John Piper Continuationism, and Preaching the Gospel to Yourself
One of the more valuable lessons taught to us here at TANC was during our first conference in 2012. John Immel demonstrated historically and philosophically that people always believe what they believe and do what they do for a reason, and that reason is logic—logic drives behavior. Find the logic—find the reason for the behavior, or belief.
At the time, I was in good graces with Old Calvinists because I had published The Truth About New Calvinism: Volume One, exposing the dastardly evils of the Neo-Calvinist movement which was supposedly an aberration of Reformed soteriology. They threatened to boycott the conference because Immel hadn’t been vetted by them. At the time, the decision to tell them to hang it on their beaks was based on principle alone while unaware I was trading orthodoxy for knowledge that really gets down to why church looks like it does in our day.
So, why do bosom buddies John MacArthur and John Piper differ on Cessationism (first century miracles ceased after they served their purpose)? MacArthur is very inconsistent because he started out as a grammarian interpreter of the Scriptures. Later, circa 1994, John Piper et al convinced him that New Calvinism was authentic Reformed soteriology, and I don’t think MacArthur was willing to reject the Protestant narrative wholesale. If you understand how the Reformers interpreted reality, you understand how taking the Scriptures at face value is going to cause the mass confusion that we see today.
Hence, one example among many: MacArthur’s dispensationalism is going to drive many New Calvinists nuts because one of the pillars of Platonism follows; truth is immutable. Regardless of what the Bible plainly states literally, viz, that God has used different economies to bring about His will, the Reformers insisted that the Bible had to be reconciled to the great thinkers of old. That would be Plato and company. This is by no means ambiguous history. MacArthur’s unwillingness to reject Protestant tradition makes him what he is: one of the most confused pastors to occupy the pulpit in our day. He can be defined as one who interprets reality using two contrary epistemologies: grammatical and redemptive. This is indicative of most Protestant pastors who must try to interpret truth with two contrary epistemologies in order to hang on to Protestant tradition. This is the very reason for the confused mess that we see in the institutional church. For this reason, the institutional church is intellectually bankrupt.
This ministry is benefiting greatly from information sent to us. A reader sent me a video of John Piper being interviewed at a conference in London. In regard to how Piper answered a question, the reader wanted to know if his answer was related to the whole, We must preach the gospel to ourselves every day. Answer: yes. And, I believe I have learned something new in regard to Piper being a Continuationist. In his answer, Piper put together Galatians 3:2 and 3:5 to make the case that we are sanctified by the same gospel that saved us. Because the Christian life is supposedly powered by the finished work of justification, Christians must return to the gospel daily in order to be sanctified.
However, take serious note: to the Reformed crowd who know what they are talking about, this isn’t semantics about the best way to be sanctified, this is stating that we must keep ourselves saved by faith alone in Christian living. If we “move on to something else” other than the same gospel that saved us, we “lose both” justification and sanctification. Get this into your head: they make epistemology a salvific matter. Many Calvinists like Paul David Tripp have stated that a literal interpretation of Scripture is equal to works salvation.
In the Conference Q and A, Piper notes verse 2…
Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
Then he connects it to verse 5…
Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—
Piper uses the adjoining of these two verses to make the case that the Holy Spirit only continues to work in our lives after salvation via the same way we were saved (by faith alone). In other words, Piper makes this verse an issue of sanctification, and not the context: justification. But, to make this point, he must concede that miracles are also a continuing part of His works when people live by faith alone in their Christian lives. This is a good indication of why he is a Continuationist.
It also bolsters the Reformed view of obedience as realm manifestation. Obviously, miracles result when God manipulates the laws of normality; in the same way, the works of Christ can be imputed to us without us actually doing the work. It’s just a lesser miracle. Christians are to live by faith alone and assume that any good works we do are wrought by the Holy Spirit and not us. Martin Luther was very specific about this in the Heidelberg Disputation. For the Christian to think himself able to do a good work is a “mortal sin.” The Christian life is to be lived by experiencing justification subjectively. As long as we “attend good works with fear” of accreditation, our good works are only “venial” and perpetually covered by Christ’s death. This is the Reformed formula for living our lives by faith alone. This is nothing new, and is the exact same thing that James railed against in his epistle to the 12 dispersed tribes.
