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Be Justified by Trusting Jesus | John Piper · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reform Thinking and to the Deep dive, our space for
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really digging into important sources that's.
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Right, we try to break things down and pull out the core ideas
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for you. And today we've got a really
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significant discussion. I think it's drawn from John
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Piper's writings, focusing on what it actually means to enter
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God's Kingdom. It's, well, it's central to our
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faith, isn't it, it? Really is a special deep dive
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today looking at, you know, human righteousness versus God's
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standard. OK.
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And the source material. It's mainly from Piper's All
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That Jesus Commanded, specifically a section called Do
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the Will of my Father Who is in Heaven Be Justified by trusting
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Jesus, right? Plus some related notes.
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Our aim is to shed light on how Jesus provides the path to
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perfection for us. Contrasting our efforts with
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God's provision. Exactly.
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Human effort versus divine grace, essentially.
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So what's the main question we're tackling as we get into
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these sources? What's guiding this deep dive?
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A good question is what is the path, The path to true
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righteousness, the path to actually entering God's Kingdom?
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And the sources, well, they make it clear it's not just about,
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you know, doing certain things outwardly.
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More than just actions. Much more.
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It's something deeper, a condition of the heart, really.
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A heart condition. That finds its resolution, its
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answer, in Jesus. So we'll talk about why
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perfection is the standard. No compromise there.
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And why we can't meet it on our own.
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Precisely why human attempts always fall short, and then how
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Jesus is presented as the only way the.
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Only way to meet that standard, right?
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Both in terms of God declaring us righteous.
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OK, that's justification. Yes, and also by actually
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changing us from the inside out, that sanctification.
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Declared right and being made right.
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Got it. Two key ideas.
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And they're connected. We'll definitely unpack that
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distinction. OK, that's that's a good road
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map. Let's start with maybe a common
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misunderstanding about entering the Kingdom.
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Sounds good. The sources jump right in with
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Matthew 7.21. Jesus says not everyone who says
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to me, Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of heaven.
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Strong words. But the one who does the will of
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my Father, who is in heaven, That seems pretty clear.
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It takes more than just saying the right words.
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Absolutely. More than just, you know, verbal
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agreement or showing up. It implies merely professing
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belief or even calling Jesus Lord publicly isn't the whole
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picture. Not at all.
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There's this deeper requirement doing the father's will.
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So what does it mean for us that doing God's will is crucial, not
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just saying we believe? Well, it's fundamental the
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sources used that encounter Jesus had with the rich young
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ruler to illustrate this. Right Mark 10, Matthew 19.
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He asks how to get eternal life. Exactly.
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And Jesus points him straight to the commandments.
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Which ones? The standard ones.
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Don't murder, Don't commit adultery.
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Don't steal. Don't bear false witness, Don't
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defraud. Honor your parents.
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Seems straightforward, like here's the checklist for eternal
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life. Initially, yes, yeah.
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And the source mentions Matthew 19.17 where Jesus actually says
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if you would enter life, keep the commandments.
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So on the surface, it looks like obedience to the law is the
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direct path. It presents that kind of legal
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framework. Yeah, a list of requirements.
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And the man's response? He seemed pretty confident,
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didn't he? He did teacher, he says.
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All these I have kept from my youth.
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Sounds good. Sounds like he nailed it.
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On the surface, maybe he seems proud, confident in his own
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record keeping. But was it enough for God?
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The sources seem to shout. No.
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A definite no, because then they bring in Matthew 5.20.
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The Sermon on the Mount. Right, Jesus says Unless your
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righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you
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will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.
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Wow, that's a high bar. The Pharisees were the Super
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strict ones, right? Meticulous law keeper.
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Exactly zealous about it. So if the righteousness wasn't
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enough, what was wrong with it? What was missing?
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Good. Question.
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They look perfect on the outside.
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That was the problem. The sources really hammer this.
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The core issue was their focus purely on the externals.
