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Tim Keller

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The Centrality of the Gospel

October 13, 2021
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One of the great things about this passage from Galatians is that Paul is giving us some very meaty, very important theological teaching exposition, but he’s doing it in the form of a narrative because he’s telling us a story of two visits.

There were all these ceremonial rules in the Mosaic covenant in the Old Testament. There was an extremely influential pressure group of early Christians, and this group was saying that in order to be a Christian, you must not only believe in Jesus Christ, you also have to obey all the ceremonial clean laws. Of course, Paul’s point was, “No, you don’t.” If Paul says we have to honor parts of the Bible but we don’t have to honor another part of the Bible, who’s to say? How do we know?

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 2, 1997. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 2:6-14.

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 listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

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Past Episodes

We’re looking here at one particular truth: Paul is saying in this passage that doctrinal truth is absolutely critical. He’s fighting for a particular truth, the truth of the gospel. It is the mark of our culture right now that we want spirituality without theology. We want some kind of heart intimacy, but we don’t want to have to bring our mind and our entire life.  Yet you also can’t have theology without spirituality. What is Paul saying over and over again? If you lose the truth of the gospel, the freedom is gone. The liberation is gone. The spirituality is gone. The love, the power, the glory are all gone. That’s why we have to keep the truth. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 19, 1997. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 2:1-10. 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 listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
October 11, 2021
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We’re looking at Paul’s letter to the Galatians, and the thing I hope will strike you is the radical objectivity and subjectivity of Christianity. Almost everybody tends to see the objective and subjective as being at loggerheads. Christianity will not let you make that choice. It says Christianity is radically both. They’re joined in the gospel. If you take a look at the passage, it may be better here than anywhere. You can see them together. First of all, we see the hard objectivity. We won’t spend as much time on that because this is a continuation of where we were last week. First of all, we see the hard objectivity and the deep subjectivity. You’re really not a Christian unless you accept both, unless you embrace both, unless you really see both. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 12, 1997. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 1:10-24. 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 listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
October 8, 2021
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The book of Galatians is not for non-Christians. It’s not for unbelievers. It’s not for people who say, “Oh, I don’t believe the gospel.” The whole book of Galatians is a book on the gospel, a book communicating the gospel, explaining the gospel, applying the gospel, and it’s a book for Christians, a book for people who say they believe it. To break down this passage, first, Paul shows us the need for controversy, essentially why and when we need controversy. Secondly, he tells us what the authority is to appeal to in controversy, the method of conducting it. Again, we’re talking about Christians struggling with beliefs. Thirdly, he tells us how to heal controversy. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 5, 1997. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 1:6-12. 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 listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
October 6, 2021
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If the Bible is not so much a human book reaching up for God, but a divine book reaching out for us, then we’ll only really profit from it if we read it in search of what God has for us rather than reading it to find what we want to find. One of the best ways to do this is to take verse by verse, rather than just jumping to topics that we like.  One of the things we see right away in the introduction of Galatians is that Paul has to address a church that is losing touch with the gospel. He has to remind his readers how they came into being  and how they became Christians. By doing so, he gives us a little set of tests to know whether or not the gospel is in our own lives. We’re going to look at four things to test ourselves: the power, the content, the drama, and the intimacy. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 21, 1997. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 1:3-12. 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 listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
October 4, 2021
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Galatians is like a little bomb. There’s dynamite in it. It’s not a very long book, but it brings a big punch. Paul has to bring a hard truth to the Galatians. Those that thought they believed the gospel were actually losing touch with it. The lesson for us is if we really think we understand everything about the gospel, then that probably proves we’re losing touch with it.  We’re going to look at the introduction to Galatians. It’s tempting to gloss right over these first few verses, but there are important things for us to learn. Paul touches on themes that will reappear later in the book. 1) The importance of doctrine, 2) the importance of authority, and 3) the importance of God’s initiative. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 14, 1997. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 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. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
October 1, 2021
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This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 21, 2011. Series: Theophany: Anticipations of Jesus in the Old Testament. Scripture: Daniel 3:14-29. 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 listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
September 29, 2021
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The book of Daniel is a helpful place in the Bible to learn how to live as a believer in a pluralistic society — a society that believes in many gods, religions, and moralities. Today we take a look at the most famous of all the narratives in Daniel. We learn three things that should characterize the life of the believer: salt, hurt, and light. These are the same three things that Jesus gives us in the Sermon on the Mount.  Let’s look at these three principles that show us how to live in the world as believers in the only true God. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 21, 2000. Series: Daniel: Living by Faith in a Secular World. Scripture: Daniel 6:1-10, 16-23. 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 listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
September 27, 2021
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Daniel is a set of narratives about what happened when the Jewish exiles were taken out of a country in which there was a set of cultural institutions that supported the biblical God. They were taken into Babylon, which was a pluralistic society in which there were many gods and there were many moralities, all equally valid. The Israelites, who believed in the one true God, had to learn how to function in an unbelieving society.  Today’s passage from Daniel 5 will help us see how we should also live faithful lives in a secular world. Let’s look at these three parts of the narrative: the party; the great party crasher, Daniel; and thirdly, the fingers of God and the writing on the wall. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 14, 2000. Series: Daniel: Living by Faith in a Secular World. Scripture: Daniel 5:1-6, 17-31. 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 listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
September 24, 2021
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The book of Daniel teaches us about the Israelites while in exile. After living for centuries in a culture in which the cultural institutions supported their belief in God, they found themselves in Babylon, which was a religiously pluralistic society. This big city had many gods and many moralities. This naturally created tension because the Israelites believed in the one true God of the Bible.  In a similar way, how do we live as believers in a pluralistic society? We may be accused of being intolerant of those who don’t believe like us. Or we may face hard questions about our God allowing unjust suffering in the world. How do we handle that? Today’s passage from the book of Daniel helps us navigate these issues. First of all, let’s take a look at the golden image, which addresses the problem of tolerance, and then we’ll look at the fiery furnace, which addresses the problem of unjust suffering. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 7, 2000. Series: Daniel: Living by Faith in a Secular World. Scripture: Daniel 3:14-29. 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 listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
September 22, 2021
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We’re going to consider the question, “What does it mean to live the Christian life? How can we live it out?” The book of Daniel is a helpful place to go because it’s exilic literature, meaning it tells the stories of the Israelites when in exile. They were taken away from Israel and into a city that was hostile to God. As believers, we’re like Daniel in exile, asking ourselves, “How in the world can we live a life of integrity in a pluralistic, polytheistic, unbelieving world?”  There are three questions to ask ourselves: what’s the meaning of Daniel’s two names, what’s the meaning of this weird dream, and thirdly, what is the rock that strikes the statue? We’re going to learn three practical principles for living a believing life in an unbelieving world.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 30, 2000. Series: Daniel: Living by Faith in a Secular World. Scripture: Daniel 2:24-35, 44-46. 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 listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
September 20, 2021
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About Gospel in Life

