First sentence: Why do so many thoughtful Christians from centuries ago describe saving faith as though it were an experience involving the affections and not just a decision of the will?

What is Saving Faith? That is the question John Piper is asking and answering in his newly published book. The question in and of itself is a good one. Every Christian needs to be able to know--somewhere on the spectrum of vague and fuzzy to academically precise--what saving faith is...or...what saving faith is not. Those two--what it is and what it is not--do seem to be two sides of the coin.

In this book, Piper argues that saving faith is a RECEIVING faith and that that receiving faith is intricately and intimately connected to receiving Christ as TREASURE. In other words, it's not merely an intellectual receiving but a whole receiving--mind, heart/body, soul/spirit. ALL of you receives ALL of Christ. And in that receiving there is great joy and delight. Christ is seen as the ultimate one-and-only treasure.

Piper is many things, but concise is not exactly one of them. This question has been asked and answered beautifully in Piper's previous book GOD IS THE GOSPEL. God is the Gospel is all kinds of fantastic (aka some kind of wonderful.) It is more concise, more straight forward, definitely more reader friendly.

What Is Saving Faith? is a bit unwieldy (not in a literal sense), dry, academic, repetitive. It has moments of beauty. How could it not? It talks of the mighty, glorious, wondrous person of Jesus Christ. But the journey there is more of a hike than it perhaps has to be. (Not that I'm opposed to academic/scholarly, "proper theology" books. I'm not.)

I will give credit to Piper's almost exclusive reliance on Scripture for answering the question(s) at hand. He uses Scripture and almost always Scripture foremost to lay out his argument before readers. He does make use of church fathers/church history. But only as secondary resources.

He tackles the subject thoroughly taking absolutely no short cuts; he makes no assumptions. He is willing to admit when and where his arguments present as controversial or against the status quo. He does try to logically and reasonably counter argue with his opponents or would-be opponents.

Perhaps this is the kind of book you want. Perhaps you don't want a quick "big picture" view of the subject. Perhaps it is not enough to say, hey there's grass. You want someone to look at every single blade of grass in a pasture.

But when a question is so fundamentally BASIC and ESSENTIAL and foundational, in my humble opinion, a more straight-forward, more concise book is to be desired. God is the Gospel, for me, is one of those books. I realized this early on--relatively--when Piper started saying things like, "Where Christ is not received as treasure, he is being used. This is not saving faith. It is tragic that many think it is."

John piper has done it again. While no means an exhaustive study of faith, he was able to tease out some very important elements of saving faith for the believer. I loved how he listed different views by famous preachers in the past and how the thought of saving faith is different in each. I absolutely love the amount of scripture used to back his views and will always read anything written by this author.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

I typically like John Piper and his books. I don’t know if this was too over my head or what but I did not connect with it at all. I felt like he was talking in circles and I couldn’t find a solid ground to absorb what he was writing.

I honestly can’t put my finger on what bothered me but something did. However, that is my opinion only and someone else may love it and get a lot out of it. If it sounds like something you would like give it a try.

A copy of this book was given to me through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I am always encouraged and challenged when I read a book by John Piper. This book was a look at Saving Faith and it is Biblical and logical and so very helpful. He defines his terminology thoroughly so the reader can know for sure what he means and the context in which he means it. I had to read this book in sections and take my time with it because there is just so much to think about and process.
This book will help you and will be a great addition to the theology section of your personal library shelf.

I like John Piper and have enjoyed reading some of his other works. This book was a little to theological for me and I had a hard time getting into it. I do like how he defines his thesis and supports his arguments. Piper is also very clear about faith being the saving factor and not works. Still, I did not find this book as "readable" as some of his others. I likely am not the targeted audience but did give this a shot, as the subject matter interested me. I look forward to reading more of John Piper in the future.

I have to admit that I’ve only gotten through a third of this book, and I’ve moved on to other reads. If you like to delve deeply into the all-encompassing definition of saving faith and have the fortitude for intense theological arguments, then this is your book!

I really enjoyed Piper’s argument of saving faith requiring an affectional nature without being considered a work produced on our own virtue. But I did feel mentally exhausted by the repetitive nature of the book and the tedious pace of the argument.

Who is this book for? Doctrinally intense students of the Bible who want to grapple with trying to define the miraculous gift of salvation by saving faith! I understand it’s an important theological topic, but this one is a bit too arduous for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and Crossway Publishing for granting me an ARC digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
John Piper thoroughly and clearly defines saving faith, the affectional dimensions of saving faith, and the ultimate impact this has on evangelism and reassurance throughout the course of this book. It was accurately backed by Scripture and was driven by the force of getting to know faith better so God can be more glorified. This was a great book if you are looking for a more in-depth theological study on just exactly what “saving faith” is.

Too many people who claim to be Christian have no real relationship with Jesus Christ. They content themselves with the thought their eternal security is assured because they “prayed the prayer” while they continue to lead lives devoid of any evidence of salvation. John Piper here argues that true salvation is realized only through “saving faith,” one which treasures Christ for who He is. Piper walks the reader through numerous passage of Scripture, all with an eye toward what it means to treasure Christ. The result is eye-opening, convicting, and reassuring. “What is Saving Faith?” would be a valuable addition to the libraries of anyone involved in evangelism, and for those who want to examine their own salvation.