Gospel in Life

Long before Marx, Nietzsche, and Foucault rightly noticed that normally people follow moral virtue out of fear, pride, and a desire for power, the apostle Paul said it’s extremely possible to live a completely ethical life without any love at the root of it. We’re looking at the traits that show not just moral restraint...

In the last 40 years or so, we’ve had an explosion of 12-step groups helping people with a range of addictions. And even if you don’t have those addictions, think of how much misery there is in our lives because we can’t control our tongue or our time or our thoughts. Just about everybody has...

A lot of people think that to say Christians have a changed relationship to the truth means that Christians become honest. It’s not less than that. Technical, ethical honesty is one thing. But we’re talking about something more and deeper. In Ephesians 4:15, Paul says, “speaking the truth in love.” But what Paul actually says...

To talk about humility means we’re getting into a very culturally interesting subject, which is self-esteem. Traditional cultures have believed that having too high a view of yourself is the real root cause for most of the evil in the world. But in modern Western culture, particularly in the United States, we have an utterly...

How can you relate to someone whose views and values and practices offend you and distress you? How can we relate to people with whom we deeply differ? Our culture says we need to be tolerant, but I want to show you that Paul says the mark of a supernaturally changed heart is to go...

One trait or quality of a supernaturally changed heart is peace. There’s a difference between a supernaturally changed heart and a morally restrained heart. The marks of a supernaturally changed heart are sometimes called the fruit of the Spirit. They’re listed a number of places in the New Testament. And peace is always included. So...

Every religion in the world gives you a list of virtuous behaviors. But the New Testament gives you something different. It does give you a list, but it’s of aspects of how a supernaturally, grace-changed heart shows itself.   The apostle Paul says it’s possible to do all the morally virtuous behavior without any love...

Morally virtuous behavior can arise out of a heart that hasn’t actually been supernaturally changed. For example, in traditional moral training, we teach people to be honest by using a motive of fear and insecurity. But only for a heart that feels absolutely loved is lying unnecessary and unnatural. It’s only an experience of the...

The city of Corinth was a place of commerce. Nobody went there except to be successful. It was built from scratch just a few decades before Paul’s letter was written. There were not old families and traditions. This was a place that attracted an unusually resourceful, talented, ambitious, intense kind of person. And right into...

This talk was given by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 6, 1994. Series: Redeemer Open Forums. Today’s episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you’ve enjoyed listening to this podcast and...

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 29, 1993. Series: Salvation From the Outside In. Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-21. Today’s podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you’ve enjoyed...

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 22, 1993. Series: Salvation From the Outside In. Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-21. Today’s podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you’ve enjoyed...

As we find ourselves discouraged with our circumstances in life, we usually react in one of three ways. We might harden ourselves by saying life is unfair and we should get used to it, we might be overcome by despair, or we might simply believe everything will get better for us soon. The apostle Paul...

We sometimes think becoming a Christian is something that has to take a lot of time and effort. As we consider what we believe, it can be easy to feel as if we’re somewhere between “not a believer” and “someone saved by Christ.” But the Bible gives us a different interpretation: we are either strangers...

Get the new book The Stories We Live By this month as our thanks for your gift at gospelinlife.com/give. This video is an excerpt from session 1 of a group study that has also been created to complement the new book. The Stories We Live By Bible Study Guide releases Nov 3rd, but can be pre-ordered...

When we think of what it means to be holy, many of us think of a perfect person who never does anything wrong. And if the apostle Paul says that we are being shaped to be holy, how could we ever live up to such a standard? The Bible, thankfully, gives us a bigger definition...

In the Book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul calls Christians stones of a holy temple “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets…” But what does it really mean that these figures of the early church are our foundation, and why is it important? By studying the apostles and prophets’ teachings in the Word...

One of the biggest questions the Bible answers is, “If human beings have been separated from God, how can we be in his presence again?” The good news is this: from the days of Adam and Eve to our own lives today, God has been working out a plan that allows us to dwell with...

Being part of a church doesn’t mean we’re part of an audience. Rather, each of us is a building block that plays a crucial part in making up the whole. The apostle Paul explains this when he says we as Christians are stones that build a holy temple—stones that must enjoy unity, connection, and intimacy...

God moved heaven and earth to be our Father. Rather than just forgiving our sins through Jesus Christ, he invites us to sit at the family table with him as his very own sons and daughters. All too often, we live and act as slaves instead of cherished children, blown about by the emotional highs...

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 7, 1992. Series: Salvation From the Outside In. Scripture: Ephesians 1:4-8. Today’s podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you’ve enjoyed...

Forgiveness isn’t something that can just be given for free; it always has a cost. When we commit an offense against someone and they forgive us, they pay the price of the time, money, or reputation we took from them. Ephesians tells us our sins against God, too, come with a real cost that only...

We often hear it stated that Jesus offers redemption to those who believe in him. But why do we need to be redeemed in this first place—and why is Jesus the only one who could do it? The truth is that we have all violated God’s Law and need to be saved. Still, many of...

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 10, 1992. Series: Salvation From the Outside In. Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-14. Today’s podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you’ve enjoyed...

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 3, 1992. Series: Four Ways to Live, Four Ways to Love. Scripture: Ephesians 1:1-5. Today’s podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church....