Future Grace: The Purifying Power of Living by Faith in [Import] [Paperback]

John Piper (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Multnomah Books (1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0851111629
• ISBN-13: 978-0851111629
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,725,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Piper is the Pastor for Preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, where he first sensed God's call to enter the ministry. He went on to earn degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.) and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem. John is the author of more than 30 books, including Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, What Jesus Demands from the World, and Don't Waste Your Life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sanctification - the Power of a Superior Pleasure, July 14, 2000

By 

Brian G Hedges (South Bend, Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Future Grace (Paperback)

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.

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars REAL HELP for Spiritual Progress, February 5, 2001

By 

Matthew Westerholm (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Future Grace (Paperback)

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.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fresh treatment of the doctrine of sanctification, August 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Future Grace (Paperback)

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