Examining John Piper's Teaching on "Final Salvation"

In an article on the Desiring God website titled “Does God Really Save Us by Faith Alone?”, John Piper discusses justification, sanctification, and what he calls “final salvation”, and argues that while justification gives us a right standing with God, it's not enough to get us to heaven! In regards to the latter he says, “In final salvation at the last judgment, faith is confirmed by the sanctifying fruit it has born, and we are saved through that fruit and that faith.”[1] 

Is this what the Bible teaches? Are Christians saved “at the last judgment” through their faith and their fruit? What does the Bible say?

SAVED THROUGH FRUIT OR THROUGH FIRE?

Take for instance what the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:15, “If any man's work is burned up (Gr. katakaēsetai) he shall suffer loss [of reward]; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.” Piper says “we are saved through that fruit and that faith.” But Paul says “if any man's work is burned up...he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.” So which is it: saved through fruit or saved “through fire”? In vivid terminology, the apostle Paul paints the picture of a Christian who arrives at the last judgment with an utter lack of practical sanctification, yet “he himself will be saved”! Piper’s theology doesn’t seem to line up with the biblical text.

NOT BY FAITH ALONE?

Piper tries to build his case on the distinction between justification, sanctification, and glorification (which he calls “final salvation”), so that in effect he can say, “See, I'm only adding works as a requirement for glorification; justification is still “by faith alone”! In other words, by making “final salvation” contingent upon progressive sanctification, Piper can still say that justification is “by faith alone”. The glaring problem with Piper's reasoning is that according to Romans 8:30, the apostle Paul actually connects “final salvation” (glorification) with justification, not with practical sanctification! Notice what Paul the apostle says: “whom He justified these He also glorified” (Rom. 8:30). Paul excludes any mention here of practical sanctification! Glorification (“final salvation”) is not dependent on sanctification; it is dependent on justification! In other words, “final salvation” does not depend on fruit and faith (as Piper wants us to believe); it depends on faith alone.[2] 

In an article on the Desiring God website titled “Will We Be Finally ‘Saved’ by Faith Alone?” (March 2, 2018), Piper gives his interpretation of Romans 8:30 and tries to explain the obvious discrepancy between his statements and what the Bible actually says. In answer to the question, “How would salvation and works sit between the link in Paul’s mind — between justification and glorification, where Paul says that all those who are justified are glorified?” Piper responds by saying, 

“he’s asking, ‘How does salvation and works fit in there?’ The answer is this: Glorification in Paul’s thinking is a process that begins at conversion. It doesn’t begin at the last judgment. It begins at conversion and includes sanctification. It’s consummated at final salvation. We know this because of 2 Corinthians 3:18, where we look to Jesus and are being changed from ‘one degree of glory to another.’ That’s glorification right now [?] as we look to Jesus. Romans 8:30, then, when it says all the justified will be glorified, includes the promise that all the justified will be sanctified, because sanctification is included in glorification.” 

But Piper’s explanation is nothing more than eisegesis: reading his theology into the biblical text, not deriving it from the text. For example, Piper says that “glorification in Paul’s thinking is a process that begins at conversion.” But that conclusion actually contradicts what the apostle Paul says in Romans 8:30, because Paul uses the aorist past tense form of the verb (not the present continuous) for both justification and glorification: “whom He justified [edikaiōsen] these he also glorified [edoxasen].” Thus, Piper cannot use Romans 8:30 to show that glorification is a process because actually Paul, by using the aorist past tense form of the verb, indicates that it’s not a process at all! Piper probably realizes this, and thus he appeals to 2 Corinthians 3:18 as his new proof text in his attempt to show that practical sanctification is part of glorification. But Piper is again twisting glorification into a process, when the Bible indicates rather that glorification occurs at a point in time (cf. Rom. 8:30, 13:11; 1 Cor. 15:52; Phil. 3:20-21). Even Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the Reformed theologian, affirms that sanctification is distinct from glorification, not part of it. Commenting on 2 Corinthians 3:18, Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes: 

