Dr Paul Allen

We need to understand Genesis 3 if we are to understand the gospel. Everything else that follows in the Bible does so as a consequence of the events that took place in the Garden of Eden.  And they were events, not myths. Underlying all the actions of Jesus and all the teaching of the New Testament is the fact of human sin and the doctrine of the fall of man. By the Fall we mean man’s fall from the perfect condition in which he was created to a state of sin. Our responsibilit y Whilst it is clear from Genesis 3 that Satan is behind sin, this does not excuse us, nor does it remove our responsibility for our actions. The words which the Bible later uses to describe human disobedience to God emphasise this. • Sin means to fall short of the standard God has set. • Transgression is to trespass outside the boundaries God has set. • Iniquity means crookedness, not straight, moral distortion, and refers to our nature. Read Psalm 32:1–2 NKJV, where all three words are used. The three words ...

Generally speaking, the answer to this question is no; one cannot receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit and not know he has received it. But to be more precise, we must qualify that answer in three ways: 1. On rare occasions, people have received the baptism in the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues and, although they knew something strange and wonderful had taken place, did not know what had happened to them. They had never heard of the baptism in the Holy Spirit and so had no way to define the experience. In such cases, the baptism usually comes in some deep moment of prayer or during a time of spontaneous praise to God. We know one friend who went forward in a meeting for what she thought was to be prayer for healing. She had misunderstood the minister’s invitation, which had been for those seeking the baptism in the Holy Spirit. As she sat in the appointed place, people gathered around and began praying for her.  Suddenly, she felt her tongue begin to thrash around in her m...

God’s love for us in Christ upends our whole lives in the best way. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:14–15 that: The love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. The gospel of Jesus is so powerful that it disrupts our former pursuits in life, which include glorifying and enjoying ourselves, as well as building our own personal kingdoms. As Charles Wesley’s great hymn expresses: Did he die for me, who caused his pain? For me, who pursued him to death? Amazing love! How can it be That thou, my God, shouldst die for me? This amazing love causes us to love God in return (1 John 4:19). It compels us to live no longer for ourselves but for Christ, who died for our sake and was raised. God’s love for us is so precious that we hold it as “better than life” (Ps. 63:3; see Acts 20:24). In the w...

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (Eph. 6:10–11) You know, O Lord, what is most profitable and expedient for me. Therefore, do with me in all things as it seems best to you, for, despite the way things might seem to me, what is best for me is that you do whatever is most just and blessed according to your godly wisdom.   Thus, whether it be by prosperity or adversity, loss or gain, sickness or health, life or death, your will be done. Cast out of my heart all unprofitable cares of worldly things. Suffer me not to be led with the unstable desires of earthly vanities. Instead, give me grace that all worldly and carnal affections may be mortified and may die in me. Grant unto me the strength of your Holy Spirit to subdue this body of sin with the whole lusts thereof so that it might be obedient both in will, in mind, and in members—that it might do your holy w...

  Titus 2. It is essential to understand the work of God’s grace not just in the past or the future, but also right here, right now. Sadly, many believers have a big hole in their understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They have a pretty clear understanding of the forgiveness they have received through Jesus's substitutionary work and of their future hope as children of God.  But they are not as clear about the right-here, right-now work of the gospel. Can you identify what God is doing now, between the “already” of Christ’s resurrection and ascension and the “not yet” of your final welcome into his final kingdom? Do you see the work of Jesus in the here and now?  Why did God plan a long period between when he first rescued us by his grace and when he will call us to our eternal home? Wouldn’t it be better for us to believe and immediately be taken into glory? Why must we endure a long, hard journey in this fallen world? The apostle Paul addresses these questions in...

And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you can number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD and counted it to him as righteousness. (Gen. 15:4–6) Even though Abram and Sarai cannot have children, God assures Abram that his “very own son” will be his heir. Taking him outside to look at the stars, God promises Abram that his offspring will be equal to their number. The New Testament quotes Abram’s reply four times: “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6).  This verse reveals a key scriptural pattern. God regards Abram as righteous in grace and accepts him because of his faith. Paul agrees: “For by grace you have been saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8). In the following two verses of Ephesians, Paul says God did not save us because of our wor...

