Taking God At His Word - Kevin DeYoung

"I want to convince you 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 read each day."

This is one of the best books I have read in quite some time. I love books that talk about God's word and the importance of it. Every Christian should delight in the Bible, desire the Bible and depend on the Bible. Every Christian should not depend on external experiences or "voices from God" when we have a more sure word, the Bible, God's very words, spoken to us. The Bible is relevant to all of life because we know that the Bible is sufficient.

God's word is also final. General revelation (nature, etc) gives us a sense of God's power but only special revelation (His word) reveals God "more openly" so that we might be saved.

Some practical implications of the sufficiency, clarity, authoritative and necessity of scripture are "Counselors can counsel meaningfully because Scripture is sufficient. Bible study leaders can lead confidently because Scripture is clear. Preachers can preach with boldness because their biblical text is authoritative. And evangelists can evangelize with urgency because Scripture is necessary."

It is also important for us to realize that the "Red Letters", those words spoken by Jesus, are not any more important or authoritative than the rest of Scripture because all the Bible is breathed out by God.

Ultimately, the Bible is the most important book in the Bible; it shows us who God is, it moves us to more Christ-likeness and it guides us in our lives. And we can take God at his Word because we know that the words of the Bible are the very words of God himself.

Quotes:

"Every true Christian should feel deep in his bones an utter dependence on God's self-revelation in the Scriptures." - Page 21

"The word of God is more than enough to accomplish the work of God in the people of God." - Page 24

"You do not need another special revelation from God outside the Bible. You can listen to the voice of God every day, Christ still speaks, because the Spirit has already spoken. If you want to hear from God, go to the book that records only what he has said. Immerse yourself in the word of God. You will not find anything more sure." - Page 42

"The word of God is more than enough for the people of God to live their lives to the glory of God." - Page 55

"It is not for us to stop believing because we lack understanding, but to believe in order that we may understand." - Page 82

"Counselors can counsel meaningfully because Scripture is sufficient. Bible study leaders can lead confidently because Scripture is clear. Preachers can preach with boldness because their biblical text is authoritative. And evangelists can evangelize with urgency because Scripture is necessary." - Page 92

"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." - Page 116

"All scripture is breathed out by God, not just the parts spoken by Jesus." - Page 119

"You and I simply will not mature as quickly, minister as effectively, or live as gloriously without immersing ourselves in the Scriptures." - Page 121

The Holy in our Holiness - Kevin DeYoung

This is a book, as DeYoung puts it, written because "we don't seem to care much about holiness. Or, at the very least, we don't understand it. This is a book for those of us who are ready to take holiness seriously,

ready to be more like Jesus, ready to live in the light of the grace that produces godliness. This is a book about God's power to help us grow in personal holiness and to enjoy the process of transformation."

Ephesians 1 states that God saved us so that we would "be holy and blameless before him." If he saved us so that we would become holy, I think that holiness and the pursuit of holiness is more important than we tend to show by our actions. However, holiness comes from the heart not from a checklist. DeYoung says that "mere rule keeping is not the answer because holiness cannot be reduced to a little ethical refurbishment." God doesn't give us commands so that we legalistically follow to please him, He gives us commands "as a means of grace so that we might grow in godliness and show that we love him."

So how do we balance the fact that we are no longer "under the law" and yet still are called to "obey all that (Jesus) commanded?" First of all, obeying the law CANNOT save us, however, obeying the law is how Christ says that we can know that we are in Him and are true disciples. "Our good works are accepted by God, not because they are 'wholly unblameable and unreproveable in God's sight," but because God is pleased through Christ to accept our sincere obedience, although it contains many weaknesses and imperfections." It is solely by his grace that our imperfect obedience is acceptable in his sight.

When we sin, it's not that our salvation is in jeopardy but sinning affects our communion with Christ. I have seen this in my life, when I sin, I feel my fellowship with Christ suffer because I don't desire to be in the word or in prayer as much as when I am walking closer to Him. We pursue communion with Christ in 4 distinct ways, through prayer, through the Bible, through fellowship with other believers and through taking the Lord's Supper. As John Owen said trying to be holy "from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, unto the end of a self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world." The fact is, we can't obey in our own strength to the end that we try to justify ourselves in the presence of God. Both are impossible. Obedience to the God the Father is only possible through the work and help of God the Spirit and justification to God the Father is only possible through God the Son. The trinity is essential to our salvation and obedience.

