--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Properly understood, the doctrine of sin…" description: "\"“Properly understood, the doctrine of sin means that believers are never as good as our true worldview should make us. Similarly, the doctrine of grace..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/122/timothy-keller-240_common-grace_properly-understood-the-doctrine-of-sin_1675184.jpg" --- # Properly understood, the doctrine of sin means that… ![“Properly understood, the doctrine of sin means that believers are never as good as our true worldview should make us. Similarly, the doctrine of grace means as messed up their false worldview should make them.” quote by Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/122/timothy-keller-240_common-grace_properly-understood-the-doctrine-of-sin_1675184.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/122/timothy-keller-240_common-grace_properly-understood-the-doctrine-of-sin_1675184.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/122/timothy-keller-240_common-grace_properly-understood-the-doctrine-of-sin_1675184.jpg) > ““Properly understood, the doctrine of sin means that believers are never as good as our true worldview should make us. Similarly, the doctrine of grace means as messed up their false worldview should make them.”” [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human sinfulness is deeper than our ideal view; grace reveals our true brokenness. **In simple terms:** We’re worse than we think; grace shows it. Key Takeaway Accept grace, recognize our limits. Themes theology human nature grace Mood thoughtful encouraging Type theological inspirational When to use this quote - confession - counseling - community support - personal growth Key Concepts Christianity psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does grace change your self‑perception? - Can grace inspire better actions? A Different Perspective Grace can be misunderstood as excuse for bad behavior. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Common-grace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-grace-35377/) [Doctrine Grace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctrine-grace-902433/) [Doctrine Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctrine-sin-902432/) [Grace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grace/) [Grace Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grace-means/) [Sin Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin-means-902434/) [Understood Doctrine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understood-doctrine-902435/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [“Every artifact of human culture is a positive response to God's general revelation and simultaneously a rebellious assertion against His sovereign rule over us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/every-artifact-of-human-culture-is-a-positive-response-to-god-s/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [“Work done by non-Christians always contain some degree of God's common grace as well as the distortions of sin. Work done by Christians, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/work-done-by-non-christians-always-contain-some-degree-of-god-s/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [The doctrine of grace and redemption keeps us from seeing any person or situation as hopeless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/the-doctrine-of-grace-and-redemption-keeps-us-from-seeing-any-person/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [“Human generosity is possible only because at the center of the solar system a magnificent stellar generosity pours forth free energy day and night…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-mckenna/human-generosity-is-possible-only-because-at-the-center-of-the-solar/) [Megan McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-mckenna/) > [“and especially the Methodist doctrine that sin is inherent and that all unregenerate sinners will experience hell in the after life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-h-palmer/and-especially-the-methodist-doctrine-that-sin-is-inherent-and-that/) [Grant H. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-h-palmer/) > [As we mature personally, as our families mature, and as our churches mature, we need the doctrine of sin more, not less; and we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-mahaney/as-we-mature-personally-as-our-families-mature-and-as-our-churches/) [C. J. Mahaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-mahaney/) > [“Thus the defective doctrine of sin and the shallow idea of joy, working together, of necessity produce a superficial kind of person and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-martyn-lloyd-jones/thus-the-defective-doctrine-of-sin-and-the-shallow-idea-of-joy/) [D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-martyn-lloyd-jones/) > [“I cannot help feeling that the final explanation of the state of the Church today is a defective sense of sin and it defective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-martyn-lloyd-jones/i-cannot-help-feeling-that-the-final-explanation-of-the-state-of-the/) [D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-martyn-lloyd-jones/) > [This fact, that the opposite of sin is by no means virtue, has been overlooked. The latter is partly a pagan view, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/this-fact-that-the-opposite-of-sin-is-by-no-means-virtue-has-been/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [We are all insane. That is what original sin means. Sin is insanity. 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Sin, whatever else it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-davison/virtue-whatever-else-it-means-at-least-means-being-more-human-it/) [Andrew Davison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-davison/) > [To have a sense of sin means to feel guilty at there being an ethical choice to make, a guilt which, however "good" I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/to-have-a-sense-of-sin-means-to-feel-guilty-at-there-being-an-ethical/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [The grandest discourse ever delivered is an ostentatious failure if the doctrine of the grace of God be absent from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/the-grandest-discourse-ever-delivered-is-an-ostentatious-failure-if/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [It has been said that in the New Testament doctrine is grace; and ethics is gratitude; and something is wrong with any form of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-has-been-said-that-in-the-new-testament-doctrine-is-grace-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Timothy Keller > [If you are trying to live a life in accordance with the Bible, the concept and call to justice are inescapable. We do justice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/if-you-are-trying-to-live-a-life-in-accordance-with-the-bible-the/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [The more you rejoice in your own forgiveness, the quicker you will be to forgive others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/the-more-you-rejoice-in-your-own-forgiveness-the-quicker-you-will-be/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [“Evangelism will come organically in friendship if we don’t let our pride, fears, and pessimism cause us to hide our faith and heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/evangelism-will-come-organically-in-friendship-if-we-don-t-let-our/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [“The coming of the messianic King occurs in two stages. 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