Dr Paul Allen

Death is the incontrovertible proof that sin is real. Sin is a destructive power, holding humanity in its murderous grip. None is exempt. All need forgiveness of sins and salvation from eternal death. Jesus Christ’s resurrection speaks to this all-important need. And the message of Acts 13:26-41 is straightforward: Jesus secured forgiveness of sins for those who believe through His resurrection. Christ’s resurrection is the key to understanding and receiving salvation. In this sermon, the Apostle Paul emphasised the significance of Jesus’ resurrection for sinners’ salvation. Let’s see what Paul said as he laid out the gospel message of Christ’s resurrection. We must first understand that we are dealing with historical facts when it comes to the gospel message. When the apostles preached the gospel, their message was not a matter of theological or philosophical speculation. The apostolic message was based on events happening in time and space that could be proven or disproven by witness...

  "On the third day, he rose from the dead." Etched in my memory from childhood are those lines from a familiar Easter hymn in evangelical circles, "He Lives": "You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart." Despite the warmth that such sentiment offers, it hardly fits the bill sketched out by the Apostle Peter: "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" ( 1 Pet. 3:15 ).  Many ideas can be, and often are, embraced by the heart that are simply wrong. Santa Claus and the tooth fairy may be harmless childhood myths, but when we are making claims about eternal matters, emotionally useful fantasies will not suffice.  Eventually, we grow up, and if our understanding of the Christian truth-claims does not mature as well, we are likely to be blown about by the trendy gusts of whim. In an informal survey of evangelical Christians recently, nearly everyone agreed with the statem...

Christianity would not exist without the belief of the earliest Christians that God raised Jesus from the dead. As the Apostle Paul famously declared: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” ( 1 Cor 15:17 NRSV ). But for many Christians, the importance of the resurrection seems simply to be that it validates the more fundamental saving work of Christ, namely, his atoning death on the cross. While the cross is indeed absolutely central to how Christ saves, the earliest apostolic teaching in the book of Acts gives  Jesus’s resurrection pride of place  in how God accomplishes salvation. What follows are four reasons—drawn from the apostolic sermons in Acts—why the resurrection is foundational to the Christian faith. Table of contents 1. The confirmation of Jesus 2. The enthronement of Christ 3. The outpouring of the Spirit 4. The reign of the king Conclusion 1. The confirmation of Jesus Acts teaches that  Jesus’s resurrection...