When Does God Become 100 Percent for Us?

John Piper


I have asked the question in public, "When does God become 100% for us?" And I have given an answer that rightly troubles thoughtful, biblical people. So this article is an effort to answer their question.

In my message to the Desiring God National Conference, I answered the question like this:

What the Bible teaches is that God becomes 100% irrevocably for us at the moment of justification, that is, the moment when we see Christ as a beautiful Savior and receive him as our substitute punishment and our substitute perfection. All of God's wrath, all of the condemnation we deserve, was poured out on Jesus. All of God's demands for perfect righteousness were fulfilled by Christ. The moment we see (by grace!) this Treasure and receive him in this way his death counts as our death and his condemnation as our condemnation and his righteousness as our righteousness, and God becomes 100% irrevocably for us forever in that instant.

The question this leaves unanswered is, "Doesn't the Bible teach that in eternity God set his favor on us in election?" In other words, thoughtful people ask, "Did God only become 100% for us in the moment of faith and union with Christ and justification? Did he not become 100% for us in the act of election before the foundation of the world?" For example, Paul says in Ephesians 1:4-5, "[God] chose us in [God] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ."

Is God then not 100% for the elect from eternity? The answer hangs on the meaning of "100%." With the term "100%" I am trying to preserve a biblical truth found in several passages of Scripture. For example, in Ephesians 2:3, Paul says that Christians were "children of wrath" before they were made alive in Christ Jesus. "We all once lived [among the sons of disobedience] in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

So Paul is saying that, before regeneration, God's wrath was on us. The elect were under wrath. This changed when God made us alive in Christ Jesus and awakened us to see the truth and beauty of Christ so that we received him as the one who died for us and as the one whose righteousness is counted as ours because of our union with Jesus. Before this happened to us, we were under God's wrath. Then, because of faith in Christ and union with him, all God's wrath was removed and he then became, in that sense, 100% for us.

Similarly in Romans 8:1, there is the crucial word "now." "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." The implication of "now" is that there was once condemnation over us and now there is not. A real change in God's disposition toward us happened in the moment of our regeneration and faith and union with Christ and justification.

Notice the phrase "in Christ" at the end of Romans 8:1. This is why God's disposition toward us is different when we believe in Christ. When we believe in Christ, we are united to him—that is, we are "in Christ." This means that his death counts as our death and his righteousness counts as our righteousness. This is why there is now no condemnation, whereas before there was. Before Christ bore the curse of the law and we were united to him by faith, we were under the curse of the law. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13).

When Paul uses the language of God being "for us," he speaks of it in the context of what Christ has done for us in history. For example, in Romans 8:31-32, he says, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" Not sparing his Son is the act that secures God's being 100% for us forever.

So was God 100% for us from eternity because we were elect? In one sense, yes. It was 100% certain that he would bring us to faith and save us. But when I ask the question, "When did God become 100% for us?" I mean more than: "When did it become 100% certain that God would save us?" I mean: "When did it happen that God was for us and only for us? That is, when did it happen that the only disposition of God toward us was mercy? Or: When did God become for us so fully that there was not any wrath or curse or condemnation on us, but only mercy?

The answer, I still say, is at the point when, by grace, we saw Christ as a supremely valuable Savior and received him as our substitute sacrifice and substitute righteousness. In other words, it happened at the point of justification. The implication of this is that all our works, all our perseverance, all our continuing faith and obedience does not cause God to be 100% for us, but is the result of his being 100% for us.

Paul's logic in Romans 8:32 is that because God gave his Son to die for us therefore he will give us all things with him. That is, God will see to it that we persevere to the end not only because we are elect, but because Christ died for us and we are in Christ. That is the logic of 1 Corinthians 1:8-9: "[God] will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." The call is mentioned as the ground of God's faithfulness to sustain us to the end.

Therefore, exult in the truth that God will keep you. He will get you to the end because in Christ he is 100% for you. And therefore, getting to the end does not make God to be 100% for you. It is the effect of the fact that he is already 100% for you.

Glorying in the gospel with you,

Pastor John

Back to writing

Peace and grace to you all! you may be wondering why there has been little activity from me in writing on my blog or you may have never wondered at all- thats ok. the good news is that from now on, i will be writing again, covering a range of different issues and writing more about the things i get up to which is not that interesting but you can skip reading those and read those things which do interest you. I wish you all a happy week and hope God is magnified in your lives.

Love Ken Oni

Transformed disciples

My aim here is to hopefully excite in people especially students to live out a radical lifestyle in which it is clearly shown in them the transforming love of Christ that seeks to build transparent relationship, love for the poor and community living.

I hope to challenge people’s lifestyle and most importantly that of my own that the lifestyle of this world may be rooted out and replaced with that of Kingdom living.

The way I aim in doing this is hopefully to explore a five week course on what it means to be a transformed disciple and each session challenging the recipients to deeply consider this and aim to share our lives as a community

Now this community may manifest itself in different ways and no one is pressured to do that which they are uncomfortable with but rather being transformed internally will then with great delight seek to live externally.

