Pastor John Piper: Belief in God Is Not Enough
True Christians must look to God not only as a deliverer of justification and righteousness, but must also value God as a treasure in their lives above all other things, Pastor John Piper wrote in a recent DesiringGod.org post.
Piper, founder of DesiringGod.org, a website focused on discussing Christianity and glorifying God, suggests in a Dec. 28 post that it is not enough for Christians to look to God as their Savior so they may be absolved of their sins and achieve righteousness. Along with receiving glory from God, Christians must value God as the highest, most important treasure in their lives.
The title of Piper's post sheds light on his message: "Are we saved by belief in God or delight in God?"
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Piper answers the question by suggesting that belief in God is not enough; along with belief, Christians must also view God as the "supreme treasure" in their lives.
The pastor goes on to argue that in order to receive Christ's saving faith, Christians must put Jesus above all other things in life. It is impossible to be in a full relationship with God if a Christian values their job, health, or other entity above God.
"Where Jesus is not treasured above all things, he is not trusted with saving faith," Piper writes, adding "faith receives Jesus as a treasured Savior, a treasured Lord. And if you say that a person can be a Christian, born again, justified, heaven-bound, enjoying eternal life, a person could be a Christian and have a higher treasure than Jesus, I do not know what Bible you are reading. "
Piper then clarifies that this does not mean a Christian must be perfect in their faith. Rather, Christians must try to put Jesus as their top treasure in their daily lives and know that there will be ups and downs in their relationship with God.
"The issue is: Have I set my face with as much of my heart and as much of my mind and as much of my soul and my strength as I can to treasure God in Christ above all things? And I have more or less success just like believing rises and falls," Piper writes.
Piper concludes his post by calling on Christians to again view Jesus as the supreme treasure in their life in order to have a full Christian faith.
"[R]eceiving Jesus by faith is a receiving of Jesus which includes a receiving of all that God is for us in Jesus; namely, he is our supreme Treasure as is written large all over the Bible," Piper writes.
Along with founding the DesiringGod.org website, Piper is also chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
