“There is a great gulf between the understanding that God accepts us because of our efforts and the understanding that God accepts us because of what Jesus has done. Religion operates on the principle, ‘I obey– therefore I am accepted by God.’ But the operating principle of the gospel is ‘I am accepted by God through what Christ has done– therefore I obey.'”
–Timothy Keller, The Reason for God (New York: Dutton, 2008), 179-180.