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Why God Has Never Taken a Risk

August 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment

John Piper (also, watch the 3-minute video here):

Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost write in The Faith of Leap:

It seems correct to say that God took something of a risk in handing over his mission to the all-too-sinful human beings who were his original disciples—and all the sinful disciples beyond them. We wonder what Jesus must have been thinking on the cross, when all but a few powerless women had completely abandoned him. Did he wonder if love alone was enough to draw them back to discipleship? The noncoercive love of the cross necessitated a genuinely human response of willing obedience from his disciples. Given our predispositions to rebellion and idolatry, it is entirely conceivable that history could have gone in a completely different, indeed totally disastrous, direction if the original disciples hadn’t plucked up the internal courage to follow Jesus no matter where. (36–37, Locations 464)

The view of God embodied in this quote from Hirsch and Frost is

  1. false to the Scriptures;
  2. built on a false philosophical presupposition;
  3. damaging to the mission of Christ in the world;
  4. and belittling to the glory of God.

1) False to the Scriptures

Their view of God and Jesus is that they are so little in charge of the success of the Great Commission that “it is entirely conceivable that history could have gone in a completely different, indeed totally disastrous, direction if the original disciples hadn’t plucked up the internal courage to follow Jesus no matter where.”

This is false. God is fully in control of his mission on earth: a) Jesus did not wonder if it would succeed; b) God can be utterly counted on to finish it, and c) every person ordained to eternal life will be drawn into the mission.

a) Jesus did not wonder if the mission would succeed.

He promised: “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

He has all authority and will be with us to the end (Matthew 28:18, 20). And he said, with this absolute authority, “I will build my church, and the gates of the hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). He is not uncertain of the success of his mission. He will do it.

b) God accomplishes all his purposes in the mission.

“I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’” (Isaiah 46:9–10).

When a disciple “plucks up the internal courage to follow Jesus,” it is God who put it there. “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

When missionaries accomplish great things for Christ they say, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience — by word and deed” (Romans 15:18).

No saint will say in heaven: The mission succeeded because my will was decisive in taking risks and making sacrifices. Rather, the saints will say, “God equipped us with everything good that we might do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever” (Hebrews 13:21).

c) There was not the slightest chance that the mission of God could have gone in a “disastrous direction,” that is, could have failed.

When all gospel influences have come into a person’s life, the decisive word over their lives is the word of Luke after Paul’s preaching in Acts 13:48: “As many as were appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48).

2) Built on a false philosophical presupposition

Their false presupposition is that for God’s love to be genuine (“noncoercive”) and for humans to be humans, man’s will must be ultimately decisive in bringing about obedience to the mission. If God’s will were ultimately decisive, then his love would not be genuine but coercive, and humans would not be humans but (presumably) robots.

They say, “There were no guarantees that [the disciples] would make the right choices. If this were not the case, then we are not human precisely at the point where we must be most completely human” (37).

The reason I call this a philosophical presupposition is that it does not come from the Bible, but from the human mind. Nowhere does the Bible say or imply that ultimate human self-determination is the prerequisite for human responsibility or divine love. That presupposition is an alien idea.

What the Bible does show over and over is that God’s will is decisive in all affairs (Daniel 4:35), and humans are truly responsible and God is truly loving and just. The Bible lets this paradox stand. So should we.

3) Damaging to the mission of Christ in the world

When they imply that the success of the mission depends decisively on disciples “plucking up internal courage to follow Jesus,” they rob the mission of its most precious and empowering promises.

Jesus empowers us for risk and sacrifice by purchasing on the cross the promises of the new covenant. “I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.” (Jeremiah 32:40).

How do I know that, if I follow him to the riskiest place, I will be able to persevere in faith? Hirsch and Frost lay the burden of perseverance decisively on us. God lays it on the blood-bought “everlasting covenant.”

The mission is damaged where the promises of God’s decisively enabling grace are denied.

4) Belittling to the glory of God

When the success of God’s mission is made to depend decisively on humans, humans get the decisive glory. But where all is made to depend divisively on God, God gets the glory.

Whoever serves, [let him serve] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 4:11).

