Dr Paul Allen

Thinking and writing about the devil is strange. I would argue that teaching about the devil has been largely neglected in the church. While there may be the more obvious danger of the devil’s being blamed for all sorts of our sins and living lives in fear of the evil one, in my experience that hasn’t been our great temptation as a church.  Our danger is being unaware of the devil’s schemes and being very naive in our thinking about his role and place. One of the reasons that I think it’s important for us to think these issues through is that it again reminds us that we are dealing with the supernatural. I fear that even in our proclamation of the gospel, we shy away from the spiritual realities of our faith. Christianity at its heart is unashamedly supernatural.  Even a cursory reading of the Gospels demonstrates this with angels, healings, demons, miracles, and resurrection. In seeking to make the gospel more palatable, we may easily downplay the supernatural.  Ephesian...

  1 Thessalonians 2:2 – "But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict." In any battle, the ultimate goal is to eliminate the highest-ranking leader on the other side of the fight. In Thessalonica, this person was the Apostle Paul.  Acts 17:1-9 is the historical record of how the church there was planted. Paul and his ministry team arrived in town, and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, many were saved in a revival, a riot broke out trying to put down the revival, and Paul fled for his life, which explains why he sent Timothy and other leaders along with a letter – because he could not be physically present.  In Paul’s absence, as is the case in every age, those who were anti-Christ were also anti-Paul. They began spreading lots of lies about him, which would have confused and concerned the new Christians who were saved under his preach...

Anna Hampton While there was no space to include all that Scripture mentions about cowardice, the following is just a brief discussion of a key verse often cited related to Biblical teaching on cowardice. It is commonly taught that cowardice is a sin and worthy of hεll. This teaching likely comes from Revelation 21:8, “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (NASB) What are we to make of this? Is this verse directed towards the Christ-follower? Biblical Lists of Sin The Bible includes several lists of sins, starting with the Ten Commandments and then many more lists in the New Testament. In Revelation, “there are two parallel vice lists [to 21:8] in 9:20–21 and 22:15.”[1] Interestingly, the words “coward” and “unbeliever” are found in no New Testament list, except here in Rev 21:8. Aune states, The term “...

We often hear people talk about “the problem of hell,” meaning, “How could a good God send billions of people to an eternal hell?” That is certainly a fair question. In fact, I devoted a chapter of my recent book on Why So Many Christians Have Left the Faith to that very issue. But have you ever asked yourself a very different question, namely, what if there was no future punishment at all? What kind of problems would that present? To be sure, many specific questions can be asked about the nature of future punishment. Does it consist of eternal conscious torment? Does it end in annihilation and final destruction? Is there a purgatory that some go through before going to heaven? Is the idea of hell in keeping with God’s goodness and love? What about devout people from other religions and non-religious, kind-hearted people. What about them? And what about those who never heard the gospel at all? What happens to them? These are all valid and fair questions, and in the relevant chapter in ...

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). One of the fundamental propositions of the Bible is assumed from the start: God exists. Not only does He exist, but He is also the Author and Creator of all life, and therefore, all things in existence owe their existence to Him. In a concise sentence—a mere eight words in Hebrew—the foundations of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures answer several of life’s biggest questions and introduce several other important questions. It is little wonder that the book of Genesis is subject to some of the fiercest critiques from avowed sceptics of every sort. If you can demonstrate the first sentence as false, every other line in the context of Scripture proves false. The rest of the Bible can be summarily dismissed if God does not exist. Likewise, if God did not create all that exists, He bears no intrinsic authority to impose Himself as the Ruler above all creation. Mankind need not be subservient to God if He is not Creator simpl...

