Jesus, the Only Way to God: Must You Hear the Gospel to be Saved?
By John Piper
4/5
()
About this ebook
John Piper
John Piper is founder and lead teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. He served for thirty-three years as a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is the author of more than fifty books, including Desiring God; Don’t Waste Your Life; and Providence.
Read more from John Piper
Don't Waste Your Life (Redesign) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What's Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Waste Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight For Joy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/512 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Hunger for God (Redesign): Desiring God through Fasting and Prayer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trading Triangles: How to trade and profit from triangle patterns right now! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Providence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Seeing and savouring Jesus Christ Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dawning of Indestructible Joy: Daily Readings for Advent Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Expulsive Power of a New Affection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good News of Great Joy: 25 Devotional Readings for Advent Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry, Updated and Expanded Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coming Home: Essays on the New Heaven and New Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/550 Crucial Questions: An Overview of Central Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Practicing Affirmation (Foreword by John Piper): God-Centered Praise of Those Who Are Not God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Resurrection Life in a World of Suffering: 1 Peter Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Understanding Scripture: An Overview of the Bible's Origin, Reliability, and Meaning Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Jesus, the Only Way to God
Related ebooks
God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ (Revised Edition) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Spectacular Sins: And Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Risk Is Right: Better to Lose Your Life Than to Waste It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Worldliness (Foreword by John Piper): Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Does God Desire All to Be Saved? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Legacy of sovereign joy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5God's Plans for You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seeing and savouring Jesus Christ Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why I Love the Apostle Paul: 30 Reasons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Taking God Seriously: Vital Things We Need to Know Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Contending for our all: Defending Truth And Treasuring Christ In The Lives Of Athanasius, John Owen And J. Gresham Machen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Peculiar Glory: How the Christian Scriptures Reveal Their Complete Truthfulness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Jesus Demands from the World (All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5God's Will: Finding Guidance for Everyday Decisions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Think (Foreword by Mark Noll): The Life of the Mind and the Love of God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5God's Love Compels Us: Taking the Gospel to the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Enjoying God: Finding Hope in the Attributes of God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pleasing God: Discovering the Meaning and Importance of Sanctification Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Understanding Scripture: An Overview of the Bible's Origin, Reliability, and Meaning Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Divine Mysteries: Concise and Thoughtful Ancient Biblical Wisdom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Sweet and Bitter Providence: Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/550 Crucial Questions: An Overview of Central Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God’s Word for Today’s World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Glory of Christ Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5God's Love: How the Infinite God Cares for His Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not by Sight: A Fresh Look at Old Stories of Walking by Faith Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Justification of God: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Romans 9:1-23 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Christianity For You
Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Girl's Guide to Great Sex: Creating a Marriage That's Both Holy and Hot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Law of Connection: Lesson 10 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries with Kids: How Healthy Choices Grow Healthy Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Wild at Heart Expanded Edition: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Less Fret, More Faith: An 11-Week Action Plan to Overcome Anxiety Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5NIV, Holy Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Enoch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Undistracted: Capture Your Purpose. Rediscover Your Joy. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Jesus, the Only Way to God
5 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I read this book in just a few hours. It is not an entertaining read, but a dense apologetic for the exclusivity of faith in Jesus for salvation. This book is a timely word in the Hell debate, but it is more than that. Piper is unapologetic in his defense of not only the doctrine of hell, but also of the necessity of faith in Christ, and the implications for missions. Piper is not afraid to call out his heroes, such as George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis and John Stott. Nor does he neglect to engage modern theologians like Boyd, Pinnock and Erickson.If you believe the Bible, you will be helped qby reading this book. If you don't believe the Bible, you will not like this book very much.For Believers, you should be motivated to make Him known.
