Dr Paul Allen

David Mathis Have you ever wondered why we Christians so often sing about Jesus’s blood? It’s a very strange thing to emphasize, is it not? Not simply the cross and his death, but his blood. Just last Sunday, our church sang twice about the blood of Jesus. First in an old hymn: “And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior’s blood?” Then in a newer song: “By his blood and in his name, in his freedom I am free.” Growing up, I often sang, “There is pow’r, pow’r, wonder-workin’ pow’r in the blood of the Lamb.” That was my dad’s favourite. Or one that many of us know: “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” We Bible-believing Christians do not simply recognize the reality of Jesus’s blood and refer on occasion to Jesus’s blood, but we sing about it. We glory in it. That is, in a spirit of worship, in declaring Jesus’s worth to each other, and in praising him for his greatness, we often sing about the otherwise morbid topic of blood. Have you ever stopped ...

The basic message of Hebrews is that Christ is incomparably greater than anyone and anything in the Old Testament and that the Jewish or gentile believers should not even think of returning to the Old Testament religion. In principle, this is in line with the convictions of most Christians. But it creates a problem when the author of this letter goes further than this.  The message is not only that Christ is much greater than anyone and anything in the Old Testament and not only that Christ replaced some of the Old Testament features of worship. Rather, the message is that some very important features in the Old Testament are no longer effective—and even that some never were. The negative use of the Old Testament in Hebrews Let us have a look at the author’s negative views. The priests had to bring the sacrifices regularly, which implies that they were not effective (10:2–4). Instead of really cleansing people from sin, the repeated bringing of the sacrifices reminded people of the...

We see that by the word picture that Paul employs. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels.” The Gospel is a treasure. The glorious Good News of the New Covenant is absolutely priceless. Whereas the Old Covenant brought only death and condemnation, the New Covenant brings spiritual life and saving righteousness ( 2 Cor 3:7–8). Whereas the Old Covenant provided only limited access to the concealed glory of God , the New Covenant provides continual access to open-faced admiration of the glory of God shining in the face of Christ (2 Cor  3:12 –18). Whereas the Law made nothing perfect (Heb  7:19 ) and only further aroused our sinful passions (Rom 7:7–11), the New Covenant brings inward transformation and conformity to the image of Christ (2 Cor  3:18 ). Whereas the Old Covenant was powerless to transform the heart of man, the Gospel of the glory of Christ shines into that dead heart, and the Holy Spirit Himself awakens the affections to hate sin and to...

English: English translation of hebrew version. Map of the twelve tribes of Israel, before the move of Dan to the North (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Much of “ biblical theology ” has a glaring weakness: it misses one of the major themes of the Bible . Biblical theology is the study of how to read the Bible as a whole, or how to trace a theme as it progresses from Genesis to Revelation. While systematic theology systematizes the teaching of the Bible (what the Bible says about God ’s attributes, the person of Christ, salvation, etc.), biblical theology traces the major themes of the Bible chronologically (how the Passover lamb was instituted, celebrated, neglected, and finally fulfilled). The study of biblical theology often focuses on themes, types, figures, symbols and motifs that develop canonically in an attempt to show the unity of scripture and the power of progressive revelation. Most biblical theology books read similarly. They point out the garden-to-garden theme of Genes...

The Resurrection of Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Because it’s easy to limit our reflection and meditation on the resurrection of Christ only to Holy Week , we’ve been doing some post-Resurrection -Day reflection on the significance of the resurrection. Two weeks ago, we looked at some theological and practical implications of the resurrection as it relates to the person of Christ . Last week, we began considering the significance of the resurrection for believers . There we learned that the resurrection is the ground of our regeneration, the ground of deliverance from death’s fearful slavery, and the very foundation of the Gospel. But that’s not all. There are more benefits the resurrection brings for the believer in Christ. The Holy Spirit Fourth, the resurrection guarantees the New Covenant ministry of the Holy Spirit. In his Pentecost sermon, Peter is explaining the pouring forth of the Holy Spirit that has manifested in the disciples speaking in languages they had never...

“But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city”  (Heb. 11:16). The examples of faith given to us in Hebrews 11 show us what persevering faith looks like. They also tell us of the inferiority of the old covenant promise compared to the present new covenant reality in Christ . This reality we enjoy even now and we will enjoy to the fullest once Jesus returns and brings all things to consummation. In Hebrews 11:13 we see the inferiority of the position of the old covenant saints . However, though we are in a better position than they were because we live under the new covenant, our present situation is not wholly dissimilar to theirs. Verse 13 tells us that the old covenant saints were “strangers and exiles on the earth,” and this is how our present status is explained elsewhere in the New Testament (1 Peter 2:11). The theme of exile appears throughout the Bib...

Stained glass window (early 17th century), Church Saint Etienne du Mont in Paris. Above: Rabbis washing their hands under a menorah and the Ark of the Covenant, and a plan of the Synagogue. Below: Christ washing the feet of the Apostles, and a plan of the Church (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “These all died in faith , not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Heb. 11:13). This passage makes it clear that the examples of faith from Hebrews 11 are not given only so that we will know what faith looks like. Rather, these examples show us the superiority of the new covenant and encourage us to be faithful to the witness of the old covenant saints through our faithfulness to the new covenant. You may remember that many in the original audience of Hebrews thought that they could abandon Christ without any dreadful consequences. They thought that they could be fait...