Dr Paul Allen

Luke provided similar hints in his narration of the mission of the church after Pentecost. A particularly strong hint concerning the Spirit’s prior work comes at Acts 9:10–19. Ananias, a disciple and therefore presumably in receipt of the Spirit, had a vision in which he heard the Lord calling.  That Ananias should have a vision was in perfect accord with the explanation, given by Peter on the day of Pentecost with reference to Joel 2:28–32, that the arrival of the Spirit ushered in a plethora of prophetic activity including seeing visions (Acts 2:17). It is perhaps, then, a little more surprising to find Paul, at Acts 9:12, also having a vision.  Paul was only to receive the Spirit once Ananias had reached him (Acts 9:17). Yet prior to his Spirit reception, Paul was already the object of divine activity for which Luke elsewhere offered only one explanation: visions come by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:17). 80 Acts 26:16–18 is consistent with this, for here Luke presented the voic...

May the Lord direct your hearts into the  love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. 2 T HESSALONIANS 3:5 Adoration Holy God, You always provide a light to direct me and guide me on the path You know is the best one for me to take. I lift Your name in praise, knowing I can depend on You to show the way. I honour You, for Your wisdom stretches into the future to guide and direct according to the best possible outcome for all. I love You, God, and I want to know how to follow You better. Let the glory due You overshadow the doubts that plague humanity's heart. Break through to show us the way toward life, peace, and love. May You receive the praise You deserve and bask in the love that is Yours as You guide us in the ways we should go. Confession Father, You know the way I am to go, which will lead me to fulfill the purpose You have established for me on earth. You know the path I should take and the decisions I should make that will enable me to live out my destiny. And yet,...

  The complete relocation of believers is clearly expressed in Romans 8:9, where Paul describes them as being in the Spirit while also referring to the fact that the Spirit of God lives in them. These apparently contradictory phrases are to be appreciated for what they are—descriptions that emphasise the integrated involvement of the Spirit with the believer (1 Cor. 6:17).  The intimate association of the Spirit with the believer is heightened in that the Spirit is described as being of God (this, in 8:9, is the first occasion in Romans where Paul refers thus to the Spirit). It is none other than God who resides within the believer.  Not only that, but he lives in them (8:9), indicating a tangible experience of God, not merely an intellectual acknowledgement of divine truths. Intimacy of relationship, not merely a rational response, is the ideal expected by Paul when he refers to the Spirit dwelling in the believer. The sense of privilege but also of challenge for believe...

In Romans, Paul uses the Greek term sarx (translated variously as ‘flesh’, ‘sinful nature’ or ‘human nature’) on several occasions but in different ways, the difference in use being particularly notable in chapter 8. Sometimes, it refers to the characteristic of being human (Rom. 1:3; 4:1; 8:3; 9:5, 8), and human effort (Gal. 3:3).  However, on other occasions, it is clear that he is using flesh , not to refer to the physical body and mortality, but to describe something much more malevolent and malignant that militates against God in a way that makes it inseparable from sin; indeed, the term ‘sin’ is often synonymous with ‘the flesh’ (8:4–9, 12–13; 13:14).  In this respect, to live a life dominated by sin is equivalent to living a life controlled by the flesh. It is as if flesh and sin gang up on the believer and make it difficult to live as a follower of Jesus—so difficult that one wonders how it can be achieved.  It is in this context that the Spirit, who was mentione...

Believers are not only to avoid following the dictates of the flesh, but also to remember that the law is no longer  their guide, for the Spirit is their superior mentor. When he speaks of the law, Paul often, as in Romans 7:4–16, refers to the OT law, in particular, the Torah.  This was prescribed by God for his covenant people to set the standard for lifestyle; failure to keep it was covered by the sacrificial system. Ongoing sacrifices to cover sins are no longer necessary, since the sacrificial death of Jesus has atoned for the sins of the world.  In Romans 2:29, Paul acknowledges that the law confirms the racial identity of the Jew, particularly demonstrated by a physical surgical operation (circumcision). However, since the death of Jesus, the Spirit marks the spiritual identity of the members of a renewed Israel, as prophesied (Jer. 31:3–34; Ezek. 11:19; 36:26–27; 37:1–14), confirmed by spiritual internal surgery, not external circumcision (Rom. 1:21; 2:15; 5:5; 6:...

One of the things that has continuously shocked me throughout my life is the relentless attack against God’s Word – especially from professing Christians. Sometimes, these attacks are subtle, implying the Word of God is insufficient because it is too difficult to understand. Other times, the attacks are blatant, like the promotion of an evolutionary theory as an alternative to biblical creation. In the study of 1 Corinthians, this reality was essentially happening in Corinth, where those believers sought after worldly wisdom. They lived as if the Bible was insufficient for their needs or that Scripture was inferior to the latest philosophies or psychologies. They also judged men’s wisdom to be superior to God’s, which undermined and attacked the truth of His holy Word. Paul addressed this problem in 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, reminding the Corinthians that Christians have the mind of Christ, which is infinitely superior to worldly wisdom.  The mind of Christ is described as eternal, hid...