The Stages of Spiritual Maturity: Introduction by Robb Brunansky In my estimation, one of the most pastoral passages in the entire New Testament is 1 John 2:12-14, where the apostle John stops his flow of argument – where he has been giving tests of salvation – and speaks to his readers from his heart. We can see John speaking directly to his brothers and sisters in Christ, sharing his heart with them about their common salvation. Scholars and Bible students have often puzzled over the purpose of this passage, especially as it finds itself situated in 1 John 2 – after several tests of salvation and before the first imperative in the letter in verse 15 (do not love the world). The passage seems quite repetitive, where John addresses children, fathers, and young men – and then he addresses all three groups again. Why does he call out these three groups? Are there three groups, or are these all designations for every believer looking at Christianity from various angles and lenses? And how...

Words are weapons. They are either weapons used in the service of God and His kingdom—weapons that are brandished in love for God and our neighbour—or they are weapons used in the service of the kingdom of this fallen and sinful world—weapons wielded in the love of self and hatred of God and neighbour.  This is simply the reality of what words are.  This reality powerfully confronts us in our current context, and we struggle with how to wield our words. We live in the middle of a swirling vortex of political conflict, social unrest, clashing values systems, a culture war, and a global pandemic, and the power of words as weapons through social media has exponentially increased.  Through various forms of social media, words as weapons are used to mobilize, encourage, scare, advocate, anger, inform, judge, punish, reward, lament, and rejoice, all on a massive scale and with dizzying speed. How do we navigate through this daunting and sometimes overwhelming reality, and how ...

When Mark’s Gospel opens, Mark highlights the ministry of John the Baptist (1:2–8). But then Mark zeros in on the baptism (1:9–11) and temptation of Jesus (1:12–13) since those things preceded Jesus’s public ministry (1:14–15). The language of Jesus’s temptations fascinates me because Mark mentions the presence of wild animals, and Mark is the only Gospel writer who does this. 12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. Why would the presence of “wild animals” be worth mentioning? First of all, the location of the wilderness explains the presence of wild animals. The wilderness was understood as a place for wild animals. The opening verses of Mark’s Gospel introduced the “wilderness” idea (1:3, quoting from Isa. 40). John the Baptist was baptizing “in the wilderness” (1:4). Now in 1:12, we read that the Spirit drove Jesus out into “the...

Sinners rescued from the road to hell love to rehearse and celebrate the mercy of God. Where would we be today without mercy? Where would we be  for eternity  without mercy? Without mercy, we would be dead in our sin, a death worse than death. Mercy called us from the tomb. Mercy lifted us out of the pit. Mercy opened our blind eyes. Mercy gifted us with faith, repentance, and joy. We deserved every possible ounce of rejection, punishment, wrath, but God gave forgiveness, love, and life instead. All that we have, we have by the mercy of God. Is there any other god, in all the religious imaginations on earth, who deals so gently and compassionately with sinners? “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me,” Jesus says, “for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” ( Matthew 11:29 ). Knowing how we’ve treated him, all the endless ways we’ve each ignored and insulted him, he has every righteous reason to be severe and merciless, but he’s gentle with us...

This Sunday, I experienced a contrast between the beautiful worship I had experienced earlier in the day — the holy presence of God, the purity of the Word, the glory of the Spirit — and the filthiness of this carnal world. I turned on the TV when I arrived home from church. The headlines were not only filled with bad news. They were also filled with venom and malice. They were meant to provoke and enflame and divide. They were earthy, carnal, “of this world.” They were defiling. We are Manipulated by Biased News Let us drink from healthy, pure, beautiful, and glorious streams. Not only will we ourselves thrive and bear much fruit, but we will be able to give nourishing drink to others as well. The truth be told, and more than we would like to admit, we are manipulated and defiled by the news — by which I do not simply mean the latest reporting of the facts. I mean the biased, partisan news that bombards us every day. It does not build our faith. It does not bring us closer to God. It ...