Dr Paul Allen

Jonathon cruse In Romans 4, Paul tells us that if we want to know how salvation works, we only need to look to Abraham. His story was recorded for our sake (vv. 23–24). How God worked with Abraham is how God works, period. And how did God work salvation for Abraham? Through faith. We cannot overstate the importance of faith. As Paul wrote in verse 16, “it [the promise] depends on faith.” The ESV supplies that word “depends,” but it certainly underscores the sense Paul is after—literally, the promise “comes through faith.” Why? Why is faith so important? Why does it matter so much in God’s plan of redemption? Here are three reasons. 1. Faith keeps the promise gracious. That’s what the text says: “It is through faith so it can be according to grace” (v. 16). Substitute any other word for “faith”, and the sentence becomes absurd. If salvation is through works, charity, service, church attendance, activism, intuition, or intellect, it cannot be “according to grace.” Faith—which itself is a...

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” (Psalm 16:2) In Psalm 16, David is taking refuge in God. Taking refuge includes David’s prayer for God to keep him. In other words, the prayer “preserve me” (Psalm 16:1) is itself taking refuge in God. But David doesn’t simply ask God to keep him. He also speaks and declares truth to God. He exults in Yahweh his refuge (Psalm 16:2). The last phrase of verse 2 is packed with deep theological truth and precious fuel for worship. So, what does David mean when he says, “I have no good apart from you”? God is the source of all goodness. Every good that is good comes from the God who is Good. God is the maker and sustainer of all created goods. Thus, in Genesis 1, he creates and then appraises his work: “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). “Every good that is good comes from the God who is Good.” Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109), the brilliant medieval theologian, saw in this t...

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. ROMANS 8:28 How wonderful is the providence of God in overruling things most disorderly and in turning to our good things which in themselves are most pernicious! We marvel at His mighty power, which holds the heavenly bodies in their orbits. We wonder at the continually recurring seasons and the renewal of the earth. But this is not nearly so marvelous as His bringing good out of evil in all the complicated occurrences of human life and making even the power and malice of Satan with the naturally destructive tendency of his works to minister good for His children. “All things work together for good.” This must be so for three reasons. First, because all things are under the absolute control of the Governor of the universe. Second, because God desires our good, and nothing but our good. Third, because even Satan himself cannot touch a hair of our heads wi...