Category Archives: Theology

The Self Exaltation of God

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John Piper writes: I have spent 40 years seeking to understand and explain why God’s relentless self-exaltation in all that he does (for example, Isaiah 48:9–11) is the most loving way for him to be, and is not megalomania.

Some have tried to argue that the problem of God’s self-exaltation is solved by his intra-Trinitarian other-orientedness. That is, God the Father and God the Son do not seek their own individual glory, but the glory of the other, and in that sense God seeks his own glory.

It is true that the Father and the Son do seek the glory of the other (John 14:13; 17:1). But this is not a solution to the problem of divine self-exaltation. The reason it’s not is that in the Bible the Father does exalt his own glory. For example, Paul prays to the Father in Philippians 1:9–11, “It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more . . . so that you might be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

Consider: Paul is praying to the Father. He is asking the Father to do something, namely, to fill the Philippians with the fruit of righteousness “that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” So it is clear that Paul expects God the Father to be motivated to bring about his own praise. The Son makes it possible by working righteousness in the saints. But the one Paul is asking to work for his own glory is the Father.

This is no surprise, if we remember the first petition of the Lord’s prayer: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9). Jesus tells us to ask the Father to make much of his own name.

There are other examples that could be given (like Philippians 2:9–11), but let this suffice. It is true that the persons of the Trinity love to make much of each other. But this is not the solution to the problem of God’s self-exaltation.

That solution, as far as I have been able to see through my dark glass, is this: God must uphold his own glory as the supreme value of the universe because 1) he is true, and it would be false to hold up any other glory as supreme; and 2) he is loving, and it would be unloving to offer us as supremely satisfying anything less than what is infinitely and eternally satisfying—namely, himself.

The Whole Point

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In Romans 8, in the context of Paul revealing God’s eternal plan of foreknowing, predestinating, calling, justifying and glorifying a people for Himself (Rom. 8:28-30), he then continues to write about the exact same group of people – the “those,” the “many brothers,” the “we”, the “us”, “God’s elect”. From verse 28 onwards until the end of the chapter, it is this group that is in view.

I have emphasized (in bold) certain words so you can see this clearly in the text:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For 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.

What then shall we say to these things? 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? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The whole point of talking, sharing, blogging, preaching and getting our understanding precise as to the intention of God in sending His Son to the cross is not so that our heads would be enlarged by theological speculation, but that our hearts would be broken, crushed; forever amazed and astounded at the love of God for us. God wants us to know the security of His abiding love for us, so that during even the toughest times in life we know that all things work together for the good of His people. The truths of the electing love of God, the finished cross-work of Christ and His continued intercession on our behalf are the firm and solid foundation for this great Romans 8:28 promise, so cherished by His people in the midst of life’s storms. Continue reading →

Total Depravity

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“The heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick; Who can understand it? “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind…” – Jer. 17:9-10

“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh;” – Romans 7:18

“The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth.” – Psalm 58:3

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” – Psalm 51:5

Every child comes into the world with an alarming capacity for evil. Does that shock you? Did you think I was going to end the sentence differently? Scripture teaches us that the heart of the human problem is the problem of the heart. That’s true of us even before we are born.

The theological term for this is “total depravity.” It means that the depravity of man, including all the babies born into our world, is total.

Does this mean that people are as depraved as is possible for them to be? Does total depravity mean utter depravity?

No, for even the very worst amongst us can still be looked upon as having the capacity to be even worse than they are.

How’s that? Well, remember, Adolf Hitler? As bad as he was, he did not kill his mother! As strange as it may seem, we can conceive of Hitler being even worse than he actually was, of committing more crimes, and killing more people.

What total depravity means then is that every area of man has been affected by the Fall: man’s entire body, soul and spirit has suffered a radical corruption. This does not mean that man is without a conscience or any sense of right or wrong, nor that every sinner is devoid of all the qualities that are both pleasing to men and useful to society, when those qualities are judged only by human standards. In addition, this does not mean that every sinner is prone to every form of sin. Continue reading →