Paul was making the point that justification is completely out of the control of those who choose to believe. Man didn’t seek out God and collaborate with Him on reconciliation. Man didn’t call for peace negotiations. God pursues man, corners him, and presents the plan and the terms. If man accepts, the Holy Spirit quickens him or her. Even when man believes and accepts the terms, he/she cannot rebirth themselves any more than they can wrought miracles on their own like the Holy Spirit does—they can only believe.
That was Paul’s point; justification is completely apart from the law of sin and death. The Galatians were being taught that keeping a dumbed down version of the law of sin and death kept them saved. Paul said NO, if you want to justify yourself by keeping the law of sin and death, you must keep all of the law perfectly. He added that circumcision did not matter (justification by keeping the ritualistic parts of the law), but only faith working through love (obedience to the law of the Spirit of life).
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Paul David Tripp Gnosticism
Paul David Tripp is a leading “Christian” author and well noted in the contemporary biblical counseling movement. Tripp was active in aiding fellow Gnostic David Powlison in hijacking the biblical counseling movement from Reformed grammarians. I use the term “grammarian,” who are few in our day, to differ from redemptive historical interpreters. If a teacher is not identified according to his/her interpretation method of either grammatical or redemptive, it is impossible to know what they are really teaching. You may think you know what they are saying, but you don’t. Depending on which method is being utilized, all basic theological terms, like “new birth” mean different things. To believe you can understand any teacher without knowing their interpretive method is folly. The best way to explain a grammarian is, “words mean things.”
Gnosticism came from Platonism and to state it simply: it is the belief that the material realm is evil and only the spiritual realm is good. In order to find true knowledge, one must obtain it by getting beyond what the five senses can ascertain. Plato believed that the material world is the shadows of the invisible world. Plato also believed that truth is immutable; so, the gateway to truth from the material/evil realm must be something immutable. For Plato, that was math.
The Reformers were not theologians first, they were philosophers first and were embroiled in the debate of that era: Plato or Aristotle? Platonism holds to spiritual caste which proffers the idea that elitist philosophers are preordained to lead the masses who are enslaved to the shadows of reality. They are specially gifted by the force or god of your choice to obtain the “Gnosis.” Determinism is also a major pillar of Platonism.
Hence, Gnosticism can be seen throughout Tripp’s teachings, especially in How People Change. In that book, Tripp attributes a literal interpretation of Scripture to works salvation. He also attributes obedience to something that Christians only experience, but do not really perform; the experience is imputed to the material realm by the Spirit, who is defined more as a realm than a person. Gnosticism can be seen in Tripp’s interpretation of Romans 8:2 and most of Romans 7—“law” is not really “nomos,” a written law, but refers to two different realms: material/evil versus invisible/good.
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Piper, Tchividjian, Christian Counseling, and the Calvinist False Gospel: The Law of the Spirit has NO Power to Change
DOING THE CROSS ONLY TO KEEP YOURSELF SAVED
The Bible is two different laws to the only two people groups in the world: the lost and the saved. To the lost, it is the law of sin and death. To the believer, it is the law of the Spirit of life:
Roman 8:1 – There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
We are no longer UNDER LAW, but UNDER GRACE, and being under grace is the same as being under the law of the Spirit of life. As Christians, the Spirit does in fact use the law to change us:
John 17:14 – I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
As I will keep proclaiming, the Achilles’ heel of Calvinism is law. Calvinism keeps the Christian under the law of sin and death. Hence, Jesus must fulfil the law of sin and death for us, and this is made up to be part of the atonement. But the law of sin and death has no part in justification—that’s why there is “no condemnation” for believers. But clearly, Calvin taught that Christians are still under the condemnation of the law and that Christ must perpetually save us from it by reapplications of the cross. In particular, note 3.14.9-11 in the Calvin Institutes. This construct turns the Bible and grace completely upside down. This is also why John Piper refers to the Bible as a book of “saving acts” (plural).