I hope students will open their houses to other students freely inviting them to come in with great hospitality and Love. This extends to others also and on our part seeking to reach the lost, the found and those yet to be lost.

I hope that we all will not hold on to our possessions or finances but as it is feasible for each one to donate to the community purse, giving each other as it is needed and eliminating all manner of greed and treasuring of worldly riches where moths and rust destroy.

I pray that you do not first fall in love with this vision but rather fall in love with the carpenter from Nazareth whose trade was a carpenter and when summoned by the father, he begun his ministry, calling people from all works of life and he himself going against the present kingdoms and establishing his own where you are required to love your enemies, to sell all that you have, to be poor in Spirit, to rejoice exceedingly in the face of persecution and to pray for your enemies. Fall in love with him and this vision is only secondary and fall in love with people.

I am not ignorant of the evil one and indeed living a radical lifestyle will be hard and challenging and it will require every ounce of love in you and the grace of God to love and to stand above the criticisms and the hardship which will come . Do not count it strange.

Week 1

- Look at how Jesus gathered disciples and what Jesus asked of them

Week 2

- Focus on three of the teachings on what it means to follow Jesus

Week 3

- Focus on three of the teachings on what it means to follow Jesus and early church

Week 4

- Disciples from History

Week 5

- What it means for me and you and us

K.Oni

When Technology fails

It was time for me to leave London and more importantly for me to depart from my family of whom I will miss dearly for I have greatly enjoyed their company and sincere hospitality towards me. My eyes were teary and hugs I gave to declare my departure. I was giving a lift to Woolwich where I would then get a bus to the station. I was about to enter the barrier where I was stopped by a man who perceived to know me but I knew him not but I played along. E asked me about my destination and I told him and he carefully instructed me that the jubilee line to Westminster was close and I needed to get of at waterloo and change lines in order to get to Victoria. I thanked God for this useful information and I continued on my journey. Upon arriving at the coach station, I just made it in time and rushed to where the bus to Bristol would depart, I took out my phone praying that it would work because earlier some water had trickled inside it and would not let me open up my ticket. I pleaded with the driver and explained my situation to him but nigh he declined me the entry and I was frustrated. I informed the customer service and they in their manner was not very useful either and I had to purchase another ticket for twenty one pounds and I was yet even more frustrated but I was given money before hand which meant that I could purchase the ticket otherwise I would have been stranded. So when technology failed me I was left feeling frustrated and thought that perhaps next time, I should print my ticket or be even more careful of the use of my phone.

Through this technological failure, there was a positive as I did meet a man, yea an ex lecturer from the university of Nottingham who became my acquaintance in the long queue of which we were both anxious that we were not going to make it in time to purchase our tickets for the next bus but we made it. He told me that he was a political refugee from Chile and told me of his family. It was my joy to have met Him and I wish him all the best though I am certain that we shall never meet again.

K.Oni

Encouragements

Some encouragements I have received in the past from people from UWE Christian union.
To Ken,

Thank you so much for your faithful leadership at CU. Thanks for having a personal passion for sharing the gospel and living for Crist and so encouraging all of us to do the same. Thanks for your welcome and friendship and humility and commitment to God’s word. It is so dear that you are deeply rooted in it and that is so encouraging. Keep going in his strength! Untill the very end to receive the promises (Heb 11v13-16,39-40). God bless x.


We thank you for everything you’ve given and the encouragement you’ve been to us. “For you know how, like father’s with their children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory”, 1 Thes 2v11-12. We are praying for you.

UWECU

Thanks so much! You’ve been a good model of Christ’s people.


K.Oni

He made you beautiful

The splendour he gave you made your beauty perfect
Now you are a queen among the nations
Many have flogged to you and bowed their knees
To gaze upon your beauty
He stood and admired you
Yea he remembered when he bathed you
And washed the blood from you
With ointments he covered you and with costly garments
You laid asleep on his bed and he watched over you
In the morning he sat you by the window and on your neck
He placed the finest of jewelleries
And placed a crown on your head
He fed you honey and fine flour
You became the woman of the house
Your fame spread throughout the land
The splendour he gave you made your beauty perfect

K.Oni

My Friend

My friend My Friend
Come close to me and hear me
Hear what I have to say and what I have to give you
Its not a surprise and its not a gift
It is not flowers and definitely not the star 
What do you think it is?
What in this world could it be?
don’t answer my question
Just be patient like a seed that has just been planted


My friend My friend
You are closer to me than my brother
Through the thick and wires the dust and rain
I still see you and your shadow
Standing at my right side
What is it that makes you so persistent
You could have left me
But you chose to stay like the sun in the sky
Every night it disappears but comes back in the early morning
Is your mind still set on what I have to give you?
Are your thoughts still racing like a cheetah from an hurricane wind


My friend My friend
The days are getting shorter our time seems to be longer
My friend I will call you 
Because somewhere along the way your blood got mixed with mine
What I have to give you I can never take back
I ca never regret because it will be held to the end of time
I give you I give you
Be patient my fellow friend
Eyes like mine sharper than the edge of a genius words
I give you I give you something that you will forever cherish
I give you my love and my words never to see you die before my eyes


K.Oni