Customer Reviews

Future Grace

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In what I would consider to be the essential John Piper "trilogy", this one should come third in reading order (with Desiring God and The Pleasures of God preceding), but the message is certainly not inferior to the other two! This God-saturated pastor delivers one of the most helpful and hopeful books on the power of sanctification that I have ever come across. He commends what Chalmers called "the expulsive power of a new affection" as the key to holiness. He shows from Scripture that gratitude is NOT to be the primary motive for the believer's pursuit of God, but rather "faith in future grace" (or "trusting in the promises of God," to use a less original phrase!). This theology is defended from Scripture, illustrated through countless anecdotes and quotes from the likes of C. H. Spurgeon, John Flavel, and Jonathan Edwards, and is applied to various sin struggles (anxiety, bitterness, coveteousness, pride, lust, etc.) - which Piper shows to be rooted in unbelief. The underlying theme of this book is that the faith that justifies also sanctifies. As you might imagine, this book is an aggressive (and needed) attack on the false concept that Jesus can be one's Saviour without also being one's Lord. I commend this book very highly - but I do warn you - it is a thinker. Read it twice. Once for familiarity and then again for saturation and meditation.

This book revolutionized my war against sin. Rather than the "OK - this time I MEAN IT" approach that leads to an exhausted Christian life, Dr. Piper gives practical, biblically-saturated council in how to REALLY live the victory Christ achieved for us.

I'm in no danger of "blowing" the book with a 1,000 word review, so I'll let you in on the premise. (1) No one sins out of duty, but rather because of the promise of pleasure that sin offers. (2) The key to destroying sin's power is by prizing the pleasure of biblical promises regarding obedience above sin. Dr. Piper than offers up some VERY practical examples regarding different sorts of sin.

This book was the expansion I was looking for after reading Dr. Dan Fuller's great book "The Unity Of The Bible."

Warning: the book gives you two options - really change, or invent another excuse for staying like you are.

John Piper continues to impress me with his God-centered books. Future Grace is a Biblically- loaded defense of the thesis that faith looks forward, not just backward, and that this foward- looking faith is the heart and soul of sanctification. Piper's thorough work covers the topics of divine sovereignty in salvation, the nature and purpose of the Mosaic law, the conditions of salvation, and the rebirth of creation and the end of the age. The book's central strength is its treatment of the many relevant Biblical passages - Future Grace is saturated with Scripture. It manages to be a masterful work of theology while at the same time remaining infinitely practical. Piper's Biblically-sound suggestions on how to battle specific sins (anxiety, pride, misplaced shame, impatience, covetousness, bitterness, despondency, and lust) are of immeasurable help to the struggling saint. I have but one complaint: Piper's treatment of the Mosaic law follows closely that of his teacher, Dan Fuller, and is Biblically unconvincing. But this is a small complaint - I recommend all evangelicals to read this book as soon as possible

John Piper will always be remembered as a popular Christian author/theologian who wrote many books to help pastors and lay people understand the Christian faith better and how to truly live a Christian life. In this book, Piper explains what it means to live by faith in future grace. In the first several chapters of the book (1-9), Piper explains why "past grace" is an insufficient motive to live a God-centred and obedient life. He explains that past grace only looks to the past and not to the future. What truly motives a Christian to live a God-centred and obedient life is to look forward to the grace that will be revealed. In fact, if we live looking back to what Christ did for our salvation then we are following the "debtor's ethic" which lessens the motivation and power to live a truly obedient Christian life. What Piper tries to do in this book is to make us realize that the way to overcome sin and disobedience in the Christian life is to look FORWARD to the grace of God (i.e., future grace) and to be truly satisfied for all that God is for us in Jesus Christ.

I really appreciated Piper's emphasis on the eschatological aspect of Christ's redemptive work. Too many evangelical Christians are too past or present oriented rather than future oriented in how they see the Christian life. They do not realize that salvation is not only a past fact and a present reality, but a future gift to those who trust in Jesus Christ. This is something that must be addressed behind the pulpits in many of our churches today. I also liked the fact that Piper always forces us to really look hard on where our affections lie. Does it lie with the present and the world or does it lie with God and the future? Even if things don't go the way we want them to do we still trust God and delight in him through Jesus Christ? True faith is a faith that hopes and banks on God for the satisfaction of one's heart and soul. This is where Piper makes us really examine our hearts and to see if our faith is a mere profession or born by the Spirit. Another helpful aspect of the book is that Piper makes his theology deal with practical issues of the Christian life. In each major section, Piper devotes a chapter on practical issues which affect the Christian: anxiety, pride, misplaced shame, impatience, covetousness, bitterness, despondancy, and lust. Many will find these practical-issue chapters helpful and informative.

