Favorite Quotes from The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller

When I was assigned The Prodigal God in one of my graduate classes for my Masters in Ministry, I had heard of the book, but had never had the opportunity read it. I’m thankful I have now! It didn’t take me very long to pull out my highlighter once I cracked the cover, as God used Tim Keller to speak to my heart. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller.

Favorite Quotes from The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller.

No Sin Can Match God’s Grace

“God’s love and forgiveness can pardon and restore any and every kind of sin or wrongdoing. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done… There is no evil that the father’s love cannot pardon and over, there is no sin that is a match for his grace.”

Religious = Rebellion

“Religious people commonly live very moral lives, but their goal is to get leverage over God, to control him, to put him in a position where they think he owes them. Therefore, despite all their ethical fastidiousness and piety, they are actually rebelling against his authority.”

Are YOU Lord of Your Life?

“Sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord, and Judge… There are two ways to be your own Savior and Lord. One is by breaking all the moral laws and setting your own course, and one is by keeping all the moral laws and being very, very good.”

Life Isn’t Fair

“If you think goodness and decency is the way to merit a good life from God, you will be eaten up with anger, since life never goes as we wish.”

The Sin of Seeking Control

“We must learn how to repent of the sin under all our other sins and under all our righteousness – the sin of seeking to be our own Savior and Lord. We must admit that we’ve put our ultimate hope and trust in things other than God, and that in both our wrongdoing and right doing we have been seeking to get around God or get control of God in order to get hold of those things.”

Forgiveness Isn’t Free

“Mercy and forgiveness must be free and unmerited to the wrongdoer. If the wrongdoer has to do something to merit it, then it isn’t mercy, but forgiveness always comes at a cost to the one granting the forgiveness.”

Spiritual Growth Happens in Community

“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.”

The Gospel is the Source of Growth

“Faith in the gospel restructures our motivations, our self-understanding, our identity, and our view of the world. Behavioral compliance to rules without heart-change will be superficial and fleeting… 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.”

God’s Grace Changes Lives

“People whose lives remained unchanged by God’s grace didn’t really understand its costliness, and therefore didn’t really understand the gospel. They had a general idea of God’s universal love, but not a real grasp of the seriousness of sin and the meaning of Christ’s work on our behalf.”

If you have not had the opportunity to The Prodigal God and be challenged by its words, I highly recommend buying a copy today… and don’t forget to grab a highlighter, too!