Note that John Piper, like Calvin, keeps Christians under the law of sin and death:
What Then Shall Those Who Are Justified Do with the Law of Moses?
Read it and meditate on it as those who are dead to it as the ground of your justification and the power of your sanctification. Read it and meditate on it as those for whom Christ is your righteousness and Christ is your sanctification.
Notice that Piper replaces the law of the Spirit of life with Christ alone as our sanctification. Notice also that we are to PRESENTLY read the law as those who are dead to it…[for] the power of your sanctification. Piper, like Calvin, only recognizes ONE law, the one we are dead to.
Tullian Tchividjian is more pointed about it:
So do you think the law no longer has—or should no longer have—a role in the Christian life?
No, I wouldn’t say that. While the law of God is good (Romans 7), it only has the power to reveal sin and to show the standard and image of righteous requirement—not remove sin. The law shows us what God commands (which of course is good) but the law does not possess the power to enable us to do what it says. You could put it this way: the law guides but it does not give. In other words, the law shows us what a sanctified life looks like, but it does not have sanctifying power—the law cannot change a human heart. It’s the gospel (what Jesus has done) that alone can give God-honoring animation to our obedience. The power to obey comes from being moved and motivated by the completed work of Jesus for us. The fuel to do good flows from what’s already been done. So, while the law directs us, only the gospel can drive us.
This, of course, asserts the idea, per Calvinism, that the power of our sanctification comes from justification. Per the usual, “gospel” and “Jesus” are words used to replace “justification” for cover on this issue. If our sanctification comes from justification, the law of sin and death is not ended and Jesus must continue to save us from it. The “finished” work isn’t so much finished, it needs to be perpetually applied to save us from the law of sin and death. Simply stated, Calvinism keeps us under the law of sin and death and ignores the law (“nomos”) of the Spirit of life. In other places, Tchividjian posits the idea that “the Bible never says that the law can give life.” That isn’t true,
Psalm 19:7 – The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;
Psalm 119:93 – I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.
I won’t belabor the point, but Christ also said that man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God, and when Moses said to “choose life” he was talking about the law.
In the final analysis, it’s works salvation via antinomianism; we have to work hard at doing nothing but the cross to keep ourselves saved from the law of sin and death which Calvin, even from the grave, keeps poised over our heads, ready to damn us at any time unless we live by faith alone in sanctification. And of course, faithfulness to the institutional church which has the “power of the keys” is our best shot to be “ready for the judgment.” Frankly, a judgment that we will not be attending because the final judgment is according to the law of sin and death, not the law of the Spirit of life that the Spirit does in fact use to change us.
And also take note: 95% of the Christian counseling going on in the institutional church is based on Christians being yet under the law of sin and death with Christ fulfilling it in our stead as part of the atonement. Good luck with that—it’s a false gospel.
paul
Something More Virtuous than Reason and the Road to Holocaust
Words mean things. This truism often espoused by the political icon Rush Limbaugh is a stalwart against holocaust that is much underestimated. The horrors of history are always paved with something more virtuous than reason and common sense. After all, in this world of shadows reason has an alien pure form, so why make much of reason?
We know the drill; the law was written on cold, hard tablets of stone while the “New Covenant” is an epistle written on the soft, fleshly heart. If you are really spiritual, you don’t live by “a bunch of do’s and don’ts.” The pure is beyond what we can examine with the five senses; “streets of gold” do not really suggest that there will be material objects in heaven, only the unlearned believe such things.
This is why pithy sayings vomited out by Calvinists dressed in the demeanor of Mr. Rogers should make our blood run cold. “Christ is not a precept, He’s a person.” “It’s not a riddle, it’s a redeemer.” Take note of these statements by Calvinist Paul David Tripp in the book, How People Change:
Jesus comes to transform our entire being, not just our mind. He comes as a person, not as a cognitive concept we insert into a new formula for life.
