The Battle for the Mind

Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

Tim Keller

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality:christianity, Spirituality, Religion, Religion & Spirituality

4.9 • 16.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2026

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Many Western people today think that Christianity is for people who don’t want to use their minds, that if you’re educated and thoughtful you wouldn’t believe. They think that to be Christian you’d have to jettison your thoughts and surrender to a realm of feeling, to a leap of faith. But the Bible tells us the opposite. In 1 Peter, when it calls us to holiness, it says we must prepare our minds. Holiness includes the whole person—including the mind. In fact what Peter says and what it says all through the Bible is not only “May Christians think,” but “Christians must think.” It’s fundamental. Let’s look at how 1 Peter shows us that 1) Christianity requires you to use your mind, to be thinking and rational, and 2) Christianity is the only thing that really encourages thinking and gives a basis for it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 24, 1993. Series: Splendor in the Furnace: 1 Peter, Part 1. Scripture: 1 Peter 1:13-16. 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.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Each year, Gospel and Life offers a daily devotional during the season of Lent, the 40 days from Ash Wednesday through Good Friday.
0:10.1	You can sign up to receive these daily devotionals by email at gospelandlife.com slash lent.
0:15.8	That's gospelonlife.com slash Lent.
0:18.6	Now here's Dr. Keller with today's teaching.
0:27.5	Thank you. life.com slash lent. Now here's Dr. Keller with today's teaching. We're spending a couple of weeks on the passage that you've got written out for you in the
0:34.6	bulletin. First Peter chapter 1, verse 13 to 21.
0:40.4	And I'm going to read again, like I did last week, just the first part, 13 to 16.
0:49.1	Therefore, prepare your minds for action.
1:00.0	Be self-controlled. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you
1:06.7	lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. For it is
1:14.7	written, be holy because I am holy. Excuse me, this is God's word. What we looked at last week
1:25.6	was just a definition of holiness.
1:28.3	That's all.
1:28.8	We didn't have much time.
1:29.8	And this week and next week and next week and the following week,
1:33.3	we're going to look at how that plays out.
1:36.1	Because this is all about holiness and what it means to be holy.
1:41.0	And we said that Peter, when he quotes this verse,
1:47.1	Be holy for I am holy, he's pulling something out of the book of Leviticus. There's a number of places where Leviticus says, where God says
1:52.3	in Leviticus, be holy for I am holy. And the word used there, the Hebrew word used there,
1:57.6	Kadoosh, means to be separated, to be set apart. And therefore, this
2:04.9	word holy, when it refers to God and refers to human beings, it's both the same and yet it's
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Tim Keller, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Tim Keller and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.