Abandoning the Effort

"At the root of all our disobedience are particular ways in which we continue to seek control of our lives through systems of works-righteousness.

The way to progress as a Christian is to continually repent and uproot these systems the same way we become Christians, namely by the vivid depiction (and re-depiction) of Christ’s saving work for us, and the abandoning of self-trusting efforts to complete ourselves.

We must go back again and again to the gospel of Christ-crucified, so that our hearts are more deeply gripped by the reality of what he did and who we are in him."

— Tim Keller  Galatians For You

HT: Of First Importance

Basis for Identity

"The gospel changes what I fundamentally boast in - it changes the whole basis for my identity. Nothing in the whole world has any power over me - I am free at last to enjoy the world, for I do not need the world. I feel neither inferior to anyone or superior to anyone, and I am being made all over into someone and something entirely new.:

      - Timothy Keller, Galatians For You, page 184

Where to Boast

"..if you understand the gospel, you 'boast' exclusively and only in the cross. Our identity, our self-image, is based on what gives us a sense of dignity and significance - what we boast in. Religion leads us to boast in something about us. the gospel leads us t boast in the cross of Jesus. that means our identity in Jesus is confident and secure-  we do 'boast' ! - yet humbly, based on a profound sense of our flaws and neediness."

        - Timothy Keller, Galatians For You, page 182

Dwell On Hope

For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. (Galatians 5:5-6 ESV)

"Since our faith in Christ gives us a certain hope, which overflows as love for others, if we find our love running dry or cold, the root of our lacks of love is that we are not, by faith, looking at our hope. If we find ourselves unloving, the solution is not to seek to love better or more, it is to look at Christ, who gives us an unlosable, unshakable acceptance from the Father, and as we dwell on our hope, we will find our hearts melted by His love, and overflowing with His love to others."

           - Timothy Keller, Galatians For You, page 140
     

Reacting to the Threat

"...the gospel is more threatening to religious people than non-religious people, Religious people are very touchy and nervous about their standing with God. their insecurity makes them hostile to the gospel, which insists that their best deeds are useless before God. One of the ways we know that our self-image is based on justification by Christ is that we are not hateful and hostile to people who differ from us; one of the ways we know that our self-image is based on justification by works is that we persecute."

        - Timothy Keller, Galatians For You, page 128

Proved in Day-to-Day Human Relationships

"Our words are not sufficient for (and maybe not even the most important in) persuading others about thee truth of Christ. People have to be able to look into our hearts and lives, to assess how we handle trouble, how we deal with disappointment and interruptions, how we conduct our relationships, how we feel and act, so that they can see whether Christ is real and how the gospel affects day-to-day human life. Generally, we find faith mainly through relationships with joyful, flawed-but-honest, loving Christians, not through arguments, information or books."

           - Timothy Keller, Galatians For You, page 110

Known!

"What makes a person a Christian is not so much your knowing God but His knowing of you...Our knowing of God will rise and fall depending on many things. But God's knowing of us is absolutely fixed and solid."

"The great and central basis of Christian assurance is not how much our hearts are set on God, but how unshakably His heart is set on us. And if we begin to grasp that we are 'known by God,' we won't seek to bolster our self-image or standing before Him through our works. We won't worship any idol -we will love Him, the One who knows us."

"If we know Jesus, and know that He knows us, we will enjoy Him, and push the controlling idols aside."

        - Timothy Keller, Galatians For You, pages 106 - 108

Any Basic Thing....

"....Paul is saying that any basic 'thing' - money, sex, mountains, and so on- can be worshiped, treated as a god, and become the basis of your religion. And whatever it is that we worship, we will be enslaved by..."

"..If we treat that are not gods as though they are, we become slaves to them spiritually."

"...Without the gospel, we must be under the slavery of an idol."

"... If anything, the idolatry and slavery of religion is more dangerous than the idolatry and slavery of irreligion, because it is less obvious. The irreligious person knows he is far away from God, but the religious person does not."

         - Timothy Keller, Galatians For You, pages 104 - 105

Radical Implications

"The gospel has radical social implications. It means I am a Christian before I am anyone or anything else.It means that all barriers that separate people in the world into warring factions come down in Christ."

         - Timothy Keller, Galatians For You, page 92

Review of "Galatians For You" by Tim Keller

Galatians For You is part of a new series of commentaries collectively called "God's Word for You," published by The Good Book Company.  This volume is, of course, about St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians. Tim Keller is the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, and a widely recognized guru of communicating the gospel to urban post-modern people. In full disclosure, and in compliance with my book review policy, I did received a free copy of the book from the publisher to review. However, my review would be the same if I had paid full price.