However, this is not saying that we don't need to put any effort into obedience because it is all a work of God. As Paul says, we need to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling (us working) for it is God who works in you (God working)". Both-and not either-or.

Another main reason we are able to live a life of obedience is that we belong to Christ and we are joined to Him. Therefore, we are "dead to sin and alive to righteousness", "new creations", "no longer slaves to sin but slaves to righteousness" and we can "walk as he did."

From here, DeYoung tackles sexual immorality and points out that just like in the Old Testament you had Israel who was unaware of their blind spots because they had become so pressed into the mold of the culture around them that it became normal and they were no longer sensitive to it, this is the same as the 21st century church and sexual sin. We need to flee from sexual immorality, not walk, not dabble...run! Why? One big reason is in 1 Corinthians where Paul basically says because we are one body with Christ now, when we engage in sexual immorality, it's like dragging Christ into it as well.

Finally, we need to realize that perfect holiness is not achievable on this side of heaven but we need to see continuing sanctification so that we are becoming more and more like Christ. We also need to realize that "direction matters more than position." I think it can be easy to point fingers at people sometimes and wonder why they aren't where we are spiritually (or at least I have seen this unfortunately happen in my life) but we we need to see the grace of God in everyone's life and see that we are all progressing in sanctification. Some are progressing slower than others, some seem to be more behind than others but that could be because perhaps their starting point was a lot lower than others so even though they are "behind", the progressive sanctification that God has miraculously performed in their lives is something to rejoice and praise God for.

"God wants you to be holy. Through faith he already counts you holy in Christ. Now he intends to make you holy with Christ"

Memorable Quotes

"First God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, then he gave them the law. God's people were not redeemed by observing the law, but they were redeemed so that they might obey the law." (Page 45)

"The truth is God's people can be righteous - not perfectly, but truly, and in a way that genuinely pleases God" (Page 64)

"Our good works are accepted by God, not because they are 'wholly unblameable and unreproveable in God's sight,' but because God is pleased through Christ to accept our sincere obedience, although it contains many weaknesses and imperfections" (Page 67)

"When every sing is seen as the same, we are less likely to fight any sins at all" (Page 72)

"When we sin, our union with Christ is not in jeopardy. But our communion is" (Page 74)

"If we understand all that God has done for us in Christ, we will be happy and eager to please him" (Page 83)

"Some Christians are stalled out in their sanctification for simple lack of effort" (Page 90)

"Sin may get in some good jabs. It may clean your clock once in a while. It may bring you to your knees. But if you are in Christ it will never knock you out. You are no longer a slave, but free. Sin has no dominion over you. It can't. It won't. A new King sits on the throne. You serve a different Master. You salute a different Lord." (Page 105)

"Don't think of Christianity as having to do what a peevish God demands. Think of it as now being able to do what a good God demands. Through union with Christ we are empowered for holiness" (Page 112)

"Sleep is such a dull, stupid state of existence, that even amongst mere animals, we despise them most which are most drowsy. He, therefore, that chooses to enlarge the slothful indulgence of sleep, rather than be early at his devotions to God, chooses the dullest refreshment of the body; before the highest, noblest employment of the soul; he chooses that state which is a reproach to mere animals, rather than exercise which is the glory of Angels" (Page 130)

"When it comes to sanctification, it's more important where you're going than where you are. Direction matters more than position." (Page 138)

Think - John Piper

Piper's main point in the book is that thinking is indispensable in our pursuit of God however that thinking must be "soaked in prayer, carried by the Holy Spirit, tethered to the Bible, in pursuit of more reasons to
praise and proclaim the glories of God and in the service of love." We are encouraged to think but without the help of the Holy Spirit, we will not be able to find the knowledge of God. As we think and learn about God it fuels the fire of our love for God which then in turn fuels the fire of wanting to know God more and they both continue to fuel each other.

As we read the Bible, we need to think in order to truly "receive what God has to give us from the Bible." "Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything" (2 Tim 2:7) and "Seek (understanding) like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures...for the Lord gives wisdom" (Prov 2:4-6).  Thinking and asking God for understanding is not either or but both and. We can't think and not ask for God's help in understanding and expect to truly understand and we can't not think and just expect God to reveal.

In Matthew 16:1-4, Jesus is approached by the Pharisees and he said that they can use the skies to determine the weather and they could use the same reasoning to know Christ but their hearts are hardened so that they cannot use it to "draw true inferences from what is really there." This is where we need God to change our heart so that we can see the glory of Christ in the gospel.

