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Submitting to God’s Word and Your Relationship With God

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An importantly relevant word from Tim Keller on 1 John 2:3-6, which we’ll look at this coming Lord’s day:

“Unless you see the Bible as God’s Word … That’s certainly how Jesus saw it. That’s certainly how John saw it. Unless you see the Bible as the place where you can find God’s will, you can’t actually have a personal relationship with God. “What do you mean?” you say. Well, let me put it to you this way.

“Plenty of people say, “I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. I do! I believe in much of what the Bible says, but there are many things in the Bible you just can’t believe anymore. There are things in the Bible we just can’t follow anymore. We realize there are contradictions, and there are some things that are primitive. So I believe in most of the Bible and in the general principles of the Bible, and I believe in Jesus, and I have a personal relationship in Jesus, but I can’t believe everything in the Bible.”

“Now let me show you what you’ve just done. First of all, there is nothing between the two positions I’m about to outline. When you say, “Some things in the Bible are right and some things are wrong,” the only way you can say that is if you have faith at the moment you’re saying that in some other source of authority by which you can sift through the Bible. In other words, as soon as you say the Bible is only partially right and partially wrong, the only way you can say that is on the basis of faith in some authority which is completely and always right.

“You can’t doubt everything at once. You can only doubt something from a platform of faith in something else. Here’s what’s going on. If you say even one verse in the Bible is not true but the rest are, what you’re actually doing is you’re saying, “My discernment, my experience, my reason, my feelings are a more sure authority for deciding what God’s will is than the Bible.”

“So either (and there is nothing in between) … Even if you say there’s one verse that’s wrong, either your experience and your judgment can sit in evaluation of the Bible, or the Bible sits in evaluation of your judgment. Either your feelings are judged by the Bible, or the Bible is judged by your feelings.

“I’ll put it another way. Either your understanding is judged by the Bible, or the Bible is judged by your understanding. There’s nothing in the middle. Now I’m not going to try to prove which one is right to you right now, and you certainly have the right to believe your judgment is valid, more valid than the Bible. You know, be careful. In the 1890s, there were people who were saying these are things modern people can’t believe anymore in the Bible. They’re very different than in the 1990s. They’ll be very different than in the 2090s. I’m not going to try to prove which is right and which is wrong.

“Let me just show you the implications and ramifications of what you’ve just done. There is never a place now where you can see a standard that can cross your moral will. Do you know what’s happened to you? Now that you say, “This doesn’t seem right to me. Yes, the Bible says it’s wrong, but I can’t believe that. Yes, the Bible says this is wrong, but I can’t believe that.”


“In other words, if something doesn’t feel right to you and the Bible says it is right, or if something feels right and the Bible says it’s wrong, now there is no possibility of moral discipline. There is no possibility of a higher standard than your own feelings and your own experience and your own judgment. What that means is you can’t have a personal relationship with God. You’re treating God like a microphone now. If it feels right to you, that must be God’s will. How will you ever know a God who can say even though it feels right, it’s wrong? Because now what feels right is right.

Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).  This particular citation is from a 1994 sermon entitled “The Freedom of Obedience”

The Gospel in a Nutshell (by Tim Keller)

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I love how Tim Keller outlines the passage I’m preaching on this coming Sunday (Romans 1:16-17):

Romans 1:16-17 – Paul’s Thesis: the gospel in a nutshell
Characteristics of the Gospelv.16a – The gospel destroys shame (its effect)
v.16b – The gospel is a living force (its power)
v.16c – The gospel can save anyone at all (its scope)
v.16d – The gospel saves only those believing (its condition)
v.16d – The gospel came to the Jew first, then the Gentile (its history)
Content of the Gospelv.17a – God provides a perfect righteousness and record for us
v.17b – It is received by faith permanently and exclusively
v.17c – The result of reception is a new way of life 

Why don’t you consider the amazing message of grace found in the Bible and believe?

Some Links as we near the weekend…

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First off, Mark Driscoll has a new webpage…and answers a FAQ on his view of alcohol. Tim Keller was critiqued on something he said nearly 3 years ago on the exclusivity of Christ but responded with Gospel-infused grace and clarified his words. Josh Hamilton hit a grand slam last night, which means free carpet and flooring evidently. Both Crestview Bible Church and our children’s ministry, CrestviewKids, have Facebook pages. How about a like? Have a great weekend.

My Favorite Quote from @DailyKeller’s King’s Cross…

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Just finished Keller’s recent book, King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus, which was really an experience of worship in preparing for another Passion Week. I’m wondering if I ought to re-read this book every year around this time. Keller’s lets Mark’s Gospel communicate why Jesus came and who He was.