“In a glorious statement at the end of the third chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, verse 18, the Apostle puts it thus: ‘We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.’ That is our present position. The glorification itself is yet to come. We are justified, we are being sanctified, we are going to be glorified. That is the way to look at the matter.”[3]

Piper tries to make progressive sanctification part of glorification so that he can in effect sneak sanctification into Romans 8:30 and thus give support to his Calvinistic belief that true Christians will “endure to the end” in order to be finally saved. But according to the Bible, glorification does not depend on the process of sanctification; rather, glorification depends on justification: “whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Rom. 8:30).

WHAT ABOUT PRACTICAL SANCTIFICATION?

Piper appeals to 2 Thessalonians 2:13 in support of his premise that “faith is confirmed by the sanctifying fruit it has born, and we are saved through that fruit and that faith.” But actually 2 Thessalonians 2:13 says nothing about “sanctifying fruit”! Piper is reading his theology into the text. Apparently Piper fails to understand that sanctification is first and foremost a positional truth: a divine reality that occurs when a person first believes in Christ! Commenting on 2 Thessalonians 2:13 and the phrase “through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (KJV), Charles Ryrie explains by saying: 

 

“In this phrase, the divine and human responsibilities in salvation are placed together. On God’s part, being saved involves the work of the Holy Spirit in sanctifying, or setting apart, the believer. This refers to that sanctification of position as belonging to God that every Christian has the moment he believes (1 Cor. 6:11).”[4] 

Let’s take a closer look at this. For example, writing to the carnal Corinthians, the apostle Paul lists a number of sins including: sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, and drunkenness (some of which the Corinthians were still practicing), and then says, “And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11).[5] Why didn’t Paul say, “And such ARE some of you”? Had Paul not just said to them, “you are yet carnal” (1 Cor. 3:3)? How can they be “carnal” and “sanctified” at the same time? Simply because at the moment of salvation, the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleansed them of all their sins: past, present, and future (see Hebrews 10:10-14). Paul says in Ephesians 1:7: “In Him [Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” In 1 Corinthians 1:30, Paul tells the Corinthians that Christ Jesus “became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” This sanctification was a result of their new position in Christ, even though they were not actually sanctified in their practice! Positional sanctification is a miracle of God’s amazing grace that Piper and other Lordship Salvationists would do well to understand. As one pastor has rightly said, “they’ve lost touch with the grace of God.”[6] This is the tragedy of Piper’s view of salvation, because according to the Bible, we are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). This justification guarantees our glorification, quite apart from our practical sanctification!

HOW CAN A CHRISTIAN’S FAITH BE “DEAD”?

Piper appeals to James 2:14-26 trying to prove that faith alone is insufficient for final salvation. But in the book of James, the word “save” [sōzō] is sometimes used in reference to sanctification (e.g. Ja. 1:21, cf. Psa. 119:11; Phil. 2:12-13; 1 Pet. 2:1-2), not justification. Indeed, does Piper think that when James says, “And the prayer of faith will save [sōzō] the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up” (Ja. 5:15), that James is referring to salvation from hell? Clearly, the context must be allowed to shed light on the meaning of the word! In James 5:15 the word “save” obviously refers to physical healing, not salvation from hell. This is consistent with the meaning that the BDAG lexicon assigns to the word “save” in James 5:15: “to raise up from sickness, raise up=restore to health (the sick pers. is ordinarily recumbent) Js 5:15”[7]; “be ill...Js. 5:15”[8]; “save/free from disease...Cp. Js. 5:15”.[9] Thus it becomes clear that even in the book of James, the word “save” can refer to other things besides salvation from hell. 

