14 -26 is its own pericope, its own passage. The beginning sentence is,
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What good is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has no works? Can that faith save him?
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The epistis there, I would take the definite article there to be functioning on aphorically as a demonstrative.
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Can that faith save him? Can a faith that has no works save him? But what is the justification being spoken of in James 2 .24?
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The justification of a person saying they have faith. Not their justification before God, but just their justification in saying it.
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I am not justified in saying I'm a Christian if my life is completely unchanged, is totally unaffected by it.
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And I'm still a slave of sin. I have no right, I am not justified in saying
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I'm a Christian unless my life is different. That's really all James is saying.
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That's what James 2 .24 is all about. You see then that by works a man is justified and not by faith alone.
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Piper sounds to me like he's saying that's talking about the forensic justification before God. And I think clearly in the context that is not what he's talking about.
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He's talking about the justification of a person saying they have faith. Why do I think that? Because that's what the whole passage is about.
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Was not Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? Well, if he's talking about forensic legal justification, he is contradicting
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Paul. Because Paul says in Romans 4 verses 1 -3, What then shall we say that Abraham our forefather according to the flesh is found?
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For if Abraham was justified by works, then he has something to boast about, but not before God. Paul's point is
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Abraham was not justified by works in that sense. But Abraham was justified in saying he has faith by his works.
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So my profession in saying I have faith, saying I'm a Christian, that profession is justified only by my works.
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Because anyone can say they have faith and faith in and of itself is invisible. The only thing that you can actually observe with your own eyes is all the other saving graces that accompany faith.
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That's the point of James 2, 14 -26. I totally disagree with the way
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Piper is interpreting this. He's saying that just means we're justified by a faith that's not alone.
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No, Dr. Piper, if he's talking about forensic legal justification in the same way
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Paul is, then we are justified by works. And that's of course not what James 2, 24 is saying.
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But shows itself by works. Paul calls this effect or fruit or evidence of faith a work of faith.
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Thessalonians 1, 3, 2 Thessalonians 1, 11. He calls it the obedience of faith.
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Now this is troubling. This is troubling. One thing you see in Paul's writings is you'll see him make use of the very common triadic formula, is what
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I would call it, faith, hope, and love. 1 Thessalonians 1, 3, he just cited. Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope.
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You'll see those three words together, faith, hope, love, faith, hope, love, in Paul's writings. Piper's saying, well, faith, the faith that justifies, he calls the work of faith.
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No, he doesn't. Not here. In 1 Thessalonians 1, the context here has nothing to do with a discourse on justification.
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And then Romans 1, 5, a text that is misused constantly by Rome and by the
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Federal Visionists. The obedience of faith. As if faith in and of itself is obedience.
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And yet I would look at that as obedience that arises from faith. Or you could take it as really trusting in Christ is itself an act of obedience.
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But it's not obedience to the law or anything like that. It is obedience to the gospel imperative, repent and believe.
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But I think he's really missing the point of those two passages he just quoted.
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Romans 1, 5, 16, 26. These works of faith and these fruit of faith or fruit of the spirit that come by faith are necessary for final salvation.
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Yikes. Okay, now immediately all Piper's defenders are going to start chiming in and getting all upset.
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Oh, you're just interpreting him in the worst possible light. And even John Gerstner and others have said that works are necessary for salvation.
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Of course, you would need to explain yourself. They are a necessary fruit. They necessarily accompany true faith in Christ.
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But they are not and do not form any part of the grounds of getting into heaven.
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Which is our justification. No holiness, no heaven.
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Now, you got to be real careful there. There's that passage, I think it's in Hebrews 12. Without holiness, no man shall see the
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Lord. And that is quite true. That is definitely true. Is that in that passage in that context talking about the righteousness by which we're accepted before God?
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No. Is it talking about the means by which sinners get into heaven?
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No. But it is a true statement. Without holiness, no one will see the
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Lord. But he's not going to qualify this or explain it very well. And so it really muddies the waters the way he's using that phrase.
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Which means if you were following last week's report of the big survey that was done by more evangelicals than any other survey, and they're not promised it anymore, it was a totally confused survey.
