Okay, the title makes me look like an eisegetical hermeneut (better known as "I see Jesus") who would say that the scarlet cord of Rahab points to the blood of Jesus.

But I'm wrestling with the whole concept of preaching Christ in every sermon (so I'm not a moralist) and preaching accurately (so I'm not an allegorist). Spurgeon definitely did not fall slip into the trap of moralism. He loved to preach Christ so much he found Christ in texts where He wasn't! Great theology but often from the wrong passages.

But I believe Keller is far more careful in his interpretation of passages. In his article, "Keller on Preaching in a Post-modern City," He came up with a four point outline for the application of any sermon:

1. The plot winds up: WHAT YOU MUST DO. "This is what you have to do! Here is what the text/narrative tells us that we must do or what we must be."
2. The Plot thickens: WHY YOU CAN'T DO IT. "But you can't do it! Here are all the reasons that you will never become like this just by trying very hard."
3. The Plot resolves: HOW HE DID IT. "But there's One who did. Perfectly. Wholly. Jesus the---. He has done this for us, in our place."
4. The Plot winds down: HOW, THROUGH HIM, YOU CAN DO IT. "Our failure to do it is due to our functional rejection of what he did. Remembering him frees our heart so we can change like this..."

I'm not totally sold, but I do see where Keller is pointing. Keller is not far from a modern day C. S. Lewis and there's a reason droves of unbelievers are interested in his book The Reason for God, and it's not because Keller is marketing the gospel to our flesh instincts.

But something in this four part outline caught my attention. See that little dash after step three? Keller doesn't say what goes in the blank but I think I know what he means. We're supposed to fill in the blank with a Christ-title that represents how Christ fulfilled for us that we could never do ourselves.

Christ is our joy where we fail to rejoice. He is our delight in our misery, our redemption in our slavery, our light in the darkness. Christ is sufficient.