In Desiring God, John Piper presents his thought-provoking “Christian Hedonism,” a theory of moral transformation in which delighting in God as our supreme treasure reorders our desires, thereby motivating and producing a life of holiness and love.

I think there’s a lot of truth to that theory, and that Free Grace people have better reasons to believe it than Piper does.

What I mean is, we have better reasons to delight in God, beginning with the sheer graciousness and freeness of salvation for all who believe in Jesus. By contrast, though Piper claims to believe in justification by faith apart from works, he offers only bad news on that point.

For example, in Desiring God, he includes a section in the chapter on “Conversion” titled “Why Not Just Say, ‘Believe’?” Immediately prior to that section, he writes:

I mean that no one is a Christian who does not embrace Jesus gladly as his most valued treasure, and then pursue the fullness of that joy in Christ that honors Him (Piper, Desiring God, p. 54).

If Piper were describing what it means to be sanctified or a mature Christian, I would agree. Mature Christians should embrace Jesus as their most valued treasure. But Piper means that no one can be born again without embracing Jesus “as his most valued treasure” and pursuing “the fullness of that joy.” Piper seems to understand that this is not the language of salvation sola fide and anticipates the following objection:

Someone may ask, “If your aim is conversion, why don’t you just use the straightforward, biblical command, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31)? Why bring in this new terminology of Christian Hedonism?” (p. 54).

Why not say that believing is sufficient to be saved? Piper explains that he avoids that language because “we are surrounded by unconverted people who think they do believe in Jesus” (p. 54).

If they think they believe in Jesus, why does Piper insist they are “unconverted”? Because of their behavior:

Drunks on the street say they believe. Unmarried couples sleeping together say they believe. Elderly people who haven’t sought worship or fellowship for forty years say they believe. All kinds of lukewarm, world-loving church attenders say they believe … In my neighborhood, every drunk on the street “believes” in Jesus. Drug dealers “believe” in Jesus. Panhandlers who haven’t been to church in forty years “believe in Jesus” (pp. 54-55).

The Bible is clear that if someone believes in Jesus, they are saved (see here). If these folk believe in Jesus, why is Piper convinced they don’t really believe?

It’s due to how he defines believing.

Pay attention to this next point. I’ve learned that people can pay lip service to salvation sola fide, then redefine “faith” or “believing” to include works, so they end up preaching some form of works salvation.

For example, Piper explains the terminology he sometimes uses in evangelism:

I use different words to unpack what believe means. In recent years, I have asked, “Do you receive Jesus as your Treasure?” Not just Savior (everybody wants out of hell, but not to be with Jesus). Not just Lord (they might submit begrudgingly). The key is: Do you treasure Him more than everything? Converts to Christian Hedonism say with Paul, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8) (p. 55).

Read that carefully. According to Piper, it is not enough to receive Jesus as Savior if your motive is to get out of hell and not to be with Him. To be saved, one must want “to be with Jesus.”

Piper also appears to assume that even submission to Christ as Lord is inadequate if someone only does it begrudgingly. Salvation depends on willingly submitting to Jesus as Lord. Making salvation depend upon behavioral submission moves us even further from sola fide!

So how are we saved? Why is using the language of “believing” not clear enough for Piper?

For him, the key to being saved is to “treasure” Jesus “more than everything.” But it is not enough to treasure Jesus in general; you must treasure Him more than anything else.

So how can you be saved, according to Piper? If you put these pieces together, salvation depends on wanting to be with Jesus, submitting to Him willingly, and treasuring Him more than anything else. And the evidence of really believing will be that your life is free from drunkenness, adultery, drug use, panhandling, and, I assume, other gross public sins.

If that were true, how on earth could anyone be saved? What degree of “treasuring” is necessary, and how do you know if you are treasuring Christ most of all? How much submission is required to be saved? How much sin must be avoided? Someone may not be committing adultery in act, but what about in their hearts and minds? One may not be a panhandler, but what about being greedy and uncharitable toward the poor? How much sin is consistent with being saved?

Anyone who takes Piper seriously would become a basket case of uncertainty about their salvation. How can you “delight” in God if you’re not sure whether He will save you or damn you?

I sympathize with Piper’s pastoral concern. I don’t want people to be self-deceived, lukewarm, or slaves of sin. I want them to live changed lives of growth in Christ. But redefining “believing” to require behavior change or emotional commitment compromises the gospel and confuses salvation and discipleship. We should never add works to salvation (e.g., “submission”), or trade “believing” for subjective perceptions of value or varying strengths of emotional commitment (e.g., “treasuring”).

The good news is that salvation is free for all, because Christ died for all, rose again from the dead once for all, and gives salvation to all who believe in Him. Not everyone who hears that good news will be transformed by it, but many will, and magnifying God’s mercy in salvation is what can produce transforming gratitude in the heart.

Sanctification is not strengthened by adding demands to the gospel, but by preaching it more clearly and grasping more deeply the grace that unworthy sinners find in union with Christ.ollows or not.ain and again, but because you need to hear again and again what He’s done for you once-for-all.      

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Shawn Lazar (DPT, McMaster Divinity College) is the pastor of Gateway United Baptist Church in Denton, TX. Purchase his book One-Point Preaching here and his latest book Once Saved Always Saved? here.