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The outward show. Yeah, Matthew 23.25 gives that
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vivid picture. Woe to you, scribes and
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Pharisees. Hypocrites.
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You clean the outside of the cup.
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But inside they're full of greed and self indulgence.
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Exactly their external conformity.
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However impressive it looked, it just lacked any real heart
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change. So the inner life, the motives,
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the desires, they weren't right with God.
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Not according to Jesus. The issue wasn't just doing good
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deeds, it was the heart behind them.
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God's standard isn't just about behavior modification.
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It's about inner purity. Right.
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Their piety, their fasting tithing often came from pride,
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wanting people to admire them, or thinking they could earn
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God's favor. Not from genuine love for God
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and others. Precisely, it was surface level,
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didn't touch the real motivations, the hearts
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affections. So the big take away here is
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external behavior by itself just doesn't cut it for God's
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Kingdom. Not even close.
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The standard goes way deeper, looks past the visible to, well,
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who we really are inside. That's why Jesus kept pointing
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inwards, right? Angers like murder, lust like
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adultery. Exactly, to show sin isn't just
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our actions, it's our core being.
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OK, so back to the rich man. He claimed he kept the law
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externally. From his youth.
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But something was still wrong. Jesus tells him he lacked one
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thing. Mark 10.21.
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Yes, that crucial one thing. But then Jesus gives him what
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sounds like 3 instructions. Sell everything.
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Give to the poor. Follow me.
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Right, go sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will
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have treasure in heaven, and come follow me.
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So how do the sources explain that this isn't really three
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separate tasks, but fundamentally one single missing
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piece? That's a really key insight from
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Piper here. Jesus gives 3 actions, yes, but
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they're unified by what they reveal.
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Reveal about his heart. Exactly.
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The demands weren't arbitrary. They show that his attachment,
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his ultimate value, was placed on his stuff, not on Jesus.
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So it was a call to switch allegiance.
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A profound 1. The sources use this great
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analogy. Picture the man standing there,
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hands just full of money, and Jesus basically says you lack
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one thing, reach out, take my hands.
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But he can't. His hands are full.
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Right. Take Jesus's hands.
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He has to open his own. Let the money fall, the treasure
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he was clinging to. So the one thing wasn't just
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selling stuff. No, that was the outward sign.
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The real lack was his refusal to take hold of Jesus because his
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hands, his heart, were already full of something else.
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Wow. So it's about the underlying
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attitude, what we value most. It really is.
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Jesus's command went straight to the root of his idolatry, showed
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where his true trust and security really work.
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OK, so it's about what fills the heart, what we treasure most.
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And the sources really stressed that this one thing is basically
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Jesus himself. They do.
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They really unpack that centrality.
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They frame Jesus message to the man like this.
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You lack one thing, you lack me. Stop treasuring money, start
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treasuring me. That's direct.
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Incredibly direct. You want eternal life, You want
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the Kingdom. I am the treasure of heaven.
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So it's a choice. Money or Jesus can't treasure
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both supremely. Exactly.
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And the implication is stark. If you truly want heavenly
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treasure, Jesus must be your supreme treasure.
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And the consequence if he isn't. No entry to heaven because
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heaven is the place where Jesus is the supreme treasure.
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Preferring anything else means you wouldn't actually want to be
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there. Makes sense.
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So the practical result? Is only by attaching yourself to
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Jesus, valuing Him above everything, do you inherit
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eternal life. And the giving to the poor part.
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The sources point out that's the natural idflow.
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When Jesus becomes the treasure, your heart turns from
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self-interest towards God and others.
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The poor benefit? But the main point isn't the
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charity itself. No, the central issue is the
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relationship with Jesus. Yeah, valuing him supremely.
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The charity flows from a heart changed by him.
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A heart captivated by Jesus. Right.
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And this totally reframes doing the Father's will.
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The Father's ultimate will is that we embrace his Son as our
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only hope, our greatest treasure.
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And without that embrace, all other doing just fall short.
