The Importance of Being Earnest

Last updated on: June 4, 2015 at 5:53 pm by D. G. Hart

The Importance of Being Earnest 2015-06-04T17:53:03-04:00 D. G. Hart

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Can someone, anyone, explain why John Piper is so popular among evangelicals? The reason for asking is his tendency to overreach on the way to reinforcing his doctrinal brand — an earnest Calvinism that seems to resonate with the young and restless fans of Jonathan Edwards. Consider the following where he argues a believer can have assurance of faith and not be saved (for anyone who’s a Calvinist, as Piper pretends to be, this is scary):

It is possible to believe the promises of God, and have the assurance of salvation, and yet be lost forever.

This possibility is implied in Matthew 7:22, “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” These folks believed that they were secure in relation to Christ. They called him “Lord,” and they tapped into supernatural power in his name.

Perhaps they had even more “assurance of salvation” than many strugglers today (who are genuinely saved) because supernatural power was flowing through their hands. So when they read the promise, “I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5), they believed it was true of them. But it wasn’t.

That is why they will be shocked when Jesus says to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). They are lost. But they thought they were saved.

The way to tell if you have genuine faith — and here comes Piper’s brand (more scary stuff), Christian hedonism — is to have a taste for spiritual sweetness:

In other words, saving faith in the promises of God includes spiritual enjoyment of the God of the promises. I don’t want to overstate it. I only say that saving faith must include this enjoyment. Enjoyment of the glory of God is not the whole of what faith is. But without it, faith is dead. . . .

This satisfaction is missing from the hearts of the professing Christians of Matthew 7:22. If the enjoyment of God himself were there, they would have delighted on earth in the very divine excellencies that such enjoyment anticipates. But instead they were “workers of lawlessness.”

This reality has a huge implication. It means that it is not just the security of the promises that frees us from motives to sin; it is also the heart’s enjoyment of the sweetness of God in the promises. When we perceive and enjoy the spiritual beauty of what is promised, not only are we freed from the insecurity of greed and fear that motivate so much sin, but we are also shaped in our values by what we cherish in the promise (1 John 3:3).

The Bible might say that faith the size of a mustard seed moves mountains (Matt 17:20), or Jesus might have recognized the genuineness of the faith of the man who said, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). But Piper ignores the slight amount of faith that might save the thief on the cross (Luke 23:39-43) and adds an extra helping of feeling or experience or sense of sweetness to faith in order to insure it is genuine. (For those keeping doctrinal score, this is an example of a Calvinist seeking a Wesleyan second blessing.)

Why complicate Matt 7:22 that way? Why tart it up with intensity, sweetness, introspection? Why can’t the text be simply about hypocrites who are proud of their piety — hint, being proud of one’s spiritual earnestness is not a good thing? And why can’t Piper simply do with the text what a real Calvinist like John Calvin does?

Christ again summons hypocrites to his judgment-seat, as we showed a little ago from Luke. So long as they hold a place in his Church, they both flatter themselves and deceive others. He therefore declares, that a day is coming, when he will cleanse his barn, and separate the chaff and straw from the pure wheat. . . . Christ appears to allude to the vain boasting, by which hypocrites now vaunt themselves. “They indeed have confessed me with the tongue, and imagine that they have fully discharged their duty. The confession of my name is now heard aloud from their tongue. But I too will confess on the opposite side, that their profession is deceitful and false.” And what is contained in Christ’s confession? That he never reckoned them among his own people, even at the time when they boasted that they were the pillars of the church.

If I had to choose, I’d take Calvin over Piper. With Calvin I get a strong warning against pride and hypocrisy and I have enough trouble resisting those. But with Piper, I may get rid of vanity and outward conformity and still need to go deep, really deep, and worry that I haven’t believed hard enough.

Previous Post

May 29, 2015

Fake Church? How Would You Know?

Next Post

June 6, 2015 Presbyterian Revival 2015

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2016 Presidential Election 2020 Presidential Election Apocalypse Bible in American Life Biblical authority Books and culture Calvinism Church Life Civil Religion Culture Wars Doctrine evangelicalism Gullibility Heaven and Hell Intellectual life Jesus Ministry modernity moralism Nationalism New Testament Old Testament Otherworldiness Otherworldliness Paul Peter Piety Popular culture Protestantism Psalms Puritans Race Roman Catholicism sacred/secular distinction Sex Shameless Self Promotion Sports Ten Commandments U.S. politics Uncategorized vulgarity worship

Select a Month January 2022 October 2021 August 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz