Comments on: Book Review: God is the Gospel by John Piper

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 15:29:26 +0000

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.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 05:22:56 +0000

It's as though you expect Piper to conflate Law and Gospel, so you're reading that into it.
Yeah, we Lutherans are all alike.
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.
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”?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 20:28:05 +0000

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%.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 19:19:51 +0000

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.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 19:06:37 +0000

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…”.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 15:41:08 +0000

Do you still sin? Most of us are still being sanctified…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 14:20:48 +0000

Aye, there's the rub: the glory of God is NOT always my highest joy! Is the gospel no longer good news to me?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 07:24:18 +0000

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.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 06:56:35 +0000

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.