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a small book that I recently finished reading after recieving courtesy of Revell A Division of Baker Publishing Group. It far more significant and weightier in content than its size. It takes as its task to answer a question of the upmost importance as the book and subtitle read is Jesus: The Only Way to God: Must You Hear the Gospel to be Saved? by John Piper. This book is an excellent defense of the exclusivity of the nature of the saving Gospel of Christ.The question ask must you hear the gospel to be saved? Piper answers with a firm resounding yes! Reaffirming Jesus words in John 14:6, ?I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except by Me.? That one must trust in Christ alone for salvation is the necessary truth since Christ alone through his atoning death and resurrection was the penal substitution for sinsPiper?s main complaint is against those within Christianity who have been advocating an inclusive gospel that states some may be saved by Christ who have never heard of him but they appear to respond positively to the light they have received. 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. It reiterates though that there is salvation for men in no other name (Acts 4:12).Piper develops his argument by breaking it down into three questions that he answers yes to. (1) Is there an eternal hell of conscious torment to be rescued from? (2) Is the death and resurrection of Christ essential for that rescue? (3) Do people need to hear this good new and believe it in order to be rescued? Since the Biblical answer to all these questions is a definite yes, then the Christ loving response is to tell people the Gospel truth. Piper uses the text of Scripture to explain and support the truths that historical Christianity has affirmed. I see this book as a mandatory read for anyone concerned about the state of the church, orthodoxy, and evangelism. Get it?Read it.
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I picked this up as an afterward to reading Rob Bell's new book Love Wins because Piper kept saying how this is what is needed. I found it similar to having a tooth pulled - painful and needing to be over as soon as possible. What follows is a very biased review....Honestly, Bell and Piper are speaking to different audiences and intentions and to compare the two does a disservice to both. BUT.... I'll just list my dislikes....Piper states at the beginning this is to bolster missionaries in the field spreading the word of Jesus. In some twisted sense he makes his case, but it is from the reference point of control, fear, and preaching to the choir. He makes broad generalizations as if the whole church thinks this way, which it doesn't. He also makes statements about the historic Christian church, while ignoring Christian history that would counter his argument that these held beliefs have been there always. His use of scripture is rapid fire machine gun effect, which sorely needs some good exegesis around each reference.Please note my critique is not against Piper himself (that would be another post) but my reaction to his book. It comes from an extreme Calvinistic approach with very little room for grace, and I found myself constantly reading it and thinking I'm no longer there..... stuck in the need to force...I do have one more major critique with his argument, which I'll just leave it with babies burning in hell. No, thanks Piper. I'm off to read Love Wins again.
Book preview
Jesus, the Only Way to God - John Piper
God.
1
Is Jesus the Only Way
of Salvation?
Three Questions in One
It is a stunning New Testament truth that since the incarnation of the Son of God in Jesus Christ, all saving faith is consciously focused on him. This was not always true. And those previous days Paul called the times of ignorance. "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man [ Jesus Christ] whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead" (Acts 17:30–31).
But now it is true, and Christ is made the conscious center of the mission and the faith of the church. The aim of missions is to "bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name [the name of Jesus] among all the nations" (Rom. 1:5). This is a new thing with the coming of Christ. Since the incarnation, God’s will is to glorify his Son by making him the conscious focus of all saving faith. Without this faith—faith resting consciously in Jesus as he is presented in the gospel—there is now no salvation.
That is what I believe the Bible teaches, and what I will be arguing in this book. As you can see, the implications are momentous. We are not dealing with a small matter. If this is true, the urgency of reaching unbelievers with the gospel is as great as it can be.
Three Questions in One
The general question that we often ask in regard to Christ and the other religions of the world, or in regard to those people who have never heard the gospel, is whether he is the only way to salvation. But that general question is ambiguous. It contains at least three questions. All of them are important for the missionary task of the Christian church.
The three questions will emerge if we listen to the way different people explain what they mean.
Question #1:
Will Anyone Experience Eternal, Conscious
Torment under God’s Wrath?
The first of the three questions is, Will anyone experience eternal, conscious torment under God’s wrath?
There are at least two ways of answering this question in the negative. One is to say that all people and devils will be saved eventually, and that hell, if it exists at all, will lead to repentance and purity and salvation. This approach is called universalism. The other is to say that those who are not saved are annihilated. They go out of existence rather than being cast into hell. This is known as