John Piper Show and Tell
SHOW
TELL
For some strange reason, evangelicals continue to tolerate John Piper’s bizarre teachings—including the belief that Christians are still dead in trespasses and sins. However, and per the usual, he chooses his words very carefully so as to not come right out with stating it. Nevertheless, just in case you think he is speaking of the unregenerate, consider that he says: “….why you would call dead people to do things.” If he had the unregenerate in mind, this is certainly a strange choice of words. One might also think to himself: “Wasn’t Lazarus a believer?”
Furthermore, Piper shows his close kinship with Sonship Theology with the whole concept of “speaking life into people.”
And by the way, what’s the difference between what he is saying in the video and this description of metaphysical Christian Science: “In metaphysics the higher rules the lower. What we control in the spiritual realm will manifest in the physical. This process is done by seeing or speaking, affirmations. In the word faith philosophy words have power, they contain the force when spoken in faith…. The concept is to have it birthed in the spiritual realm first and then it will come about in the natural. As one takes the Scripture believing and confessing it the process of supernatural faith begins. One is to speak what they want into existence.”
And no John Piper verbiage would be complete without a direct contradiction to the plain sense of Scripture. He says we “can’t please God” when the apostle Paul makes it clear that we “make it our goal to please Him” and will be judged accordingly at the Bema Seat judgement.
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
Paul, judging from what he said, he was obviously answering a question about justification. It sounds like the question is about how God can be completely sovereign and people still be held accountable for their rejection of the Gospel. He is saying that people who are apart from Christ are dead, and that through the preaching of the Gospel by the power of the Spirit, God brings people into life. There is no way to listen to that and think that he is speaking of sanctification.
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Scott,
Give it up. You are dealing with a bitter idiot who doesn’t have the ability to reason.
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Scott,
Obviously? So, we tell unbelievers to “DO THINGS”? Are you saying that Piper is just a bad communicator? What about the video “John Piper is Bad”? The point of the video is that John Piper is still a sinner instead of a new creature that no longer sins as a life pattern. When asked about the video in an interview he stated: “It’s true.” Besides Scott, in reference to his “The Gospel in 6 Minutes,” why do new creatures continually need justification? “Never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never think that the gospel is just for unbelievers….”
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Oh, Hi Randy!
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Listen to what he is saying in this video. He references Packer’s Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. He talks about antinomy. The context here is evangelism. So what he means by do things is repent and believe the Gospel. If you want to address other videos, post them. The issue here is the video that you posted and your misinterpretation of it.
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Scott,
His language is deliberately nuanced so that it can be interpreted either way. That’s what false teachers do.
> —–Original Message—– >
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Scott,
I guess you are determine to find out for yourself. Save yourself a lot of grief. Don’t try to have a logical discussion with him. It is a lost cause.
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Here is the full audio of the clip you just posted, context and all. Go about 12 minutes in and you can hear the question.
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/conference-messages/commending-christ-q-a
The question is whether divine sovereignty and human responsibility’s relationship is inexplicable.
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It is clear from the context provided by the full session link Scott provided that they are referring to “coming to repentance” / Justification and not Sanctification. I don’t think there’s anything ambiguous about that.
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Nick and Scott,
He quotes Augustine, does he not? “Command what thy wilt , But grant what you wish.” When Augustine said that he was talking about sanctification. So again, is Piper merely a poor communicator? Furthermore–not once does he refer to the unregenerate–not once anywhere in his reply, but rather “humans.” He is deliberately ambiguous. Also, at the last part of the video, he talks about God’s sovereignty over decisions, what we are commanded, and ALL THAT THE BIBLE TEACHES IN-BETWEEN. Why would that apply to the unregenerate?
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Paul,
Did you listen to the audio?
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Scott, So what if the question was framed in regard to justification? SO WHAT? That’s not how Piper answered it.
> —–Original Message—– >
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