Timothy J. Keller is an American pastor and Christian apologist and the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. He is the author of numerous books and his quotes below show his keen insight into the things of God.1 Please keep Pastor Keller in your prayers because for the past two years he has been undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer.
“God sees us as we are, loves us as we are, and accepts us as we are. But by His grace, He does not leave us as we are.”
“Suffering can refine us rather than destroy us because God himself walks with us in the fire.”
“The basic purpose of prayer is not to bend God’s will to mine, but to mold my will into His.”
“The resurrection was God’s way of stamping PAID IN FULL right across history so that nobody could miss it.”
“All human problems are ultimately symptoms, and our separation from God is the cause.”
“Religion makes us proud of what we have done. The Gospel makes us proud of what Jesus has done.”
“Worry is not believing God will get it right, and bitterness is believing God got it wrong.”
“Are you living to justify yourself, or are you living because you are justified?”
“In the original language, ‘Fear the Lord’ doesn’t mean be afraid. It means sustaining a joyful, astonished awe, and wonder before Him.”
“It’s impossible to have met the real Jesus and be indifferent. You either bow down in wonder OR go away offended.”
“There is a joy available that the deepest grief cannot put out. No circumstance or person can take away the joy God gives.”
“We need to remember that we are saved by grace when we fail. But we need to remember it much more when we succeed.”
“The world values power, comfort, success, and recognition. Jesus frees us to value grief, sacrifice, weakness, and exclusion.”
“The cross is the place where the Judge takes the Judgment.”
“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.”
“The gospel humbles us into the dust and at the very same time exalts us to the heavens.”
“You don’t fall in love. You commit to it.”
“Nothing is more important than to learn how to maintain a life of purpose in the midst of painful adversity.”
“Prayer should be done regularly, persistently, resolutely, and tenaciously at least daily, whether we feel like it or not.”
“Pride is the carbon-monoxide of Sin. It silently and slowly kills you without you even knowing.”
“The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me.”
“To take a person out of slavery takes an instant. To take slavery out of a person takes a process.”
“How Religion Works: If I obey, then God will love and accept me. The Gospel: I’m loved and accepted, therefore I wish to obey.”
“Jesus cannot be just liked. His claims make us either kill him or crown him.”
“In the end, we love people into belief. We do not argue them into belief.”
“No one is exempt from trials and tribulations. In fact, this is often what happens to people God loves very much, for it is part of God’s often mysterious and good plan for turning us into something great.”
1 All of the quotes below are from the following website:
TOP 25 QUOTES BY TIMOTHY KELLER (of 581) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
Pancreatic cancer is very serious. He may be with The Lord soon.
Elaine