Podcast Summary: Choose Life

Podcast: Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life
Episode Date: August 29, 2025
Host/Speaker: Tim Keller
Scripture Text: Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Episode Overview

In this sermon, Tim Keller unpacks the closing verses of Deuteronomy, where Moses urges Israel to “choose life” through a covenant relationship with God. Keller explores the paradox of the gospel’s “difficult simplicity”—the idea that the essential truth of Christianity is radically simple yet challenging because of its accessibility, graciousness, and astonishing promise.

The episode is structured around three main points:

• The deceptive ordinariness of the gospel’s call
• Its threatening graciousness
• Its unimaginable promise

Keller illustrates each point with stories, biblical examples, and memorable quotes, challenging both skeptics and believers to consider the radical simplicity and implications of faith in Christ.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Deceptive Ordinariness of the Covenant Relationship

(03:00–13:40)

• Scriptural Context:
  Moses’ final words to Israel summarize the call to choose life or death, blessing or curse (Deuteronomy 30:11-20). He insists that God's command is not distant or inaccessible:

  “‘The word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.’” (Deut. 30:14, read at 00:32)

• Keller’s Analysis:

  • The simplicity of God’s offer is precisely what most people stumble over.

    • “The simplicity is its difficulty. And if you’re ever going to get it, you need to come to grips with the difficult simplicity of having a personal relationship with God.” (05:20)

  • Contrasted with ancient and modern quests for ultimate truth:

    • “If you want the secrets of the universe, you don’t have to be an expert elite scientist, nor do you have to be incredibly sophisticated... it’s in virtually every hotel room drawer... It’s so ordinary.” (08:48)

• Contemporary Example:
  Keller references the decline of psychoanalysis in NYC to illustrate society’s gravitation toward “sophisticated” solutions, warning that Christianity’s ordinariness is deceptive:

  • “Modern people have every bit the same problem that the ancients had.... if something's really important, it's gotta be brilliant and sophisticated and cutting edge and new and sexy. And let me tell you, the Bible's not any of those things.” (10:58)

• Historic Illustration:
  The story of the French village Le Chambon, which hid thousands of Jews during WWII, reveals how profound actions can flow from ordinary faith:

  • “To his surprise, one after the other all merely shrugged their shoulders, literally, and said it seemed to be an obvious implication of their faith in Jesus... the basic Christian message. Right. Didn’t everybody in Europe know the basic Christian message?... It’s too simple for us.” (12:48)

• Key Quote:

  • “If you’re a Christian and you say, ‘Oh, I understand the gospel, I get the gospel,’ that just proves you don’t. Its difficulty is its simplicity. Its simplicity is its difficulty.” (15:07)

2. The Threatening Graciousness of the Gospel

(13:41–27:00)

• Ordinariness Expounded:
  The gospel is not only simple—it's a gift “near you.” Yet, Keller insists, its simplicity is also threatening due to the radical nature of grace.

• Biblical Story:
  The story of Naaman (2 Kings 5) exemplifies our resistance to grace:

  • “He went with gold and treasure... ready to do a great deed because he was a man of prowess and valor... and Elisha doesn’t even come out. Instead he’s told... go wash in the Jordan River. And Naaman is furious...” (21:28)
  • Naaman’s pride is exposed: “What kind of God has a bar of salvation so low?... Oh, but it’s... a bar that anyone can step over. Any murderer, any broken person, anyone can step over the bar because it’s a bar of grace. But it’s actually not low. It demands and it requires that you lose your pride.” (23:02)

• Implications of Grace:

  • Free grace removes the right to look down on others and demands the surrender of control:
    • “There’s two things that the offer of free grace... demands you give up. One is your right to look down on anybody else... The other thing you have to give up is control of your life.” (24:14)

• Nature of the Gospel:
  “It is so simple, it is so easy that we can’t take it. We’re threatened by it... because of our pride, the absolute graciousness of the gospel throws us.” (25:33)

3. The Unimaginable Promise

(27:01–38:00)

• Seeming Contradiction in the Text:
  The call to obedience (“choose life” or else destruction) seems to reintroduce a works-based relationship.