That good work begins in relationship to Jesus and is brought to completion within an ever-deepening union with him. This is the most unique aspect of a biblical view of change. It is not less than cognitive change; it is so much more…The Bible gives us more than exhortations and rules for change. The great gift Christ gives us is himself!
These truths are not just cognitive tools to adjust your thinking; they are intended to increase your love for Christ!
One of the first steps of any totalitarian state is to disarm the public. This is why in most countries the citizens can do nothing but watch when acts of unimaginable brutality are performed on innocent people. In fact, they are often forced to watch. But such governments first seek to disarm the public of their abilities to reason as well. In this respect, Calvinism and Islam have always led the way. Robert Ley, the Internal Education Minister for Adolf Hitler, stated the following in his famous speech, “Fate—I Believe!”:
Understanding sometimes is not enough to explain something. Only faith is sufficient. The Führer in Nuremberg said: “Woe to him who does not believe!” He who does not believe has no soul. He is empty. He has no ideals. He has nothing to live for. He has no sunshine, no light, no joy in life. He is a poor, poor man. What is wealth? What are possessions? What does it all mean? Problems come despite them, only faith is left. Woe to him who does not believe!
All of this is best summarized by the words of Rudolf Hess in his speech, “The Oath to Adolf Hitler”:
Do not seek Adolf Hitler with your mind. You will find him through the strength of your hearts!
Indeed. Before the mass graves can be filled, the public and the church must be disarmed of their reason.
paul
Why Contemporary Biblical Counseling is a Lie and Cannot Help Anyone, and What Should be Done About it.
Target Publication 2015
We are in the era of the biblical counselor. The National Association of Nouthetic Counselors (NANC), the Christian Counseling & Education Foundation (CCEF), and the Biblical Counseling Coalition (BBC) comprise the lion’s share of biblical counseling in our day and then some.
These organizations are all tightly associated with each other, and share involvement among directors and board members. The network between these organizations and local churches is massive, and thousands of people are referred to counselors through this network daily. These organizations also offer “training” and curriculum for major seminaries nationwide.
This is a massive network of “biblical” counselors who are wasting the time of troubled people, and doing more harm than good. Why? First, the whole system is based on the lie that they offer people a way to change. By “people,” I mean primarily Christians. One of the more notable figures in the network, Paul David Tripp, wrote a book titled, “How People Change.” A careful reading reveals that the book actually rejects the idea that people change, and instead posits the idea that Christians can only experience the joy of grace in a deeper and deeper way. A deeper and deeper realization of how totally depraved we are leads to a greater and greater appreciation of God’s grace resulting in happiness. Hence, what they are really offering is something that sounds spiritual: “Happiness regardless of your circumstances.”
People come to counseling because they want to change something about their lives; this is assumed, and the biblical counseling machine allows them to believe they share the same agenda, and even state it accordingly. And here is the problem: God will not honor a lie; God will not bless a lie.
Nor will God honor their elitist attitude towards the common parishioner. The contemporary biblical counseling network allows this noble lie because most people are not “ready” for the “truth” that people really don’t change in what they do, but only in how they experience life. Ironically, if they were honest, they would be surprised to find that the “truth” of not changing, but rather feeling good about your depravity would be a much easier sell. But to the contrary, the network couches terminology in nuance to make it sound like change in behavior is the agenda—it’s deliberate deception on a massive scale, and has much to do with funding and the money in general.
Central to this issue is the fact that the network is grounded in the authentic Reformed tradition. The new executive director of NANC, a lackey by the name of Heath Lambert, recently wrote an article about Martin Luther and “all the ways that Luther impacted the church, for all the ways that Luther advanced the Kingdom of Christ, and for all the ways we will commemorate the good work he began.” And:
In particular I am thankful for his influence when it comes to the kind of biblical counseling we stand for at the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors [the new name for NANC]. The very first item listed on the document nailed to the Wittenberg Gate said, “When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said “Repent,” he called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” This has everything to do with biblical counseling.
