Dr Paul Allen

Baptism of Christ. Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River by John. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) JOHN 3:4–8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (v. 8). Regeneration is absolutely necessary if a person is to enter the kingdom of heaven ( John 3 :3). No one is born a child of God . A change of heart effected by the Holy Spirit must first take place. In fact, the label “ born-again Christian ” is redundant, for it is impossible to be a Christian unless one is born again. Despite the fact that regeneration is required for spiritual life, it must be admitted that the experience of the new birth can be difficult to put into words. There is a great deal of mystery concerning the working of the Spirit in our lives. We know that He works, but we cannot always explain how He works. In fact, the actual process of regeneration takes place within and is not visible to o...

Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) John 3 :4–8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (v. 8). Regeneration is absolutely necessary if a person is to enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:3). No one is born a child of God. A change of heart effected by the Holy Spirit must first take place. In fact, the label “ born-again Christian ” is redundant, for it is impossible to be a Christian unless one is born again. Despite the fact that regeneration is required for spiritual life, it must be admitted that the experience of the new birth can be difficult to put into words. There is a great deal of mystery concerning the working of the Spirit in our lives. We know that He works, but we cannot always explain how He works. In fact, the actual process of regeneration takes place within and is not visible to our physica...

Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “ Marvel not at what I just said, you must be born again .” ( John 3:7 ) The term “born again” has come into such common use in recent years, even in political campaigns , that its tremendous meaning has been all but lost. But Jesus—who ought to know, being none other than God incarnate—said, “Ye must be born again!” Furthermore, He said it to Nicodemus , one of the most religiously knowledgeable people of that day. He did not say to Nicodemus that “they must be born again,” meaning the unbelieving multitudes who were not as instructed in the things of God as they should be. Nor did he say that “we must be born again,” meaning all of us mortals including Himself. Rather, Jesus said, “Ye must be born again!” Even a man like Nicodemus must be born spiritually—born again (literally, “born from above”)—if he were ever to see the Kingdom of God ( John 3:3 ). In answer to his question as to how this could be, Jesus said he must ...

Jesus and Nicodemus (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) One of my favorite books on evangelism is Jesus the Evangelist, by Richard Phillips. It is a collection of sermons Phillips preached at his Presbyterian church through the Gospel of John . These sermons focus on John 1 , 3, and 4, and examine the evangelism of Jesus. Perhaps the biggest danger in studying historical narratives is confusing description with prescription. Just because Jesus walked on water, for example, does not mean Mark is telling us to walk on water. This danger is the trap that plagues many books on evangelism. Many evangelistic methods take one example of evangelism from a Gospel or Acts, and build a model upon that singular event as if it was prescriptive. But Phillips threads this needle exceptionally well, by summarizing the text, asking questions of the text, and then showing how those answers can be applied to us today. For example, from Jesus’ exchange with Nicodemus, Phillips gives us theology: “The reason ...