Book Review: God is the Gospel by John Piper
February 19, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton
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Why is the gospel good news? Is it because Jesus died for |
God is the Gospel is John Piper’s rich explanation of
what the gospel is truly about: “The gospel is not a way to get people to
heaven; it is a way to get people to God.” (47) Piper begins by defining the
meaning of the gospel, including all the aspects that are part of the good
news. He then moves on to describe what it means for God to be the supreme good
of the gospel in terms of each person of the trinity. He explains how this
applies to evangelism, missions, and sanctification: “There is no gospel where
the glory of God in Christ is not shown. And there is no salvation through the
gospel where the glory of God in Christ is not seen.” (97)
Not all of the gifts of the gospel are pleasant, so Piper
spends a couple of chapters explaining that “all the gifts of God are given for
the sake of revealing more of God’s glory, so that the proper use of them is to
rest our affections not on them but through them on God alone.” (117) The point
of each gift, of course, is the glory of God, and so Piper describes how that
works with both the good and the bad. He also explains that we shall eventually
see the glory of God and ourselves be glorious, since we must first be like
Christ to experience the glory of God. Piper ends the book with a series of
hymns describing the transforming power of the gospel that is the glory of God.
All of John Piper’s work flows from the same passion
for the glory of God, and God is the Gospel is no exception. At some
points the book is redundant, especially where it explicitly crosses paths his
other books. However, it contains many of its own great nuggets. For example,
in the introduction, Piper asks if we would be happy in heaven if Christ were
not there. Reflecting on such a question is a good exercise for getting the
point of gospel right, and so is the entire book. God is the Gospel is
an important reminder of what’s so great about the gospel and why we should
proclaim it.
Related posts:
- Book Review: The Legacy of Sovereign Joy by John Piper
- Book Review: The Hidden Smile of God by John Piper
- Book Review: Sex and the Supremacy of Christ ed by. John Piper and Justin Taylor
- Book Review: The Roots of Endurance by John Piper
- Book Review: The Gospel Code by Ben Witherington III
- Book Review: Da Vinci Myth Versus the Gospel Truth
Posted in Book Reviews, Main Page, Roger's Posts
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February 22nd, 2006 at 1:56 am
Forgive me for saying so (especially since I haven't yet read the book), but the idea that “God is the Gospel” seems to create more confusion than clarity. The Gospel is not, in fact, God, but the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. The “Good News” is not simply God Himself, but that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them. By insisting that unless you “embrace God himself as your highest joy, you have not embraced the gospel of God,” Piper has illegitimately introduced the Law (You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength) into the sphere of the Gospel, rendering the “good news” no “good” at all. This unwitting conflation of Law and Gospel is a problematic theme in the work of a theologian I respect greatly.
February 22nd, 2006 at 2:24 am
I don't think Piper has any more conflated Law and Gospel than James did when he said faith without works is dead. In the same essence- the gospel is not good news unless the glory of God (our highest joy) is the focal point. We aren't saved by finding joy in God, we find joy in God as a result of Him saving us.
February 22nd, 2006 at 9:20 am
Aye, there's the rub: the glory of God is NOT always my highest joy! Is the gospel no longer good news to me?
February 22nd, 2006 at 10:41 am
Do you still sin? Most of us are still being sanctified…
February 22nd, 2006 at 2:06 pm
I DO still sin, and that's exactly my point. Piper says that unless you embrace God as your highest joy, you have not embraced the gospel. Or, in your words, the gospel “is not good news unless the glory of God (our highest joy) is the focal point.” But God is NOT always embraced as my highest joy. What comfort then have I, a sinner? The gospel, you say, is NOT good news to someone like me.
The gospel is the good news that through Christ's atonement our sins are forgiven and we are reconciled to God. Period. There's no “and now you have to…”.
