Dr Paul Allen

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,  and in sin did my mother conceive me. (Ps. 51:5) They’re the two essential parts of redemption, rescue and restoration, and you and I can’t do either one for ourselves. But it’s hard to admit that we have a problem that we cannot solve. We like to convince ourselves that our anger tells us more about the flawed people we live near than about ourselves.  We like to think that our impatience is more about poor planning or the character of the people we deal with every day. We like to think that our sin can be blamed on the temptations of the fallen world around us.  When we do or say what is wrong, we tend to point to a boss, a spouse, one of our children, a friend, a difficult situation, a busy day, the fact that we aren’t feeling well, bad parents, some injustice, or a long catalogue of other excuses.  But the Bible is quite clear. We all suffer from the same terminal disease. None of us has escaped it. It’s not caused by the...

  One of the cruellest insinuations made about Paul was that he was under God's manifest displeasure. His attackers pointed to his thorn in the flesh, v. 7. It is not clear what this was, but the terms used are physical, and the indications are that it was excruciating.  Paul is forced to explain how it is that he has this disability, and in doing so he breaks a self-imposed silence of fourteen years. Fourteen years ago he, “a man in Christ”, had a stupendous experience. He was caught up to the third heaven and saw things impossible to communicate in human language.  Paul’s amazing humility comes out in the fact that he kept silent for so long about something that others would have shouted from the housetops. There had been a possibility of pride, and the Lord had taken effective steps. Paul was given that which proved both painful and humbling. He prayed the Lord thrice for its removal, addressing Him who, in the days of His flesh, had thrice prayed the Father, “Take aw...

In the Old Testament book of Ruth, we meet another woman, Naomi, whose expectations were crushed by repeated loss and trauma. Yet one of the book’s most beautiful arcs is Naomi’s redemption. She learns to trust God’s faithfulness even in seasons of deep pain. We, too, often become discouraged when hard times arrive. Scripture warns that, as fallen people saved by God’s grace, Christians will face trials in this world. We may wonder where God is and why these painful things are happening. At times, it can even feel as though God has broken His promises, and we question whether our hope was in vain. This exact situation appears in Psalm 90, one of the most important poems in the book of Psalms. What makes this psalm so powerful is not only its author—Moses—but also its placement. It opens Book Four of the Psalms and follows Psalm 89, in which the writer laments the exile and seems to say that God’s promise to David has failed. The psalmist cries out, “Where are You, Lord, in our sufferin...

Kevin De Young  We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Cor. 5:10) In 2 Corinthians 5:18–20, Paul explains that he has a ministry of reconciliation. This invites the question: How are we reconciled to God? That may seem like a silly question to us. “What do you mean, how are we reconciled? We say we’re sorry for our sins. God says it’s not a problem. And everything’s all better.” But God’s forgiveness doesn’t work like that. It would be a violation of his own nature. God is loving, but he is also just. God cannot simply pass over our sins because he feels like it. Sin is a personal offence to God. If God were to look past our sin just because he really likes us, he would treat his name with contempt. There needs to be some kind of restitution for our wrongs and satisfaction of divine justice. Proverbs 17:15 says he who justifies the wicked is an abomination to the Lord....

“Give What You Command, and Then Command Whatever You Will”:  Augustine, Pelagius, and the Question of Original Sin   By  Brad Green Original sin, in particular the relationship between Adam and the rest of humanity, is one of the most vexing doctrines in the history of Christian thought. Henri Blocher captures it well when he refers to the doctrine as a “riddle.”1  Often, the best way to come to terms with a complex theological issue is to go at it through a close study of a key historical controversy that surrounds the doctrine. The doctrine of original sin would entail an analysis of the pitched theological struggle between Augustine and Pelagius (and the Pelagians). This was a literary battle, as Augustine never met Pelagius, although they both were in Rome simultaneously.  1 Henri Blocher, Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle, NSBT 5 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997). Note: the enumeration of these footnotes differs from those used in the full chapter sin...

God used human authors to write the sixty-six books of the Bible over a long period. Thus, the books of the Bible actually form one book, with one triune Author and one unified message of salvation. The Bible is one book because God the Holy Spirit is its Author (2 Sam. 23:2; Neh. 9:30; Heb. 3:7). The Father revealed Himself over the centuries to His people by His Word and Spirit (Isa. 59:20–21; 1 Peter 1:11; Heb. 1:1–3; 3:7).  Christ is the central theme of Scripture (Luke 24:25–27; John 5:39; Acts 17:3). The covenant of grace, which spans both the Old and New Testaments, is the primary way God reveals Christ and salvation in Him. Though this covenant is administered differently under the Old and New Testaments, Christ and the covenant of grace constitute a unified message of salvation from Genesis through Revelation. Westminster Larger Catechism 32–35 teaches us to partake of the covenant of grace in Christ alone. This was true in the Old Testament, which describes the old covena...

Those who reject Christ's claims will reject the Bible as a whole, so we are not surprised when we find non-Christians questioning the stories and teachings of Scripture. We are living in a funny age, however, when even many professing Christians want to cast the Bible in a negative light.  It is not uncommon for people who claim to be followers of Christ to question God's character or reject the truthfulness of entire portions of Scripture because they believe specific biblical stories and events contradict God’s mercy.  The invasion of Canaan is one of those stories that prompts many people, including many professing Christians, to question the Scriptures. Charges that “God commanded genocide” are frequently uttered.  Even after responding to the charge of genocide, however, we still need to consider how the story fits into the broader biblical revelation of the character of God.  THE PROBLEM IS US When we encounter something that troubles us in Scripture, we are t...