Share this page!

Timothy Keller Profile picture
Twitter logo
10 Dec, 4 tweets, 1 min read
Advent Question: What did Jesus come into this world to do?

“He was sold, to buy us back; captive, to deliver us; condemned, to absolve us; he was made a curse for our blessing, sin offering for our righteousness; marred that we may be made fair; he died for our life; 1/4
so that by him fury is made gentle, wrath appeased, darkness turned into light, fear reassured, despisal despised, debt canceled, labor lightened, sadness made merry, misfortune made fortunate, difficulty easy, disorder ordered, division united, ignominy ennobled, rebellion 2/4
...subjected, intimidation intimidated, ambush uncovered, assaults assailed, force forced back, combat combated, war warred against, vengeance avenged, torment tormented, damnation damned, the abyss sunk into the abyss, hell transfixed, death dead, mortality made immortal. 3/4
In short, mercy has swallowed up all misery, and goodness all misfortune. (Joseph Haroutunian, ed., Calvin: Commentaries, The Library of Christian Classics) 4/4

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Timothy Keller

Timothy Keller Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @timkellernyc

Timothy Keller Profile picture
24 Nov
Of course I will do some soul-searching, Kell. I’ve been talking to folks like you who have been the victims of bigotry for years. I never want to become immune to that hurt. 1/4
You seem to be saying that an argument like Edwards’ that (a) acknowledges the reality of very good and virtuous non-theists yet (b) shows the serious problems and implications of non-theism for ethics—necessarily dehumanizes and demonizes non-theists. 2/4
I’d like you to consider that his assertions are carefully thought out and reasoned. And there are articles and books being written right now, often by non-theists themselves, that are pointing out the same problems. 3/4
Read 4 tweets
Timothy Keller Profile picture
24 Nov
Interestingly, some read my other thread as advocating FOR centrism, when in reality it was noting that EVERYONE is a centrist to someone else so the claim is problematic. Perhaps some missed the argument. So here is another thread on the non-centrism of the gospel: 1/8
Jesus in Luke says, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: “‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.’ 2/8
For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating & drinking, & you say, ‘Here is a glutton & a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by all her children.” Lk 7:31-35
Read 8 tweets
Timothy Keller Profile picture
23 Nov
Political advocates for both the Right and the Left devote great energy to criticizing ”moderates” and “centrists” as people who are “selling out” to the culture and refusing to take brave stands. Let me tell you a story! 1/9
When I was teaching at Westminster in Philadelphia I got to know Chip Stonehouse (now deceased) who was the son of one of the founding faculty members, Ned Stonehouse (New Testament). He served for years with John Murray, a Scotsman who taught Theology. Ned died in 1962. 2/9
At that time Chip told me that he was approached by John Murray who expressed love for his father but concern that he died watching TV on a Sunday and therefore, in Murray’s view, breaking the Sabbath. I asked Chip if he was offended and the good-natured Chip said not at all. 3/9
Read 10 tweets
Timothy Keller Profile picture
20 Nov
Hey Kell--Thanks for engaging. You deserve a response. I see your comments on my Twitter account here and there and I’m sorry I don’t have the ability to engage more. I’m not sure you’ll be happy with my response, but I don’t want you to think I ignore what you say. 1/9
1st, as to this idea (that nontheists are incapable of nontransactional love) being offensive—I hope you will agree that most truths usually offend someone. So if a statement is offensive that doesn’t really speak to its truth or falsity. 2/9
2nd, as to this idea being ‘completely false’. Edwards’ “The Nature of True Virtue” is a highly sophisticated philosophical text. It contains no Biblical references—it relies on philosophical reasoning. It is basically an Augustinian argument. 3/9
Read 9 tweets
Timothy Keller Profile picture
13 Nov
With respect, you are misinterpreting me, @Phil_Johnson_. I hope this will clarify. If I am understanding you (and Im not sure I am) you seem to be reading the tweets as claiming that I personally do not tell people that they are sinning. But that can't be maintained in light 1/5
...of the over 1,400 sermons I have out there in one form or another. Anyone listening to them or reading them would see that I speak to listeners about their sin and about God’s wrath consistently. This interesting article talks about this - desiringgod.org/articles/is-ti…. 2/5
So I couldn’t possibly have meant what you assert--that no one should ever tell another person they are sinning. The saying--that no one ever learned they were a sinner by being told--was a paraphrase of something I read in a John Newton letter years ago. As a Calvinist...3/5
Read 5 tweets
Timothy Keller Profile picture
10 Nov
Some say: ‘To do the work of the gospel is to work for justice & peace in the world.’ But Jesus’ primary mission on earth was not to change the social order but to save us from sin. That creates a people who, in any place they reside, will can have a transforming influence on 1/6
...the goodness and justness of the political and social order. (See Tom Holland’s Dominion.)

J.I.Packer says, ‘The gospel does bring us solutions to these problems, but it does so by first solving-the deepest of all human problems, the problem of man’s relationship with his 2/6
Maker, & unless we make it plain that the solution for these former problems depends on the settling of this latter one, we are misrepresenting the message and becoming false witnesses of God.’

In The Screwtape Letters C.S. Lewis has a senior devil writing to a junior devil 3/6
Read 6 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @timkellernyc has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @timkellernyc!

Read all threads by @timkellernyc