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If anything becomes more fundamental than God to your happiness, meaning of life, and identity then it is an idol.

Timothy Keller

So we find messages of self-salvation extremely attractive, whether they are religious (Keep these rules and you earn eternal blessing) or secular (Grab hold of these things and you’ll experience blessing now).
TIMOTHY KELLER

Bless Eternal Experience Many People Promise Succes Thing Time
What you do today is shaped by what you believe about tomorrow.
TIMOTHY KELLER

Believe Christ Jesus Shape Today Tomorrow
Religion operates on the principle ‘I obey-therefore I am accepted by God.’ But the operating principle of the gospel is ‘I am accepted by God through what Christ has done-therefore I obey.’
TIMOTHY KELLER

Accept Acceptable God Gospel Obey Operate Principle Religion
The Gospel is good news not good advice. Advice = what we should do. News = report of what was done for us.
TIMOTHY KELLER

Advice Done Good New News Report
The only person who dares wake up a king at 3:00 AM for a glass of water is a child. We have that kind of access
TIMOTHY KELLER

Access Child Children Glass Kind King Person Water
You dont fall into love. You commit to it. Love is saying I will be there no matter what.
TIMOTHY KELLER

Commit Fall Into Love Matter Say
Only on the cross do you have a totally holy God and a totally loving God.
TIMOTHY KELLER

Become Crosses God Happiness Happy Holy Love Make Mean Tend
We tend to see God as a means through which we get things to make us happy. For most of us, He has not become our happiness.
TIMOTHY KELLER

Become God Happiness Happy Mean Most Tend Thing
In the original language, ‘Fear the Lord’ doesn’t mean be afraid. It means sustaining a joyful, astonished awe, and wonder before Him.
TIMOTHY KELLER

Astonished Before Fear Joyful Language Lord Mean Original Sustain Wonderful
Our character is mainly shaped by our primary social community – the people with whom we eat, play, converse, and study.
TIMOTHY KELLER

Character Community Converse Eat Mainly Person Play Primarily Social Strap Study
Religion is ‘if you obey, then you will be accepted’. But the Gospel is, ‘if you are absolutely accepted, and sure you’re accepted, only then will you ever begin to obey’. Those are two utterly different things. Every page of the Bible shows the difference.
TIMOTHY KELLER

Accept Accepted Bible Different Every Gospel Page Religion Show Utterly
Faith is not primarily a function of how you feel.
TIMOTHY KELLER

Faith Feel Function Primarily
Christianity does not provide the reason for each experience of pain, but it does provide deep resources for actually facing suffering with hope and courage rather than bitterness and despair
TIMOTHY KELLER

Actually Christian Courage Deep Experience Face Hope Pain Provide Reason Resources Suffer
We instinctively tend to limit for whom we exert ourselves. We do it for people like us, and for people whom we like. Jesus will have none of that.
TIMOTHY KELLER

Brother Exert Instinctively Jesus Limit Ourselves Race
Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it.
TIMOTHY KELLER

Affirm Denial Flaw Giving Keep Love Marriage Sentimentality Support Truth
If you want God’s grace, all you need is need, all you need is nothing. But that kind of spiritual humility is hard to muster.
TIMOTHY KELLER

God Grace Hard Humility Kind Muster Need Nothing Spiritual Want

If anything becomes more fundamental than God to your happiness, meaning of life, and identity then it is an idol.

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If anything becomes more fundamental than God to your happiness, meaning of life, and identity then it is an idol.

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