CalvinandHodges, you brought up some good points about Piper's "Desiring God." However, as I'm sure you can tell from my user name, I tend to disagree with you. The biggest point I disagree with is what you said about joy preceding faith.
First, if joy were to precede faith, it does not mean that we are justified by joy instead of faith. A lot of things precede Christ's sheep coming to faith, which are all means by which they are brought to faith. Yet the cause for our justification is not anything that precedes our faith. Rather, the cause for our justification is our God-given gift of faith in Christ. Thus, I don't see how it must logically follow that if something precedes faith then we are justified by that something instead of by faith.
Second, I am curious to know if you believe that regeneration precedes faith. Perhaps I am reading more into Piper than he actually explains, but it seems to me that the idea of a joy preceding our faith makes sense if our regeneration precedes our faith. What happens when we are regenerated? Doesn't the Holy Spirit awaken in our hearts a desire for God and for salvation through Jesus Christ, that immediately leads to our putting faith in Him? For who comes to faith in God unless the Holy Spirit regenerates them and gives them the desire to come to faith in God? It seems to me that Piper is calling this desire we are given "joy," and thus a joy in God is awakened in us when we are regenerated, which immediately leads us to having justifying faith in Christ.
In Christ,
Dan
Hello Dan:
I can see from your profile that you are a big fan of John Piper, and thus I would anticipate extreme difficulty in "converting" you. However, it is not my plan to do so. I have stated many times before that I believe Piper to be a Christian, but I have misgivings about the major thrust of his teachings - what he describes as "Christian Hedonism." To be warned about Piper's heterodoxy is a good thing. Whether you take the warning or not is your own decision. I can see, though, that there are many who swallow his teachings, and emotionally defend him when he is legitimately criticized.
To compare Piper with a man like George Whitfield, for example, would be a good thing. Thousands of people flocked to hear Whitfield preach the plain Gospel of Jesus Christ. Benjamin Franklin once measured the range of his voice and the number of people attending, and came to a figure of 10,000 - just in one day. What I have read of Whitfield's biographies and the sermons printed shows a man of eloquence, but he did not preach "new doctrines" or seek to package Biblical Christianity with philosophical language.
You say that "a lot of things preceed Christ's sheep coming to faith." You miss the point. Piper claims that "Joy is a root of saving faith." If faith has its "root" in joy, then joy is an integral part of saving faith. In other words, if you don't have the root (joy), then you don't have the fruit (faith). But, there is nothing in the Bible or in Reformed Orthodoxy that states that "Joy is the root of saving faith."
This is why John Piper has to interpret a parable (Mt 13:44) in order to prove his "Christian hedonism." Jesus gave us parables for a specific purpose:
And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given, Mt 13:10,11
What does it say then about Piper when he falsely interprets a parable in order to prove a pre-conceived thesis? I will leave it to your own judgment, but when I read this back in 1986 all the red flags were flying, and for good reason.
You wrote:
Yet the cause for our justification is not anything that precedes our faith. Rather, the cause for our justification is our God-given gift of faith in Christ.
This is not entirely accurate. The Bible tells us:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, Eph 2:8.
We are saved "by grace through faith." We are not saved "by grace through love" (though without love we have no true faith). Nor are we saved "by grace through peace" nor are we saved "by grace through joy."
"Love," "Joy," and "Peace" are all operatives in our life with Christ, but they are not operative in our salvation. The cause of our Justification is the Mercy of God - which grants us regenerating grace - which grants us faith - which converts our soul - which then gives us all the "fruits of the Spirit" one of which is "joy."
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Rom 3:22-24.
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, Rom 4:16
Many an aesthete are impressed with numbers. They even argue that way, and live a comfortable life thinking of all the people that have come to Christ because of their ministry. Certainly, they themselves must be teaching the way truly, and can claim a chief seat in heaven?
I hope not, but I will leave it to your judgment. You will find that bombastic conduct is their only recourse.
Grace and Peace,
-CH
(Although my husband knows better! 
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