Quotes from "God is the Gospel" by John Piper - Part 5

Here's the next quote I'd like to share that stood out as having great applicability for me...



"The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God. It's a way of overcoming every obstacle to everlasting joy in God. If we don't want God above all things, we have not been converted by the gospel." - John Piper, God is the Gospel, Crossway, 2005; p.47.



The point here is that our goal in embracing the gospel is not relief from the pain of this world, or to obtain a new body that won't be blind, or to live in harmony with creation, or to reach our full potential as humans, or to avoid hell. All that is secondary at best to being in the presence and enjoying the presence of God in the fullest sense possible.

There are implications for all of us as we interact with those outside of the church as well. When we proclaim the gospel, we must not reduce it to a tool that will give people something trivial they want. We must see deeper into the hearts of unbelievers - below the surface. Their (and our) longings for most things are often just symptoms of a deeper need, and that is what we must help them see. All of our longings and desires are fulfilled ultimately in having communion with Christ. We must help ourselves and outsiders to see that Jesus iswho/what will bring meaning to our life as will exist to glorify the greatness of His Being.

Quotes from "God is the Gospel" by John Piper - Part 4

In Chapter 2 of "God is the Gospel," John Piper seeks to lay out the biblical scope of what the gospel is. He shows where the following are mentioned as useful in getting a biblical definition of the gospel:

• There is a living God (Acts 14:15)



• The arrival of God's imperial authority (Mark 1:14, Isaiah 52:7, Romans 10:15)



• Jesus: a savior who is Christ the Lord (Acts 8:12, Romans 1:1-3, Luke 2:10-11)



• Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures (Mark 10:45, Jeremiah 31:34, 1 Corinthians 15:1-3)



• Jesus risen from the dead as preached in my gospel (1 Cor. 15:1, 3-4, 17, 2 Tim 2:8)



• The gospel is not good news without the promise of the Spirit (Luke 3:16,18,



• The promise of salvation for all who believe (Eph 1:13, Rom 1:16)



• What the cross purchased makes the cross good news (Mark 4:23, Luke 4:18)



• The good news of peace with God and each other (Acts 10:36, Ephesians 2:14-18)



• The good news promises eternal life (2 Tim 1:10)



• "In you shall all the nations be blessed" (Gal. 3:8, 16, Eph 3:6



• "The gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24, Eph 1:4, 6)



• Jesus' death makes God's gospel grace just (2 Cor 8:9, Heb 2:9, Rom 3:25-26)



• The grace of the gospel is the ground of every good promise (2 Tim 1:9, Eph 2:8, Acts 18:27, etc.)

-John Piper, God is the Gospel, Crossway, 2005; p.26-36

The chapter then climaxes when Piper concludes the chapter with this:

"If you embrace everything that I have mentioned in this chapter about the facets of the gospel, but do it in a way that does not make the glory of God in Christ your supreme treasure, then you have not embraced the gospel. Until the gospel events of Good Friday and Easter and the gospel promises of justification and eternal life lead you to behold and embrace God himself as your highest joy, you have not embraced the gospel of God. You have embraced some of his gifts . You have rejoiced over some of his rewards. You have marveled at some of his miracles. But you have not yet been awakened to why the gifts, the rewards, and the miracles have come. They have come for one great reason: that you might behold forever the glory of God in Christ, and by beholding become the kind of person who delights in God above all things, and by delighting display his supreme beauty and worth with ever-increasing brightness and bliss forever."

- John Piper, God is the Gospel, Crossway, 2005; p.37-38

One of the things I appreciate so much from any writer or speaker is when they put things in context of the big picture. And one of the things about Piper is that he talks so much about that big picture - that at the center is Jesus, displayed in His gospel, always glorious, always gracious.

Oh that my city, which is steeped in religion, with many people embracing the gifts of God without embracing God Himself - oh that we would see hearts truly transformed by them beholding the true beauty of God in giving the ultimate gift to us - Himself! God, grant us this sight that we so desperately need! Open my eyes to see you more clearly and enable me to rightly treasure you. Amen!

Quotes from "God is the Gospel" by John Piper - Part 3

At a time when I was asking what the relationship was between the gospel (the central message of the Bible) and the other doctrines I also love, I read this:

"Gospel doctrine matters becasue the good news is so full and rich and wonderful that it must be opened like a treasure chest and all its treasures brought out for the enjoyment of the world. Doctrine is the description of these treasures.

... The gospel is not mainly about being explained. Explanation is necessary, but it is not primary.A love letter must be intelligible, but grammar nad logic are not the point. Love is the point. The gospel is good news. Doctrine serves that. It serves the one whose feet are bruised (and beautiful!) from walking to the unreached places with news: "Come, listen to the news of God! Listen to what God has done! Listen! Understand! Bow! Believe!"

- John Piper, God is the Gospel, Crossway, 2005; p.22

In the chapter titled "The Gospel - Proclamation and Explanation"

So, this explanation helps to reinforce a proper understanding of how we are to rightly interpret the Scripture. It is all about explaining the gospel. That is the true beauty of a teaching of the Scripture - it's explanation of the main message of the Bible. For instance, the beauty of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is seen when that doctrine shows how the Holy Spirit and His gifts serve the make the gospel seen by God's children in conversion, sanctification, and glorification. The true beauty of our ecclesiology is seen when the church is the redeemed bride of Christ - redeemed by his blood, by the GOSPEL. The gospel truly does make every doctrine beautiful. But if we go off on tangents with our doctrine, removing the centrality of the gospel it is meant to explain, we cause that doctrine to lose its life-giving source.