[God works] in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 13:21).

[I pray that you will be] filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:11).

It is hard to exaggerate how important it is for the mission of the church, in reaching the unreached peoples of the world, to have a fully biblical vision of the greatness and the sovereignty and the glory of God. Knowing him as he really is, as revealed in the Bible, is the foundation of mission-finishing risk and sacrifice.

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Piper Interviews Warren on Doctrine

May 30, 2011 By 1 Comment

From Desiring God and John Piper:

This 98 minute interview that I did with Rick Warren was recorded on May 1, 2011, during the Desiring God Regional Conference at Saddleback Church. It’s the fulfillment of a commitment we made when Rick was not able to come in person to the Desiring God National Conference in Minneapolis in October, 2010.

The nature of the interview is mainly doctrinal. I read Rick’s The Purpose Driven Life with great care. I brought 20 pages of quotes and questions to the interview. You will hear me quote the book dozens of times. With these quotes as a starting point I dig into Rick’s mind and heart on all the issues listed below (with the times that they begin on the video).

My aim in this interview is to bring out and clarify what Rick Warren believes about these biblical doctrines. In doing this my hope is that the thousands of pastors and lay people who look to Rick for inspiration and wisdom will see the profound place that doctrine has in his mind and heart.

Rick is not known for being a doctrinal preacher. One reason for this is his intention to be theologically sound and practically helpful without using doctrinal or theological terms in his public ministry. Inside of Saddleback there is a greater intentionality about building biblical and theological categories into the people’s minds and hearts.

Near the end of the interview, with great respect and appreciation for the stewardship of influence that Rick carries, I exhort him and pray for him that God will make the final chapter of his ministry a deepening one, that leaves a legacy of biblical and doctrinal truth more explicitly and firmly in the minds and hearts of the generations that will follow him.

Rick and I are very different in methodological instincts and inclinations. I take almost the exact opposite approach in preaching—wanting to make the theological categories explicit and to show how I got them from the text. But then I am not even close to the fruitful evangelist that Rick is.

We both have chosen risky ways. There are pitfalls of short- and long-term unfruitfulness. But in the end we do not govern the impact of our lives. God does. We do what the Bible and our hearts call us to do. I believe Rick’s is a faithful heart. Listen to the clarity of his doctrinal commitments and hear the heartbeat of his love for Christ and those perishing without him.

Let this remarkable testimony of faith send you down into the Word of God for a deeper understanding of God and his ways. Here are the topics we tackle and when they begin on the video.

Introduction
3:29  The glory of God.
7:16  David Wells and the weight of God’s reality.
9:00  Would you write the book the same today?
12:00 The sovereignty of God.
18:47 How do you speak of God’s sovereignty in the presence of tragedy?
22:01 How do all things work for bad for those who reject Christ?
24:14 Do you hedge on Larry King?
27:00 Unconditional election.
30:18 The importance of eternity.
34:42 How do you conceive of eternity: in heaven, on earth?
38:53 What is the Gospel?
42:00 What did Jesus achieve on the cross?
43:40 Repentance.
50:50 Why don’t you call yourself a Calvinist?
53:09 Propitiation.
54:39 Prevenient grace.
1:00:01 Total depravity.
1:03:00 Hell.
1:09:10 Eternal destiny of those who never heard.
1:12:40 The extent of the atonement.
1:17:00 Do unbelievers always do the devil’s bidding?
1:18:40 Your view of the Bible.
1:22:40 Expository preaching and doctrinal depth.
1:28:10 Rick Warren’s sacred trust.

 

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Neither Do I Condemn You

March 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

From Kim Winters:

Here is a message by John Piper that goes into detail about how we can know that the Bible we are reading is God’s Word.  I wanted to share this sermon because in addition to sharing something that may surprise you about the adulterous woman story, he also does a great job of articulating why discrepancies in the Bible can strengthen our faith in the Word of God, rather than diminish it.  Many people want to know the answers he shares here, especially when they are considering submitting their lives to God and to His Word.  Hope you find it as helpful as I did.

