Dr Paul Allen

There’s an old joke about people who do CrossFit, and it goes like this: “How do you know when someone does CrossFit? Don’t worry; they’ll tell you!” If you’ve ever encountered an enthusiastic CrossFitter, you know why this joke is so humorous. All they can talk about is CrossFit and how it has changed their lives. And to a certain extent, it has. It has allowed them to train their bodies to maximum effectiveness.  The interesting part is that CrossFit’s success is less about some revolutionary training regimen and more about the positive vision it casts and the enthusiasm it generates. The enthusiasm is not simply for the payoff but also for the process—as difficult and painful as that.  As Christians, our attitude toward obedience can become like that of someone dragged to the gym by a well-meaning friend or family member—weary disdain. Instead, we need the same positive vision and enthusiasm for Christlikeness as our CrossFitting friends for a pull-up. Let me, therefore, give you so

In His concluding beatitude in Matthew 5:11, Jesus pronounces a divine blessing on those who suffer persecution: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” True disciples of Christ are persecuted “on my account” or, as several translations put it, “because of me.” Later in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus warns His followers of unavoidable harsh treatment from the world: “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake” (Matt. 10:22). Persecution is inevitable for Jesus’ followers because of our personal identification with Him. In Luke 6:22, Jesus pinpoints the title “Son of Man” as the specific identification that often instigates hostility from an unbelieving world.  This title recognizes Jesus as a divine, heavenly King who reigns over a universal and eternal kingdom. Because of this sovereign majesty, Christ alone is ultimately worthy and commands the worship of all peoples. For it will be the Son of Man who “will s

Jesus was sent to fulfil all righteousness . And what that meant to the Jew was to obey every jot and tittle of the Law. Because now Jesus is not acting in His baptism for Himself, but for His people. And if His people are required to keep the Ten Commandments, He keeps the Ten Commandments. If His people are now required to submit to this baptismal ritual, He submits to it on their behalf. Because the redemption that is brought by Christ is not restricted to His death on the cross. We've seen that in the work of redemption God didn't send Jesus to earth on Good Friday and say, "Die for the sins of your people and that will take care of it." No. Jesus not only had to die for our sins, but He had to live for our righteousness.  If all Jesus did was die for your sins, that would remove all of your guilt, and that would leave you sinless in the sight of God, but not righteous . You would be innocent, but not righteous because you haven't done anything to

We look to the Scriptures and see that when Paul explains the doctrine of justification, he goes back to the Old Testament to Genesis 15. There the Scriptures say of Abraham, “He believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). When Paul develops the doctrine of justification by faith alone, he is saying that when God counts somebody righteous on the basis of faith, it is not because He looks at them and sees that they are inherently righteous. Rather, they have been clothed by the imputation, or transfer, of the righteousness of Christ to that person by faith. This is why we say that the single meritorious cause of our salvation is the transfer, or counting, of Jesus’ righteousness for me. Not only did He die to pay the penalty for my sins, but He lived a perfect life of obedience and fulfilled the law for those who put their trust in Him. This is what we’re talking about in imputation. That was the single, central, most important point of the 16th ce

When I first became a Christian I was introduced to the priorities of the Christian community . I learned quickly that it was expected of me that I have a daily devotion time, a time reserved for Bible reading and prayer. I was expected to go to church. I was expected to have a kind of piety that was evident by not swearing, not drinking at the pub, not smoking, no dancing and the like.  I had no idea that biblical righteousness went far beyond these things. However, like most new Christians , I learned to emphasize such things . My personal letters and talk took on a new tone. They began to sound like pages from New Testament epistles . I soon learned to use Christian jargon in my everyday speech. I didn't "tell" anybody anything, I "shared" it with them. Every good fortune was a "blessing," and I found I could hardly speak without sprinkling my sentences with spiritual platitudes. We've all done it! Soon, however, I found that there was

This article is about two views of punishment in Hell.  ANNIHILATIONISM (CONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY) VS UNENDING CONSCIOUS TORMENT IN HELL (TRADITIONALIST DOCTRINE) Pinnock argues his case below:  The principles of justice also pose a serious problem for the traditional doctrine of the nature of hell because it depicts God acting unjustly. Like morality, it raises questions about God’s character and offends our sense of natural justice.  Hell as annihilation, on the other hand, does not.   W hat lifestyle, what set of actions, would deserve the ultimate of penalties—everlasting conscious punishment? It is easy to accept that annihilation might be deserved by those whose lives turned in a definitive No to God, but it is hard to accept hell as everlasting conscious torment with no hope of escape or remittance as a just punishment for anything.  It is too heavy a sentence and cannot be successfully defended as a just action on God’s part. Sending the wicked to everlasting torme

One mark of Christian authenticity is discontentment with anything less than “all the fullness of God ” ( Ephesians   3:19 ). Coasting is not discipleship. Drifting in self-contentment is not like basking in the pool of security, but like floating, fast asleep, toward the falls. “We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not  drift away ” (Hebrews 2:1). There is a holy discontentment . It is not a nail-biting uncertainty about our standing with God. It is the increased appetite of those who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good ( 1 Peter 2:2–3). It is the pursuit of those who have been pursued and captured by the strong arms of love. “Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I  press on  so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus ” ( Philippians   3:12 ). Therefore, the biblical passages that follow are a way of waking our drowsy souls to feel a pure and holy dissatisfac

