Let the Nations Be Glad! by John Piper

Author:John Piper
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL045000, REL067000, Worship, Prayer, Suffering, Jonathan Edward on the Unity of Motives for World Missions
ISBN: 9781441207647
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2003-01-31T16:00:00+00:00

1. Citing Acts 18:10 (“I have many in this city who are my people”), he says that “the knowledge that the Holy Spirit has been working in the hearts of people prior to hearing the good news should encourage us.”42 I agree. But that is not the issue. Working in people’s hearts to prepare them to respond to the gospel is very different from working in their hearts so that they are saved apart from the gospel. The first motivates missions; the second does not.

2. He argues unintelligibly that “because the great majority have not responded to general revelation, they need to be confronted by the claims of Jesus.”43 This amounts to saying that if you believe some are saved without hearing the claims of Christ, you will be more motivated to share those claims because most are not saved that way. But that is not an argument that the view that some can be saved without the gospel “enhances” our motivation to evangelize the lost. On the contrary, it’s an argument that the more needed the claims of Christ are, the greater the motivation to share them.

3. Third, he argues that believing that some are saved apart from the preaching of the gospel “broadens our understanding of the whole gospel.”44 In other words, if we are going to pursue missions with zeal, we need to do so for reasons other than merely providing escape from hell (which some already have before we get there). We need to desire to bring the blessings of salvation in this life. I suppose this is true. But why should we assume that the church will be more motivated to bring these blessings to people than it is to bring the blessing of eternal life? The risk I am willing to take to save a person from execution is not increased by telling me, “He is no longer on death row, but surely you will want to feel all the same urgency to help him find a good life.”

4. Finally, Ellenberger argues that believing some are saved apart from the preaching of the gospel “reaffirms love as the primary motivation.”45 Again this is unintelligible to me, because it seems to assume that the urgency of missions driven by the desire to rescue people from eternal torment is not love. How does saying some are saved without the gospel make a greater appeal to love?

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