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Actually, I disagree with him. Listen to what he says here. Because the question they asked was, how do you get into heaven?
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Good question. And why is Piper saying this survey was totally confused?
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Why? Because they don't make the confusing distinction that I make between being justified and getting into heaven.
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See, the thing is, when a person has true faith in Christ given to them by God, they are forensically, legally, judicially declared righteous in the sight of God once and forever.
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And that is the basis alone upon which they get into heaven,
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Dr. Piper. So the survey was asking a good question. It was asking a good question.
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How do you get to heaven? And he's acting like, what a confusing question. Listen to his answer to this.
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You don't get into heaven by faith alone. I want you all to think with me about what he just said here.
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I want you to think about this. You don't get into heaven by faith alone, he says. Historically, why did the
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Protestant reformers use the phrase sola fide, faith alone? What they were talking about was this.
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What is it that gets the sinner past the judgment of God into heaven?
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What is it that gets us into heaven? God is righteous, God is holy, God is just, and we are not.
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And how can any of us expect to survive a tribunal before the just and holy
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God when we know that that God expects and requires perfect righteousness in order for him to justify anybody?
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And here's where the controversy was with Rome. Rome said that you can't be just without the help of Christ and the grace of Christ and the infusion of his power without grace or without faith.
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But added to that grace, added to that faith, added to that Christ must be the personal contribution of the sinner, without which
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God will not declare you just. Now that's all the difference in the world. And what justification by faith alone really means is this.
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Justification by the righteousness of Christ alone.
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That's what the New Testament is talking about. That's what getting into heaven means. And that's what all the
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Reformers were talking about as well. So when Piper says, you don't get into heaven by faith alone, you know what he really is saying?
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You don't get into heaven by the righteousness of Christ alone. Anathema.
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Anathema, Dr. Piper. That's a gospel that's no gospel at all. So you would have the sinner to be justified by faith alone.
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Yeah, can't add even one iota of works to that. And if you do, you're a debtor to keep the whole law and Christ will be of no benefit to you.
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But getting into heaven is not by faith alone. It's an extremely subtle, dangerous, false gospel.
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You don't get into heaven by faith alone, Dr. Piper, I promise you this. My confidence for getting into heaven is faith in Jesus Christ alone.
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You know why? You know why it's faith alone? Because only the righteousness of Christ can survive the tribunal of God.
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Because justification is only by the righteousness of Christ alone. And that's why we say it's by faith alone.
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You get justified by faith alone. You get into a position where God is 100 % for you.
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Rome's state of grace, sanctifying grace is infused into your soul at your baptism.
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You're in a position where God is 100 % for you. And then from that position where God is already completely for you, you then can do the works that will get you into heaven.
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It's the same exact identical thing, folks. Same exact doctrine. Nuanced differently.
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This is going to appeal. This could easily take in a lot of reform types. Well, yeah, everything he said about Galatians and about justification.
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But you see, in Piper's thinking, there is a massive distinction between justification and getting into heaven.
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And that's what he has not proven. And that's what he would have to prove from the Bible for us to accept any of this.
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Faith alone. And in order to get into heaven, that faith must bear the fruit of love.
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Pursue the holiness without which you will not see the Lord. Put to death the deeds of the body and you will live.
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When Paul says that, is he describing the means by which we get into heaven when he says that in Romans 8?
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Put to death the deeds of the body and you will live. Is he talking about the means by which or the instrumental causes of which that get us into heaven?
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In no way, shape, or form. He says in Romans 8, 1, just a few verses before what he's quoting there,
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There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And there never will be any condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus because they're going to be taken into heaven.
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On the grounds of the righteousness of Jesus Christ alone. That's the gospel.
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It's the surveyors who are confused. No, Dr. Piper, it's you who are confused.
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Asking the question, how do you get into heaven? Is asking the question, how can a sinner be justified before God?
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It's not the surveyors who are confused. You are. And you need to show from the Bible that justification by faith alone is somehow different or is not the very basis upon which sinners get into heaven.
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Amazing. Come on now, Bethlehem College and Seminary.
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Don't be sloppy. Yes, Bethlehem College and Seminary.
