JESUS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD by John Piper

In these times of unconditional tolerance and political correctness, it is often regarded a mark of intolerance and bigotry to make exclusive religious truth claims regarding such concepts as the nature of God, sin and hell to name just a few. An even more scandalous assertion will be to claim that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. This assertion, however, is a central tenet of biblical soteriology so is it any wonder then that Christians are often tagged ‘backward’ and ‘narrow minded fundamentalist’ because they refuse to budge? Such an assertion will likely lead to being ostracized and in certain instances may well indeed sound one’s death knell especially in some countries. In the light of such possible inauspicious consequences, should Christians continue to insist that Jesus is in truth the ONLY way to God?

Pastor John Piper in this small book, JESUS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD – Must You Hear the Gospel to Be Saved addresses the very question that the title asks. Piper’s affirmative response to the question is unequivocal stating that “without this faith – faith resting consciously in Jesus as he is presented in the gospel – there is now no salvation.” He warns that any other view will be detrimental to such virtues as genuine love for others, the salvation of people in other religions and ultimately biblical authority. He further maintains that not only will evangelism and the zeal to carry it out undermined by a negative answer but that scriptures do indeed supports his stance. He not only addresses the question directly but goes even further to uncover and dissect certain unstated yet underlying presuppositions that the question assumes including; Will Anyone Experience Eternal, Conscious Torment under God’s Wrath? Is the Work of Christ Necessary for Salvation or Are There Other Bases? Is Conscious Faith in Christ Necessary for Salvation?

Piper doesn’t shy away from the concomitant difficulties from his stance and tackles these head-on. He gracefully highlights areas of dissent with such influential people as C. S. Lewis and Madeleine L’Engle whose universalist view of hell on the one hand is akin to a correctional facility which will lead to repentance and purity and eventually salvation and with John Stott and Clark Pinnock on the other hand whose annihilationist view leads to finite utter obliteration. Piper presents a strong case for the traditional view of hell which insists on the eternal conscious torment of the damned though I didn’t personally find it persuasive. I presently hold to the annihilationist/conditionalist view on hell albeit tentatively because I find it a lot more compelling.

The author also persuasively demonstrates from scripture that the case of Cornelius does not support the notion that conscious faith in Jesus is not necessary for salvation by situating that narrative in its proper context noting that “Devoutness and works of righteousness and religious sincerity do not solve the problem of sin. The only hope is to believe on Jesus.” My only qualm with his conclusion on this matter is with his remark that “Cornelius represents a kind of unsaved person among an unreached people who is seeking God in an extraordinary way…” and that “God accepts this search as genuine…and works wonders to bring that person the gospel of Jesus Christ the way he did through the visions of both Peter on the housetop and Cornelius in the hour of prayer” which seems to me to suggest that this supposedly “genuine” and “extraordinary” pursuit is somewhat meritorious to draw the Father’s attention to save such a seeker by all means in which case his conclusion will be erroneous and unscriptural. But from his other works, I doubt he will agree with my inference.

Another area of disappointment for me was his failure to expatiate on the exceptions to the question of whether conscious faith in Jesus is necessary for salvation namely the profoundly mentally disabled adults and infants who do not have any physical ability to apprehend that there is any revelation at all. The author only touched on these in a footnote observing that scripture doesn’t offer much light on this area so answers on these are purely speculative. That may probably be the reason why he doesn’t dwell too much on it though I think dilating on it would have been beneficial since the matter is so central to the topic the book attempts to address.

Piper’s display of deep insight into the question and the direct manner in which he addresses the topic suggests he is a conscientious writer who does not trifle with the time of his readers. He also does well to buttress his answers with sound biblical expositions. From where I sit, it appears inevitable that every Christian will be confronted with this question in one form or another sooner or later in their walk with God so I highly recommend this book to every Christian.

To the non Christian who may feel incensed by the author’s stance, I encourage you to also grab a copy and weigh for yourself whether his reasoning can hold water. Yet I’m confident that Piper is spot on that “…there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts4:12ESV)