Dr Paul Allen

How do we distinguish the promptings of the Spirit of grace in His guiding and governing of our lives from the delusions of the spirit of the world and of our own sinful heart? This is a hugely important question if we are to be calm and confident that the spirit with whom we are communing really is the  Holy  Spirit. John Owen suggests four ways in which the Spirit and the serpent are to be distinguished: The leading of the Spirit, he says, is regular, that is, according to the  regulum : the rule of Scripture . The Spirit does not work in us to give us a new rule of life, but to help us understand and apply the rule contained in Scripture. Thus, the fundamental question to ask about any guidance will be: Is this course of action consistent with the Word of God ?  The commands of the Spirit are not grievous . They are in harmony with the Word, and the Word is in harmony with the believer as new creation. The Christian believer consciously submitted to the ...

I don't think you can tell it from reading on the internet, but among many younger leaders with Reformed and evangelical convictions there may be a slow convergence coming on the subject of the mission of the church and the relationship of Christ and culture. On the surface, the Reformed and evangelical world seems divided between "Cultural Transformationists" and the " Two Kingdoms " views. Transformationists fall into fairly different camps, including the neo- Calvinists who follow Abraham Kuyper , the Christian Right , and the theonomists. Though different in significant ways, they all believe Christians should be about redeeming and changing the culture along Christian lines. On the other hand, the Two Kingdoms view believes essentially the opposite---that neither the church nor individual Christians should be in the business of changing the world or society. Again, there are very different camps within this stance. The Reformed and Lutheran propone...