Inspirational Quotes by D.A. Carson

“Proverbs 27:19 19As in water face reflects face, So a man’s heart reveals the man.”

“We must also exercise trust (fiducia), making our lives consistent with the truth claims we agree with.”

“But the biblical understanding of metanoia is far more positive. Instead of merely looking inward and regretting the past, it is looking outward and forward. When Jesus says, “Repent [metanoieo], for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matt. 4:17), he is saying, “You must change your hearts—for the kingdom of Heaven has arrived” (Phillips). He is calling us to look ahead to the arrival of the kingdom.”

“In Romans 1:1, the apostle Paul tells us that the gospel is “the gospel of God”; it is God’s gospel.* This means the story belongs to God; it is not our story to invent, modify, or embellish. We should also trust in its power. We do not need to add anything to it to make it more powerful.”

“The English word gospel comes from the Anglo-Saxon word God-spell—literally, “God’s story.”

“someone who isn’t a Christian, but who gets the point. He’s Penn Jilette, (of Penn and Teller, the magician double-act). Here’s what he said about evangelism, or proselytism: I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytise. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward … how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytise? … I mean, if I believed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe that truck was bearing down on you, there is a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.”

“There will be hunger as well as hostility. Jesus Christ is glorious; the new creation is wonderful; death and hell are real. God is sovereign; he is gracious; and he is powerful. Let’s pray. And then let’s go. Seeing people come to Christ is such an indescribable joy. Are you available?”

“Let’s be clear: to say there is no hell or to live as if there is no hell is to call Jesus a liar.”

“It is a loving community of Christian brothers and sisters, and by being this, it gives credibility to the gospel. Indeed,”

“Perhaps one of the most difficult charges a mature Christian leader may face is the double-barreled barb that he lacks credentials and effectiveness while exercising too much authority.”

“Paul is normally very reticent to speak about the wonderful things God performs through him or reveals to him.”

“Emotional and intellectual persecution, coupled perhaps with subtle exclusions…often seduces [believers]. For the sake of gaining plaudits, it is easy to trim one’s theology or keep silent about the bits that we know will cause umbrage, in the hope of gaining the approval we crave. Alternatively, some believers fight back with a nasty anti-intellectualism, a “circle-the-wagons” mentality that is neither loving nor evangelistic but merely defensive. Ironically, Christians who adopt these postures become just as scurrilously condescending as those who are attacking them (p. 66).”

“All the great doctrinal debates were at their cores debates about the meaning of Scripture.”

“Though often lost sight of today, the self-authenticating quality of Scripture was perhaps surprisingly well recognized, especially among some early Greek writers.”

“Each house looks secure in good weather. But Palestine is known for torrential rains that can turn dry wadis into raging torrents. Only storms reveal the quality of the work of the two builders. The thought reminds us of the parable of the sower, in which the seed sown on rocky ground lasts only a short time, until “trouble or persecution comes because of the word” (13:21). The greatest storm is eschatological (cf. Isa 28:16–17; Eze 13:10–13; see also Pr 12:7). But Jesus’ words about the two houses need not be thus restricted. The point is that the wise man (a repeated term in Matthew; cf. 10:16; 24:45; 25:2, 4, 8–9) builds to withstand anything.”

“It is always much more difficult for Christians to detect a fundamentally sinful attitude in other Christians than in pagans—especially if that attitude is endemic to contemporary society, thereby reducing or eliminating the “shock” force of that sin.”

“So with the demise of Bible reading, what teaches us how to think God’s thoughts after Him? How on earth shall we love Him with heart and mind if we do not increasingly know Him, know what He likes and what He loathes, know what He has disclosed, know what He commands and what He forbids? (p. 32).”

“The central point is this: Jesus’ entire approach in the Sermon on the Mount is not only ethical but messianic—i.e., christological and eschatological. Jesus is not an ordinary prophet who says, “Thus says the Lord!” Rather, he speaks in the first person and claims that his teaching fulfills the OT, that he determines who enters the messianic kingdom, that as the Divine Judge he pronounces banishment, that the true heirs of the kingdom will be persecuted for their allegiance to him, and that he alone fully knows the will of his Father. It is methodologically indefensible for Sigal to complain that all such themes are later Christian additions and therefore to focus exclusively on points of halakic interpretation. Jesus’ authority is unique (see comments at 5:21–48), and the crowds recognized it, even if they did not always understand it. This same authority is now to be revealed in powerful, liberating miracles, signs of the kingdom’s advance (chs. 8–9; cf. 11:2–5).”

“Argue a skeptic into a corner, and you will not take his mind captive for Christ, but pray for him, proclaim the gospel to him, live out the gospel of peace, walk righteously by faith until he senses your ultimate allegiance and citizenship are vastly different from his own, and you may discover that the power of truth, the convicting and regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, and the glories of Christ Jesus shatter his reasons and demolish his arguments until you take captive his mind and heart to make them obedient to Christ.”

“Christians do not restrict their moral horizons to immediate results; they make their ethical decisions from an eternal perspective (p. 52).”