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Read your Bible. When Paul is writing Galatians 5, 1 -3, he's not just talking about initial justification or getting into a position where God is 100 % for you.
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He's talking about you being declared righteous once and for all eternity. That's what the book of Galatians is about.
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Do you seriously think that Paul would agree with this, Dr. Piper? You really think that? Oh yeah,
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I'm just talking about the initial justification. But you get to heaven by pursuing holiness.
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Put to death the deeds of the body and you will live upon that basis. Paul would denounce this in the most merciless terms,
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I have no doubt. We should not speak of getting into heaven at the last day, through the last judgment.
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When all of our lives are assessed for whether there's been any transformation confirming the reality of the faith which alone justifies.
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We should not say you can live like the devil and get to heaven.
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What a canard. You know what? You know what he's actually doing here? He doesn't even realize it.
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He is agreeing with the objectors in Romans chapter 6.
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What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? Shall we live like the devil and still think we can get to heaven?
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What is Paul's answer to this? What's Paul's answer to that question that Piper is asking? Does he say, you can't speak of getting to heaven by faith alone.
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No, Paul believes you get to heaven by faith alone. But what's his answer to the charge of antinomianism? What's his answer to the charge, oh you're just preaching a license to sin.
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Shall we sin so that grace may abound? What's Paul's answer to that? It's not Dr. Piper's. What's Paul's answer?
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How shall we who died to sin live in it any longer? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death?
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Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, that we might be raised to newness of life.
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To walk in newness of life. Sin shall not have dominion over you any longer for you are not under law but under grace.
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You became slaves of righteousness having been set free from sin. What's Paul's answer to this?
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Is it to add more conditions to getting into heaven? No, it is to describe the work of God in the life and the heart of every sinner.
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And that is not how we get to heaven. Does God sanctify us?
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Yes. Does he make us alive in Christ? Yes. Does he begin the process of chipping away at the old man and making us more and more die unto sin and more and more alive unto righteousness?
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Yes. Does that play any role whatsoever in our acceptance with God? No, it doesn't.
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And to say that it does is a false gospel. This is serious.
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I know how popular John Piper is. I know how many people salivate over every word the man says.
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But this is theological poison you are hearing. You can't.
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There is a holiness without which we will not see the Lord. Yes. Be careful, though,
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Dr. Piper. That holiness is not the grounds of our acceptance with God. To the one who does not work but believes, on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.
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Well, 14. So, essential to the Christian life and necessary for final salvation is to kill...
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Final salvation. Folks, watch out for this. You've got to watch out for this. When people speak of final salvation.
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Now, there certainly is, and the Puritans speak about, the eschatological verdict. But it's simply the eschatological verdict of our final judgment before God is brought backward in time to us at the moment of our effectual calling.
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And it is declared to us then. We are justified right now. We have eternal life right now. And, yes, it is okay to speak that way because that eschatological verdict is brought back and applied to us the moment that we believe.
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But to speak of justification as one thing and then getting into heaven as a completely different thing.
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Folks, that is false teaching. That is very dangerous. Killing of sin, Romans 8, 13, and the pursuit of holiness.
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So, to get into heaven, you better be killing sin and pursuing holiness. Because, evidently, on that basis, on that...
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Not the righteousness of Christ. No, no, no, no. That's just how you get justified. But getting into heaven is by killing sin and pursuing holiness.
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What is this? The Galatian heresy. The Apostle Paul addressed this head on.
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Galatians 3. You foolish Galatians who has bewitched you. Who has bewitched you.
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Before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as circumcised. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?
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Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being perfected in the flesh by works?
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Having begun justification by faith alone, you get into a position where God is 100 % for you.
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Having begun with that, are you now getting into heaven by works?
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It's the same thing, folks. What he is saying is the Galatian heresy. It's the same thing.
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It is a nuanced, interesting way of repackaging the same old thing.
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Hebrews 12, 14. Mortification of sin, sanctification, and holiness.
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It's really weird. He's listing the new requirements. Here's what you need to do in order to get saved, in order to go to heaven.
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And what makes that possible and pleasing to God is what? These next two sentences are absolutely crucial.
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Yeah, they are. Listen closely. Listen. I want to back that up.
