Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

As a new Christian, I thought of salvation as taking things off of me: that my sins were taken off. But at the very same moment, there’s another part of that legal transaction: something is put on me. I’m adopted as God’s own son.
Galatians tells us that because we’re legally adopted, we have an agent—it’s the Spirit. The Spirit is sent not into the world but into our hearts. And the Spirit comes to give not the objective status, which we already have, but the subjective experience of sonship.
Let’s break it into three things: 1) what is promised, 2) what it’s like, and 3) how it comes.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 8, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 3:26-4:7.
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.

The gospel insists on putting two things together that no other religion tries to put together, that all other human categories of thought insist is impossible.
How is it possible to have both law and grace in your life? It’s a striking apparent contradiction. In fact, if it doesn’t create some tension in you, you’ll never experience the glorious release Christianity can give.
I’d like to pose the central question Paul asks in Galatians 3: is the law opposed to grace? I’d like to show you 1) the significance of the question and 2) the significance of the answer.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 25, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 3:19–29.
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.

I don’t think there’s any competition on this: the cross is the single most visible and recognizable symbol in human history. It’s everywhere. But what does it mean?
Before Christ came, the cross was a gallows, a firing squad, a guillotine. All the cross meant was that you’d lost. It was not a symbol of strength—it was a symbol of weakness.
Galatians 3 is perhaps the most complete picture on the meaning of the cross. Let’s look at 1) why the cross is necessary, 2) what actually happened on the cross, and 3) how the cross makes us different.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 18, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 3:10-14.
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.

Whenever we listen or read about marriage we bring our own filters. We have filters based on our experiences and cultures.
So before we pick at this passage in Ephesians 5, let’s stand back and consider that the passage presents a view of marriage that may be challenging to our very filters. Because the biblical model of marriage is neither optimistic nor pessimistic about human nature, and it’s neither traditional nor modern.
Let’s look at it. The model of marriage in this passage has three things to it: 1) a power, 2) a purpose, and 3) a pointer. 
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 16, 1998. Series: Ephesians – God’s New Society. Scripture: Ephesians 5:21-33.
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.

When we think of temptation, we tend to almost immediately think of physical kinds of sins. But there are a lot of other temptations. There’s temptation to pride, to despair, to dishonesty.
Anything, whether it’s good or not, can become addicting—it becomes your master. That’s what temptation is about. Temptation is about something which may be good or may be bad, but it becomes your master, and therefore, it’s bad.
Let’s look at 1) temptation and the devil, 2) the way of attack, and 3) the way of defense.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 22, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: Genesis 3:1-7; 39:6-12.
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.

When Jesus Christ came into the life of the demon-possessed man in Mark 5, it says the man sat at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind. That’s the result of Jesus’ resurrection power: self-control.
All of us who look fairly polished on the outside realize, in many cases, our spirits are completely out of control. We look pretty well-manicured, but on the inside, we desperately need to have Christ’s power come into our lives so we can sit as his feet, clothed, and in our right minds.
Let’s look at 1) the problem of self-control, 2) the counterfeit solution, and 3) the real self-control.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 15, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: Ephesians 2:1–3; Luke 11:14–26; 1 Corinthians 9:23–27.
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.

We all have a problem with self-control, right? You can probably think of some emotion or some habit you have trouble controlling. And if you can’t think of anything that’s out of control, your pride is out of control.
The fruit of the Spirit is a singular word, which means it’s like a diamond with many facets. That’s very important. Because you can manufacture a kind of self-control that is nothing more than willpower, that has nothing to do with love or joy or peace. And that’s not self-control.
Let’s look at 1) what self-control is, 2) what self-control is not, and 3) how to get self-control.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 8, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: Galatians 5:19-26.
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.

Goodness and faithfulness are greatly interrelated. They both have to do with integrity, with living honestly.
The word integrity is related to integer—a whole number as opposed to a fraction. A person of integrity lives in a unified, not a fractured, way. But today we live in a fragmented world, in which one area of life has one set of values and another area has another set. What does it mean to have a truth-centered life?
Let’s look at 1) what the Bible teaches about truth, and then 2) what the Bible teaches about getting the truth into your life, about becoming a person of goodness and faithfulness.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 25, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: 1 John 1:5-2:8.
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 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.

The Bible says one of the marks of a real Christian is that your love finds expression in deeds of kindness—especially toward those with material, physical, and economic problems.
Kindness is loving deeds, doing something for someone out of love. And in a number of places, the Bible says a real Christian will care for the poor. It’s the Christian’s social concern, social responsibility.
Let’s look at 1) the definition of kindness 2) the opposite of kindness 3) the counterfeit of kindness, and 4) how we cultivate kindness in our lives.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 11, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: 1 John 3:16-20.
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.

When the Bible says the fruit of the Spirit is patience, it’s saying a Christian is somebody who at last knows how to deal with anger.
You know, anger is a scary thing. Almost all murders and wars start with anger. It’s a tremendously dangerous emotion. And this ability to deal with anger, to really release and remove it, to pray for enemies, to forgive people, to pray for oppressors, to repay evil with good is an essential sign of Christianity.
Ephesians 4 shows us three things about anger: 1) anger in itself is not a sin, 2) anger usually is a sin, and 3) your motives are always impure.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 4, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: 1 John 3:11-20, Ephesians 4:26-32.
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.

When we talk about the fruit of the Spirit, love and joy seem like they’re in a higher league than patience. We think, “everybody gets impatient!” 
But in James 5, it says impatience and grumbling is worthy of judgment. You may say, “Why?” But what do you think murder is? It’s just grumbles that were planted and watered and fertilized. Impatience is at the root of things. 
Let’s look at 1) the danger of impatience 2) what patience is, 3) what patience is not, 4) the counterfeit of patience, and 5) how you develop a patient heart.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 25, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: James 5:7-16.
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.