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It does. It misses the core requirement,
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OK. This leads us straight to God's
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standard, and it feels well and possibly high for most people.
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It is high, unyieldingly so. The sources say absolute
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perfection is required for eternal life.
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Can you unpack that? What does perfect mean here?
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It means exactly that, absolute flawless perfection like God
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Himself. The sources are crystal clear.
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God's standard for entering His Kingdom is perfection.
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Jesus says it in Matthew 5.48. You therefore must be perfect,
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as your heavenly Father is perfect.
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Not a suggestion then. Not at all.
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It's a demand, an unyielding requirement for everyone.
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Yeah, No exceptions, no grating on a curve.
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Because God himself is perfectly holy.
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Precisely, to be in His presence requires perfect holiness.
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Which brings us to the human problem.
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Why can't we, even the best of us, meet this standard.
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This is where our inability becomes so stark.
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The Source has stated bluntly. All humans are sinners under
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God's holy wrath, with no hope of eternal life based on their
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own obedience. All humans, sinners under wrath,
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no hope in ourselves. That's heavy.
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It is. It means our fallen nature,
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right from the start, makes us inherently imperfect.
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Not just our actions, our very being.
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You're bent towards sin. We have that innate tendency,
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and God's holy wrath isn't just anger, it's his righteous just
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response to all sin which offends his perfect character.
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So even our best efforts at obedience are tainted.
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Always. They never reached that absolute
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flawless standard God demands. And the sources really drive
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this home. They do.
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They point out Jesus calling even his own disciples evil in
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Matthew 7.11. His own followers.
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Yes, not a casual remark, but a theological assessment.
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Even those closest to him had that fallen nature fundamentally
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flawed. And didn't he say something
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about keeping the law? John 7.19 None of you keeps the
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law. He said that even to the
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religious leaders, the ones most zealous about.
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It so it's a universal failure. We can't do it.
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We simply cannot meet the standard perfectly, not once,
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let alone consistently in heart and action.
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We're flawed at the core, incapable of generating that
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sinless perfection God requires. OK, so perfect obedience is
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demanded, but we're fundamentally incapable of
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delivering it. That feels like an impossible
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bind. It is from a human standpoint.
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So how is this gap bridge? How do we get from our inability
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to God's requirement? What's the path?
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This is exactly, exactly where Jesus steps in as the only
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answer, the only solution. He doesn't lower the standard.
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No, the standard remains absolute perfection.
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Instead, he provides that perfection through attachment
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with himself. That's the phrase the sources
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use. Attachment to Jesus, yes.
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He is presented as the only path to perfect obedience.
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Think back to the rich man. His law keeping wasn't enough.
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Right. No matter how good he thought it
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was, it was always lacking because it lacked that heart
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level attachment to Jesus. His own moral balance sheet was
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bankrupt in God's eyes. So attaching to Jesus, that's
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the bridge. It's the critical link, the
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divine element that crosses the gap we can't cross ourselves.
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Between our imperfection and God's perfect demand.
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Exactly, without Jesus that gap is unbridgeable by any amount of
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trying harder or having good intentions.
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It's not about earning it. No, it's about realizing our
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efforts are totally insufficient.
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The perfection has to come from outside us.
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From Jesus. Made available through
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relationship with him, it's divine solution to our humanly
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impossible problem. OK, so Jesus is absolutely
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central here. He makes perfection possible.
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The sources talk about two ways this happens. 2 historic
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answers. Let's take the first one.
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It seems foundational. It really is.
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The first answer is simply this. Jesus himself is our perfection.
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He is our perfection. What does that mean practically?
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It means when we are connected to Jesus by faith, trusting him,
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OK, God counts them, counts believers to be perfect because
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of Jesus, even though in ourselves we are not.
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God counts us as perfect, even though we know we aren't.
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Exactly, and this is the core meaning of being justified.
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Justified. That's a huge theological term.