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I want you to hear this again. These next two sentences, Romans 8, 13, and the pursuit of holiness.
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Listen closely to this. Hebrews 12, 14. Listen to it again. Mortification of sin, sanctification, and holiness.
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And what makes that possible and pleasing to God is what? What makes it possible and pleasing to God is what?
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Listen to what he goes on to say here. And, again, this is exactly what the Roman Catholic Council of Trent taught.
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It's the same thing. If you listen to the debates, they all say, what makes it all possible? Couldn't do it without grace.
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Couldn't do it without faith either. The works by which we get into heaven, couldn't do them without grace and couldn't do them without faith.
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Couldn't do it apart from being in a position where God is 100 % for you. Listen to what he says.
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He says these next two sentences are vitally important. These next two sentences are absolutely crucial.
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Absolutely crucial. For living the Christian life. For living the Christian life. Listen carefully to these. What makes it possible for you to kill sin, pursue holiness, which are essential for going to heaven?
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He's pretty clear, isn't he? We put sin to death and we pursue holiness from a justified position where God is 100 % for us.
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Already. And what he has made as crystal clear as he can be.
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This is why that sentence is so painful to listen to. What he has made clear is that having
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God 100 % for you ain't enough to get you into heaven. The righteousness of your justification,
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Jesus Christ's righteousness credited to you, ain't enough to get you into heaven.
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Amazing. By faith alone.
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So you get into that position where God is 100 % for you by faith alone.
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And then from that position you do all these works that get you into heaven. Because getting justified apparently is not how we're brought into heaven.
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And yet that is the very legal verdict of the final judgment brought back in time and applied to the believing sinner who is then united to Jesus Christ.
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He is separating final salvation and the final judgment from the judgment being brought back in time and applied to us the moment we have faith in Jesus Christ where we are legally pronounced righteous in the sight of God because of Jesus Christ's righteousness imputed to us and his cross work accepted as our satisfaction for all our sins.
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Piper's saying, well, that starts the initial process, just like Rome teaches. It's totally gracious that you get in, but then you've got to do all this other stuff in order to get to heaven.
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Folks, it's the same thing. This is Tridentine Catholicism. This is Romanism minus a pope and a few extra sacraments.
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It's the same thing. You are in that position where God is 100 %
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Like Rome would say, you're in the state of grace where God is 100 % for you, purely and solely by grace.
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By faith alone. And from that position, you now put sins to death and you now pursue holiness from that position.
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Here's the second sentence. Listen closer to this now. Because if we try to put sin to death and pursue holiness from a position where we're not fully accepted, not fully forgiven, not fully righteous in Christ, where God is not 100 % for us, but maybe only 95 % for us, then we will be putting sin to death and pursuing holiness as a means of getting in there.
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It's the same thing. I mean, that's an interesting way of trying to nuance this, but it's still the same thing.
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You're going to say that getting into heaven by works and by killing off sin and pursuing holiness, well, you can only do it from a position where God is 100 % for you.
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But if you don't understand God is 100 % for you, you're going to try to be doing it as a means. How does he say it here?
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Let's hear that again. Not 100 % for us, but maybe only 95 % for us. Then we will be putting sin to death and pursuing holiness as a means of getting in there.
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Getting in there? I think what he means by getting in there, getting into this position of being justified or something.
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I'm not sure. That is the Galatian heresy. Yeah, he's talking about as a means of getting in there, not getting into heaven, getting into that position of being justified.
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Okay, be careful here, because Galatianism for him only applies to that initial step of getting into a position where God is 100 % for you, not getting into heaven.
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Remember the surveyors? The surveyors are totally confused because they actually think that what justifies you is what gets you into heaven.
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They're totally confused. Therefore, we are justified.
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We are put in a position. Please track with him now.
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We are justified. We are put in a position where God is 100 % for us by faith alone.
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You need to understand, that is not what he believes about how we get to heaven. In his thinking, completely different theological category.
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Getting into heaven is not justification. Please bear that in mind. Where God is 100 % for us by faith alone.
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And, as he has made crystal clear, having God 100 % for you and being justified will not get you into heaven.
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Position in Christ where no accusation sticks, no condemnation holds, no separation ever comes.
