Jesus: The Only Way to God--Must You Hear the Gospel to be Saved? [Kindle Edition]

The subtitle to this book says it all, "Must you hear the gospel to be saved?" In this short book (123 pages) John Piper seeks to answer that question and he seeks to build a defense for the traditional Christian view that one must hear the gospel and believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins or there is no salvation. Piper's main complaints are against those within Christianity who recently have been advocating an inclusive gospel view that, according to D.A. Carson, means "the view that all who are saved are saved on account of the person and work of Jesus Christ, but that conscious faith in Jesus Christ is not absolutely necessary: some may be saved by him who have never heard of him, for they may respond positively to the light they have received."

It with this inclusive view of the gospel that Piper takes his aim and fires. His main concern (as my own) is that missionary activities are diminished when the gospel is seen as unnecessary for eternal life. If personal faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins is not based on belief in the gospel about Jesus then missionary work will greatly decrease. Like Piper, I believe that God's glory is revealed in the gospel of His Son and that it is only in His Son that we are saved and one must hear the gospel of Jesus to be saved (Romans 10:14-17).

I believe that Piper does a good job of presenting a strong biblical and orthodox view of the exclusive nature of the gospel in just 123 pages. He begins by covering the doctrine of eternal torment in an eternal hell. Piper points out that while this teaching on hell has become ignored in our times, the Bible has much to say about hell. And if we are willing, hell must exist due to the nature of sin and the nature of God's infinite holiness. Piper tears apart the common arguments against eternal hell given by such as the Seventh-Day Adventist or even evangelicals such as John Stott who argues for an agnostic view on hell.

From the doctrine of hell Piper then turns the issue of why Jesus had to die on the cross. For many in the inclusive view, the doctrine of sin is often ignored or downplayed. Sin is heinous to God. Sin is more than just doing something bad and asking Him to forgive us but sin is an affront to the holy character and holy law of God. As John said in 1 John 3:4, "Everyone who makes a practice of sinning practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness." Piper shows that Paul's arguments in Romans 1-3 is that the whole world is guilty before God both Jew and Gentile. None are righteous (Romans 3:10) and none can be saved in their own righteousness because we have none to show forth (Romans 3:23-24). If we are to justified before God it will because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross for us (Romans 4:24-25) and not because we simply acknowledge the goodness of God or that He exists (Romans 1:18-32).

Finally Piper turns the issue of saving faith and what is saving faith. Piper builds his case from the book of Acts that the Apostles took seriously Jesus' command to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8). Luke records the sermons of preaching the gospel to lost Gentiles in Acts 10 and in Acts 17 and in both cases Luke makes it clear that the Apostles preached that faith in Jesus was essential to being saved (Acts 10:43; 17:30-31).

Piper ends by looking at Romans 10:8-17. Here he points out the defense of Paul to the necessity of faith in Jesus and to the beauty of missionaries taking the gospel forth. He points out from Romans 10:17 that faith can only come from hearing the gospel and not from within humanity or from creation. The gospel, writes Piper, must be preached in order for people to hear and be saved.

From an Arminian viewpoint, there is not much that I disagreed with. Piper does speak of election here and there in the book and there is no denying that Piper believes that since the elect will be drawn to Christ and that this drawing is irresistible then it follows that the message will get to the elect. This differs with hyper-Calvinism that says that it is not the duty of the Church to proclaim the gospel to the lost (so called duty-faith) but to simply preach Christ to the Church and let God save the lost Himself without any call to repentance apart from the Holy Spirit's doing.

Overall I was thrilled by this book. I firmly agree with Piper that the gospel must be preached, that missions is vital to the glory of Christ, and that God loves missions. God Himself is the greatest missionary sending His own Son to die in our place (Isaiah 53:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21). Jesus said that He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10) and the cross glorifies this truth that God loved us and wants to save us from our sins (John 3:14-17). I praise God for this book and highly recommend it.

*****
In this short but deep and profound book, author John Piper proclaims Jesus as the only way of salvation. He discusses alternative popular beliefs among Christians: (1) Universalism--the belief that everyone will be saved eventually and that hell (if it exists) will lead to repentance and salvation; (2) Annihilationism--the belief that at death, if one is not saved, one just ceases to exist and experiences no torment or punishment instead of an eternity of suffering into hell; (3) Pluralism--the belief that many different religions can lead to God; and (4) Inclusivism--the belief that Jesus died to save everyone, and even those who have never heard of Him will be saved.

This book is written in an understandable, yet definitely theological style. It is not light reading, and although it is short, it took me a while to get through it (far more than the short hour I'd planned). Yet it is definitely worth the work. The writing seemed to me to be clear and brilliant, and the author's arguments--all taken from Scripture--were very convicting. It was powerful, challenging, and made me think.

In the book, John Piper thoroughly answers these three questions: (1) Will anyone experience eternal, conscious torment under God's wrath?, (2) Is the work of Jesus necessary for salvation?, and (3) Is conscious faith in Jesus necessary for salvation. He uses the Bible to defend all of his positions, which are "yes" answers to all three questions.

This an important book for Christians or highly interested non-Christians. I would not see this as an evangelistic text except for someone exceptionally familiar with theology and the Bible. I see it as a mandatory read for anyone concerned about the state of the church, orthodoxy, and evangelism. I especially see it as an important read for Christians who disagree with any of the author's positions (as I did before I read this book) but are opened to being convinced otherwise from Scripture (as I was).

Highly recommended.
*****

"The question for the church in every generation is: Will we submit gladly to the Scriptures? Will we devote ourselves to understanding them truly, valuing them supremely (under God himself), applying them properly, obeying them wholeheartedly, and speaking them courageously and publicly? In every age, some things in the Bible fit nicely into the spirit of the times and are not controversial. They may even win you some popularity. But in every age, there are other things in the Bible - important things - that do not fit the spirit of the times, and speaking them will be criticized or even persecuted."
- John Piper, Jesus: The Only Way to God, p. 117 -

I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing John Piper's new book. This book deserves four stars because it articulates clear biblical truths all Christians need to know by answering the following three questions:

Will anyone experience eternal, conscious torment under God's wrath?
Is the work of Jesus necessary for salvation?
Is conscious faith in Jesus necessary for salvation?
John Piper divides the book's chapters up with each of the above questions. He uses scripture and various illustrations to answer yes to all three. One thing any reader will appreciate about this book is that it is only 123 pages. However, while short, Piper was not hindered in answering each question.

Personally, I loved the amount of scripture and referencing of other individuals Piper uses to solidify each and every argument. With over 60 footnotes I would say he has done a thorough job. Also, he lets the reader see a common thread of our call to fulfill the Great Commission in this book. He notes that much is at stake if we as the Christian community begin to doubt John 14:6 which says, "Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." We have to wholeheartedly agree with this passage and in turn go out and fulfill the Great Commission because faith in Jesus is necessary for all people to have salvation.

Considering the nature of books these days, 123 pages of normal sized text is not that long. While I mentioned this on a more positive note for readers, it is also the downside to Piper's book. Jesus: The Only Way to God lacks much personality as a book. Now while some might say Piper's books in general tend to be less personable, I would say after reading this work that even more than usual it seems to come across as some cleaned up sermon notes he decided to publish. That is not to say that publishing solid sermon notes is bad or any less admirable, but it is to say bleak information is what you will get in this book.

Overall, great job John Piper on writing another sound book that clearly answers questions that the church of the now generation need to know where they stand. Might we as the church continue to mold our lives around the Gospel instead of trying to fit ithe Gospel into our lives.