Almost anywhere Piper says 'God must' I disagree with him. However, a caution to this tale: the book is highly technical and you would be well served to be relatively familiar with both Greek and Hebrew before reading it.ġ. Predestination establishes God's justice.' This only makes sense if we understand God's justice/righteousness to refer to his unswerving dedication to uphold and display the glory of his name.Īn exceptional book, and a necessary read for all those interested in Reformed theology (either for or against it). Paul's argument is essentially, 'If God does not predestine individuals to their respective destinies, then God is in fact unjust. This implies that the doctrine of predestination, in Paul's thought, did not constitute a threat to divine justice, but actually served to establish divine justice. If the dispensation of God's mercy is conditioned on anything fulfilled by man, then God does not act freely, and God does not accomplish the purpose of creation-a demonstration of his glory, a large part of which is the freeness of his bestowal of mercy and grace. To base the dispensation of God's mercy on any other ground would be to constrain the will of God to the will of man, pervert grace into dessert, and impugn the righteousness of God. God is in fact perfectly righteous to choose some and not others apart from any distinctives in their persons or works precisely because it is God's nature to bestow mercy on whomever he wills.

With this definition, Piper has not only plugged into the throbbing center of Reformed Theology, but also provided a powerful explanation of Paul's argumentation in Romans 9:14 and following. To use his language, the righteousness of God consists in his 'unswerving commitment always to preserve the honor of his name and display his glory' (p. Piper's biggest contribution through this book is his demonstration of what he sees as Paul's (and the whole Bible's) definition of the righteousness of God.

In it, Romans 9:1-23 speaks, and it speaks loudly. In it, he has produced a stellar example of Reformed exegesis which knocks you down, keeps you down, and forces you to the same conclusion by sheer force of the text being explained. The Justification of God, in my opinion, is one of Piper's best volumes.

John piper romans 9