Piper continues on to discuss how thinking is related to loving God. Loving God is only possible when something changes inside of you so that He becomes compellingly attractive and he becomes your surpreme treasure so that you love Him. This overflows into a love for others. This "second commandment" isn't equal to loving God but is the overflow of our love for Him. Our thinking  should be "wholly engaged to do all it can to awaken and express this heartfelt fullness of treasuring God above all things."

From here he goes on to take on relativism and anti-intellectualism. Relativism (the belief that there is no set truth, everyone has their own truth) is treason against God because God has clearly revealed himself (Romans 1) but since relativists state there is no standard of truth, it commits treason against God. The fact is, even relativists aren't true relativists because if they were in a court setting on trial, they would rely on set truths about their innocence.

For anti-intellectualism, if we give up on "raising a generation of people who give up serious, faithful, coherent thinking, we will have raised a generation incapable of reading the Bible." We need to think and use human reason in order to present and see Christ clearly.

In Luke 10:21, Jesus states that God has hidden the truths of the gospel from the "wise and understanding" but revealed them to "little children." The wise and understanding are those who have human wisdom which is prideful whereas "little children" are those who are humble and submit to Christ. If we were able to find God through human reason and human thought, we would have reason to be prideful and would have reason to boast. Therefore, as Christians and "little children" the only thing that we boast in is the cross.

To wrap it up, Piper wants to "encourage serious, faithful, humble thinking that leads to the true knowledge of God, which leads to loving him, which overflows in loving others."

Reverberation by Jonathan Leeman

I would definitely rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars. I thought it was excellent, challenging and convicting from front to back. I highly recommend this one!

The growing movement in the church seems to be moving away from the sufficiency of the Word and going towards the Word +. The Word + cool music. The Word + great programs and events. The Word + funny stories and illustrations. These are all ways to "grow" the church but is it biblical growth or simply numerical growth? Are these the ways that we should try to grow our churches or is there something else? Reverberation sums it up by saying "God's Word, working through God's Spirit, is God's primary instrument for growing God's church."

We need to come to the realization that God's Word is the only thing necessary to grow His church. Nothing more and nothing less. But yet somehow we have lost this reverence and this reliance on God's Holy Word to do what only God's Holy Word can do and that is to cause spiritual life and spiritual growth is sinful and spiritually dead human beings.

Our first thought always goes back to the preacher or the "hired professional" and how he is supposed to bring the Word and we are supposed to just take it and receive it. However, this is not God's design. God's design is for us all to make disciples and teaching them to obey all that he commanded us. Leeman says that the "ministry of the Word indeed begins in the pulpit, but then it must continue through the life of the church as members echo God's Word back and forth to one another. The word reverberates", hence the name of the book.

Part one of the book is titled "The Word"

The Word invites and divides. Christians will listen to God's word because he or she loves God but non-Christians do not listen to God's word because they do not love God. Sure, some non-Christians will do good things that God tells us to do in the Bible but they do not truly listen to the Bible. Jesus says "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it" Leeman says "Jesus will identify Himself with those who listen to God's word, even more than his family and nation". However, so many preachers today want to water down the message and not really teach directly from God's word as much as they want to teach what will make their "audience" feel good. The problem is, when we do this "we will be tempted to unite people around something other than God's divisive Word, like music, or style, or acts of service." Leeman goes on to say "Bringing up the Bible can be like walking into a room waving a sword. People are going to fight or flee! So keep it in the scabbard, right? Of course not. When we do, we invite people to something Jesus is not inviting them to. Believe it or not, Jesus means to divide people through His call to repentance (Matt. 10:34). When we soften the invitation, leaving out the tough bits, we oppose His very purposes."

"You can measure a person's opinion of God by his or her opinion of God's Word." Wow, that statement really cuts to the heart. How lightly we take God's word and how much we spend time in God's word by studying, memorizing and meditating on it, is a direct reflection of our opinion of God and therefore a direct reflection of our spiritual state. I believe also it's not just that you read His word but that you desire to read His word because you desire to know Him because you love Him. So often, I know I fall into the trap of reading the Bible to get knowledge or wisdom because I in general like to learn things but we need to read God's word because we love Him and God's word is an extension of God Himself.

