Dr Paul Allen

What Provokes the Questions So, what gives rise to these questions is that I, and many others in the history of the church, have emphasized the biblical teaching that God created and redeemed his people for his own glory — meaning, to cause his glory (his greatness, his beauty, his worth) to be known and treasured and shown in the universe. That’s what I think “for his own glory” means. “Stars and stones and mountains are means to God’s self-glorification, but not the way humans are.” “My sons . . . my daughters . . . whom I created for my glory” (Isaiah 43:6–7). We’re chosen, predestined, adopted, redeemed through the blood of Christ for the praise of the glory of God’s grace (Ephesians 1:4–7). And that teaching — namely, that all things are from him and through him and to him, to his glory — that teaching causes all these questions to be raised. So, let me respond to these nine questions with a very short answer and then look at the main thing in Scripture. Nine Brief Answers Questio...

The difference between secular love and Christian love is that secular love is not rooted in the cross of God’s Son, is not sustained and shaped by the power of God’s Spirit, and is not acted for the glory of God the Father. So the source of it is different, its sustaining power of it is different, and its goal of it is different. Let’s think about each of these one at a time and see if we can fill it out. Rooted in the Cross First, there’s a different source between these two loves. First John 4:19 says, “We love because he first loved us.” And how did he first love us? Well, John says in 1 John 3:16, “By this, we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” So, Christian love is rooted in Christ’s sacrifice for me and for you. By this, our sins are forgiven. We’re justified, accepted, and loved by God. We have the hope that everything in life will work together for our good and bring us everlasting joy, so that fear and greed, th...

Cholera is an acute illness caused by bacteria found in contaminated water. There have been seven pandemic outbreaks of cholera in the past 200 years, most recently in 2016. The fourth outbreak started in 1846 and lasted four years. Russia was the country worst hit, with one million lives lost. But it also reached North America and Europe. People were not sure how cholera spread, only that it was highly contagious and that families tended to get it together. We now know that it is transmitted through contaminated food and water, and spread by people not washing their hands after using the bathroom. Handwashing was simply not part of routine hygiene in those days. Understandably, people were extremely afraid of the unknown. Public gatherings, including church services, ceased, not because of government orders, but as the natural response of a terrified population. The pandemic reached London in 1854, scarcely one year into the ministry of a young preacher by the name of Charles Haddon S...

MOTIVE: WHY DOES GOD SAVE? John 3:16 “For God so loved the world… The “For” links this verse to the previous verses where Jesus predicted his death by crucifixion so “that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). So why did Jesus need to be lifted up on the cross? Because God loves the world that much. Oh, the confidence we can draw from God’s motive! If God loves me that much, then there’s nothing for me to fear. God created humans in his image to love intensely so that we can understand what this verse means. If you love your spouse or your kids or your pet or your country, that’s good. That experience is what gives you a category for what God means when he says he loves you. But you need to expand that beyond anything you could ever feel. God’s motive defines our relationship to him. God has strong affections for you. God has great concern for your wellbeing. God has deep desires and designs for your good, for your joy, for your maturity. And he doesn’t wait to...

Yes, it is biblical in the sense that we are sinners, that we have sinned, that we do sin, and that God loves us and hates our sin. The way this question is framed is the way it has often been used both in evangelism tactics and in order to paint a picture of God, who God is, and God’s love that is ultimately not biblical.  So, as many hear that phrase, “God loves the sinner but hates the sin,” the reason that’s not entirely appropriate is that it’s not just the sin that God sends to hell. God sends sinners to hell. God has enmity with those sinners, and they have enmity with Him. While God has a sort of general, universal love of benevolence that is manifested in a love of beneficence upon all creatures, there is only a special, filial, saving love upon His own children. And not everyone is a child of God. Only those who trust Christ by faith are given the right to become children of God (John 1:12). So, it is not appropriate to say that God loves the sinner but hates...

Are you sure God loves you, that your sins have been forgiven, and that God will keep you on the narrow road that leads to life? For many Christians, these questions hang awkwardly. Doubt plagues them, making every burden heavier, every shadow darker, and every hardship greater. Where can they look for certainty? We start by encouraging doubting Christians to look away from themselves to Christ and to the free grace of God. Many of our doubts find their root in the secret fear that we must do something to prime the pump of grace. The gospel speaks eloquently to such insecurity. To receive grace, we need no other prior qualification or merit besides sin. At no point in the golden chain of salvation is God waiting for us to take the first step before He will open the floodgates of grace. Every Godward thought, every desire for Christ, comes down from above and is itself the fruit of grace—grace previously and freely given. In the quest for a well-grounded assurance, many teac...