Hell Is Awful What exactly are we talking about when we say “hell”? We hear the word used all the time in a street-level way—“What the hell . . . ?” “Hell no!” But when we stop and consider the actual reality of hell, beneath the irreverent and casual uses of the word, what do we find? Scripture teaches us these five truths and more about hell. 1. Hell Is Experienced by the Whole Person A common misconception is that it is only a person’s spirit or soul or mind that suffers in hell, once the body has been left behind. But the Bible’s teaching is that while those in hell now are indeed suffering without a body when the Lord Jesus returns everyone will be raised for judgment, and the impenitent will suffer in hell, body, and soul. In Matthew 5 , Jesus twice speaks of one’s “whole body” going to hell ( Matt. 5:29–30 ). In another place he warns us to “fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” ( Matt. 10:28 ). Humans sin against God with both their body and their soul; they suff...

He’s the universe’s public enemy number one, the chief opponent of God and his people, and the leader of uncounted demonic forces. Jesus says he’s been a murderer from the beginning, and he’s engaged in an all-out war against the forces of good in the universe. The Bible calls him the devil, Satan, the evil one. Paul tells the Ephesian church to put on the full armor of God, so that they can stand firm against his schemes. James tells Christians that if they resist the devil, he will flee from them. Peter tells believers to beware: he is always on the prowl. We have an enemy—and if we’re going to stand firm against him, we need to know whom we’re up against. 1. “Satan” means “adversary.” “Satan” is a transliteration of a Hebrew word, which means “adversary,” or “opponent.” The word satan is used multiple times in the Old Testament, often referring to anyone who is blocking or challenging someone else. For example: The angel of the Lord opposes Balaam (Numbers 21:22–32). Two of David’s ...

Some versions of the Apostles’ Creed say Jesus descended into hell. Did he? For centuries, Christians have proclaimed, “. . . he [Jesus] descended into hell . . .” Other versions of the creed say “the grave.” Why do we say those words at all, and what are the implications of one versus the other?   Bible verses about Jesus’ descent into hell The main texts are Acts 2:31, Romans 10:6–7, and Ephesians 4:9. Acts 2:31 [The patriarch David] foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. Romans 10:6–7 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). Ephesians 4:7–9 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to m...

John 17:1 – “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said…” It seems like every good superhero movie in some form or fashion borrows the storyline of the Bible. The people of earth are in danger, and a hero comes from another planet to defeat some evil villain and save the lives of people otherwise doomed to destruction.  Somewhere deep in the human soul, it seems like we know that our only hope is a saviour coming in from outside our fallen planet.  The storyline of the Bible is even more fantastic than any comic. God came down from Heaven on a mission to seek and save people on the earth. His name is Jesus Christ. The longest recorded prayer of Jesus Christ occupies the entire chapter of John 17. There, Jesus begins to pray by looking up. Prayer is how we look up to the Kingdom of God. Prayer is how we invited the hope, help, and healing of the Kingdom to come down to the earth. While we remain on the earth, we need to look up to heaven as Jes...

  SAVED FROM WHAT? Christians speak of "being saved," but all too often don't follow the phrase to its logical reply: "Saved from what?" How do we answer this question when we share the gospel with others? Far from being a matter of semantics, the issue holds critical importance for believers and non-believers alike.  Is it really sufficient to say that we are saved from our sins?  The question should be saved from whom?" The answer: God himself. God, in righteous wrath, stands against us in our sin. Paul affirms this in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10: “You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” But the glory of the gospel is that the one from whom we need to be saved is the very one who saves us. It is when we truly grasp the significance of Christ's redeeming work that we begin to understand the serious demands and joys of repe...

That’s a question that has been raised many times in church history because the punishment for sin is eternal damnation, and even that’s not adequate. Our rebellion is against God, who is of infinite worth and value so that our sin is of an infinite variety. Even if we suffer eternity in hell, that can’t really justly fulfil the measure of punishment that is our due. Obviously, Jesus did not spend eternity in hell. The argument that has been given and advanced throughout church history is that Jesus’ atonement was of infinite value. Being of infinite value, it could cover and satisfy the demand for eternal punishment. Though the atonement was only temporal, the value of the Son of God suffering in our place for our sins—even for five minutes—was such that it would be accepted by God as a sacrifice to pay for the penalty that was our due. The only way that I know to work with that is to look at it in terms of the value of the sacrificial atonement that Christ made. Is that what is meant...