Quotes from Taking God At His Word
by Kevin DeYoung

I want to convince you (and make sure I’m convinced myself) that the Bible makes no mistakes, can be understood, cannot be overturned, and is the most important word in your life, the most relevant thing you can read each day. (16)

Psalm 119 shows us what to believe about the word of God, what to feel about the word of God, and what to do about the word of God. (16)

It teaches only what is true: “Sanctify them only in truth,” Jesus said; “Your word is truth.” (John 17:17) (17)

This cannot be stated too strongly: From the very beginning, Christianity tied itself to history. (32)

All four gospel writers are eager for us to know that, though some were spreading rumors that Christ’s body had been stolen after his crucifixion, the tomb was really empty because Jesus had really been raised. If Christ wasn’t raised, said Paul, the whole Christian religion is a shame and those who believe in it are pitiable fools (1 Corinthians 15:14-19) (33)

Peter’s point about the return of Christ also depends on the trustworthiness of authoritative documents (2 Peter 1:19-21). (34)

Importantly, for our considerations, the Greek word in verse 20 for Scripture is graphe, which refers to somethings that has been written down. (35)

No Jew would make a distinction that some parts of Scripture were truer parts than others (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16). (35)

All this matters because it means the authority of God’s word resides in the written text— the words, the sentences, the paragraphs— of Scripture, not merely in our existential experience of the truth in our hearts. (35-36)

…the inspiration of holy Scripture is an objective reality outside of us. (36)

Inerrancy means the word of God always stands over us and we never stand over the word of God. (39)

Defending the doctrine of inerrancy may seem like a fool’s errand to some and a divisive shibboleth to others, but, in truth, the doctrine is at the heart of our faith. (39)

This kind of compromised Christianity, besides flying in the face of the Bible’s own self-understanding, does not satisfy the soul or present to the lost the sort of God they need to meet. (39-40)

The word of God is true. The good news of Jesus Christ has been recorded in the facts of history. (40)

The doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture— sometimes called the perfection of Scripture— means that “Scripture is clear enough to make us responsible for carrying out our present responsibilities to God.” (45)

I have no authority in myself. (75)

God reveals himself to us in two ways: through the universe we can see, and through the Scripture we can hear and read. (78)

The word of the world is not like the word of God. (88)

We need the Spirit who is from God if we are to understand the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:12) (90)

If you are a Christian, by definition you ought to believe what Jesus teaches. (96)

The purpose of Holy Scripture is not ultimately to make you smart, or make you relevant, or make you rich, or get you a job, or get you married, or take all your problems away, or tell you where to live. The aim is that you might be wise enough to put your faith in Christ and be saved. (116)