February 12, 2007

• John Piper Quotes on the left.

  Scripture on the right, summarized by the acronym LOGIC.

   

  Piper asserts: “Moses… cried… “I pray thee, show me thy glory”. THIS IS THE HEART-PANG OF EVERY HUMAN BEING … Only a few diagnose the LONGING BENEATH EVERY HUMAN DESIRE — the LONGING TO SEE GOD.” (The Supremacy of God in Preaching, p 108) “…there is in all human beings a knowledge of God … this knowledge of God includes a knowledge of his moral law … EVERY PERSON WE WILL EVER TALK TO, ALREADY KNOWS GOD, deep down, and knows God’s law.” taken from desiringgod.org

  Scripture testifies that: L – Lost people have NO truth, NO light and God does NOT write his laws / knowledge of Himself on their hearts. “if they speaking not according to [the testimony], it is because there is NO LIGHT in them” (Isa 8:20), “[unbelievers] are darkened in the intellect” (Eph 4) “[unbelievers] have NO knowledge” (kjv, Isa 45:20), “[before their conversions, the Galatians were] NOT KNOWING GOD, [and] served as slaves to the ones by nature not being gods. But now [after their conversions], knowing God….” (Gal 4:8-9)

  Take Note — Piper has just said that unbelievers have truth in them.

  Now, is it a coincidence that Piper also teaches that faith is MORE than possessing the truth. Since he says unbelievers have truth in them, this FORCES PIPER to say that faith is more than believing the truth. 

   

  Piper states: “we can believe the promises of God and still be lost” (Future Grace, p199). “LOVE to God is the main thing in saving faith … faith is by NO MEANS … SEPARATE FROM THE AFFECTIONS” (The Supremacy of God in Preaching, p79)

  Scripture says: O – Only belief is faith, emotions / commitment is NOT faith. Since unbelievers have NO idea who the True God is, that means that anyone who has a SIMPLE undoubted BELIEF in the Gospel of Imputed Righteousness is a believer. Indeed, if point #1 is true, and unbelievers have NO light in them, then if you have a simple belief in the True Gospel, the assent to the truth proves you are a believer) “faith is a CONVICTION” (Heb 11:3, literal translation) “everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” (1 John 5:1) “he that abides in the DOCTRINE of Christ has the Father…” (2 John 9)

   

   

   

  Piper says :”DEMAND FOR A KIND OF ABSOLUTE, mathematical CERTAINTY about [your] right standing with God is ASKING FOR TOO MUCH.”(When I Don’t Desire God, p217-218) === Assurance will diminish in the presence of concealed sin…We must often wait patiently for the return of assurance.” === from his website

  Scripture says: Gospel assures believers forever. Anyone who doubts their salvation shows they do NOT believe the Gospel. If they believed the Gospel, they would know they are a a believer! After all, can you being standing in the light of the Sun, and doubt you are in the light? No way! So people who doubt they are in the light of the Gospel just prove they are in the dark. — “he reconciled you … if indeed you remain GROUNDED and SETTLED and NOT BEING MOVED AWAY FROM THE HOPE of the Gospel” (Col 1:21-23) Since faith is simply a conviction of the truth, believers will NEVER doubt they are believers (since its impossible to be in the light of the Gospel, and not know it!) “he that doubts … cannot expect anything from God .. for he is UNSTABLE IN ALL his ways” (James 1:6-8) See also 2 Cor 13:5, Hebrews 1:6, Hebrews 1:14, John 4:14, John 6:35. According to these verses, believers NEVER thirst, NEVER hunger, NEVER doubt Christ is in them, and they HOLD FIRM to the boldness and the assurance from the beginning of their conversions to the end.

  
  Did you notice something? Because Piper says that faith is more than belief — faith is hard to define — he therefore concludes that believers will often be left wondering if they have faith (since no one can say exactly what faith is, we can never know if we have faith (it’s mystical!), according to Piper)

   

  Piper says Arminians are saved and denies that Imputed Righteousness is a life-or-death doctrine.

  Scripture teaches: Imputed righteousness is part of the Gospel — IT is a LIFE OR DEATH doctrine (those ignorant of it are NOT believers). “in the Gospel….the righteousness of God is revealed” (Rom 1:16-17) “the righteousness of God is.. UPON all that believe” (Rom 3:22) “[the Jews were lost they were] ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish a righteousness of their own.” (Rom 10:3) “[the Holy Spirit] will convict them of sin, and of RIGHTEOUSNESS” (John 6) Paul, an example of all believers says — “I had a righteousness touching the Law … but I count all things loss … that I might obtain the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD ON FAITH” (Philippians 3)

  Wow. Can you see how all Piper’s points are intertwined?

  Piper says faith is emotional / a commitment. So someone without the knowledge of imputed righteousness, can be a believer because their sincerity proves they are saved, according to Piper. Faith = sincerity, says Piper, so people zealous for the name of “Jesus” are saved, even if the Jesus they are preaching is a false, nonexistent christ (the christ that died for billions who will never be saved)
  

  This gets back to the original point. Piper says that faith is more than possessing the truth, since he thinks that all men already have some truth in them. So faith something more than belief. Piper chooses to make faith = love. Therefore, Arminians — who are often loving and sincere (of a false god who is overpowered by man) — may still go to heaven, even though they are ignorant of imputed righteousness (the Gospel)
  
  

  In his sermons, John Piper applies Psalms 27,40, 77, etc. to David’s own experiences. He writes, “Most of you … when you read the Psalms you see yourselves so often. “The experience of the psalmist is your experience.”, according to Piper.

  The Bible says: Christ alone is glorified in the Psalms. Indeed, the Psalms are NOT David’s experiences. They are Christ suffering under God’s wrath. Believers NEVER experience God’s wrath. “David…the prophet spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ” (Acts 2:30) Also, Matthew 27:35 “the prophet” “the prophets testified beforehand concerning the SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST” (1 Pet 1:10-11) “the Holy Spirit spoke THROUGH THE MOUTH of David” (Acts 1:15) “the Spirit of Jehovah spoke by me and his WORD WAS ON MY TONGUE” (2 Sam) “no prophecy is of any private interpretation” (2 Pet 1:20) Also, the Apostles NEVER say the Psalms are about David’s own experiences. Instead, Psalm 69, for example, is applied 6 times to Christ. see http://psalms.pbwiki.com for more on the Psalms being about Christ ALONE

   

  Obviously Piper wants every excuse he can get for doubting his salvation. Not to mention providing a false comfort for people who doubt in his congregation. So he uses the Psalms — which are actually describing Christ under the Father’s wrath — to try to prove David and believers can doubt their salvation. He is basically saying believers will experience what Christ experienced on the cross!! So much for there being “no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus”.

  • 7:10 am
  • 2 Comments