“Christianity is a faith based on belief in historical realities and truths, but it is also a spiritual union with Christ through the resurrection. So holding to sound doctrine is absolutely essential and yet insuffient at the same time. We are to examine ourselves whether the truth is shaping the habitual affections of our hearts […]
“The words (persecute me) point to a relationship infinitely deeper and richer than [merely adopting another set of beliefs and practices]. Jesus Christ was claiming such an intimate union with his people that what happened to him and therefore — by implication — what is true of him is also true of them.”- Timothy Keller […]
“We must remember Paul’s startling claim that none of us without the intervention and aid of the Holy Spirit ever seek the real God of the Bible (Romans 3:10-12). We create for ourselves a customized deity, as Paul did. Certainly, a God you create can sometimes be a comfort. . . . But such a […]
“If your race and culture, or your moral performance, or your politics, or anything but the love of God is the foundational source of your self-worth, when people threaten that positive self-image, you will not be able to listen to them or learn from them. You will strike at them.”- Timothy Keller “For when I […]
“The claims of Jesus Christ, if they are truly heard for what they are, never evoke moderate response. Jesus claimed to be the Lord God of the universe, who had come to earth to give himself for us so that we could live for him. That is a call for total allegiance. . . . […]
“Thomas is the most famous doubter of ancient times, and as such, can almost serve as a stand-in for today’s secular skeptics. . . . All [Thomas’s] reasons and motives create barriers to belief for modern people today. You might have a worldview that says it can’t happen, a temperament that tends to be skeptical, […]
“In the gospel of John, the word belief is not merely intellectual assent but it is the heart faith that brings salvation. So faith is more than intellectual reasoning and assent. It is more than looking at the evidence and working it all out, but it is not less than that.”- Timothy Keller “[Simon Peter] […]
“Belief in the historicity of the resurrection, however, can change you wholly — but not through intellectual assent alone. It is only by meeting the risen Lord personally and uniting with him by faith that we are changed.”- Timothy Keller “Now Mary stood outside of the tomb crying. . . . She turned around and […]
“The Great Reversal is both true wisdom and true power, and it shows, ironically, that the world’s understanding of greatness is a weakness which leads to continual wars and conflicts. And that the world’s understanding of wisdom — reason without God — is the most fruitless thing possible.”- Timothy Keller Timothy Keller concludes Chapter 5 […]
“The vindication of resurrection is both the reversal and the result of the condemnation of the crucifixion. The darkness of Good Friday brings about the sunrise of Easter. This is how God works. This is the Great Reversal of history and the New Testament bears witness to it throughout.”- Timothy Keller “And being found in […]
“We want the storyline of our lives to go from strength to strength, success to success, and end happily ever after. But throughout the Bible we see something completely different — a persistent narrative pattern of life through death or triumph through weakness that reveals how God works in history and in our lives.”- Timothy […]
“But if you see that God is the God of the Great Reversal — the God who always brings life out of death, resurrection out of crucifixion, the God who makes the last to be first and the first to be last — you will be able to take heart and be of good courage.”- […]