Dr Paul Allen

Let’s examine the five points of Calvinism. Are they still relevant today? 1. Dead in Total Depravity The issue is: At the point of my conversion, was I dead? Was I dead? Was I utterly incapable of seeing or savouring Jesus Christ as my supreme treasure? Answer: yes, I was . I was dead, blind, spiritually incapable of believing on Jesus. First Corinthians 2:14: “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God.” No way. I’m stiff-arming them totally in my deadness and fallenness and blindness. They are folly to me. I’m not able to understand them. They are spiritually discerned, and I don’t have the Holy Spirit. I hate God, and I love myself, and I am in bondage. The question is not one of time . And the answer makes all the difference in the world about whether you praise yourself or praise your God in speechless wonder that you are now a lover of Jesus — that you can see the light of the glory of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). John Piper now sees the l

The question of God’s choice regarding those who will be saved is a major divide between Calvinism and Arminianism. Notice that the question is not “Does God choose those who will be saved?” The Bible clearly says God chooses, or elects, those who will be saved. For example, He chose [or, elected] us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.  Ephesians 1:4–5 Note that chose and predestined are essentially the same in meaning here. So we are contemplating the doctrine of predestination, a subcategory of the doctrine of divine providence. A common misconception is that Calvinists believe in divine election and predestination while Arminians do not. However, the Bible says God does indeed choose and predestine. The question is not does God elect? but how does God elect—on what basis?   Conditional Election Arminians believe i

The Bible teaches that as a believer in Jesus, I don’t have to worry about my own stick-to-it-ness. I can rest in the faith that Jesus will get me into glory, if he has to drag me himself! Philippians 1:6  For I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. Yes, I am confident that I will get to Heaven , but it is not a confidence that rests on my experience, or my proven track record of always finishing what I start. It is an assurance based entirely on my knowledge of Jesus and his power to save. 2 Timothy 1:12 For I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. This is the doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints. Westminster Confession: They whom God hath accepted in his beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the e

We have the New Testament largely because of the theological diseases that infected and afflicted the first-generation churches. The apostles wrote to clarify and remind early believers of things they had been taught and to correct false doctrines that were springing up. All of church history resembles the New Testament: remarkable outpourings of the Holy Spirit , gospel advances, churches planted, outbreaks of persecution and martyrdoms, doctrinal distortions and leadership abuses and all manner of sin causing churches to be, as the old hymn says , “by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed,” followed by Holy Spirit-empowered revival and reformation movements. Best to Know Your Bible To have knowledge of church history is good — really good. It helps us keep perspective. It helps us keep from being too euphoric and triumphalist in revival, too depressed and defeatist in tribulation, and too enamored of The Next Big Thing, the new method, strategy, or movement that promises

Chances are you’ve discussed it lately. Who chose whom? God? Man? Both? Whose will and choice triggers salvation? Man’s? God’s? Both? It’s a common occurrence to spar over Calvinism (the doctrines of God’s sovereign grace) vs. Arminianism. This post could not possibly address all the issues. Instead, it will take a brief look at some of Arminianism’s consequences. But first, a quick reminder of common Arminian teaching. Arminianism typically holds that God elects individuals to salvation based on his foreknowledge of their personal worthiness. It’s claimed that God’s election means that he chose those whom he foresaw would trust in Christ for salvation prior to them doing so. God chose those whom he foreknew would choose him. Humanity, therefore, is fallen, but not incapable of seeking God. Though sinful, man is still able to arouse his will so as to choose God savingly. Some reject election, arguing that it is incompatible with human freedom and responsibility, thus rendering thi

Baptism of Christ. Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River by John. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Since sanctification is not optional, we examine it closely, noting three of its facets. We begin with positional holiness. In other words, to get holiness, we start with holiness: We must be declared to be holy at the outset of our Christian lives. This declaration by God is called positional holiness. It is another way of expressing the great doctrine of justification, or is at least simultaneous with it. Through the crowning work of the atonement, Christ has made it possible for a holy God to see us—not as we are in and of ourselves, but wrapped about with the robes of Christ’s righteousness (Phil. 3:9).  This aspect of our sanctification occurs by faith in Christ instantaneously, at the moment of our conversion. In a very real sense, then, we are sanctified at the moment we are saved. For this reason Paul could address the Christians of the various churches to whom he wrote, some

The Bible teaches the transcendence of God . His ways and thoughts are far beyond ours ( Isa. 55:9; Rom. 11:33). Human beings are infinitesimal in view of God’s infinity. God must “stoop down” in order to speak to us. However, this divine act of adaptation to our finitude never involves accommodation to our error. For God cannot err (Heb. 6:18). God uses anthropomorphisms (a true expression of who God is that is couched in human terms) to speak to us, but he does not use myths. He sometimes gives us only part of the truth but that partial truth is never error (1 Cor. 13:12). He reveals himself progressively, but never erroneously. He does not always tells us all, but all that he tells us is true. Geisler, N. L. (1999). In Baker encyclopedia of Christian apologetics (p. 1). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books. Related articles Snodgrass on Reading Backwards (cwoznicki.com) The End of Theology: Adoration & Worship (memoirandremains.wordpress.com) Attributes of God - Self Exis

English: Young Johann Sebastian Bach. 1715. Teri Noel Towe seems to demonstrate that the portrait is probably not of Bach http://www.npj.com/thefaceofbach/09w624.html. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Soli Deo gloria  is the motto that grew out of the Protestant Reformation and was used on every composition by Johann Sebastian Bach .  He affixed the initials  SDG  at the bottom of each manuscript to communicate the idea that it is God and God alone who is to receive the glory for the wonders of His work of creation and of redemption. At the heart of the sixteenth-century controversy over salvation was the issue of grace. It was not a question of man's need for grace.   It was a question as to the extent of that need. The church had already condemned Pelagius, who had taught that grace facilitates salvation but is not absolutely necessary for it. Semi-Pelagianism since that time has always taught that without grace there is no salvation.  But the grace that is c