- 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!
5 comments:
Greg,
Can you define "the glory of God in Christ"? I know you can't fully define that, but maybe you can shed some light into what Piper means when he says that. My interpretation of it is God's all-sufficiency. The fact that he is all we truly need and all we should truly desire and just the awesomeness of who God is and who Jesus is and what he's has done and is continuing to do for us. I guess that is my definition (its still evolving).
One thing I've noticed through the book (at least through Chapter 6) is Piper's assertion that in order to be truly saved, one has to see the glory of God in Christ. I'm not certain I completly agree. At least not to the degree that Piper asserts. I can list some quotes if that would help you understand my question. Maybe I'm just not following what he means when he says the Glory of God in Christ. Maybe a clearer definition of that would help clear up my confusion.
Andy
Andy,
Thanks for the question and for reading the blog. Also glad to hear you are wrestling with the book.
I understand the phrase "glory of God in Christ" to have the following facets:
a. Simply put, it seems to mean the glory of God as seen in the Second Person of the Trinity. Hebrews 1:3 says, "He [God's Son] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature..." So, we see God's glory in Jesus because He, having the same nature as the Father, is the perfect radiator of that glory in this world. Also, 2 Cor 4:4,6 are parallel statements that in the first instance use the term "glory of Christ" and in the second instance use "glory of God" in a seemingly interchangable way.
b. It also seems to carry the notion of the events of Jesus' life being the occasions in which His glory is seen and His character is displayed. Specifically, this would apply especially to the cross as Jesus completed the work of God's redemptive plan for mankind (John 17:4).
c. Thirdly, maybe the phrase is meant in some contexts to carry the notion of the praise that God gets through those people who embrace Christ as the greatest treasure in the universe. In other words, people praise what they think is great, and thus honor and glorify what they see as great. So, God's people rightly give glory to God when we see how wonderful God's grace to us in the cross really is.
d. Lastly, it seems that "the glory of God in Christ" has another aspect. God's eternal plan for redeeming His people among the Gentiles was previously a mystery even to Paul (Eph 3:4-6). Even Jesus said he had come for the lost sheep of Israel. So, when God made plain that He purposed to redeem the Gentiles through Jesus as well, the vastness of God's love, mercy, and grace was further understood. Again, when we see great things, we praise and glorify them. Thus, God gets glory in displaying the depth of His love in Christ.
So, I think I understand it a little differently from what you were thinking, although I certainly believe God is all sufficient, and the only sufficient one for our atonement is Christ. I think it has more of an intent to say, "not just the glory of the general 'God - ooohh he's big', but 'the God who is Christ.'" It is mostly a pointer to where the glory comes from/through.
This is probably only a start. Does it help though? Let me know what other questions you have to see if we can clarify it for bot of us! It did me a lot of good to work through writing this response out.
Along the lines of point "d." - I'm trying to say that the "wow" that is generated by something unexpected causes God's glory to be seen, and in this case, the "wow" comes from God's glory being seen in the extent of the mercy that is ours in Christ.
Your definition helps and I agree with it, but it doesn't really clear up my initial issue with the book which is Piper's assertion that in order to be saved one has to see the "glory of God in Christ". Its hard for me to explain clearly, so here are a couple of quotes that just don't quite sit right with me.
"But the point here is this: the glory of God in Christ, revealed through the gospel, is a real, objective light that must be spiritually seen in order for there to be salvation. If it is not seen—spiritually tasted as glorious and precious—Satan still has his way, and there is no salvation."
"If we minimize the majesty of God as the greatest good in the good news, we strip from the gospel the all-important ground of saving faith. One of my main concerns in writing this book is that many people profess faith in Christ in this way. It is not a faith founded on the glory of Christ himself but on tradition or education or other people’s opinion. If that is the case, the faith is not saving faith. Saving faith in Christ is built, as Edwards says, upon “real evidence, or upon that which is a good reason, or just ground of conviction.” If a person comes to the gospel and sees the events of Good Friday and Easter and believes that they happened and that they can bring some peace of mind, but does not see and savor any of this divine glory, that person does not have saving faith. Seeing the glory of God in Christ in the gospel is essential to conversion."
To me, this complicates salvation. I sort of understand what he is saying (Edwards more than Piper). That faith needs to be personal faith and not just believing because those around you believe or believing because of family tradition. I agree that those are not good reasons to believe. I agree that faith based on those reasons is often not on very solid ground. But, who is to say that it isn't saving faith? How many verses concerning salvation come with conditions (other than faith) attached? I believe that the gospel is powerful enough to save you on faith alone, regardless of why you believe. I believe that if you have faith (believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he came and died for your sins and rose again), that is enough. It doesn't matter why you believe it or how you were led to believe it or what your motivations for believing are/were. I believe salvation is based on faith and that faith in itself is "saving faith". If there are passages that clearly conflict with that please list them. Most verses that I associate with "saving faith" (at least off the top of my head) deal more with the fruit that the faith produces, not reasons or motivations for the faith.
I completely agree that God is the greatest gift of the gospel. And I believe that those who don't see that are truely missing the greatest gift and blessing of the gospel. I agree that teachers and preachers should focus on that aspect and do their best to see that those they teach/preach to come to that knowledge. But, I don't think that it is necessary for salvation. I think "seeing majesty of God as the greatest good in the good news" often comes through walking with God on a daily basis. It comes as we learn more about him and draw closer to him. It comes through experiencing first hand his love, mercy and grace on a daily basis.
Am I way off base here? Am I completely misunderstanding what he's saying? It seems to be a recurring theme through the book. I've heard quite a few of his sermons and read quite a bit of his material and this doesn't line up with most of what I've heard and read from him.
Is it against blog etiquette to respond to your own post? Looking back at my last post went too far (beyond what scripture will support) so I want to clarify/correct myself a little.
Faith is a gift from God. Its not from or of our self (Eph 2:8-9). The only way we can have faith is if God/the Holy Spirit gives it to us (opens our eyes to see the truth). In that aspect of my previous post I went too far. Faith is and has to be personal or it isn’t really faith at all. I think from a human standpoint we can point to different factors (people/events/experiences) that led us to that faith, but it is ultimately God who gives us that faith.
I think my main sticking points come from the second quotation I listed. I don't think I agree that "minimizing the majesty of God as the greatest good in the good news" strips the gospel of its saving faith. It doesn’t convey the greatest news/good of the gospel, but it I don't think it reduces its saving faith.
And I do not agree with the portion stating "If a person comes to the gospel and sees the events of Good Friday and Easter and believes that they happened and that they can bring some peace of mind, but does not see and savor any of this divine glory, that person does not have saving faith."
I think my main issue is with his definition of saving faith. I feel like he is saying it isn’t enough just to have faith. You have to have faith based on one particular reason/motivation and everything else isn’t saving faith (probably my misunderstanding of what he is saying). I feel like he is defining saving faith based on your foundation/motivation for believing. I think saving faith is defined more by the fruit the faith produces.
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