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Let's break it. Down it is huge, and
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understanding it is key. The sources note that justified
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and righteous come from the same Greek root word, the chaos.
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Meaning righteous or just. Right, but critically,
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justification doesn't mean God instantly makes us inherently
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righteous, like flipping a switch inside us.
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So it's not an internal infusion of goodness at that moment.
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Not primarily. It's a declaration.
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God declares us righteous. Like a judge, judge in court.
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Precisely like a judge declaring A defendant righteous or not
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guilty, it's based on the merits of another.
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It's a legal divine pronouncement, A forensic act.
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Wow, declared righteous, not made righteous internally at
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that point. That's a big distinction.
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It is. So how does Jesus achieve this?
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How can God declare us perfect when we aren't?
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What's the basis for that verdict?
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The entire basis is what Jesus did.
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He solves the problem of our sin, our offense against God, by
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removing the wrath of God, by taking it Himself, by enduring
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the punishment we deserved and paying the debt we could never
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pay. Through his life and death.
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Yes, His perfect, sinless life lived in our place, obeying God
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perfectly. His atoning death on the cross,
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especially His shed blood that satisfied God's justice against
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our sin, His. Perfect record for our flawed
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one, his death for our penalty. Exactly because of Jesus's blood
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and obedience, the sources say, all our sins are cancelled.
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Cancelled. Gone.
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And God does not see us as sinful or imperfect anymore in
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terms of our legal standing before Him.
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And this happens how? It's entirely owing to our
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attachment to Jesus by faith. It's a divine exchange.
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Our sin is credited or imputed to Christ on a cross.
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And his righteousness, his. Perfect righteousness is
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credited, imputed to us. So for the rich man.
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His only hope was exactly this, to be declared righteous by God,
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even though he wasn't righteous in himself.
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And Jesus is the foundation for that declaration.
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Absolutely. That's why he had to let go of
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his money, trust and start depending entirely on Jesus.
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So God would count him perfect based on Jesus.
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Yes, that's justification in a nutshell.
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A once for all legal declaration.
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We're perfectly righteous in God's sight because of Jesus
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gives us a perfect standing even while we're still imperfect
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people. That provides peace with God
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instant. Instantly a secure legal status.
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OK, that's justification being counted perfect.
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Hugely important. Comforting too.
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But what about the second aspect?
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How else does Jesus make us perfect?
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If justification is a declaration, what's the second
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part? The second historic answer
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focuses on the internal change. It says that Jesus, by his
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presence and power within us, transforms us.
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OK, it transforms us. So that we really begin to love
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as he does, and move toward perfection, which we finally
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obtained in heaven. So this is different from the
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declaration. Very different.
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This is often called sanctification.
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Sanctification making holy. Right.
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While justification is that one time legal declaration, for us,
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sanctification is the ongoing internal change in US, our
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character, our behavior. And this isn't just us trying
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harder. No, definitely not achieved by
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willpower. It's initiated and sustained by
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Jesus Spirit living inside us. The Holy Spirit's work.
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Yes, when we're justified by faith, the Spirit comes to dwell
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on us, and He begins this work of making us progressively more
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like Christ. Moving us closer to actual
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perfection. Exactly.
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Our desires, thoughts, actions start to align more with God's
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character. It's a process.
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A process that isn't finished in this life.
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Not fully. We still struggle with sin, but
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it's finally completed in heaven, A glorification.
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Then we'll be truly perfect, free from sin entirely.
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So justification and sanctification both from Jesus.
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Both through Jesus, the sources say.
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There's good reason to believe that both of these answers are
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true, and they're well intertwined.
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Inseparable. Really.
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Two sides of the same coin. You could say that justification
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gives us the perfect standing we need to even approach God.
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Sanctification is the ongoing process of becoming internally
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holy, which flows out of that standing.
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One is God's act for us, the other God's work in us.
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Well put. Both essential.
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Can't have one without the other in true salvation.
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Without the declaration, we have no right to stand before God.
