In its chapter 11 on justification, the Westminster Confession of Faith’s authors wonderfully articulated the following: “Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the only means of justification. In the person justified, however, it is always accompanied by all the other saving graces and is not a dead faith, but works by love.” What did they mean by this? How does a not dead faith “work?” and work every time as they said? What is the role of fruit (or works) in the life of the believer? Are they dispensable? If the Westminster folks got it right, and I believe they absolutely did, does John Piper get it wrong? Does Piper get this right, but later confuse it with something else? Lately, he certainly seems to have by the accusations levied against him. Has pastor Piper compromised the beautiful biblical essential of justification by faith alone that maybe he himself even thinks he preaches? Some say yes. Below is a link to part 1 of a sermon series from Piper addressing what he calls “Future Grace.” In it, he addresses at least some of his views on justification clearly along with many other ideas related to the topic. I’ve placed it here for a direct consideration of his position on some things from anyone wanting to hear about it straight from him. Are works necessary for salvation? Are they always present in salvation? Do we recognize the difference between these two things? Does Piper? Let’s talk about it.
John Piper, Christian Hedonism, and Future Grace (53 min)
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Based on a work at Biblecia.com.