Gospel In Life is a ministry that features sermons, books, articles, and resources from Timothy Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, and Redeemer City to City. The name reflects our conviction that the gospel changes everything in life. In 1989 Dr. Timothy J. Keller, his wife and three young sons moved to New York City to begin Redeemer Presbyterian Church. He has since become a bestselling author, an influential thinker, and an advocate for ministry in cities and to secular people.

About Tim Keller

Timothy Keller is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, which he started in 1989 with his wife, Kathy, and three young sons.  For 28 years he led a diverse congregation of young professionals that grew to a weekly attendance of over 5,000.

He is also the Chairman & Co-Founder of Redeemer City to City (CTC), which starts new churches in New York and other global cities, and publishes books and resources for ministry in an urban environment. In 2017 Dr. Keller transitioned to CTC full time to teach and mentor church planters and seminary students through a joint venture with Reformed Theological Seminary's (RTS), the City Ministry Program. He also works with CTC's global affiliates to launch church planting movements.

Dr. Keller’s books, including the New York Times bestselling The Reason for God and The Prodigal God, have sold over 2 million copies and been translated into 25 languages.

Christianity Today has said, “Fifty years from now, if evangelical Christians are widely known for their love of cities, their commitment to mercy and justice, and their love of their neighbors, Tim Keller will be remembered as a pioneer of the new urban Christians.”

Dr. Keller was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and educated at Bucknell University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Westminster Theological Seminary. He previously served as the pastor of West Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Hopewell, Virginia, Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, and Director of Mercy Ministries for the Presbyterian Church in America.

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