This is a reposting of an article I wrote a few years ago for a Facebook group and I am sharing it today as I still believe this is quite relevant and important to my fellow believers in the faith.
The Piper Problem
John Piper, he is a man with over
three decades of ministry. He is well respected in Reformed circles and comes
with high recommendation when people are interested in learning about the Doctrines
of Grace. He is also a heretic. This is not my first time stating this, and as
long as he never refutes the claims he made (I will present them soon) and repents
of them, this will not be my last. It does not bring me joy to mention these
things. He was the head of many, and there is always a slight fear that those
who learned the truth of Scripture while under his teaching will be shaken, but
the heretical things he said contradict the Bible about the work and person of
Christ and any man who takes heed to those things will find themselves in a
position where the God they worship does not match the God of the Bible, and
any man who does not worship Him is in danger of being destruction on the Day
of Judgment.
What Did John Piper Do?
There are two things that have come to my attention. The
first issue I became aware of is his stance on justification. Justification in
God’s sight is not based on anything that we do, but it is the work of Christ
Jesus on our behalf declaring us right before God because of the faith we have been
given to trust in him alone for salvation.
“And we know that God
causes all things to work together for the good of those who love God, to those who are called
according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son,
so that He would be the firstborn among
many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He
called He justified, and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” ~ Romans 8:28-30
Justification is not something we
can do for ourselves. It is the work of God alone. In John Piper’s Sermon
“Faith Alone: How (Not) to Use a Reformed Slogan” in regards to justification
Piper he states a person is not saved by faith alone. He believes we are
justified in faith by works.
“How do you get into
Heaven? You don’t get into Heaven by faith alone. You get justified by faith
alone. You get into a position where God is 100% for you by faith alone, but in
order to get into Heaven that faith must produce the fruit of
love.” ~ John Piper
How can God be 100% for a man and not allow him into His
kingdom? How can a man whose works have never been good enough before, be
required to work his way into Heaven? To John Piper I would ask what works did
the thief on the cross have to show to get him into the kingdom considering he
was saved in his last moments on earth, or are we to call Jesus a liar when He
told him “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in Paradise?” (Luke
23:43)
The Bible says this...
“Now we know that
whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all
the world may become accountable to God; because the works of the Law no flesh
will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge
of sin. But now apart from the Law the
righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the
righteousness of God through faith there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, being justified by as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is Christ Jesus; whom
God displayed publicly as propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to
demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over sins previously committed; for
the demonstration, I say, of His
righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier
of the one who has faith in
Jesus.” ~ Romans 3:19-26
Once again, it is the work of God
alone!
The second offense from John Piper
is his claim that God violated the second commandment in the incarnation of
Jesus Christ. He made this claim during a panel discussion at a Desiring God conference
in 2004.
To say that God violated His own law
is to claim that God is a sinner. It is to deny the perfection of God. To say
He violated the second commandment in Christ incarnation is to disqualify
Christ sacrifice and His atonement on behalf of His people. What does the Bible
say about Jesus being sinless? Hebrews 4:15 states “We do not have a high
priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted
in all things as we are, yet without sin.” Also, in 2nd Corinthians
5:21 it tells us “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that
we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” If Jesus was not perfect He
could not have perfected us through His righteousness, and that would make us
hopeless and eternally lost to the Holy God who created all things.
What Do We Do?
In light of what is now known how do
we approach John Piper? As far as I am aware, until this day he has not
repented of what he said, and until he does I cannot acknowledge him as a
brother in the faith, but I believe he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. How can
he be when he espoused the Doctrines of Grace for so many years? We must
remember the Devil knows the truth and trembles (James 2:19). Knowledge of
Christ, knowledge of the Doctrines of Grace do not save, but putting our faith
in who Christ is (according to the Scriptures) and His finished work (according
to the Scriptures) alone for our salvation is what saves us. What John Piper
has stated publicly and openly, can condemn a man to Hell if he trusts in what
Piper portrays God to be. I realize many in the Reformed camp have a love and
admiration for Piper and I believe they have decision to make to either leave
his teaching or silently submit, and I for one could not submit to a man who
says such horrific things about the Holy God who saved me.
If you would like to test my
accusations I will leave a link to the entire sermon “Faith Alone: How (Not) to
Use a Reformed Slogan” and to the 2004 Desiring God discussion panel. I believe
in keeping things in their proper context, and I will allow you the chance to
do the same.
Links:
Faith Alone: How (Not) to Use a
Reformed Slogan (2017)
Desiring God Discussion Panel (2004)
May God watch over us, and may we continue to use
discernment.
“They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for
if they had been of us, they would
have remained with us: but they went out, so that it would be shown that
they all are not of us.”
1 John
2:19
