Dr Paul Allen

In a world awash with information, we as believers desperately need wisdom. But what is it exactly? That is a surprisingly difficult question to answer simply. Based on the Bible, we can define wisdom as the ability to discern good from evil and apply knowledge, skill, and experience in order to live in right relationship with God and others within the world that God made. Let’s briefly unpack the elements of this definition.  Discern good from evil. Discernment refers to making distinctions. The most fundamental distinction is between good and evil, right and wrong. Yet oftentimes the hardest distinctions to make are between good, better, and best. Wisdom is the ability to make such distinctions, especially when the issue at hand is not one of obvious right from wrong.  Apply knowledge, skill, and experience. Wisdom is based on knowledge but goes beyond it. Skill refers to abilities that one acquires over an extended period of time. Experience provides the necessary perspecti...

I have to forgive someone who hasn't repented? Let's explain that Scripture points to two levels of forgiveness:  1. An unconditional heart posture that releases bitterness and entrusts the offender to God as judge,  2. A relational forgiveness that is granted when the offender repents.  Mark 11:25    And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Romans 12:19  Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[a] says the Lord.  Luke 17:3  “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them." Matthew 18:20-35  The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant 21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but sev...

Serve one another T he first three chapters of Ephesians have dealt with the theological argument that God has made us alive with Christ; that He has saved us by grace and that, therefore, Jews and Gentiles together are coheirs, members of the same body, partners in the promise of Christ; and that Paul is the proclaimer of this gospel. The Key Theme of Unity and Diversity In chapter 4, we see now the implications of these truths. In particular, 4:1–16 is really about how the church as a whole should live together and how the church will walk according to this unity that Christ has created in His own body. We’ll see that this body of Christ needs different body parts—that is, there is one body, a unified body, but there is diversity within the body; the body has different body parts. So the theme of unity and diversity is the key theme through Eph 4:1–16. The Structure of the Passage This passage is constructed in two parts. First, 1–6 is about walking in unity, really stressing the imp...

 

 

 

“Without the Spirit we can neither love God, nor keep His commandments.”   The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is like any other mainline doctrine, both saturated with variety and overflowing with controversies. The Holy Spirit, being God, makes a rather unruly subject matter in that He is too incomprehensibly vast for us to tackle with full authority, especially in the brevity of this paper. As Clark Pinnock writes, In fact, of the themes of theology, the Spirit may be the most elusive of all. How does one speak at all of the power that enables us to know God? How can one put the Spirit-breath into a conceptual bottle? Yet, the graciously given presence of the Spirit is surely the most wonderful thing one experiences and that which brings God unspeakably close.  Yet scripture provides both a reasonable description of what the Holy Spirit’s interaction with His creation is, and what we might have as a standard expectation for our own understanding and teaching.  Regardin...