Gospel in Life

Tim Keller

Marriage as Completion: One Flesh

May 17, 2021

In the Bible, the word flesh doesn’t simply mean your body. It doesn’t simply mean what the English word flesh means, which always means simply skin, sinew, blood, and guts. Actually, there’s a place in the Bible where God says, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh…” That doesn’t mean, “I will pour out my Spirit on everybody’s body.” It means, “I’ll pour out my Spirit on all people.” The word flesh means a person. When it says the two will become one flesh, it says you’ll be one person. You’re really no longer the same two people, but you’re a third entity. 

How is it that this one-fleshness can be developed? There are three ways it can happen and three reasons it doesn’t happen. If you do these three things properly, it develops deep oneness. If you fail to do them or if you do them wrongly, it creates something different altogether, basically a business partnership.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 22, 1991. Series "Marriage". Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Featured Offer

The Reason for God
Why does God allow suffering in the world? How can one religion be “right” and the others “wrong”? Hasn’t science basically disproved Christianity? In his book The Reason for God Tim Keller addresses these questions and more. When you give to Gospel in Life this month, we’ll send you two copies of his book as our thanks —one for you and one to give to a friend. 

Archives

Marriage is not romance garnished with friendship. It’s not in essence romance and attraction, and friendship is thrown in as a wonderful little option, a wonderful little plus if you can get it. Rather, marriage is friendship with romance garnishing and flavoring it. Furthermore, friendship is not just a feeling of affection. Friendship is a deep oneness that comes from two people journeying toward a common horizon. First, the oneness; secondly, the walking together, the interacting; and thirdly, the common horizon or goal you’re going to. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 15, 1991. Series "Marriage". Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
May 14, 2021
Marriage is many things. Marriage is glorious. Marriage is hard. It’s blood, sweat and tears. It’s defeats, and it’s victories. It’s almost everything except sweet. We’re going to see the Bible’s view of marriage is completely realistic.  The topic we now come to is the purpose of marriage. We’ve looked at the power and the definition, the priority of marriage. What’s the purpose of it? The purpose of marriage is friendship, companionship. Your spouse has to be your best friend. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 8, 1991. Series "Marriage". Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
May 12, 2021
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 1, 1991. Series "Marriage". Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
May 10, 2021
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 25, 1991. Series "Marriage". Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
May 7, 2021
Marriage, contrary to what a lot of people say, is not something a bunch of people around a cave-fire in the Late Bronze Age suddenly thought up. According to the Scripture, marriage is a divine invention.  In this passage, we’re going to see first that the essence of marriage is a covenant, secondly, that the purpose of marriage is companionship, and lastly, the priority of marriage has to be number one. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 18, 1991. Series "Marriage". Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
May 5, 2021
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 18, 2004. Series "Living in Hope". Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:13-20; 7:27-31. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
May 3, 2021
When Paul got to Rome for his trial, he was not put in a dungeon, but he was put under house arrest. He was in a rented home, and therefore, he was able to have guests and have people come and go. Therefore, he was free to do what his job was, to proclaim the gospel.  What I want to do is look at the very end of Paul’s life. It’s only natural since we’ve been following him all along to say, “How did he end? What did happen?” How did Paul finish? He finished well. Why did Paul finish well? Because of five perspectives Paul kept all through his life that enabled him to basically live his life with every fiber of his being and finish well, finish strong.  What are those five perspectives? Those five perspectives Paul always kept in mind were life is a struggle, death is an adventure, history is a masterpiece, the gospel can’t be stopped, and ultimately in the end you only need one thing. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 30, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 28:30-31; 2 Timothy 4:6-22. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
April 30, 2021
The last chapters of the book of Acts could all be called “The Sufferings of Paul,” because it’s just one bad thing happening to Paul after another. He is caught in a storm on his way to Rome. He has appealed to Rome and the soldiers have him in custody, and the sailors, of course, are running the boat. Now he’s in a storm, and everyone is afraid for their lives. It says they had gone for days in this situation. Down in verse 20 it says, “Neither sun nor stars appeared for many days. The storm continued raging. We finally gave up all hope of being saved.” The storm, which was another part of Paul’s suffering, represents all suffering. All the suffering we get in life could be called a storm. They’re all like storms. Watching Paul deal with his storm teaches us something about how we can deal with all storms, all suffering, all troubles, when they come in. I would like you to notice the paradox, the purpose, and the presence in storms. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 23, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 27:13-32. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
April 28, 2021
What we have here is Paul on trial. He had been charged with sedition, causing a riot, undermining the public peace. He had been charged with heresy.  At the very top of chapter 26, Paul gives a defense. He tells the story of his conversion, meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus. But it’s here at the end that Paul shows the real goal of his speech, what he’s really after, and it’s surprising.  He’s not really out to defend himself, because if his primary goal was to get himself off the hook, he would never have made the bold move he makes. He would have played it safe, but he doesn’t. What was Paul’s goal, how does he get to that goal, and where does he get the power and poise and boldness to try that? This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 16, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 26:15-27. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
April 26, 2021
Our passage comes from Acts 22 where Paul is facing a hostile audience and one life-threatening situation after another. In a way, there’s one overall theme, which is God can bring good out of evil and can show the power of the gospel through it. We will all inevitably face some kind of danger in life. How will you face it? How does your faith prepare you for it? We’re going to look at courage in this passage and we’ll try to find some clues as to how we can get the same kind of courage that Paul has. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 26, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 22:1-22. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
April 23, 2021
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Featured Offer

The Reason for God
Why does God allow suffering in the world? How can one religion be “right” and the others “wrong”? Hasn’t science basically disproved Christianity? In his book The Reason for God Tim Keller addresses these questions and more. When you give to Gospel in Life this month, we’ll send you two copies of his book as our thanks —one for you and one to give to a friend. 

About Gospel in Life

Gospel In Life is a ministry that features sermons, books, articles, and resources from Timothy Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, and Redeemer City to City. The name reflects our conviction that the gospel changes everything in life. In 1989 Dr. Timothy J. Keller, his wife and three young sons moved to New York City to begin Redeemer Presbyterian Church. He has since become a bestselling author, an influential thinker, and an advocate for ministry in cities and to secular people.

About Tim Keller

Timothy Keller is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, which he started in 1989 with his wife, Kathy, and three young sons.  For 28 years he led a diverse congregation of young professionals that grew to a weekly attendance of over 5,000.

He is also the Chairman & Co-Founder of Redeemer City to City (CTC), which starts new churches in New York and other global cities, and publishes books and resources for ministry in an urban environment. In 2017 Dr. Keller transitioned to CTC full time to teach and mentor church planters and seminary students through a joint venture with Reformed Theological Seminary's (RTS), the City Ministry Program. He also works with CTC's global affiliates to launch church planting movements.

Dr. Keller’s books, including the New York Times bestselling The Reason for God and The Prodigal God, have sold over 2 million copies and been translated into 25 languages.

Christianity Today has said, “Fifty years from now, if evangelical Christians are widely known for their love of cities, their commitment to mercy and justice, and their love of their neighbors, Tim Keller will be remembered as a pioneer of the new urban Christians.”

Dr. Keller was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and educated at Bucknell University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Westminster Theological Seminary. He previously served as the pastor of West Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Hopewell, Virginia, Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, and Director of Mercy Ministries for the Presbyterian Church in America.

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