 

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How to Pray For Our Brothers ands Sisters in Japan

March 13, 2011 By 1 Comment

From John Piper:

The power of moving water is greater than most of us can imagine. Nothing stands before it. We are driven to our knees:

Father in heaven, you are the absolute Sovereign over the shaking of the earth, the rising of the sea, and the raging of the waves. We tremble at your power and bow before your unsearchable judgments and inscrutable ways. We cover our faces and kiss your omnipotent hand. We fall helpless to the floor in prayer and feel how fragile the very ground is beneath our knees.

O God, we humble ourselves under your holy majesty and repent. In a moment—in the twinkling of an eye—we too could be swept away. We are not more deserving of firm ground than our fellowmen in Japan. We too are flesh. We have bodies and homes and cars and family and precious places. We know that if we were treated according to our sins, who could stand? All of it would be gone in a moment. So in this dark hour we turn against our sins, not against you.

And we cry for mercy for Japan. Mercy, Father. Not for what they or we deserve. But mercy.

Have you not encouraged us in this? Have we not heard a hundred times in your Word the riches of your kindness, forbearance, and patience? Do you not a thousand times withhold your judgments, leading your rebellious world toward repentance? Yes, Lord. For your ways are not our ways, and your thoughts are not our thoughts.

Grant, O God, that the wicked will forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Grant us, your sinful creatures, to return to you, that you may have compassion. For surely you will abundantly pardon. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, your beloved Son, will be saved.

May every heart-breaking loss—millions upon millions of losses—be healed by the wounded hands of the risen Christ. You are not unacquainted with your creatures’ pain. You did not spare your own Son, but gave him up for us all.

In Jesus you tasted loss. In Jesus you shared the overwhelming flood of our sorrows and suffering. In Jesus you are a sympathetic Priest in the midst of our pain.

Deal tenderly now, Father, with this fragile people. Woo them. Win them. Save them.

And may the floods they so much dread make blessings break upon their head.

O let them not judge you with feeble sense, but trust you for your grace. And so behind this providence, soon find a smiling face.

In Jesus’ merciful name, Amen.

 

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Praying in Jesus’ Name

February 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

From John Piper:

Here’s what is present when we kneel to pray in Jesus’ name:

    1. God the Father on his throne sovereign over the universe, with a welcoming, countenance focused on us.

    2. God the Son in his high priestly role, standing as advocate before the throne as a Lamb that was slain with perfect righteousness and with all God’s promises purchased fully in his hand interceding for us.

    3. God the Spirit within us, having already inclined us to pray, poised to guide our prayers, put to death our sins, awaken our faith, illumine God’s word, and produce his fruit.

    4. The word of God open before us, inspired by God, alive with penetrating power for conviction of sin and indomitable hope, revealing the Father, the Son, and the Spirit to our souls, shaping and guiding our prayers after God’s will.

    5. Our sin forgiven, but humbling us to need and love our merciful saving God.

    6. God’s grace like a great rainbow of hope arcing from the throne to our soul.

    7. Our will captured by these realities, moving words (or only groans) up out of our mind (or only heart) to God with praise and thanks and confession and requests.

 

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Why Won’t God Cast Me Away?

February 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

“The deepest reason given for God’s commitment to his people is his prior commitment to his own name. The rock-bottom foundation of our forgiveness and our fearlessness and our joy is the commitment of God to his own great name. First, he is committed to act for his own name’s sake. And then, for that reason, he is committed to act for his people…Or to put it another way, it was God’s good pleasure to join you to himself in such a way that his name is at stake in your destiny. Or again: it was God’s good pleasure to possess you in such a way that what becomes of you reflects upon his name. Therefore, for his name’s sake, he will not cast you way.”

John Piper, The Pleasures of God

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Does God Get More Glory If Humans Have Free Will?

July 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Posted by Desiring God:

Here is Piper’s response in words:

A friend thinks allowing men free will, and yet still achieving his purposes, shows a greater view of God’s sovereignty. What are your thoughts on this?

Let me define the term first, and then I’ll respond. I’m going to assume that by “free will” he means something really controversial, not something obvious. What I’m going to assume the term means is “real, ultimate self-determination,” because that’s the only kind of free will that is controversial.

