The Cross is not simply a lovely example of sacrificial love. Throwing your life away needlessly is not admirable — it is wrong. Jesus’ death was only a good example if it was more than an example, if it was something absolutely necessary to rescue us. And it was. Why did Jesus have to die in order to forgive us? There was a debt to be paid — God himself paid it. There was a penalty to be born — God himself bore it. Forgiveness is always a form of costly suffering.
Timothy KellerPaul sees all kinds of sins in himself and all kinds of accomplishments too, but he refuses to connect them with his identity.
Timothy KellerThe 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 KellerOnly if you are part of a community of believers seeking to resemble, serve, and love Jesus will you ever get to know him and grow into his likeness.
Timothy KellerDescribe the God you've rejected. Describe the God you don't believe in. Maybe I don't believe in that God either.
Timothy KellerNeither son loved the father for himself. They both were using the father for their own self-centered ends rather than loving, enjoying, and serving him for his own sake. This means that you can rebel against God and be alienated from him either by breaking his rules or by keeping all of them diligently. It 's a shocking message: Careful obedience to God's law may serve as a strategy for rebelling against God .
Timothy Keller