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Brothers and sisters, we have been shown the solution to the world's greatest problem.
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You know it. We have entered paradise. We have stood on our head for joy.
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Have we not? Not anymore. Because if I accepted what he was saying,
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I don't know if I'm going to heaven or not. Have I put sin to death enough? Have I pursued holiness enough?
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I would point out, anyone that thinks they have is deceived. Our faith rests upon Christ alone.
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Not just to get us in a position where God is 100 % for us, where we can then do stuff that will, quote -unquote, get us into heaven.
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It's Christ's righteousness and his cross work alone that get us into heaven. From the moment we believe until the moment we draw our final breath.
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Will we put sin to death? Yes. Will we pursue holiness? Yes. Does saving faith in Christ always result?
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Is holiness always accompanied by all the other saving graces, all the other works that God does in the life of the sinner, the sanctifying work that he does, the dethroning of sin?
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Yes. But are those the things that get us into heaven? No. What gets us into heaven is our justification and nothing else.
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Because that justification is the eschatological legal verdict brought backwards in time and applied to us now.
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I praise God for it. It's my only hope. Christ's righteousness will avail for me. It availed for me at the beginning.
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It has availed for me my whole life. And that same righteousness, his perfect obedience, and his cross work as my substitute, those will be the only basis by which
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I will get into heaven. For heaven will change. I hope you have it.
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Everything's changed. Savor it. Show it to the world.
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You need it more than anything. Anything. And you will not have wasted your life.
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Father, go with us now. Okay, so there's the end of the sermon. You know that his defenders are going to be real— they're going to try to defend this as much as possible.
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That's why I wanted to just let him speak in his own words. He's pretty clear. He's pretty clear. Justification by faith alone is not how you get into heaven.
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Real clear. Now, you can't say, well, look, all he's saying is that these other saving graces have to be there.
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They're necessary in that sense. They are a necessary fruit of our justification. They always accompany those things.
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But, folks, that is not what he said. That is not what he said. What he did was he made a massive chasm between getting into a position where God is 100 % for you— he must have said that at least half a dozen times— getting into that position, and then getting into heaven is a completely different matter.
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And that's the danger of this. And I'll tell you, it is ironic to listen to a man walk through a passage in Galatians and get its meaning exactly correct and then go on to destroy everything he just said.
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If you add one iota, one tiny little quiver of a work, Christ will be of no benefit to you.
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But this is not how you get to heaven. This is just how you get into a position where God is 100 % for you, and then from that position you put to death the sin at the final judgment.
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There will be an assessment to see if there is any transformation, and so on and so forth, and that is how you get to heaven.
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Very, very, very confusing. Very troubling. We need to labor to be clear, and labor to make sure that people understand what we're saying when we preach the gospel to them.
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When people accuse me of preaching license, and say, oh, you make it sound so easy, I take that to be an encouraging thing.
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Because the Apostle Paul had that very same charge leveled against him. I mean, he said in Romans 5 .20,
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where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. How many times did the
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Apostle Paul hear, well, shall we sin so that grace may increase? Can we just go out and live like the devil and still go to heaven?
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You know, I don't think John Piper is going to be hearing that charge anymore. And that's a sad thing.
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And of course we answer that objection the same way Paul did. Of course not. May it never be. How shall we who died to sin live in it any longer?
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It's a whole different theological category, folks. We're not talking about getting into heaven, or the basis upon which we get to heaven.
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Sanctification is an ongoing work of God's Spirit in the life of every believer. But that's not how we get to heaven, and praise
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God it's not. Because if it was, nobody would go to heaven. So I hope this has been helpful.
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Thanks for watching. And beware of John Piper. Beware of John Piper. Thanks for watching.
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This is Pastor Patrick Hines of Brittle Heights Presbyterian Church, located at 108 Brittle Heights Road in Kingsport, Tennessee.
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And you've been listening to the Protestant Witness Podcast. Please feel free to join us for worship any
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Sunday morning at 11 a .m. sharp, where we open the Word of God together, sing His praises, and rejoice in the
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Gospel of our risen Lord. You can find us on the web at www .brittleheightspca
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.org. And may the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.