How Obedience Sets Us Free…Or Not

Workshop: 9Marks Panel on Growth and Grace

Date: April 9, 2013

Event: The Gospel Coalition 2013 National Conference, Orlando, Florida

Participants: Tim Keller, John Piper, Jonathan Leeman, Mike McKinley, Tom Schreiner, Hunter Powell

Is Christian freedom about watching movies or memorizing the Ten Commandments? Can Christians smoke cigarettes? What does it mean to delight in God’s law? All Christians want to grow in grace, but it seems easy for churches to stumble into legalism or license. Five pastors consider what it means to pursue Christian holiness and freedom, and how the local church is the best place to do both.

Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?

In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.

But the Gospels are historically reliable. And the evidence for this is vast.

To learn about the evidence for the historical reliability of the four Gospels, click below to access a FREE eBook of Can We Trust the Gospels? written by New Testament scholar Peter J. Williams.

Download your copy today »

Tim Keller (MDiv, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; DMin, Westminster Theological Seminary) was founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Manhattan, chairman of Redeemer City to City, and co-founder of The Gospel Coalition. He wrote numerous books, including The Reason for God. He and his wife, Kathy, had three children.

Mike McKinley is the senior pastor of Sterling Park Baptist Church in Sterling, Virginia. He is the author of Church Planting Is for Wimps (Crossway, 2010); Am I Really a Christian? (Crossway, 2011); Did the Devil Make Me Do It? (The Good Book Company, 2013); Passion (The Good Book Company, 2013); and The Resurrection in Your Life (The Good Book Company, 2015). His most recent book, co-authored with Mark Dever, is 90 Days in Ruth, Jeremiah and 1 Corinthians (The Good Book Company, 2016).

Jonathan Leeman is an elder at Cheverly Baptist Church in suburban Washington, DC, editorial director for 9Marks, and the author of How the Nations Rage: Rethinking Faith and Politics for a Divided Age (Thomas Nelson) and Authority: How Godly Rule Protects the Vulnerable, Strengthens Communities, and Promotes Human Flourishing (9Marks).

Thomas Schreiner is the James Buchanan Harrison professor of New Testament interpretation and associate dean for Scripture and interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. You can follow him on Twitter.

Hunter Powell (PhD, University of Cambridge) is the author of The Crisis of British Protestantism, which examines the church government debates at the Westminster Assembly. He is also a partner at M78 Ventures, a history teacher at the University of Texas, an adjunct faculty member at Westminster Seminary, and an entrepreneur, who was recently CEO of a tech company.