What I want to say is that at the moment when we put our childlike faith in Jesus Christ, he became our punishment and our obedience. That is, at that moment he became the obedience required for God to be totally for us.
Now this sounds bad to me. Real bad. I don’t think Piper teaches that faith is the basis for justification (Arminianism), but this statement seems to indicate as much. It is also analogous to Zwingli’s view of the Eucharist, in which it is our faith which makes Christ present. He is not “for you” prior to your faith.
Calvin’s view was that Christ was for you objectively, and either your faith would receive him or your faithlessness would reject him. Calvin’s view has a genuine offer. Zwingli’s does not.
What does Piper’s view indicate?
