Timothy Keller Quotes

When people say, "I know God forgives me, but I can't forgive myself," they mean that they have failed an idol, whose approval is more important than God's.

Religion makes us proud of what we have done. The Gospel makes us proud of what Jesus has done.

You are more sinful than you could dare imagine and you are more loved and accepted than you could ever dare hope.

It is no more narrow to claim that one religion is right than to claim that one way to think about all religions is right.

To discover the real you, look at what you spend time thinking about when no one is looking.

The sin that is most destructive in your life right now is the one you are most defensive about.

Because of Jesus-there is always hope, even in the darkest moments of your life.

The world values power, comfort, success, and recognition. Jesus frees us to value grief, sacrifice, weakness, and exclusion.

Trust is accepting what God sends into your life whether you understand it or not.

Nothing is more important than to learn how to maintain a life of purpose in the midst of painful adversity.

You can't live the Christian life without a band of Christian friends, without a family of believers in which you find a place.

In the end, we love people into belief. We do not argue them into belief.

Suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you.

No one is so good that they don’t need the grace of the gospel, nor so bad that they can’t receive the grace of the gospel.

Discipleship is not an option. Jesus says that if anyone would come after me, he must follow me.

Marriage is two broken people having little broken people.

Jesus experienced homelessness at Christmas so that we could experience a love we could never lose.

I hate the moment when suddenly my anger turns into tears

You are under-qualified for the job of God.

A life of gratitude to God for being saved is far more pleasing than a life based on self-righteousness over being good.

As long as we think we are not that bad, the idea of grace will never change us.

If you aren't constantly astonished at God's grace in your solitude, there's no way it can happen in public.

To say doctrine doesn't matter, only how you live matters, is itself a doctrine. It's the doctrine of salvation by works.

In the original language, 'Fear the Lord' doesn't mean be afraid. It means sustaining a joyful, astonished awe, and wonder before Him.

To pray is to accept that we are, and always will be, wholly dependent on God for everything.

You dont fall into love. You commit to it. Love is saying I will be there no matter what.

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.'

Jesus cannot be just liked. His claims make us either kill him or crown him.

Putting our faith in Christ is not about trying harder; it means transferring our trust away from ourselves and resting in him.

We should let Scripture interpret us more than we interpret Scripture.

God relentlessly offers his grace to people who do not deserve it, or seek it, or even appreciate it after they have been saved by it.

Rejoicing and repentance must go together. Repentance without rejoicing will lead to despair. Rejoicing without repentance is shallow and will only provide passing inspiration instead of deep change.

Hell is having to execute a pointless act from which nothing ever comes except the need to do it again.

The reason the stone was rolled away on Jesus's tomb was not so that Jesus could get out, but so that we could get in.

People only get in the afterlife what they have most wanted-either to have God as Savior and Master or to be their own Saviors and Masters.

God will only give you what you would have asked for if you knew everything he knows

Forgiveness always comes at a cost to the one granting the forgiveness. To not retaliate is to absorb the cost.

The peace of God is not the absence of fear. It, in fact, is His presence.

Bad evangelism says: I'm right, you're wrong, and I would love to tell you about it

Only 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.

There's nothing that makes you more miserable (or less interesting) than self-absorption .

Change won’t happen through ‘trying harder’ but only through encountering the radical grace of God.

Grace is humbling and restorative. It pulls you down because Christ had to die for you, but also lifts you up because he wanted to die for you.

The essence of Christian obedience is not do’s and don’ts but personal allegiance to Jesus.

We only fully grasp the gospel when we understand, as Paul did, that we are the worst sinner we know

We can only grasp the gospel's sweetness if we first grapple with its offense- you can't save yourself.

If you want God's grace, all you need is need, all you need is nothing.

If you add anything to Jesus as a requirement for being happy, that's your real king.

We have to be careful not to elevate our preferences to moral standards and judge others by them. We only do so to feel superior.

The purpose of Jesus's coming is to put the whole world right, to renew and restore the creation, not to escape it.