I think most lay people, when they talk about free will, just mean, “I really choose,” and of course you do. So fine, you have free will. We all do. But those who are theologically thinking and writing about this, what they mean is that I, John Piper, am able, ultimately and decisively, to determine my own will, and God cannot and does not when I chose that he won’t. So I have that kind of autonomy in the universe.

I don’t think that exists anywhere. There’s not one verse in the Bible that says we have such a thing. And the people start grasping for verses: “Whosoever will, let him come!” Well of course whosoever will let him come! But why does one will and not another? That’s the question.

So, is God more glorious to somehow ordain that human beings have autonomy (self-determination, ultimately), so that he cannot, once he has made that decree, guide what they do without intruding upon their moral capacities and turning them into robots?

They say that God doing that and still pulling off his ultimate purposes is more glorious. And I would say that they’ve just created a universe in their head that doesn’t exist, and they’re pronouncing on it.

I don’t create universes that don’t exist. I don’t find it helpful to imagine a universe that doesn’t exist and then say that it’s a more glorious one than this one, because I’m given a universe. And then I’m given the Creator’s interpretation of the universe, right here in the Bible. And this book says that universe doesn’t exist. You could speculate about it all you want, but it doesn’t.

Now I’m going to go further than that and say that a universe in which God gives all people that kind of autonomy and self-determination, that universe isn’t superior, because God would have made it if it were superior.

If you say, “You’re going in a circle here, aren’t you?”—saying it doesn’t exist and therefore I don’t believe it, and then saying that if it were better it would exist—I say “No, because I’m just basing my understanding of this universe on this book.” This book says we don’t have that kind of autonomy.

Romans 9:16-17: “It is not of man who wills or runs, but of God who has mercy.” Our willing and our running are not decisive. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for God is the one who is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Verse after verse in the Bible teaches that my willing—which is real, responsible, accountable—is not decisively and ultimately my own creation. It is God’s decisive governing.

My willing is real. My willing is responsible. And this is what’s glorious, if you ask me what’s the most glorious universe: the most glorious universe is the universe in which we really will things, and we are really responsible for what we will, and we will be held accountable for the choices we make. And God is still absolutely sovereign over those willings.

That’s the great paradox. That’s the great mystery and the great glory. Not the universe that somebody creates out of their own heads where everybody is endowed with the autonomy that only God has.

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How Much Does God Love This Church?

April 23, 2010 By 2 Comments

Kim found this sermon by John Piper and commented that it was “one of the most helpful, challenging and comforting sermons I’ve heard in a while on being saved and being loved by God.”

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Piper on the New Birth

March 13, 2010 By 1 Comment

I don’t know anyone that explains the doctrine of regeneration (the new birth) better than John Piper.  Not only does he explain it well, but he does it with passion!  To learn more on this topic, check out his new book, Finally Alive (or see Ty Miller, he’s reading it!).  Here is the verse Piper uses in the video:

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.” – 1 John 5:1

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Lewis: The Romantic Rationalist

February 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

John Piper spoke this week at his Pastors’ Conference on C.S. Lewis.  Lewis is one of Piper’s two favorite dead theologians not in the Bible, the other being Jonathan Edwards.  He jokes a bit about that fact, namely that the two (Edwards and Lewis) may have hated each other if they ever met.

You can view the video here.  Personally, I’ve only read Mere Christianity, but Lewis was an extremely deep thinker.  He brought the truths of God and the gospel to the layman through words that were utterly practical.  Here are some of the quotes Piper throws out.  They are all from Lewis:

“If I find in myself a desire in which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

“An unthinkable ecstasy has hovered above the grasp of my consciousness.” – speaking before he became a Christian

“The moment we step outside ourselves to contemplate our enjoying, we no longer enjoy.  We have killed it.”

“The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.  But, we shall come to know that these are but the same thing.  To fully enjoy is to fully glorify.”

These are only some of many great quotes Piper chooses.  If you want the true meat of the talk, I’d watch from minute 46 through 55.  He deals a lot with assurance of salvation and Lewis’ thought on the matter.

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