However, with all these positives in the book there should be some word of caution. Piper appears to have cut down the fence between the law and the gospel (a dichotomy that is the hallmark of the Reformation). This is clearly seen in chapters 11 and 12. For Piper, the difference between the OT and NT "is that in the old covenant the gracious enabling power to obey was not poured out as fully as it is since Jesus" (p. 158). Hence, the gospel is not something that is alternative/antithetical to the law but is a power that enables believers to keep the law (contra Galatians 2:16). (In fact, in the preface on page 7, Piper dedicates this book to Daniel Fuller and states that one of Fuller's, albeit controversial, books is "an explanatory background to most of what I write." Fuller is known in many evangelical circles for advocating a law-gospel synthesis and rejecting justification by faith alone.) Another controversial aspect of this book is Piper's notion of "conditional grace" (chaps. 18-20). In chapter 19, Piper states that there are eleven conditions Christians must meet in order to inherit future grace (i.e., final salvation). One of the more controversial ones is "covenant keeping." He states: "I am hard pressed to imagine something more important for our lives than fulfilling the covenant that God has made with us for our final salvation" (p. 249). This seems hardly evangelical. Evangelical Protestants (esp. Lutherans and Calvinists) say that Christ fulfilled the law/covenant on behalf of the elect. The only way to receive the benefits of Christ's obedience and death is through faith alone. I believe Piper really dropped the ball on this one. He comes perilously close to formulating a view of salvation that has affinities with the Medieval scholastics of Luther's time. This is important to highlight since so many so-called evangelical pastors and teachers today deny (explicitly or implicitly) many tenets of the evangelical faith and still want to be called evangelical or Protestant.

Overall, I would recommend this book...with caution. Read the book with a discerning eye and take out what is unnecessary and unbiblical. Popular authors can make mistakes at times and Piper certainly does in this book.

Future Grace by John Piper is one of his most enduring works, and one in which he sets out some of the philosophical and theological underpinnings of his life and ministry. The basic premise of the book is that 'Future Grace' ought to be a major impetus for godly living and dying. Piper's contention throughout is that looking back at the past actions of God (particularly the life and death of Christ) is a hugely benefical exercise for the Christian - but that it is not enough in and of itself. The past goodness of God ought to serve as a spur for placing fresh faith in Him, and trusting Him for what lies ahead.



Future Grace is a long book, stretching to 399 pages, and ranging across 31 chapters. The book is purportedly designed in such a way that the reader can cover one chapter per day, pace him or herself through it, and take time to meditate on it with application and prayer. Whether it actually works in this way will be covered a little later on in this review.


One of the real successes of Future Grace is its potent mingling of theological argument and practical application. There are ten sections in the volume, and eight of them have a chapter at the end entitled 'Applying the Purifying Power' where the theological convictions of previous chapters are brought into confrontation with modern issues for godly living.


Piper begins by discrediting what he describes as 'The Debtor's Ethic', whereby Christians seek to 'pay God back' for what He has done in the past. The author eschews this approach, and instead advocates a view of God which puts faith in Him for the future, falling as much on His mercy for what is to come as we have done in the past.


For me (and this might sound a little risque in our current evangelical climate of Piper veneration) this author's books are not easy or straightforward to read. His prose can be opaque, his approach can be repetitive, and his logic torturously intense. Piper's great gift in preaching ministry is his ability to think and think and think into an issue with microscopic diligence so that the implications of biblical logic are fully extrapolated. For me this works in sermonic form, but when it comes to writing it leaves the reader muddled at times, and at others bogged down in labyrinth-like machinations which seem a little adrift from the initial thesis of the chapter or section.


I don't write this to be critical, but merely as an observation. I enjoy reading, am a big fan of literature of many kinds, and have read across genres and generations (particularly when studying English at Uni) but I find Piper's writing style just too complicated at times. There are flashes of genius, and chapters in this text which are absolutely brilliant, garnished as they are with breathtaking biblical logic, but at other times I just found that I was suffering from information overload.


The basic premise of Future Grace is marvellous. The notion of looking to God in absolute trust for what He will do for in the future - right through death and eternity - is hugely heartening. It has been a tremendous help for me to read this book at the stage of life we are at as a family, with transition and change all around us, and to rest in the all prevailing and loving work of God at our core. For me sections VII (The Sanctifying Power of Faith in Future Grace) and VIII (Battling Unbelief in Future Grace) were electrifying and inspiring.


