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

English: John the Baptist baptizing Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) JOHN 3:1–3 “ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God ’ ” (v. 3). Language that points to the concept of regeneration has been common in our culture. The term regeneration comes from two Greek words that can be literally translated as “born again,” but most people probably do not think of regeneration immediately when they hear this phrase.  Indeed, there is much confusion over what it means to be “born again” because many who claim to be Christians think and live just like pagans. It does not help the situation either when we see various denominations defining regeneration differently from one another. Every Christian denomination has a doctrine of regeneration. This is because Jesus Himself declares that we all need to be “born again.”  One of the most important passages on this topic is Jesus’ famous encounter with Nicodemus in John 3:1–

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 physical eyes. This is one of the re

English: Stained glass panel in the transept of St. John's Anglican Church, Ashfield, New South Wales (NSW). This scene depicts Nicodemus questioning Jesus, with Jesus answering him "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). The inscription on this memorial window reads "Memory of George Mackenzie Holden. April 25th 1841. Died May 25th 1881." (Half of the words are on a paired panel.) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) John 3:1–3 “ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is  born again he cannot see the kingdom of God ’” (v. 3). Many of the passages that we will examine are occupied with the condition of the heart and the planting of the Gospel in ready soil ( Matt.  13:18–30, 36–43; 15:1–20).  The Bible, of course, has much to say on this subject, emphasizing our need to have our hearts renewed or, as we commonly say in theology, regenerated by the Holy Spir it. The term regeneration comes from two Greek word

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

English: John the Baptist baptizing Christ (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 ). We have seen that 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 thatHe 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 p

Christ and The Pharisees (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) John 3:1–3 “ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God ’” ( v. 3 ). Many of the passages are occupied with the condition of the heart and the planting of the Gospel in ready soil ( Matt. 13:18–30 , 36–43 ; 15:1–20 ). The Bible, of course, has much to say on this subject, emphasizing our need to have our hearts renewed. The term regeneration comes from two Greek words that can be literally translated as “born again,” but most people probably do not think of regeneration immediately when they hear this phrase. Indeed, there is much confusion over what it means to be “born again” because many who claim to be Christians think and live just like pagans. It does not help the situation either when we see various denominations defining regeneration differently from one another. Every Christian denomination has a doctrine of regeneration. This is because Jesus Himself d

English: This is a map of first century Iudaea Province that I created using Illustrator CS2. I traced this image for the general geographic features. I then manually input data from maps found in a couple of sources. Robert W. Funk and the Jesus Seminar. The Acts of Jesus. HarperSanFrancisco: 1998. p. xxiv. Michael Grant. Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels. Charles Scribner's Sons: 1977. p. 65-67. John P. Meier. A Marginal Jew. Doubleday: 1991. p. 1:434. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel ." ( Matthew 9:33 ) In His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus was fully human (except that He did no sin). He probably looked and acted very "average," yet He continually performed works of healing and other miracles which were utterly different from those magical deeds attributed to the many conjurers of the day. When the man "sick of the palsy

Inner left panel of the triptych of the Garden of Eartly Delights. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron , where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples." ( John 18:1 ) As Jesus, after the last supper with His disciples, walked out with them, they soon crossed over a small brook and entered the little garden called Gethsemane . Eventually, He left the disciples and went farther into the garden alone for a time of solitary prayer. Perhaps He remembered how, long ago, He had walked in His first garden with Adam and Eve in beautiful fellowship. But then they had rebelled against His Word, and had to be expelled from the Garden of Eden , leaving Him alone there also ( Genesis 3:8 ). As He prayed in Gethsemane, He knew that it would be only a few hours before He would be buried in still another garden, one "wherein was never man yet laid" ( John 19:41 ). He would

English: John the Baptist baptizing Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) John 3:1-3 " Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God '" ( v. 3 ). Many of the passages that we will study this month are occupied with the condition of the heart and the planting of the Gospel in ready soil ( Matt. 13:18-30 , 36-43 ; 15:1-20 ). The Bible, of course, has much to say on this subject, emphasizing our need to have our hearts renewed or, as we commonly say in theology, regenerated by the Holy Spirit . The term regeneration comes from two Greek words that can be literally translated as "born again," but most people probably do not think of regeneration immediately when they hear this phrase. Indeed, there is much confusion over what it means to be "born again" because many who claim to be Christians think and live just like pagans. It does not help the situation either when we see various denomi