In all things that we do, the Word must play a lead role and "everything else, at most, plays supporting cast and is subject to other considerations". One trap some tend to fall into is that good works is a substitution for the Word. Perhaps they look to Matthew 5:16 when he says "Let your light so shine before men so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." They assume that that means that our good works can lead others to Christ but the Word and the Word alone convicts of sin and frees us from the bondage of sin. "You can proclaim the gospel without deeds, but you cannot proclaim the gospel without words."

Part 2 of the book is titled "The Sermon"


This is the part of the book that really encouraged me about the church that I call home. Leeman puts it pretty simply when he says "Just preach the point of the text!" and "God speaks through us whenever we plainly and modestly relate whatever He has already said in the Bible". The fault of some preachers is to try to preach there own words and not rely on the Holy Spirit to work though God's Holy Word. Some try to add things or take verses out of context in order to prove their point. This is one reason why I love our church and our pastor. He does preaches expositionally as opposed to topically. He "concentrates all his powers on reproducing the burden of the Bible in the hearts and minds of the people, and he avoids letting anything in his person get in the way of that goal. He'd rather risk boring or offending his congregation (both of which has happened) than depriving them of the opportunity to hear what God says."

I love when a pastor goes straight through books of the Bible because as Leeman says, "God sets the agenda. And the preacher learns along with the congregation."

The sermon should also announce the gospel and confront sin but unfortunately, as Leeman points out, some sermons could easily have been preached by a Jewish rabi or a Muslim imam. "There should be something distinctively Christian about a Christian sermon; namely, it should point to the person and work of Christ." He even goes on to say how one "Christian" book that claims that all men have a battle to fight and an adventure to live, is a required reading for a Mexican gang that is responsible for drug dealing in several nations as well as decapitating local police officers. That's pretty sad when a book that is supposed to be Christian, doesn't contain anything remotely close to the gospel and it is a required reading for gangs.

Most people, don't like to be confronted on their sin, especially from the pulpit. They would rather hear messages about how God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life than how the images they are looking at on the computer screen are rotting away their brain and tearing them from holiness or how they need to be more forgiving or humble or loving to their spouse or family or enemy. However, by preaching through books of the Bible and letting God's word reverberate in the hearts of men, true conviction of sin and life change can happen.

Part 3 is titled "The Reverberation"


There are four sections in this one; singing, praying, discipling and scattering to gather. Everything about our lives and church services should be centered and founded on the Word. Starting with the songs that we sing, "a church's songs should contain nothing more than the words, paraphrases, or ideas of Scipture." This section was especially convicting for me because a lot of times, as we sing old hymns in our church, I tend to get frustrated and perhaps roll my eyes because I want us to sing modern songs and more upbeat songs. However, I need to look more at the content of the songs than the beat of the songs. I need to focus on the lyrics and how God centered they are than the beat of the song and how good it sounds to my ears. "Singing, I'd say, is the medium by which God's people grab hold of His Word and align their emotions and affections to God's."

The section on praying was another one that convicted me. I tend to have trouble knowing what to pray or how to pray but the best way to pray is to pray scripture and as our pastor quoted on Sunday, the best way to get better at praying is to pray! "Praying is how God's people should grab hold of His Word and align their will and their hopes with His" and not the other way around. When we conform our prayers to God's word, "we will adore, confess, give thanks, and ask for those things which His Word tells us to. We are the people who delight ourselves in the Lord, and so He places new desires in our hearts, desires that He then fulfills when we ask for them through prayer (Ps 37:4). We tend to be so me-focused when it comes to prayers but if we look at the prayers of Jesus, Paul and others throughout scripture, they rarely prayed for their own needs/wants but instead prayed for others and God's glory above all!

Another thing that we should be doing as disciples of Christ is making other disciples and we do that by relationships. However, to effectively disciple, we need to be examples and so we are able to say as Paul says "imitate me as I imitate Christ." All of our discipleship should be centered on the Word and the gospel and this includes counseling. "The most useful tool in counseling is the gospel and the Word of God." We don't need more self-help books or counselors that try to help others without mention of the gospel and how ultimately, every reason for counseling that we may have comes down to the heart and only the Word is "living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

Finally, the word scatters, and, once again, invites. As we receive the Word through preaching, reading, singing, praying and discipling, our responsibility is to then reverberate the Word to others. Since we know that God's word alone saves and that God's word alone has the power to create true freedom from bondage, we should share it without reservation. We also need to realize that it is not our responsibility to save someone but instead it is our responsibility to be the means in which God uses His word spoken through human vessels to bring about salvation by the Holy Spirit.

As one pastor once put it so well, "does the word stop with you or spread through you?"