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Tim Keller on the Christian Life by Matt Smethurst BOOK CLUB

Tim Keller on the Christian Life: The Transforming Power of the Gospel by Matt Smethurst

Pastor and author Timothy Keller (1950–2023) built a lasting legacy in Christian ministry, planting Redeemer Presbyterian Church and cofounding the Gospel Coalition. With sharp biblical insight that has shaped countless church leaders, along with counsel on the Christian life that has stirred and strengthened audiences worldwide, Keller’s teaching promises to influence generations to come.

Synthesizing Keller’s work topic by topic, each chapter of this book highlights a key aspect of the Christian life—covering his views on prayer, suffering, friendship, vocation, intimacy with God, and more. Written by pastor Matt Smethurst, Tim Keller on the Christian Life draws from Keller’s nearly 50 years of sermons, conference messages, and books to share practical theological insight that will galvanize leaders and laypeople alike.

As we read through this book, we begin by looking at the “Introduction”. Here are a few helpful quotes from this section:

  • This book is not a biography. The aim is more modest: to synthesize and distill Tim Keller’s best teaching on the Christian life.
  • This book focuses on practical Christian discipleship—rather than, say, Keller’s thoughts on more controversial theological or political matters.
  • The target here is Keller’s contribution to timeless, bread-and-butter aspects of everyday Christian living.
  • My aim in this volume is to synthesize the master synthesizer. Drawing from nearly fifty years of sermons, conference messages, interviews, articles, books, and more, I attempt to draw out the best of Keller’s teaching where it shines brightest—biblical wisdom for everyday life.

Chapter 1: One Hero Jesus Christ in All Scripture

  • From beginning to end, the Bible is an epic story about Jesus.
  • Keller sees the Bible as the foundation for the Christian life.
  • So much of Keller’s teaching about Jesus Christ, our mighty Champion and King, focused on his sacrificial substitution.
  • From beginning to end, Keller’s teaching is suffused with the good news of Christ’s self-giving love as he absorbs—for our sins—God’s righteous judgment in our place.
  • In the final analysis, says Keller, there are two ways to read the Bible: as if it’s all about you, or all about him.
  • We miss out on the breathtaking beauty of the Bible when we reduce it to only a textbook or only a devotional book or only a morality book. Above all, the word of God is a Jesus book.

Chapter 2: Excavating Sin A Tale of Disordered Loves

  • Sin is what’s wrong with the world. Sin is what’s wrong with our hearts.
  • One of the most pronounced features of Tim Keller’s teaching is that the problem of sin is, at bottom, a problem of worship.
  • Nobody is truly an unbeliever. Either you trust the real God or you’re enslaved to something you treat as a god.
  • Channeling the apostle Paul, Keller puts it categorically: idolatry is always the reason we ever do anything wrong.
  • One way to know whether a good thing in your life has been inflated into an ultimate thing – an idol – is to assess how you respond when it’s threatened or lost.
  • The secret to destroying idols is not just to remove them; it’s to replace them.

Chapter 3: Three Ways to Live: Why Religion Needs Grace

  • You can avoid God through immorality, but you can also avoid God through performative morality. The first option is common sense; the second is cancerous.
  • According to the apostle, then, there are three ways to live: one way to be reconciled to God, but two ways to reject him.
  • In short, the Sermon on the Mount is a warning against rebellion dressed up as religion.
  • An elder-brother mindset can haunt us all.
  • So, there are two ways, not one, to be your own Savior and Lord: you can break all the moral rules and chart your own course, or you can try keeping all the external moral rules and seek to earn heaven’s favor. Both are strategies for avoiding God.
  • When it comes to pleasing God, both the rebellious path and the religious path are dead ends. But Jesus shows us a more excellent way.

Chapter 4: Friends on Purpose How the Gospel Transforms Relationships

  • Friendship should matter to us because it matters so deeply to God.
  • There are few things that dehumanize us more than loneliness—and few things that bring life to us more than friendship.
  • Authentic friendship will be forged only to the degree that each person is willing to be vulnerable—truly open and honest.
  • The gospel is the most radical act of friendship in the history of the world.
  • The cross is the pinnacle of burden bearing—and the burden crushed him to death because he’s the ultimate Friend.
  • In gospel friendship, we get the privilege of watching the Great Sculptor chisel away at his masterpieces—beginning with ourselves.