February 22nd, 2006 at 2:19 pm
You're holding Piper to a higher standard than he's set. He's not saying at every second of your life you must enbrace God as your highest joy or you're not saved- that would be like expecting you not to ever sin. The good news of the gospel is that we are reconciled to God and, on a theoretical level, that results in our doing good works and finding our highest joy in Him. Of course practically, this side of heaven, we do not always do good works or always embrace God as our highest joy. It's as though you expect Piper to conflate Law and Gospel, so you're reading that into it.
February 22nd, 2006 at 3:28 pm
If you have embraced the Gospel, you are, in essence, proclaiming that your highest joy is God. If not, then you have to question as to whether or not you are proclaiming a joy where God takes second place. To be saved from our sins is a great joy indeed, but is that all the Gospel is about? He is the ultimate purpose of the Gospel, therefore is the highest joy we can ever have. If we do embrace the Gospel, we are embracing God as our highest joy.
Just because we do not think/say/feel it every second of our lives doesn't negate what we are embracing when we believe the Good News and embrace Christ as our Lord and Savior. After all, we are running a race where we stumble and fall and pick ourselves back up. As His children, we all are trying to be perfect as hour heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48) We do not stop in the middle of the race just because we fail in this imperative. Why? Because we do embrace God as our highest joy. If He wasn't, then the Gospel is nothing to us, thus, God is nothing to us. Why bother running? Why bother even walking?
Perhaps you are making more of Piper's title and understanding more than what it seems (just like you, I have not read the book), but knowing a bit about Piper's theology, I think it is safe to say that he is within the confines of orthodoxy in the meaning of his words. “God is the Gospel” because the Gospel is empty of meaning without its identity found in God. This is reassuring, because if the Gospel finds its identity in God, then the trustworthiness of the Good News is guaranteeed 100%.
February 23rd, 2006 at 12:22 am
It's as though you expect Piper to conflate Law and Gospel, so you're reading that into it.
But your defense of Piper's intended meaning is unnecessary. I believe him to be, as Victor says, squarely within the “confines of orthodoxy.” It's his imprecise language I fault. If he wants to talk about justification (i.e., the gospel), fine. If he wants to talk about sanctification, fine. But confusing the latter with the former is unacceptable. If your review indeed provides an accurate summary of Piper's thesis, then I have no need to “read into” his argument a misrepresentation of the Gospel–it is explicit: the reconciliation of man to God through Christ's atonement is NOT the whole of the gospel and is NOT good news unless the glory of God is the focal point.
Yeah, we Lutherans are all alike.
Now obviously God is glorified by the proclamation of the gospel, but with all due respect to the Calvinists in the audience, the Gospel is less about the “glory of God” then about his LOVE. The idea that “glory” is the highest, most essential attribute of God is simply erroneous. Scripture tells us that God is Love. And it is this Love that comprises the essence of the Gospel message–Christ crucified for sinners. Think about it: God's glory will be revealed for all to see on the last day, and for many it will be the most profoundly terrifying day of their life. Will they, having known fully the glory of God, consider this “good news”?
April 29th, 2006 at 10:29 am
Derek,
In response to your last post, if you would read the book, you would see that Piper does not disagree that God's love is at the summarizing center of the content of the gospel message that includes his coming, dying, resurrection, and application of justification, sanctification and glorification of believers to be in his presence forever. God is loving (in the way just outline) is the message, as he outlines and defines the scope of the gospel message in Chapter 2. But what MAKES that message loving… what is it about THAT news that makes the gospel (meaning good news) ultimately GOOD? That is the question he asks, and answers exegetically and expositionally from the Word of God in a clear and straightforward irrefutable way. The good news is that every obstacle is removed and a pathway is created SO THAT we may forever see and enjoy “the light of the GOSPEL of the glory of Christ… For what we proclaim (the gospel) is… Jesus Christ as Lord… God has shone in our hearts TO (for the purpose of, or in order to) give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 4:4-6).
Could anyone disagree with such a clear interpretation of Scripture? One who has at times tasted on their tongue the unsurpassable pleasures of deep communion with God should intuit that this interpretation is not only the most logical, but the one that resonates most in the soul.