  • “Wait a minute... that seems like we’re back to the quest thing. We’re back to going over the sea again.” (28:07)

• Resolution:
  The solution lies in verse 20: “The Lord is your life.”

  • “Up to now, life... is connected with obedience... But verse 20, suddenly, suddenly, Moses basically says here, your obedience would be your life. And it could be your life, but because it can’t be your life because you’re not going to keep it up, the Lord will be your life.” (29:10)

• Paul’s Reinterpretation (Romans 10):

  • Paul explains that Jesus Himself accomplished the impossible quest—coming down from heaven, entering the abyss, taking the curse of death.
  • “Jesus went into the abyss. Jesus went on the quest for eternal life. Moses says... you don’t have to go to heaven. No, because Jesus has come down from heaven. Paul says... Jesus went into the depths of the sea and he took the destructive forces... he went on a great quest. He won eternal life. And now he gives it to us as a gift.” (31:20)

• Contrast with Myth:

  • Keller discusses J.R.R. Tolkien’s insight and the difference between the gospel and mythology:
    • “Every single other ancient legend has a strong figure going off to save the world by winning something. But in Tolkien and in the gospel, the world is saved by a weak figure who triumphs through losing.” (33:55)

• Poetic Reflection:
  Citing Edward Shillito:

  • “The other gods were strong, but thou wast weak. They rode, but thou didst stumble to your throne, but to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak. And not a God has wounds, but thou alone.” (34:56)

4. Practical Application: Becoming and Living as a Christian

(38:00–39:20)

• Historical Example:
  Keller tells of John and Charles Wesley’s conversion as the “simplicity of grace” finally “hit” them:

  • “At hearing those words there came such a power over me as I cannot well imagine and describe. My heart was so filled with peace and love that I burst into tears...” (36:59)

• Requirements for Receiving Grace:

  • Let go of pride and controlling your life: “If you’re willing to pay those prices, and the simplicity of grace happens... at that moment you are entering into that personal relationship with God.” (37:49)

• Vision of the Christian Life:

  • Keller ends by pointing to the transformation promised by God, citing C.S. Lewis:
    • “He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into dazzling, radiant, immortal creatures, pulsating through with an energy, just joy, wisdom and love, as we cannot now imagine...” (38:39)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Gospel’s simplicity:

  “Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so. There it is... And it’s so simple, almost nobody grasps the radical implications of it.” — Tim Keller (11:38)

• On grace and pride:

  “Our pride... the absolute graciousness of the gospel throws us. Don’t let it throw you.” — Tim Keller (25:56)

• On Christ’s unique quest:

  “The world is saved by a weak figure who triumphs through losing... a suffering servant who triumphed through losing, who fell into the dark so we could live in the light.” — Tim Keller (34:05)

• On God’s promise:

  “The Lord will be your life. Not that the Lord will give you life if you obey... the Lord himself will be your life.” — Tim Keller (29:30)

• C.S. Lewis on our future:

  “He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into dazzling, radiant, immortal creatures... That is what we are in for. Nothing less.” — Quoted by Tim Keller (38:39)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Scripture reading and introduction: (00:32–02:59)
• Point 1: Deceptive ordinariness: (03:00–13:40)
• Point 2: Threatening graciousness: (13:41–27:00)
• Point 3: Unimaginable promise: (27:01–38:00)
• Application and closing: (38:01–39:20)

Conclusion

Tone and Language:
Keller’s delivery is engaging, intellectually rich, yet deeply pastoral. He moves effortlessly between biblical exposition, cultural commentary, historical anecdote, and literary allusion, illustrating the radical yet simple invitation of the gospel.

For Listeners:
This sermon will challenge both skeptics and believers to reconsider the “difficult simplicity” at the heart of Christian faith—an accessible offer that demands everything from us, yet comes only as a gift received, never as a prize achieved.