In my last post on this subject, I showed how John Piper has opened my eyes to the truth of Salvation as a treasure, not merely as a finding of one’s imposed Lord and convenient Savior. Today, I’ll outline the six crucial truths that summarize our need and the Lord’s provision in this matter. Again, I hope that none of this is truly new to you, but yet again, I will say that this writing is intended primarily as a clarification for those seeking the Lord. John Piper’s book and Tim Challies have clarified quite a few things for me, and I hope to be able to do the same for you.

In a discussion with my pastor, he mentioned that he will, at times, read a familiar verse in a translation of the Bible other than that which he is the most familiar. The purpose of this is to break out of any over-familiarity with a passage, which could lead to him passing over it without the proper reflection. For this reason, I’ve decided to use verses in this post that aren’t exactly the mainstream ones we’ve all heard, or at least seen held up on signs at sporting events. When most people see John 3:16 held up in the corner of the stadium, they tend to gloss over it before seeing if the scoring attempt is good or not.

Without further ado, here are the six crucial truths outlined in Chapter 2 of Desiring God by John Piper:

1. God created us for His glory.

If we do not understand why God made us, we can never truly understand the necessity for conversion. We were created in His image to shine forth His glory upon the world. This was an incredible honor that God bestowed on us for His own reasons.

2. Therefore, it is the duty of every person to live for the glory of God.

This isn’t rocket science. You make lunch so you can eat it. Your home was made for you to reside in it. This computer I’m sitting at was built so I could use it. We were made in the image of God to live for the glory of God. Truth number one gives us the reason we were created. It is our responsibility to do this as we are God’s workmanship.

But what does it mean to glorify God? Is there anything we can do to add to the glory of God? Of course not! But we can acknowledge His glory and value Him above all things. We can share this exciting news of His glory with those around us as we attempt to emulate Him in our lives. We can thank him! How often do you thank Him for His glory? I know I don’t do this often enough. How about trusting in Him? That’s something I desperately need to work on!

Glorifying God is the duty we all share without exception. We were created by God and are dependent on Him for absolutely everything. We owe Him gratitude, trust and obedience beyond human comprehension. He has never failed us in His purpose, but we continually turn to our own efforts for our deliverance from trials.

3. Yet all of us have failed to glorify God as we ought.

Are we expected to avoid falling short by matching the glory of God? Impossible! Piper spells it out a bit more clearly with scripture. Surprisingly to me, this scripture is not the Ten Commandments, which I always thought were the only ones that really mattered. To paraphrase, Romans 1:22-23 says that the way we fall short of the glory of God is ultimately simplified as an exchange of His glory for something of lesser value. Cheapening the value of God’s glory is the central meaning of the word ’sin’ at its core.

None of us has trusted God the way we should. None of us are truly able to feel the gratitude in all of its gravity and consistence that we ought. None of us has obeyed His commandments which were placed over us for our own good. To our folly, we decided to go our own ways because we thought we knew better. We take the credit for His provision. We are contemptible in our disdain for God. Piper pointed out that when David was confronted with the adultery and murder, the charge against him was not specific to those sins, but to his despising of God’s will. And it doesn’t end there! Our hearts are blind, hard, dead, and entirely unable to submit to the law of God.

4. Therefore, all of us are subject to eternal condemnation by God.

I have seen websites that deny the existence and the justness of an eternal torment such as Hell. Admittedly, when confronted by such a person, I really wasn’t armed for the battle he had ready for me. I told him that Hell is the lot we earn, but that the grace of God is sufficient to keep us from such a torment. He responded that a god of love couldn’t possibly subject one of His creations to such a fate and still be loving. All I could say at the time was that God is just. Oh, how I wish I had heard of John Piper back then! Or more accurately, I wish I had heard of Jonathan Edwards. I’ll share a bit from his sermon, “The Justice Of God In The Damnation Of Sinners“

The crime of one being despising and casting contempt on another, is proportionably more or less heinous, as he was under greater or less obligations to honour him. The fault of disobeying another, is greater or less, as any one is under greater or less obligations to obey him. And therefore if there be any being that we are under infinite obligations to love, and honour, and obey, the contrary towards him must be infinitely faulty.

Our obligation to love, honour, and obey any being, is in proportion to his loveliness, honourableness, and authority; for that is the very meaning of the words… But God is a being infinitely lovely, because he hath infinite excellency and beauty…

So that sin against God, being a violation of infinite obligations, must be a crime infinitely heinous, and so deserving of infinite punishment… The eternity of the punishment of ungodly men renders it infinite: and it renders it no more than infinite; and therefore renders no more than proportionable to the heinousness of what they are guilty of.

I’d say that about wraps up the truth of our failing and the justness of an eternal punishment. God is holy. He cannot condone sin in His presence and, by His very nature, He must punish it no more and no less than is just. But keep reading! We’re getting to the good part!

5. Nevertheless, in His great mercy, God sent forth His Son, Jesus Christ, to save sinners by dying in their place on the cross and rising bodily from the dead.

So why did God provide a way for our salvation? John 3:16 tells us that He did this out of love and that is correct. To take this question a step further, consider the previous truths. 1. God created us for His glory. 2. We have a duty to live for the glory of God. 3. All of us have failed to glorify God as we were intended.

Does this mean that we have foiled the plan of Almighty God? Have we somehow frustrated His purpose? Have we, in our own strength, circumvented the plans of God? That’s preposterous! True, we have failed Him from the beginning, but God foreknew all of this before the beginning of time. Remember, The chief end of God is to glorify God and enjoy Himself forever. Also remember that a holy and just God must punish sin as it is contrary to His nature. It cannot exist in His presence. The only answers to this issue are an eternal Hell and the justification to be found through Christ alone. In Piper’s words, “The wisdom of God has ordained a way for the love of God to deliver us from the wraith of God without compromising the justice of God.”

6. The benefits purchased by the death of Christ belong to those who repent and trust in Him.

Just because the price for our sin is paid by Jesus Christ doesn’t mean that we are all saved. There is a condition that must be met. Summed up, this condition is a combination of repentance and faith, and is called conversion. In my next installment of this series, I’ll go into more detail of just what Piper describes as the creation of a Christian Hedonist. For those who think this is an incorrect term due to the joy-seeking nature of hedonism, don’t overlook the first part of the term. The aim is to seek your pleasure in Christ alone and to drink abundantly from His waters.

Romans 5:11 (NIV): Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Ephesians 2:19-22 (NIV): Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.