Pro tip: Don’t listen to a Christian preacher who can’t say with absolute confidence that his salvation is secure, no matter how many of his books are on your shelf.
In yet another concerning theological stumble, John Piper has muddied the waters of biblical understanding. This time, he’s pushing a dangerous narrative that Christians can potentially “shipwreck” their faith and lose salvation – a claim that strikes at the heart of biblical assurance. During a recent conference appearance, Piper suggested that believers could potentially fall away, and bizarrely claimed he keeps people “saved” through his preaching. This isn’t just problematic – it’s a potential assault on the doctrine of eternal security.
"Every sermon I preach is a salvation sermon." – @JohnPiper, Coram Deo Pastors Workshop 2025.
— Kevin DeYoung (@RevKevDeYoung) March 27, 2025
Register for 2026: https://t.co/Pa3FLnlLyY. pic.twitter.com/oZAgWLPBFK
This isn’t just theological nitpicking. Piper’s teaching creates a spiritual minefield of constant doubt and fear. It’s Catholicism lite – suggesting that salvation is a precarious balancing act where one wrong move could send you tumbling into eternal separation. Yet scripture is abundantly clear. Those truly called by God are eternally secure. Election isn’t a maybe; it’s a certainty. When God saves you, He keeps you. Period.
Piper has had several recent and troubling errors. From his inexcusable positions on self-defense and COVID “vaccines” to his recent claim that our love for Jesus is “erotic to the core,” Piper’s once-unassailable reformed street cred has crumbled.
John Piper’s teachings on Christian Hedonism and final justification provide the backdrop for an important theological critique. His interpretation of the “falling away” passages in the clip directs believers inward, focusing on internal interrogation. Yet the Bible’s warnings about falling away (e.g., Hebrews 3:12) are not about internalized self-examination—they’re a call for collective accountability and discipline within the church. They are instructions given to groups of Christians, intended to be applied among groups of Christians.
The Biblical Call to Mutual Accountability
When rightly understood, Hebrews 3:13 shows us the essential role of mutual testing and exhortation among believers. The warning to guard against a hardened heart is a corporate command—not merely an individual one. Piper’s approach shifts the focus inward, encouraging believers to search their own hearts for assurance, even going so far as to claim that he himself (who can see his own heart before the Lord) “can fall away from the living God.”
It’s impossible to imagine the Apostle Paul claiming that “I, Paul can fall away from the living God.” Rather, Paul’s confidence in his salvation is unmistakable (2 Timothy 4:7-8). He knew he had run the race and received the crown of righteousness. Yet, he didn’t hesitate to urge others to hold one another accountable, using himself as a standard (Galatians 1:8, 1 Corinthians 11:1). His instruction in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to “test yourselves” was a near-rhetorical instruction to a church that was questioning the validity of his apostleship and therefore their own salvation, as it was based on the truth Paul delivered. It was an external, doctrinal, observable test.
Unfortunately, true church discipline has been supplanted in many Reformed churches by a preacher-centric model that undermines biblical accountability. Instead of fostering robust, Word-centered, and routine discipline within the church body (which builds confidence as believers reinforce each other’s confidence in salvation), too many preachers rely on the internal accountability of each believer, constantly reminding them that their “heart must be in the right place.” Of course, this the same heart that is fully capable of deceiving us at any moment.
Believers often either end up believing they can act any way they please and retain assurance (the nonsense of the “carnal Christian”), or they end up on the other end, constantly pushing for more holiness as they internally challenge their own security.
6 responses to “John Piper: I Can Fall Away From The Living God”
1 Timothy 1:19-20
New International Version
“19 holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.”
If Piper is leaving blasphemous Calvinism and its false doctrine of OSAS, that’s good.
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12 Take care, brothers and sisters, that there will not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart [a]that falls away from the living God. (Heb. 3:12)
4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have [a]fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, [b]since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. (Heb. 6:4-6)
26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has ignored the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb. 10:26-31)
Can you tell us in which conference was it?
Corem Deo Pastor’s Workshop is where he spoke. Look up Kevin Deyoung on X.