My favorite quote came on p.41, which was eye-opening in helping me see how easily people in the church can fall prey to the shackles of religion…

In religion the purpose of obeying the law is to assure you that you’re all right with God. As a result, when you come to the law, what you’re most concerned about is detail. You want to know exactly what you’ve got to do, because you have to push all the right buttons. You won’t gravitate toward seeking out the intent of the law; rather, you’ll tend to write into the law all sorts of details of observance so you can assure yourself that you’re obeying it. But in the life of Christians the law of God–though still binding on them–functions in a completely different way. It shows you the life of love you want to live before the God who has done so much for you. God’s law takes you out of yourself; it shows you how to serve God and others instead of being absorbed with yourself. You study and obey the law of God in order to discover the kind of life you should live in order to please and resemble the one who created and redeemed you, delivering you from the consequences of sin. And you don’t violate it or whittle it down to manageable portions by adding man-made details to it.

This is just one of many gems in this book. Enjoy.

Keller on Cultivating a Healthy Marriage…

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This sermon, Cultivating a Healthy Marriage by Tim Keller was recommended to me and I’ve found it helpful. Here’s a summary of one section and how the Gospel brings perspective:

Human Heart Presupposition:
I’ll be the spouse I should be; if and to the degree you’re the spouse you should be.

Gospel Reenactment:
I’ll be the spouse I should be even if you’re not the spouse you should be since Jesus loved me in spite of me.

Listen and all your message to be shaped by the Gospel.

(*Updated with the following outline…)
Cultivating a Healthy Marriage
Timothy and Kathy Keller

1.Think of marriage like a garden
A. Whether rain or draught is going to take lots of work
B. Marriage is not the flowers, sod, or leaves but it’s to the best fruit out of the “garden”
C. Can’t walk away from a garden for a few days and think it took care of itself

2.Planning/Planting
A. Why did you get married?
1. Happiness?
2. Family Stability?
3. Both 1 and 2 are unbiblical!
B. Gospel Reenactment is the purpose
1. Requires Gospel Motivation
2. Sacrificial love creates freedom
3. Sacrificial love is always an action first and feeling second
4. Servant or ministry perspective should always be used

3. Headship – both husband and wife play Jesus
A. Husband is the head of the family like Jesus is head of church
B. Wife plays Jesus submitting to the Father to glorify and serve
C. Both headship reveal God’s character because male and female are both created in God’s image
D. Helper possesses strengths the other doesn’t

4. Authority
A. Never used to get something they want
B. Always a gift and used in service to the best interests of the other
C. Voluntary submission between equals
D. Jesus gave used His authority as a sacrifice and will be forever in glory

5. Submission
A. Jesus revolutionizes headship and submission
B. He is exalted above all for His service to God’s children
C. Never submit to a man who is habitually sinning against God

6.Communication
A. Always ask, “What is the goal in what I’m about to say?”
B. Remember the log in your eye
C. Attack the problem not the person
D. Slow down your responses and let the other talk

7.Love Language
A. Behaviors that others do to make me feel loved
B. Speak in the same language. If you speak in French or German your English speaking spouse won’t get it.

8.Conflict Resolution
A. Conflict avoiders and conflict confronters, which are you and why?
B. Use all your energy to solve the problem instead of attacking
C. Keeping a scorecard is a recipe for death in any relationship and especially marriage!
D. The occasion of the conflict never supersedes the cause of the conflict. The cause is always a sinful heart!!

9.Repentance and forgiveness
A. Truth without love ends in breaking people apart
B. Love without truth leads to avoidance of the problem and zero growth
C. No excuses, center on the wrong, and offer to change

Prayer and the Gospel

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Great word from Tim Keller on prayer and the Gospel:

One of the most basic things that the gospel does is change prayer from mere petition to fellowship and the praise of his glory. Galatians 4:6-7 teaches us that when we believe the gospel, we not only become God’s children legally, but we receive the Spirit in order to experience our sonship. The Spirit leads us to call out passionately to God as our tender and loving Father. The Spirit calls out ‘Abba’ (4:7). In the very next verse Paul refers to this experience as “knowing God” (4:8). We do not just know and believe that God is holy and loving, but we actually experience contact with his holiness and his love in personal communion with him.

I don’t know if your prayer life reflects this reality or not, but may you look to the Gospel again and find that God loves you in spite of who you are. Run to Him as your Father.