The very heart of the gospel as he explains Martin Luther's latin phrase, "Simul Justus et Peccator." Perhaps the formula that Luther used that is most famous and most telling at this point is his formula simul justus et peccator. And if any formula summarizes and captures the essence of the Reformation view, it is this little formula. Simul is the word from which we get the English word simultaneously. Or, it means 'at the same time.' Justus is the Latin word for just or righteous. And you all know what et is. Et the past tense of the verb 'to eat.' Have you et your dinner? No, you know that's not what that means. You remember in the death scene of Caesar after he's been stabbed by Brutus he says, "Et tu, Brute?" Then fall Caesar. And you too Brutus? It simply means and. Peccator means sinner. And so with this formula Luther was saying, in our justification we are one and the same time righteous or just, and sinners. Now if he would

Sometime around A.D. 95, Jesus, through the apostle John, came metaphorically knocking on the door of the church in Laodicea with an unsurpassed invitation: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation  3:20 ) Pulled out of its context, this verse can sound like Jesus was calling softly and tenderly. Paintings inspired by this verse tend to portray a gentle Jesus mildly knocking. In reality, he was anything but soft and tender, gentle and mild. This invitation came on the heels of a bracing rebuke and serious warning. Jesus was pounding on the Laodicean’s door with the urgency of emergency: “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched,

498 years ago tomorrow, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther famously nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany, kick-starting the Protestant Reformation. Nearly 500 years later, God’s people reserve this day to celebrate the rescue of His Word from the shackles of Roman Catholic tyranny, corruption, and heresy. The glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in the sufficient Scriptures had been recovered, and it’s been doing its saving work ever since. Romans 1:16–17 stands at the heart of the Reformation, especially because of how central it was in Luther’s conversion . Luther speaks of how he had hated the phrase, “the righteousness of God,” because he understood it to be speaking only of God’s standard of righteousness by which He would judge unrighteous sinners. But eventually, he says, “I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that through which the righteous live by a gift of God, namely by faith. Here I felt as if I were entirely bo

Most would have expected to see John 3:16 at the top, but there was Romans 12:2 leading an annual list of the most bookmarked, highlighted, and shared Bible verses. Since smartphones have become ubiquitous, it is now possible for software developers to glean bits of information about what large numbers of people are doing on these devices. It was intriguing to see the list compiled by the popular Bible app YouVersion , now installed on almost two hundred million devices. Romans 12:2 is a frequently discussed verse as we think through new ways to serve Christians who are pursuing a renewed mind. Regarding  Romans 12:2 ; God gives us the revelation of sacred Scripture in order for us to have our minds changed so we begin to think like Jesus. Sanctification and spiritual growth is all about this. If you just have it in your mind and you don’t have it in your heart, you don’t have it. But you can’t have it in your heart without first having it in your mind. We want to have a mind i

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” ( Romans 5:19 ) Certainly the focal point of all history and the climax of Christ’s earthly ministry was His sacrificial death on the cross. Christ knew from ages past what was in store for Him, and yet He was “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” ( Philippians 2:8 ). However, as we see in our text, Christ’s obedience included more than His death, for He was perfectly obedient throughout His entire life. Indeed, it is a good thing, for any act of disobedience would have invalidated His sacrificial death. Animal sacrifices in the Old Testament (which prefigured the final sacrifice of Christ) had to be “without blemish” ( Leviticus 22:19 ). But even a perfect animal was not enough ( Hebrews 10:4 ) to satisfy God’s justice and take away sins. “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things. . . . But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without ble

There is no ideal church. Churches are made up of and led by mere humans, finite and fallen. People are broken. You are broken. And this brokenness can lead to messiness and hurt. We all want to “arrive” at our ideal church, whether it’s in ministry or as members. The problem is that it doesn’t exist. There may be a honeymoon phase when you arrive at a church, but before long, the conflicts and complications will arise. Our great hope is not that someday we will arrive in this life at that perfect, ideal church. No, God has something much greater in mind. He wants to use those imperfect people, places, and positions to sanctify you toward the perfect image of his Son. When We Are Weak Paul knew how frustrating life and ministry can be. In 2 Corinthians 11, he speaks of all that he is suffering for the name of Jesus and the sake of the gospel, and after writing of all his beatings, imprisonments, shipwrecks, and constant dangers, he says that he has to endure the “daily pressure of

Author: Randy Alcorn. Jonathan Edwards said, “It becomes us to spend this life only as a journey toward heaven . . . to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labor for or set our hearts on anything else, but that which is our proper end and true happiness?” In his early twenties, Edwards composed a set of life resolutions. One read, “Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can.” Unfortunately, many believers find no joy when they think about heaven. A pastor once confessed to me: “Whenever I think about heaven, it makes me depressed. I’d rather just cease to exist when I die.” “Why?” I asked. “I can’t stand the thought of that endless tedium. To float around in the clouds with nothing to do but strum a harp . . . it’s all so terribly boring. Heaven doesn’t sound much better than hell.” Where did this Bible-believing , seminary-educated pastor get such a view of heaven? Certainly not from Scriptu