Spectacular Sins

And Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ

Book Details

Discerning Reader Editorial Review

Reviewed 06/20/2009 by Mark Tubbs.

Recommended. At the risk of perpetuating a cliché, this is one of Piper's best.

John Piper’s Spectacular Sins: And Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ won a major Evangelical Christian Publishers Association award in 2009. Enough said.

On second thoughts, more explanation is in order. For a preacher to describe sins as "spectacular" not in the modern sense of being thrilling or impressive, but in the archaic sense of being breath-taking or daring, is rare. However, in the last couple of years we have seen other similar titles, with Brennan Manning’s The Furious Longing of God (“furious" in the sense of being unrestrained or passionate) and Tim Keller’s The Prodigal God (“prodigal” in the adjectival sense of being extravagant and lavish). I, for one, am happy to see the return of these terms in their time-tested usages.

Spectacular Sins is a deadly book – deadly in its simplicity. Whereas writers through the ages have sought the answer to God's allowance of sin's continued existence in the world down the avenues of natural theology, historical theology, and systematic theology, John Piper roots his discussion squarely in biblical material. Nor does he merely sample proof-texts from various biblical books to piece together an ad hoc argument.  Other theologians such as D.A. Carson in How Long, O Lord? and Henri Blocher in Evil and the Cross have supplied rich theological nourishment for those who wish to gain a deeper understand the themes of suffering and evil. Piper’s aim in Spectacular Sins, however, is not to explore all theological and experiential nuances of the problems of evil, pain, and suffering. Rather, he aims to focus in on six biblical accounts which exemplify the harmonized teachings of Genesis 50:20 (“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good”) and Romans 8:28 (“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good”).

Piper begins by setting out his exegetical and theological groundwork in two chapters entitled “God Sovereign over Human Sin” and “Christ Sovereign over All Hostile Powers.” In the first, he recounts his four impulses behind preaching this series and authoring the resultant book: 1) the testimony of 2 Chronicles 10 through 25; 2) the prevalence of evil in the world; 3) the biblical warnings of difficulty and severity in the last days; and 4) the ultimate aim of his life and ministry, which is the desire to spend his life in order that Jesus Christ become known and treasured according to his infinite beauty and worth. The second chapter follows with a detailed look at the biblical data surrounding Christ’s supremacy. This will be familiar terrain for Piper aficionados, but the chapter is still well worth reading for its function of setting up the coming material.

The remaining six chapters, titled in typical Piperian fashion, explore six of the most heinous and glorious ‘sin narratives’ of the Scriptures:

•    The Fall of Satan and the Victory of Christ: Why Does God Permit Satan to Live?
•    The Fatal Disobedience of Adam and the Triumphant Obedience of Christ: How Adam’s Sin Serves the Supremacy of Christ
•    The Pride of Babel and the Praise of Christ: How the Judgment of God Brings Joyful Acclaim to Jesus
•    The Sale of Joseph and the Son of God: How Salvation Comes through Slavery
•    The Sinful Origin of the Son of David: How the God-Man Becomes the King of Kings
•    Judas Iscariot, the Suicide of Satan, and the Salvation of the World: How God Conquered Sin through Sin

As PiperTravel tweeted on June 15th of this year, “God foresaw and did not prevent and therefore ordained that Calvary come to pass.” God is sovereign over all sin, even His only begotten Son’s execution. This book may not change anyone’s mind who is already dead-set against God’s sovereignty, supremacy, and superintendence over all things, sin included. Even so, I laid down the book with the prayer that many readers’ eyes would be opened to the sovereign God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and John Piper.