Dr Paul Allen

Baptism of Christ. Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River by John. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Since sanctification is not optional, we examine it closely, noting three of its facets. We begin with positional holiness. In other words, to get holiness, we start with holiness: We must be declared to be holy at the outset of our Christian lives. This declaration by God is called positional holiness. It is another way of expressing the great doctrine of justification, or is at least simultaneous with it. Through the crowning work of the atonement, Christ has made it possible for a holy God to see us—not as we are in and of ourselves, but wrapped about with the robes of Christ’s righteousness (Phil. 3:9).  This aspect of our sanctification occurs by faith in Christ instantaneously, at the moment of our conversion. In a very real sense, then, we are sanctified at the moment we are saved. For this reason Paul could address the Christians of the various churches to whom he wrote, ...

Every year, thousands of Christian books are published worldwide. Of those thousands, there are usually only a small handful that are worth reading. Of those that are worth reading, there are only a few that are worth reading repeatedly. David Holwerda's Jesus & Israel: One Covenant or Two ? is one of those rare few. The basic purpose of Holwerda's book is to examine the topic of promise and fulfillment in Scripture from a Reformed, covenantal perspective. In order to thoroughly deal with this significant topic, each chapter of the book is devoted to addressing one specific issue that sheds light on the relationship between Jesus and Israel . The topics that are addressed include, for example, the temple, the land, and the law. Though not an explicitly stated purpose of the book, the examination of these issues from a covenantal perspective also provides a very helpful contrast with the popular dispensationalist ideas of promise and fulfillment. The first chapter of the...

Of the four Gospels , John has the most specific references to the deity of Christ . John affirms that Jesus is more than simply a chosen person: He shares in the deity of God Himself.  Jesus own awareness of deity is expressed both in sayings about His unity with the Father … but especially in the ‘I am’ sayings [John 6:20; 8:12; 10:7; 10:10; 11:25; 14:6; and 15:1]. In addition to these sayings are several where Jesus designates Himself simply by the words I am (John 4:26; 8:24, 28; 13:19; 18:5–8).  Yesterday Pastor Christian explained that this is a phrase almost impossible to translate literally; in most contexts the simple I am is not meaningful in English [compare renderings of the NASB (“I am He”) and NIV (“I am the one I claim to be”)].  But in John 8:58, the RSV [and similarly, the NASB and NIV] translates ‘Before Abraham was, I am.’ The language is much stronger in Greek than in English. Before Abraham was born (genesthai), I am (ego eimi) [thus...

Quoting (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Does Paul really believe that “I have the right to do anything” ( 1 Cor 6:12)? Really? Anything? Of course not. Paul does not have the right to sin. He doesn’t have the right to walk away from his ministry. So what is happening in v 12? And why does the NASB and KJV write, “All things are lawful for me” when we know they are not? What do the other translations tell you? Many translations put the phrase in quotation marks . “’All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful” ( ESV , also HCSB , NRSV , NET). What would be the point? If you have done your homework, you know what Paul is doing. He is quoting what his Corinthians opponents are saying. He doesn’t agree with them, but he is citing them. So how do you indicate that in English? The ESV and others put the sentence in quotation marks. This explains where the extra “you say” comes from in the NIV . “‘I have the right to do anything,” you say.” The CBT obviously felt tha...

English: An image of Psalm 23 (King James' Version), frontispiece to the 1880 omnibus printing of The Sunday at Home. Scanned at 800 dpi. Français : Illustration du Psaume 23 (version autorisée par le roi Jacques), en frontispice de l'édition omnibus du Sunday at home. Version numérisée à 800 dpi. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) God is called holy not only because of what He does, but also because of who He is. Originally the term referred more to God's being than His action or behavior. For us to be called saints ("holy ones"), we must have a catharsis. We must be made clean. No unclean thing can stand before the presence of a holy God. That which is unclean is profane in His eyes. For us to be holy to God, our unclean, unholy moral imperfection must be purged and our sin removed from us. That is why the absolutely necessary condition for redemption is atonement. Without atonement we would remain always and forever unclean and unholy before His penetrating gaze...

The Road to Emmaus appearance, based on Luke 24:13-32, painted by Joseph von Führich, 1830. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) When the disciples walked the road to Emmaus twenty centuries ago, Jesus concealed His identity so that they didn’t recognize the “stranger” at their side. These men were not in a garden. There were no roses covered with dew. But they walked and talked with the risen Christ . What was their experience like? When their eyes were finally opened and they recognized Jesus, He suddenly vanished and they said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32, NASB ). That is the normal human reaction to the immediate presence of Christ—“hearts burning within us.” My heart would be scorched to a cinder if I could hear His voice. My soul would explode in joy if I could walk with Him and talk with Him. I would travel the world to find a garden where He was visibly prese...

Image via Wikipedia "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment" ( Matthew 5:22 )   There are a number of Scriptures which, taken alone, would indicate that a Christian should never get angry about anything. For example, note  Ephesians 4:31 : "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger . . . be put away from you."   Yet Jesus indicated only that anger "without a cause" was wrong and invited judgment. Many modern translations omit the phrase "without a cause" in this verse ( NIV , NASB , LB, TEV, etc.), but the phrase does occur in over 99.5 percent of all the Greek manuscripts, and thus clearly should be retained.   If anger were never permitted for a believer, it would contradict even the occasional example of Jesus Himself. "And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts" ( Mark 3:5 ). He was angered here by c...

Image via Wikipedia Where did the idea of a red-flanneled, pitchfork-bearing Devil come from? The roots of this grotesque caricature of Satan are found in the Middle Ages . It was popular sport in medieval days to mock the Devil by describing him in ludicrous terms.  There was a method in this madness. The medieval church believed in the reality of Satan. It was aware that Satan was a fallen angel who suffered from an overdose of pride. Pride was Satan's supreme weakness.  To resist Satan, that proud but fallen creature, required fierce combat. The comb at focused on Satan's most vulnerable point, his pride. The theory was this: Attack Satan at his point of weakness and he will flee from us. What better way to attack Satan's pride than to depict him as a cloven-hoofed court jester in a red suit? These silly images of Satan were intentional caricatures. Unfortunately, later generations responded to the caricatures as if they were intended to be the real thing. ...