It’s essential that we understand the love of God in conjunction with the other attributes of God . God’s love, for instance, is holy love. But all of the attributes of God come into play as well, even His eternity. God’s love, like God Himself, is eternal. When we talk about God’s eternity, we’re talking about something greater than duration.  When we say God is eternal, we are saying that God is self-existent, that He has no beginning. He derives His existence or His being from no other source; rather, He has the power to be in and of Himself. He’s not dependent upon anything outside Himself for His own life or being. There is no point at which God began. Before God ever made a world, He already existed. And the Scriptures make clear that as He existed from all eternity, there was already in His nature from all eternity the attribute of love. God didn’t become loving at the time of creation, for He has always been a God of love. Since that’s the case, and since there w...

There are a myriad ways God demonstrates his love for us, but here are three for you to ponder this week… 1. Your Father Predestined You Ephesians 1:4-5   even as he chose [elected] us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ , according to the purpose of his will, The doctrine of predestination can be tricky. Trying to see where it fits in with faith and repentance can be confusing. Today I’m not going to try unscramble the Rubik’s cube of predestination; that you can find in other blogs by using the search bar. What I want you to savor today is the motive that fueled God’s predestination of people in the first place—his unfathomable love. David was staggered by God’s foreknowledge. As he wondered in Psalm 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet the...

God is love, and love never fails because God never fails. Love cannot be separated from God and cannot exist without Him. God's love is the foundation and definition of love, just as He is the source, fountain, sustainer, and enabler of love. God gives meaning to love, and without Him, love isn't only worthless but meaningless. Without God as its source and center, that which humans conceive of as love is impatient and unkind, envious and boastful, arrogant and rude, always insisting on its own way, irritable, resentful, rejoicing in wrongdoing and falsehood. Without God, love is nothing more than a hateful lie of Satan. Every day we hear people talk about love as if it were some sort of impersonal force and independent energy that alone has the power to change hearts, restore homes, cure diseases, rebuild communities, and unite nations. The world is infatuated with the idea of love. Even the word itself, love, has degenerated into an all-encompassing, catch-all term that...

Philip the Apostle. The text (in Old Church Slavonic) in the book is: "15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love..." (First Epistle of John). Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos (1774) at Kondopoga. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins ." ( 1 John 4:9-10 ) The final verse of " Deeper and Deeper " enjoins us to enter into God's love and sing of it throughout eternity. Into the love of Jesus, deeper and deeper I go, Praising the One who brought me out of my sin and woe; And through eternal ages gratefully I shall sing; "Oh, how He loved! Oh, how He loved! Jesus, my L...

English: Second Conference of World Religions organized by Moulana Ghousavi Shah(Secretary General: The Conference of World Religions) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Our culture gets angry when Christians say that Jesus is the only way to God . In their minds a loving God would have surely provided a banquet of ways to come to Him so that the whole world could feast upon His mercy. Jesus is simply too narrow of a message. If Jesus is all God has provided this world, then He hasn't done enough. How would you respond to such attitudes? Suppose there actually is a God in heaven, and suppose this God created the world and everything in it. Suppose that, in the process of making myriad species of birds, fish, and animals, He formed human beings in His image and gave them the most exalted position in all of creation. Suppose He said, "You will be holy, even as I am holy," and gave them only one command to obey--but fifteen minutes after He made them, these human beings rev...

English: John the Baptist baptizing Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) There are people all around you who need Jesus . He wants to use you to reach them. Here are some of the specific ways you too can pray for people the in your life who need Christ : 1. Pray that the Father would draw them to Christ. John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him God is the initiator in salvation. He sent His Son to die for sinners and He is the one who works in people’s hearts to make them receptive to the gospel message. We knew that if our neighbors were to come to Christ, God would have to move in their hearts and so we prayed that He would do so. When you pray for others, pray that the Father would draw them to Christ. Lord , I pray you work in the heart of ____________ and draw them to Christ. 2. Pray that the Spirit would convict them of sin and their need for Christ. John 16:8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness an...

The Reunion of Jacob and Esau (1844 painting by Francesco Hayez) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Does God really love you, and does He have a wonderful plan for your life? Not if your name is Esau , in which case He hates you; or if you are a vessel fit for destruction, in which case God’s plan for your life is eternal damnation. How are we to reconcile the seemingly conflicting ideas found in Scripture concerning the love of God and the hatred of God? Are we telling people a falsehood when we announce to people that God has a wonderful plan for their lives? The question focuses on the propriety of assuming the universal love of God for every person in the world. A universal affirmation of anything allows for no exceptions.  We all know the Bible teaches that God is love and that God so loved the world that He gave.… If God so loved the world that He went so far as to give His only begotten Son to die, doesn’t this radical degree of sacrificial love strongly imply that in lov...