Right, “he called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” They call this, “deep repentance.” The “entire” life of the believer is about repentance. In the Reformed tradition, the “T” in TULIP also applies to the saints. By living a “lifestyle of repentance” that delves deeper and deeper into our depravity, we continually experience the “joy of our original salvation” in a deeper and deeper way. This is exactly what Luther taught:
Now you ask: What then shall we do? Shall we go our way with indifference because we can do nothing but sin? I would reply: By no means. But, having heard this, fall down and pray for grace and place your hope in Christ in whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection. For this reason we are so instructed-for this reason the law makes us aware of sin so that, having recognized our sin, we may seek and receive grace (THD thesis 16,17).
In Reformed circles, this process is called mortification and vivification. It is a perpetual cycle of repentance and joy. It is expressed in the contemporary mantra, “We must preach the gospel to ourselves every day.” Dr. Michael Horton calls it, “reliving our baptism.” One of the most well-known figures of the biblical counseling network, Dr. David Powlison, sets this counseling against those “who see the cross for salvation and the Holy Spirit for sanctification.” This is counseling that focuses on, “living by the cross.”
As one who has spent almost seven years researching this issue, it is easy to see that the Neo-Reformed movement that is behind the network meticulously follows the Calvin Institutes. The Calvin Institutes articulate Luther’s theology of the cross. This is yet another huge problem. The Calvin Institutes, as well as the Westminster Confession, were designed to fit the church states of that era. This is a representative republic; hence, the kind of control that pastors were able to exercise over people in that day is not possible in our day. Yet, the theology of that day was part and parcel with elements of control.
As a result, many, many churches in the network are cultish. Control was part of the counseling construct in Luther and Calvin’s day, and that is difficult to separate from the theology. It stands to reason that if you are still totally depraved, you need to be controlled. Therefore, when people are referred to network churches for counseling, they are often required to attend church there, or even become members for the purpose of “adding the love of community” to the counseling. This is a strong allure because the counseling is often “free,” or by a love offering determined by the counselee. However, once a counselee signs a church membership covenant, they have relinquished significant personal autonomy to local church elders. The average American parishioner is woefully inept in understanding the Reformed tradition enough to join them in a covenant, and on this wise as well, the network is deliberately deceptive.
For example, few would sign up if they knew Reformed pastors believe they have the authority to proclaim someone unsaved. This is Calvin’s power of the keys—whatever a pastor binds on earth, heaven will bind it as well according to their word. In other words, the pastor has the authority to have your name removed from the book of life. Furthermore, counseling is seen as part of the church discipline process, so the second a counselee signs on the dotted line, they are officially under church discipline as well. Counseling is seen as “unresolved sin issues” and therefore under the auspices of church discipline. You said you needed counseling, no? You are under the “first step” of church discipline when you enter counseling. The steps can progress toward excommunication if the counseling doesn’t go well. This reality has caused enough conflict to incite the founding of mediation organizations like Peacemaker Ministries. These are damage control organizations heavily vested in the biblical counseling network.
These are just a few issues at hand, but all in all, what should be done about this problem? Answer: in regard to the Reformed tradition and the contemporary biblical counseling movement; true education, true education, true education, true education, and true education. I believe that a genuine understanding of biblical counseling history (and not the usual propaganda spewed out by the network) will lead parishioners to solid answers.
Meanwhile, I would seize on God’s promise to give you wisdom in the midst of a trial. I would also go into all counseling with eyes wide open. Find out who they are, who they are affiliated with, and be careful what you sign. This is the information age—research the ideology behind the counseling construct you are considering. In cases of severe depression, general practitioners often take a good commonsense approach to the problem. I would also read materials written by Dr. Jay Adams that pertain to your particular problem.
The last thing you need right now is medieval superstition. Trust me, there is a reason for the undertaker-like demeanor of Dr. David Powlison.
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
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