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Without the internal change, we aren't actually being conformed
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to his image. OK, to really get our heads
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around this idea of justification being declared
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righteous, the sources use one of Jesus parables, a powerful
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one. The Pharisee and the tax
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collector. Right.
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What does this story teach us about how people are actually
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made right with God? It seems designed to challenge
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our assumptions. It absolutely does.
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It directly tackles that question how to be righteous
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before God and Jesus told it. Remember to people who trusted
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in themselves that they were righteous and treated others
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with contempt. Ouch.
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OK, so the Pharisee, what's his approach?
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He basically lists his spiritual resume, stands up and praise.
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I thank you God. I am not like other men,
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extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
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He starts by comparing himself favorably to others.
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Yes. Then he lists his good deeds.
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I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.
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It's a performance review highlighting his obedience, his
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external piety. And he trusts in that in his own
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law keeping. Explicitly, he thanks God for
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his own righteousness, but it's dripping with self praise and
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looking down on the other guy. He thinks his efforts are his
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ticket, presenting his own record to God.
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OK, a very self assured prayer. Now the tax collector, totally
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different, right? His posture, his words.
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Completely different. The tax collector who would have
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been seen as a real lowlife, A collaborator and extortioner.
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Right despise. He stands far off, doesn't even
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look up to heaven. Instead he beat his breath,
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saying, God be merciful to me, a Sinner.
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No resume there, no comparison. None at all.
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Just brokenness, humility, total despair of any personal merit.
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He knows he's sinful, unworthy. His only plea is for mercy.
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Exactly. He throws himself completely on
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God's mercy, acknowledging he has nothing else to offer.
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And Jesus's verdict? This is the shocker for many,
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isn't it? It really.
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Is it turns everything upside down, Jesus says.
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I tell you, this man, the tax collector, went down to his
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house justified rather than the other.
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Justified. There's that word again.
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The pivotal word meaning declared righteous by God.
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So the tax collector, not the outwardly righteous Pharisee,
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was the one declared right with God.
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Precisely, the parable slams together those who trusted in
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themselves and their own performance.
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Like the Pharisee? With the one who disparate of
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himself entirely and looked only to God's mercy to declare him
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righteous even though he wasn't. The tax collector, right?
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And the crucial point Piper draws out is that even a
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righteousness that looks good, maybe even seems produced by
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God's grace through good deeds. Like the Pharisee thought he
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had. It's not a sufficient foundation
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if it leads you to trust in yourself, if you rely on your
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own efforts, even graced efforts.
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So God's declaration, justification, it's given to
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whom? To sinners.
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Sinners who look away from themselves entirely look to
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Jesus as their only hope of being accepted by God, not to
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those who bring their own merits, however impressive they
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seem. So the tax collector got a
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perfect standing. Not because of what he did, but
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because he despaired of himself and trusted God's mercy.
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He received by faith the righteousness God provides.
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The righteousness found only in Christ.
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Exactly. It shows our standing isn't
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based on our resume, but on Christ's perfect resume credited
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to us. OK, so it feels like the parable
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and the story of the rich man are deliberately put side by
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side in Piper's analysis. They definitely are.
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He weaves them together very effectively.
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How does he connect them to really drive home this idea of
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justification through Jesus showing it's a universal truth?
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He makes the link explicit. He says look, if being declared
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righteous though he was not, was the rich man's only hope.
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Which the parable makes crystal clear.
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Then Jesus is the foundation of the declaration.
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That's why the rich man had to let go.
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Let go of the money, yes, but really let go of his
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self-reliance. And come to Jesus as his
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treasure, his salvation. Exactly.
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The synthesis is unavoidable. The perfection the rich man
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lacked, it's found only entirely in Jesus.
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God counts him perfect if he stops depending on the money,
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the self security. And starts depending totally on
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Jesus. That sums up justification
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perfectly. Being counted righteous in Jesus
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even while still being a Sinner in ourselves.
