“The Gospel of Christianity which is that you are not saved by good doctrine, not by your good works but by sheer unmerited grace. It pulls out the self righteousness and superiority that tends to go along with religious belief. ”
Rev. Dr. Tim Keller
1.) I’m so confused. Isn’t this a doctrine that Rev. Dr. Keller is giving me … a doctrine that apparently I must be conversant with in order to be saved. Presumably, it is even a good doctrine
If I’m not saved via good doctrine must I be saved via bad doctrine or am I saved with no doctrine? (Which, of course, this advocacy is a doctrine.)
In the end Rev. Dr. Keller, the doctrine of no doctrine is still a doctrine.
This diminishing of good doctrine in favor of the doctrine of no doctrine is NOT Christianity.
2.) Rev. Dr. Keller’s doctrine in the first sentence is obviously driving his self-righteousness as seen in his second sentence. Rev. Dr. Keller obviously views himself, because of his superior doctrine, as superior over those poor benighted Christians who believe that good doctrine is related to salvation.
3.) Since Rev. Dr. Keller’s statement is a “religious belief” we can be sure that he is going all self-righteous and superior on us.
When I read the quote, the following immediately came to mind.
“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Substituting man’s law for God’s law and re-branding it God’s grace, the dialectic process at work.
The reason you never find Keller exposing the antithesis is because he’s busy kneading it into his dialogue.
Thanks, God bless, and Merry Christmas Pastor Bret.
Merry Christmas … and may the cucumber lodge stay open for business for many years