Dr Paul Allen

Frans Floris - The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Gathering and Protecting Mankind - WGA7949 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Christian : "Are you saved?" Non-Christian, "Saved from what?" Christian: "Are you born again?" Non-Christian, "Born what?" Christian: "Are you washed in the blood?" Non-Christian, "Blood?" Christian: "Are you redeemed?" Non-Christian, "What are you on about?" Here is a good question that every Christian witness should be able to answer. Unless we know what we need to be saved from , we do not have an adequate understanding of the gospel and cannot truly share the Bible's message with others.  Some Christians witness out of zeal for salvation, but may have little understanding of what salvation is. Too many of us use Christian jargon. Sometimes we have little understanding of what we are so zealously trying to communicate. The same cannot be said of the apostle John,...

Christ in Gethsemane (Christus in Gethsemane), oil painting by Heinrich Ferdinand Hofmann (Heinrich Hofmann). The original is at the Riverside Church (Riverside Church, New York City). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 11:25–30 “No one knows the Son except the Father , and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (v.27). The biblical view of man sees all people (except Christ ) since Adam and Eve as born corrupt and therefore lacking in a desire to please God . No one is righteous ( Rom. 3:9–18). In fact, this corruption exists from the moment of conception (Ps. 51:5), and we are happy to stay dead in sin and blind to the kingdom of heaven apart from God’s grace (John 3:1–8; Rom. 6:17; 9:14–16). What is remarkable about the opposition Jesus faces in Matthew 11 is not that some hate Him (vv. 16–24); rather, it is a miracle that He is embraced at all. This is one of the many points of this passage. In pr...

Jesus and Saint Peter, Gospel of Matthew 4.18-20 Français : Jésus et Saint Pierre, Évangile selon Matthieu 4.18-20 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 14:22–33 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.  Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.  But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage!l It is I. Don’t be afraid.”  “ Lord , if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”  “Come,” he said.  Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when...

Christ and The Pharisees (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Though some critics have called Jesus merely a prophet or a good man, many  people were witnesses of his divine identity. In Acts 5:31 Peter declared that  Jesus is “Prince and Savior” and that he is seated at God ’s right hand and  able to forgive the sins of the very people who had crucified him. Peter  clearly believed that Jesus is God. In Matthew 16:15 –16, Jesus asked Peter about this very issue: “Who do you say I am?” and Peter replied, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And the disciple Thomas, coming face to face with the resurrected Jesus, confessed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Even Gentiles proclaimed Jesus’ divinity. When Jesus died, the sky grew dark and the earth shook. Seeing all this happen, the Roman centurion and soldiers who carried out the crucifixion exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God !” ( Matthew 27:54 ). In Mark 2:1–12 (see also Matthew 9...