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That imputed righteousness, Christ's perfection credited to
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us. The absolute core of the Gospel
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in Reformed understanding. So the central argument coming
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from both stories is. That true righteousness, the
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kind God accepts, isn't achieved by just external actions, or
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piling up good deeds, or even just trying really hard and
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being sincere. No matter how good it looks.
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Right. It comes through that deep
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internal shift, a heart last year that sees its own spiritual
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bankruptcy. Like the tax collector?
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And relies completely on Jesus as the only basis for being
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declared righteous by God. Whether you're a Pharisee
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trusting your piety or a rich man trusting his wealth and
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record, or a tax collector knowing you're a Sinner.
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The path is identical for everyone.
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Turn from self-reliance. Look to Christ alone is the
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perfect one. It's a change in trust, a change
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in hope. And it applies universally
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because we're all in the same boat, unable to meet God's
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perfect standard ourselves. Precisely.
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We all need an external righteousness, one provided by
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God Himself in Christ. This really does emphasize that
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for everyone's salvation isn't something we earn.
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It's not a reward for our perfect behavior.
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No, we can never achieve that. It's a gift received purely by
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grace. Yes, received through that
22:00
specific heart posture, recognizing our need, finding
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our rest and hope entirely in Jesus and what He accomplished
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on the cross. That finished work.
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That finished perfect work. It highlights that the way to be
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right with God isn't through our performance, but through who
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Jesus is for us. A fundamental shift from relying
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on self to relying on Christ. Totally recognizing God provides
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what we simply cannot produce. That humble, dependent faith is
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the key. Because it honors God's
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holiness, acknowledges our sinfulness.
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And rests entirely on Christ's sufficiency.
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It's the only way to meet God's perfect standard for His
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Kingdom. Well, that was a really
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clarifying deep dive into what God requires for his Kingdom and
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the path Jesus provides. Such a vital topic.
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We've seen God's standard is nothing less than absolute
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perfection. Uncompromising.
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A standard none of us, absolutely none of us can meet
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through our own efforts, our own law keeping our righteousness
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just falls utterly short. It really.
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Does. And the sources make it so clear
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that the one thing we fundamentally lack isn't just
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better behavior, it's Jesus himself.
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And a heart that treasures him above everything else.
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Yes, it's through that attachment to Jesus, through
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faith alone, that God does two things.
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He counts us as perfect. That's the declaration of
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righteousness, justification. Our legal standing.
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And He also begins to genuinely change us from the inside out by
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His Spirit, that sanctification. Making us more like Christ over
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time. Right.
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The whole package demonstrates that salvation, start to finish,
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is found in Him alone. Not in our performance, Not in
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any goodness we think we have. That is such a liberating truth,
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isn't it? For you listening.
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It really is. Instead of, you know, constantly
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striving and failing to reach a standard that's impossible for
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us. Wearing ourselves out, trying to
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earn what can only be given. Maybe the greatest thing we can
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do is just humbly look to Jesus. Look to Him as our only hope for
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being accepted by God as our perfect righteousness.
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And that naturally leads to a searching question for each of
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us, doesn't it? What's that?
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What are you personally clinging to for your hope of being right
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with God? Is it your church attendance?
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Your good deeds? Your theological knowledge?
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Your own sense of morality. Things that aren't Jesus
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himself. Exactly.
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And the challenge is, are you willing to let go of that?
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To open your hands, release your grip on your own efforts, or
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suppose it worth. Like the rich man needed to do
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with his money. So that you can truly embrace
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Jesus, embrace him as the ultimate treasure, the only
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foundation for your standing with God.
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That's definitely something to ponder after this deep dive.
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What is filling our hands? Indeed, we really trust this
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exploration has given you some fresh insights, maybe a clearer
24:44
picture of these foundational truths.
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We hope so. Until our next deep dive on
24:49
Reformed thinking, may you continue to seek and really
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discern the will of the Father. A will that's ultimately found
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and fulfilled in the person and the work of Jesus Christ alone.