Category Archives: Questions and Answers

If God Wills Disease Why Should We Try to Eradicate It?

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I read this short article by Dr. John Piper today and thought it was well worth passing on:

This question arises from the biblical teaching that all things are ultimately under God’s control. “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose” (Isaiah 46:10). “Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps” (Psalm 135:6). “He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?'” (Daniel 4:35). “[He] works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11).

This means that God governs all calamity and all disease. Satan is real and has a hand in it, but he is not ultimate and can do nothing but what God permits (Job 1:12-2:10). And God does not permit things willy-nilly. He permits things for a reason. There is infinite wisdom in all he does and all he permits. So what he permits is part of his plan just as much as what he does more directly.

Therefore this raises the question: If God wills disease why should we try to eradicate it? This is a crucial question for me because I have heard Christians say recently that believing in the sovereignty of God hinders Christians from working hard to eradicate diseases like malaria and tuberculosis and cancer and AIDS. They think the logic goes like this: If God sovereignly wills all things, including malaria, then we would be striving against God to invest millions of dollars to find a way to wipe it out.
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The Omission of “Sanctified” in the Golden Chain

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Pastor John, I have so enjoyed reading your teaching this week on the Golden Chain of Redemption from Romans 8:28-30. Because I can see myself in the chain in the word “justified” (in that I know He has declared me just or right in His sight through faith in Christ – Romans 5:1), I can now look both forwards and backwards in the chain, and understand that all the other things God says are also true of me. How amazing this is! Looking forward in the chain, in spite of my on-going struggles, He will bring me to full glorification (what comfort it is to know this); and looking backwards, He called me, predestined me, and foreknew me (set His love on me in eternity past). That’s so assuring to me!

I do have a question for you though. Why do you think the idea of sanctification is not included in the Golden Chain?

I am so glad to hear that the articles were a blessing. Isn’t God amazing! I believe that is the whole point of the text in Romans 8 – to bring a deep settled assurance to God’s people, even under the most intense pressure situations. The eighth chapter of Romans starts with the concept of “No Condemnation” and ends with the idea of “No Separation” for the people of God. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. That is where the truths of the chapter are all taking us, but sandwiched between those two thoughts of no condemnation and no separation is the statement of the Golden Chain of Redemption (v. 28-30), which is the foundational basis for this assurance.

Regarding your question, on the blog at desiring God, Dr. John Piper wrote of a reason for the omission of the word “sanctified” in the golden chain of redemption found in Romans 8:28-30. I agree with him completely but would like to add a second reason for the omission. Dr. Piper writes:

Have you ever wondered why “sanctification” is missing from this golden chain in Romans 8:29-30?

Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Continue reading →

Explicit Sexual Imagery and the Christian Walk

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Some time back I wrote an article called “Run for your life” found where I warned of a very troubling concept found in a book by Ann Voskamp, namely to think of our union with God in sexual terms. For many days afterwards I was bombarded with hostile personal attacks in the comments, many of which I had to delete, and yet, no one was able to say that I had misunderstood the author’s words or taken them out of context in any way at all. Anyway, regarding this, here’s a question I received today (edited slightly):

Pastor Samson, I am in absolutely disagreement with Ann Voskamp’s book; but now I have a question, that I am not finding “easy” to answer. Ann has posted a sort of a response to criticisms she has received, in which she quotes men like John Piper, C.H. Spurgeon and Jonathan Edwards, using the “same kind” of metaphor that she used. I find this very dangerous because many Reformed women now are feeling “safe” about following her lead. That is why I want to be ready to give them an answer. What are your thoughts? Would you consider writing a post explaining what Edwards and Spurgeon meant when they used these words? Thank you.

Thanks for your question. I am not sure I could write with any degree of authority or certainty concerning what was in the minds of the men quoted when they wrote. God would know that for certain, but quite obviously, I do not.

I will say this though. A writer often uses hyperbole and every legitimate means to grab the attention of the reader and rightfully so. May God preserve us from boring writers! Because of this, we should always seek to believe the best of a writer until it is absolutely impossible than to see their words as crossing a theological boundary of heresy and blasphemy. I tend towards giving the benefit of the doubt to any author until I am absolutely forced by sheer weight NOT to do so. I would also hope that those who read my words would extend to me the same degree of courtesy.

Of course, though these men are very highly respected, their own writings would seek to remind all of us that neither any of them individually or all of them collectively are in any way infallible. Even the greatest teachers of the Church should be subject to the God breathed Scriptures and the boundaries of orthodoxy found there. Continue reading →