Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters

by Timothy J. Keller

The living God, who revealed himself both at Mount Sinai and on the Cross, is the only Lord who, if you find him, can truly fulfill you, and, if you fail him, can truly forgive you.

Abraham was not just exercising “blind faith.” He was not saying, “This is crazy, this is murder, but I’m going to do it anyway.” Instead he was saying, “I know God is both holy and gracious. I don’t know how he is going to be both—but I know he will.” If he had not believed that he was in debt to a holy God, he would have been too angry to go. But if he had not also believed that God was a God of grace, he would have been too crushed and hopeless to go.

Instead, the Bible repeatedly shows us weak people who don’t deserve God’s grace, don’t seek it, and don’t appreciate it even after they have received it.

The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one.