Battling Unbelief: Defeating Sin with Superior Pleasure

By John Piper

Pastor John Piper shows how to sever the clinging roots of sin that ensnare us, including anxiety, pride, shame, impatience, covetousness, bitterness, despondency, and lust in Battling Unbelief.

When faith flickers, stoke the fire.

No one sins out of duty. We sin because it offers some promise of happiness. That promise enslaves us, until we believe that God is more desirable than life itself (Psalm 63:3). Only the power of God’s superior promises in the gospel can emancipate our hearts from servitude to the shallow promises and fleeting pleasures of sin.

Delighting in the bounty of God’s glorious gospel promises will free us for a less sin-encumbered life, to the glory of Christ. Rooted in solid biblical reflection, this book aims to help guide you through the battles to the joys of victory by the power of the gospel and its superior pleasure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 16, 2009
• ISBN: 9780307562067

John Piper

John Piper es pastor de Bethlehem Baptist Church, en Mineápolis. Sus muchos libros incluyen: Cuando no deseo a Dios, No desperdicies tu vida, Lo que Jesús exige del mundo.

Reviews for Battling Unbelief

[moses917_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First of all, as he states in the preface of the book, this small book is a reprint of a portion of his earlier work, “Future Grace.” This writing is of great benefit for battling temptation because many times we sin because it offers a false happiness. Here John Piper cries out don’t believe the lie and settle for the crumbs off of Satan’s table. Piper explains that when we sin, we are believing a lie that there is more pleasure, joy, success, and happiness to be found in that sin than obedience to Christ. We succumb to the illusion that we are going to miss out. In fact it shows we don’t trust the heart of God. Therefore Piper’s premise is that when I sin I am disbelieving God’s promises to me and in turn offending a Holy God. The battle of unbelief with sin is a test of wither I cherish, prize, and trust God above all things so that we may not pursue sin. Piper does an excellent job showing the connection between this lack of faith and 8 specific sins outlined in the chapters: 1. Battling Anxiety 2. Battling Pride 3. Battling Misplaced Shame 4. Battling Impatience 5. Battling Covetousness 6. Battling Bitterness 7. Battling Despondency 8. Battling Lust Piper treats “unbelief” by providing scriptures and suggestions for battling the eight areas of “unbelief” that others have listed. When we wage war against such sins as anxiety, pride, shame, lust, despondency, and more, we are really waging war against unbelief. Sin’s power is broken when we have faith in God’s future grace. This term Piper uses in throughout the pages of the book “future grace” pertains to our desire to serve Him comes from what He has done not only for us in the past but also for what he will do for us in the future. This is what he has coined future grace and is the very thing that draws us to belief and binds us to the tassels of Jesus. The content of this book will help you and me to treasure God above all, believe his promises, and defeat sin for the Glory of God. The Battling Unbelief sermon series is available in mp3 for free at Desiring God Ministries.