A lot of Christians are cast down, losing their peace and joy because they don’t expect attacks on their peace and joy. We’re sad that we’re sad. We’re upset that we’re upset. We say, “it’s not supposed to be like this!” because we don’t have the proper expectations. 
Before you became a Christian, your main enemy in life was God: someone who loved you, who was doing everything he could to wake you up. But the minute you make peace with God, instantly, all of God’s enemies declare war on you—and they’re not nice enemies. 
We’re going to look at 1) what the Bible says about peace and joy, 2) our three enemies, and 3) the attacks on assurance. 
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 18, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: Philippians 4:4-9.
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.

When the Bible says joy comes in the morning, it doesn’t mean you’ll wake up every morning with a smile on your face. It means there’s a joy of such intensity in the Christian life that nothing can put it out. 
A Christian will receive a joy of such intensity that no sorrow, in the end, can overwhelm it. Sorrow is always a temporary condition for a Christian, and joy is a permanent condition. 
To look at the fruit of joy, let’s ask 1) what’s the definition of joy? 2) what’s the opposite of joy? 3) what’s the counterfeit of joy? and 4) how do we cultivate joy in our lives?
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 11, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: John 16:16-22.
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.

They say if you’ve been married long enough you start to look like each other. Whether or not that’s true in marriage, I know that’s true about God and you. 
We’re being transformed into the image of his Son. Every fruit of the Spirit, every aspect of holiness comes from looking at God himself.
We look now at 1) what it means to study the fruit of the Spirit, 2) why love is more important than anything else, 3) what the opposite of love is, 4) what the counterfeit of love is, and 5) how you develop love in your life.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 4, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13.
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.

In a single acorn is not only the entire tree, but all the acorns on that tree and all the acorns on that tree and so on and so forth. It’s all already in that one acorn. 
In the same way, a Christian already has the divine nature in them. When we talk about love, joy, peace, and patience, we’re not talking about how to import these into our hearts. No. The Bible says we must grow up into our salvation. So instead of saying, “Oh, I’ll never get there,” the question is: “When are you going to grow up?”
We’re looking at this passage on the fruit of the Spirit as a whole. Galatians 5 shows us 1) there are two natures in every Christian, 2) what it means to live in the Spirit, and 3) how we can walk in the Spirit.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 7, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: Galatians 5:16-25.
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.

The point of Robert Louis Stevenson’s book, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, surely is to make us look at ourselves and say, “Are we that bad? Is the evil in us that evil?” Therefore, another question immediately rises up. Since this story is inspired by the Bible, is this the biblical view of human nature? 
On the one hand, Stevenson is profoundly right about human nature, but in another way, he is profoundly wrong. The biblical view of human nature is more pessimistic and more optimistic than any other view I have ever heard of. 
Looking at Romans 7, we can see 1) how this pessimistic view is right, 2) how this pessimistic view is wrong, and 3) how to defeat evil and sin in your life.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 24, 1997. Series: The War Between Your Selves. Scripture: Romans 7:1-25.
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.

All of life is a battle between two selves, but there’s a war before you become a Christian that’s different from the war that happens after you become a Christian. 
When you become a Christian, you don’t move from warfare to peace. You move from a battle you cannot win to a battle you cannot lose. To understand the difference is extremely important. 
If you look at Romans 7, you’ll see 1) the battle you can’t win, 2) the battle you can’t lose, and 3) how you make the transition.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 17, 1997. Series: The War Between Your Selves. Scripture: Romans 7:1-25.
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.

In Psalm 73, Asaph is mad at God. He’s been living right, but everything is going wrong. Yet all kinds of abusive people are having great lives. Life seems unjust. Asaph’s just about to chuck his faith. Yet at the end, he’s able to say in his pain, “God is always good.” 
I’ll tell you, if you’re trying to live a decent life, this is going to happen to you. At some point, you’re going to say, “God, why are you letting this happen? You’re not running my life right. You’re not running history right.” It’s going to happen. How will you handle it? 
How does Asaph do it? He goes through a number of steps: 1) he grabbed hold of a negative, 2) he entered the sanctuary for understanding, 3) he saw the big picture, and 4) he asked the ultimate question.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 28, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Psalm 73.
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.

A lot of people are mad at God. People who believe. People who don’t believe. And people who don’t know what they believe. And in Psalm 73, we see Asaph get mad at the way God seems to be mishandling the world.
Asaph has been living a self-controlled, compassionate life, but everything is going wrong. On top of that, he sees all sorts of people who live abusive, immoral lives, and they’re having a great life. Yet we’re told that Asaph finally comes to the conclusion that God, in spite of it all, is good. 
How does he get there? We’re going to look at this psalm over two weeks. This week I want to show you 1) the situation he was in, 2) how he escaped it, and 3) how he finally came to say, “God is good, no matter what happens to me.”
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 21, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Psalm 73.
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.

Jesus’ teaching about money here is triggered by an event: a Pharisee gets upset that Jesus didn’t wash his hands before he ate his food. 
The ceremonial washings of the Old Testament were visual aids for the idea that you need to approach God with a clean heart. But the Pharisees had turned religion into a matter of externalities. Jesus slams that whole idea. He refuses to emphasize the external over the internal, but he also refuses to pit the external against the internal. Instead, Jesus says true religion is living externally out of an inner reality. 
Jesus applies this to the issue of financial giving, teaching us three things about our attitude toward our possessions and our giving: 1) there’s an external aspect, 2) there’s an internal aspect, and 3) there’s a spiritual motor that energizes and drives both.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 14, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Luke 11:37-42.
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.