“We habitually and instinctively look to other things besides God and his grace as our justification, hope, significance, and security. We believe the gospel at one level, but at deeper levels we do not. Human approval, professional success, power and influence, family and clan identity- all of these things serve as our heart’s ‘functional trust’ rather than what Christ has done, and as a result we continue to be driven to a great degree by fear, anger, and a lack of self-control. You cannot change such things through mere willpower, through learning Biblical principles and trying to carry them out. We can only change permanently as we take the gospel more deeply into our understanding and into our hearts. We must feed on the gospel, as it were, digesting it and making it part of ourselves. That is how we grow.”
Tim Keller, The Prodigal God, p. 115
Gospel-Driven Blog 
[…] looks like in both elder brothers and younger brothers. Thanks to John at The Gospel Driven Blog for posting the following quote which gets at the heart of Keller’s message: “We habitually […]
Amen, Amen, Amen and Praise God. That is the truth the world needs to hear and understand. People wonder why some are on fire and others are not and it is because they don’t understand where the fire comes from. Man that is so true. Keep spreading the word. Keller has it nailed about as good as you can nail it in a short prargraph. Thanks John. I was praying for you as I walked down to my garden yesterday evening. Hope all is well. Doug
[…] (HT: John Fonville) […]
[…] page 115, he writes: We habitually and instinctively look to other things besides God and his grace as our […]