How then should we understand James 2:14 when it says, “Can that faith save him?” Is James referring to salvation from hell, or perhaps to something else? When we look at the context of James 2:14, it’s clear that James is addressing Christian “brethren” (v. 14), i.e. already saved people, and the question, “Can that faith save him?” (v. 14) is specifically referring to someone from this audience: “one of you” (v. 16). So how can a justified person still need saving? If we understand the word “save” as a general term which encompasses both justification and sanctification (and eventually glorification), then the meaning is clear: the man’s faith has no sanctifying effect! So salvation from hell is not the issue. Rather, the issue is: how useful is your faith to others? Is it “dead as a doornail” sitting there doing nothing (and thus even being counterproductive like a bent nail!), or is it being used for a good purpose to help others? That’s what James is talking about in 2:14-26.

But someone may say, “James 2:26 says, ‘faith without works is dead.’ Doesn’t this mean that it is spiritually dead and therefore not justifying?” Let’s take a look at the meaning of the word “dead”. In regards to the “dead” faith spoken of in James 2:26, the BDAG lexicon gives this definition of “dead”: 

“Pert[aining]. to being so morally or spiritually deficient as to be in effect dead....of things n[ekros]. erga dead works that cannot bring eternal life...faith apart from deeds (i.e. without practical application) is dead, useless Js 2:26b”.[10] 

Several things can be pointed out here: (1) BDAG says “morally or spiritually deficient”. Thus, not necessarily spiritually “dead”! Possibly only morally “dead”, i.e. alive but without good works. (2) BDAG says “dead works that cannot bring eternal life”. When does the Bible say that good works bring eternal life, anyway?! We have not become Roman Catholics, have we? So the Free Grace understanding of James 2:14-26 is in agreement with BDAG on this point. (3) BDAG clarifies that “faith apart from deeds (i.e. without practical application) is dead, useless Js 2:26b”. Again, the Free Grace position can accept this statement and agree with this statement because BDAG clarifies that the meaning is “dead” in the sense of “useless”. Useless for what? The Free Grace position would say that the “morally” deficient faith[11] in James 2:26 is “useless” in terms of the faith’s “practical application”, i.e. the faith is not doing anything to help others. The issue is sanctification, not justification.

CLOSING THOUGHT 

I can’t help but think that Piper may be one of those at the last judgment who says to the Lord Jesus, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” (Matt. 7:22, KJV). And Christ will say to them, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:23, KJV).

References:

[1] John Piper, “Does God Really Save Us by Faith Alone?” (September 25, 2017), Desiring God, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/does-god-really-save-us-by-faith-alone (accessed July 15, 2022), italics his. Note: Elsewhere Piper seems to equate “final salvation” with what he calls “final justification,” which he says is essentially the same as eternal life. For more information see Piper’s article on the Desiring God website titled: “How Our Faith and Law-Keeping Work Together in the Christian Life” (March 29, 2016).

[2] When Paul says in Romans chapter 8:30, “whom He justified, these He also glorified”, the idea is, in other words, that Christ will lose none, but will bring “all” whom He justified safely through to final salvation (see Jn. 6:37-40).

[3] Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans: Final Perseverance of the Saints, Exposition of Chapter 8:17-39, pp. 8-9

[4] Charles C. Ryrie, First & Second Thessalonians (Chicago: Moody Press, 2001), p. 120.

[5] For more information see the article by Charlie Bing titled “Understanding the Vice Lists in 1 Cor. 6:9-11, Gal. 5:19-21, and Eph. 5:3-5” (GraceNotes, Number 96).

[6] John Ricci, “What Must I Do to be Saved?” YouTube video, time stamp: 11:30 – 11:40 minutes. https://youtu.be/X3H3nHFfVpc?t=690 (accessed July 15, 2022).

[7] Frederick William Danker, Editor, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd Edition (BDAG), p. 241, under “egeirō”, bold original.

[8] BDAG, p. 449, under “kamnō”, bold original, ellipsis added.

[9] BDAG, p. 873, under “sōzō”, bold original, ellipsis added.

[10] BDAG, p. 592, under “nekros”, bold and italics original, ellipsis added.

[11] I.e. “morally” deficient in the sense that good works have not been added to it (cf. 2 Pet. 1:5-9).