"If the nature of the deed did not partake of the nature of the reward, you could do things you thought were stupid or evil to get the reward you considered wise or good. But it would be stretching the word love beyond biblical limits to say that one is loving when he does a thing he thinks is stupid or evil. A loving act (even if very painful) must be approved by our conscience. So to say that it is right and good to be motivated by the hope of reward (as Moses and the early Christians and Jesus were, according to Hebrews 11:26 and 10:34 and 12:2) does not mean that this view to the future nullifies the need to choose acts that in their nature are organically related to the hoped-for reward. What I mean by “organically related” is this: Any act of love we choose for the sake of a holy reward must compel us because we see in that act the moral traits of that promised reward. Or to put it the other way around, the only fitting reward for an act of love is the experience of divine glory whose moral dimension is what made the chosen act attractive. The reward to which we look as Christian Hedonists for all the good we are commanded to do is distilled for us in Romans 8:29: “Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” There are two goals of our predestination mentioned here: one highlighting our glory and one highlighting Christ’s. The first goal of our predestination is to be like Christ. This includes new resurrection bodies of glory like His (Philippians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 15:49). But most importantly, it includes spiritual and moral qualities and capacities like Christ’s (1 John 3:2–3)."

Piper, John (2011-01-18). Desiring God, Revised Edition: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (pp. 137-138). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.


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