The Epistle to the Galatians is (along with Romans) a centerpiece for understanding the Pauline doctrine of justification by faith. Therefore, it is vital for every Christian believer to have a familiarity with its contents and a good understanding of its message, not just to be born again and enter the Christian life, but to live a grace filled spiritual life. The way in is truly the way on. Tim Keller's book will be helpful to that end.

After reading it I see two strengths and one small weakness in this book

Strength: Keller "gets" the message of Galatians. He also "gets" how both religious and non-religious people react to Paul's radical message of salvation by grace alone through Christ alone, with nothing added. Keller's apologetic method focuses on the concept that religion and rebellion, rule keeping and rule breaking, are both simply manifestations of a works righteousness orientation. The only thing radically different from all other forms of religion or spirituality is the gospel of Jesus, where all the initiative is with God, eternal life is free, and we can only respond in gratitude to His actions for us. He explains this well in this book.

Strength: Tim Keller is known for his clear, concise and winsome communication style, polished by many years of listening, preaching and counseling in the sophisticated urban, post-modern environment of New York. He is a widely recognized guru at communicating complex and possibly confrontational biblical truths in a non-threatening way that bypasses the usual defensiveness, without at the same time dulling the sharp edge of truth. This book is a prime example of that skill. (For a complete treatment of that theme see Keller's book The Reason for God)

Weakness: If you are looking for in-depth treatment on exegetical controversies, such as the meaning of Galatians 3:28 within modern egalitarian vs. complementarian arguments about gender roles in family and church leadership, then this is not the book for you. That is outside the scope and focus of this book, although Keller has certainly written about his views on those maters in other places, as has his wife Kathy Keller (see their book The Meaning of Marriage).

Conclusion: In my opinion, Keller has yet to write a book that is not worth owning and reading over and over again. I have been quoting from this one on my blog for the past week, and expect to post more quotes. There are so many powerful sentences in this book that I have made multiple underlinings on almost every page of my copy. I expect to read this book over and over, and it will be a major resource the next time I teach from Galatians. I highly recommend the book.

Go Back Again and Again

"..the root of all our disobedience is particular ways in which we continue to seek control of our lives through systems of works righteousness.

The way to progress as a Christian is continually to repent and uproot these systems in the same way that we became Christians - by the vivid depiction ( and re-depiction) of Christ's saving work for us, and the abandoning of self-trusting efforts to complete ourselves. We must go back again and again to the gospel of Christ crucified, so that our hearts are more deeply gripped by the reality of what He did and who we are in Him.."

         - Timothy Keller, Galatians For You, page 69

Realignment

"...the gospel is a truth- it is a message, a set of claims. It includes the fact that we are weak and sinful, that we seek to control our lives be being our own saviors and lords, that God's law was fulfilled by Christ for us, that we are now accepted completely though we are still very sinful and flawed, and so on.

And crucially it means, second, that this gospel truth has a vast number of implications for all of life. It is our job to bring everything in our lives 'in line' with the thrust, or direction, or the gospel. We are to think out its implications in every area of our lives, and seek to bring our thinking, feeling, and behavior 'in line.'...

...Christian living is therefore a continual realignment process - one of bringing everything in line with the truth of the gospel."

         - Timothy Keller, Galatians For You, page 53

Cross-Cultural Unity

"An American Christian has far more in common with a gospel-believer who lives a nomadic life on the Mongolian plains than they do with a non-believer who lives on their street, drives a similar car, and whose children go to the same school as theirs.Christian unity takes no account of cultural distinctives and is never contingent on cultural similarity" (page 44)

"Fellowship with Christ is sufficient basis for fellowship with one another. We must never exclude someone whom God has included in His people. But equally, fellowship with Christ is the only basis for fellowship with  one another. Churches must not maintain unity at the expense of the gospel." (page 48)

        - Timothy Keller, Galatians For You

Reading "Galatians For You"

I'm currently reading Timothy Keller's new book, Galatians For You, Over the next few days I will be posting some quotes and then a review. First thought - a very good book. First quotes below.

 "The gospel is the A to Z of the Christian life. It is not only the way to enter the kingdom; it is the way to live as part of the kingdom. It is the way Christ transforms people, churches and communities."  (page 9)

"The gospel - the message that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope - creates a radical new dynamic for personal growth, for obedience, for love." (page 10)

It is not simply non-Christians, but also believers who need continually to learn the gospel and apply it ot their lives." (page 11)

And that's just from the introduction!