But there are other sections which leave Piper open to misunderstanding. His point that justifying grace is sanctifying grace is powerful and profoundly argued, but at times verges into areas where the author could be misread as linking works and salvation too closely. Given his stirling work on 'The Future of Justification' no one can doubt Piper's commitment to justification by faith alone, and I don't think that the problem with this book is Piper's theology, but his methodology and vocabulary. Many of the areas in which he could be misrepresented are clarified in the application chapters but that is cold comfort when working through his concept of 'Unmerited, Conditional, Future Grace'.


Perhaps the density of argument in the book is best explained by the author's final chapter - 'The Debt I Owe to Jonathan Edwards'. Piper's love of Edwards' writing does perhaps account for the philosophical depth of what he has to say. Again this may be akin to blasphemy in some circles, but I have never been able to relate to Edwards' written corpus, finding him too philosophically speculative at times (by comparison, for instance, with John Calvin's no-nonsense approach to thinking and theology).


It would be possible for this review to sound too negative. There are wonderful elements to this book, and Piper is at his pastoral best in the application chapters. It is unrealistic, however, to expect that 'ordinary' Christians could read this book a chapter at a time over 31 days. It is just too complicated and in-depth. In recent years the application chapters have been published on their own as Battling Unbelief and I think that this would be much more beneficial to most believers. Piper's handling of the issues of anxiety, pride, shame, impatience, covetousness, bitterness, despondency and lust is majestic and masterful.


Future Grace is a good, but deeply flawed book, whose theological/philosophical rigour cannot be doubted, but whose readability is hampered by that very strength. The main lesson I take away from Future Grace is that our God is utterly dependable, that we can stake our life, our family, our future, our etenity, our all on Him without fear or reserve. To have that lesson reinforced in my heart makes some of the sweat entailed in making it to page 399 worthwhile by itself.

The theology explained in this book is one of the most neglected corners of the gospel in our day. We live in a day when people are taught that you can be a Christian and live like a pagan at the same time. Grace doesn't only justify; grace also makes us holy. "The just shall live by faith." This is simply the most profound, Scripture-drenched books I have ever read. God changed my heart and broke down some significant barriers in my life through the truths in this book just this past summer as I read it. Thank God for John Piper and his work for us in the book! The subtitle is most fitting: "The purifying power of living by faith in future grace".

Without a doubt John Piper is one of the strongest expositors of God's Word to come along within the last 15 years. I have read 10 of his works and let me tell you, he is doctrinally sound. But this book is the best. Period. I could not put it down. Along with Jerry Bridges "Discipline of Grace" , nothing else has made the Christian life so clear. This is where the rubber meets the road kind of stuff. If you love Jesus Christ and long to obey God but cant figure out how to stay spiritually on track...then let Piper show you the purifying power of living by faith in future grace!!

A wonderful, thought-provoking read. This is the first book I read by John Piper, recommended and lent to me from my pastor. I enjoyed it so much that it became dog-eared and travel stained so I decided to get him a new copy and keep the one I "used". Although it takes some time to get through (each chapter requires some thought) The ideas are presented in an easy to understand way. Scripture is well explained and included for the topics presented. Christian authors, old and new, are quoted in the beginning of each chapter along with appropriate scripture passages and give meaning to the ideas presented. I will defintitely read more of Piper's work.

John Piper continues to impress me with his God-centered books. Future Grace is a Biblically- loaded defense of the thesis that faith looks forward, not just backward, and that this foward- looking faith is the heart and soul of sanctification. Piper's thorough work covers the topics of divine sovereignty in salvation, the nature and purpose of the Mosaic law, the conditions of salvation, and the rebirth of creation and the end of the age. The book's central strength is its treatment of the many relevant Biblical passages - Future Grace is saturated with Scripture. It manages to be a masterful work of theology while at the same time remaining infinitely practical. Piper's Biblically-sound suggestions on how to battle specific sins (anxiety, pride, misplaced shame, impatience, covetousness, bitterness, despondency, and lust) are of immeasurable help to the struggling saint. I have but one complaint: Piper's treatment of the Mosaic law follows closely that of his teacher, Dan Fuller, and is Biblically unconvincing. But this is a small complaint - I recommend all evangelicals to read this book as soon as possible

To use a quote from another Piper classic "The more we trust in future grace, the more we give God the opportunity in our lives to show the glory of his inexhaustible grace. So take a promise of future grace and do some radical act of obedience on it. God will be mightily honored." Piper continues to impress me with his discertations on the benefits of glorifying God and enjoying Him forever. This book is one of a few on my shelf that I use to regularly remind me of where my hope and trust comes from!