Dr Paul Allen

Would you describe yourself as an assured Christian? Are you sure God loves you, that your sins have been forgiven, and that God will keep you on the narrow road that leads to life? For many Christians, these questions hang awkwardly. Doubt plagues them, making every burden heavier, every shadow darker, and every hardship more significant. Where can they look for certainty? We start by encouraging doubting Christians to look away from themselves to Christ and God's free grace. Many of our doubts find their root in the secret fear that we must do something to prime the pump of grace. The gospel speaks eloquently to such insecurity.  We need no prior qualification or merit besides sin to receive grace. At no point in the golden chain of salvation is God waiting for us to take the first step before He will open the floodgates of grace. Every Godward thought, every desire for Christ, comes down from above and is itself the fruit of grace—grace previously and freely given. In the quest ...

We live in an increasingly pluralistic society. Ironically, it tends to celebrate diverse religious views while criticizing attempts at religious conversion. Critics accuse evangelism of objectifying the people it seeks to convert. What should Christians make of this claim? To objectify people with our actions simply means to treat them as objects or tools rather than as persons. Often, it’s to use others as a means to an end rather than treating each and every human being as an end in and of themselves. If Christians fail to honour, respect, and love the person we’re witnessing, it’s possible we could be guilty of this charge. Chandler Moore However, we should also realize there’s nothing inherent to evangelism that objectifies people. Rather, evangelism respects the intelligence and agency of others while simultaneously considering them as immensely valuable individuals. Dignify Others Evangelism can and should be a holistic way of engaging others in an effort to convince them of wha...

Aaron L. Garriott When did you become a Christian?” For years, I dreaded being asked this question. Admitting uncertainty never felt like a satisfactory answer. I thought it necessary yet found it impossible to pinpoint even a small timeframe of my conversion to conform to evangelicalism’s deeply held assumptions about conversion experiences. Generally speaking, there are two categories of conversion experiences recounted today. The first category consists of those who were reared in the Christian religion and confess to believing so early that they cannot remember a time when they were not believers. The second category consists of those who heard the gospel and experienced the effects of regeneration later in life. Though these two categories are the most common, they do not makeup how people experience conversion. Therefore, we must not insist that Christians neatly conform their understanding of conversion into one of these two categories. Rather, we must allow for diversity in how...

By Matt Smethurst Let’s face it: the word “gospel” gets thrown around somewhat loosely in Christian conversation today—so much so that its weighty meaning can get lost, or at least muffled. To grasp the good news of the gospel, then, we must first internalize the significance of the word “news.” This is, after all, what separates Christianity from every other religion. Christianity isn’t, fundamentally, good advice. It’s an announcement of good news. You don’t need to go to seminary to grasp the gospel. You don’t need to be in ministry to grasp the gospel. You don’t even need to have been a Christian for five minutes in order to grasp the gospel well enough to convey it to others. All you need to understand is that 2,000 years ago, an invasion took place. Heaven came to earth in the person of Jesus, and he inaugurated a new kingdom. For 33 years, he lived a life of unflinching, perfect faithfulness to God the Father. He lived the life that, try as we might, we cannot live. And because ...

Am I Buried and Raised with Christ? Sometimes we can get all tangled up in our terminology, and so, in answering the question, I’m going to stay very close to the apostle Paul’s terminology. Many ask the question in terms of sin nature. Now that’s not exactly Paul’s language but I think if we stay with Paul’s language, we will answer this question.  Paul teaches that when we become Christians through faith in Christ, we are united to Christ so that his death counts as our death. And that’s true in two senses, not just one. First, it’s true in that the punishment we deserve for our sin was taken by Christ so that his death on the cross was our condemnation and so there’s now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But the other sense in which his death counts as our death is that we really did die with him. In a profound sense, we really did come alive with him in his resurrection. And so the question that we’re asking is, in what sense did we die? What’s dead, and in wha...

Why do we want famous people to be saved? I think it’s an important question for us to ask ourselves, not only because it is important for us to constantly examine our hearts and our motivations, but this question has implications on how we do evangelism.  Jordan Peterson is a popular (and extremely hated) Canadian professor and author among many other things, and I’ve seen a lot of videos of him where he espouses Christian beliefs. So many of his writings are very biblical and though he is not a Christian yet, many Christians seem to be holding out hope that he will convert to Christ.  I’ve seen many articles, tweets and videos about Jordan Peterson and a desire for his conversion. Alot of it is pretty fascinating. Take for example this article written last year. There seems to be much hope and excitement over his statements and a big desire for him to be saved. Many people seem to be holding out hope that he will become a Christian. As I consider this and look back at our re...

What is it that God requires of us? And what is it that God accepts upon the fulfillment of what He requires? The seventeenth-century scholastic theologian Francis Turretin spoke of the covenant conditions in Scripture as being either legal or evangelical. According to Turretin, the legal condition of God’s covenant is “entire and perfect obedience to the law,” and the evangelical conditions are “living and sincere faith and repentance.”2 Whenever we come across any “if/then” statements in God’s Word, we must determine whether they belong to the law or to the gospel—whether they are legal or evangelical conditions. If they are related to the law, its promises and its threats, such statements are legal conditions of the covenant. If they belong to the gospel, they are evangelical conditions of the covenant. Both the legal and the evangelical conditions of the covenant must be met if we are to become the recipients of God’s covenant blessings. God’s promise of blessing in the covenant of...

 They refuse to believe they are not saved. They're offended! “Although hypocrites and other unregenerate people may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favour of God, and estate of salvation (which hope of theirs shall perish): yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavouring to walk in all good conscience before him, may, in this life, be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed.” (Westminster Confession of Faith 18:1) This section teaches that unregenerate people may possess a false sense of assurance but that genuine believers may attain a true sense of assurance. Assurance must be considered for the four kinds of people in the world. 1. The first group of people are not saved and are aware that they are not . They are unregenerate and they know it. They have no interest in becoming Christians...

Did Peter lose his salvation when he denied Christ or did he just sin? Why ask this question? The answer is, we all know people who no longer attend church or Connect Group, they may have been water baptized but then disappear. Fall into sin, too embarrassed to return, may or may not go back to church. Or your youth goes to University, the lecturer criticises Christians, and slowly your child say..."I am no longer a Christian, because.........." I raised this topic on purpose. Why? Because many young believers watch Rhett and Link on Youtube. They have 16 million subscribers  - and they are former CRU missionaries. They went to church, prayed, sang songs, did mission work, but could not connect the dots regarding, evolution, Bible, gay marriage and biblical marriage. Thye met nice people who were in gay marriage. (sinners can be nice) Easy question to answer. FAITH DECONSTRUCTION They have recently joined the chorus of “former Christians” who feel the need to sha...

How does a person know if they have been predestined by God for heaven? The shortest answer to the question is also the best: Do you love Jesus? If so, then you have been predestined. Unpacking that short answer shows you the Trinitarian nature of salvation. The Father predestined us before time (Ephesians 1:4). This predestination is expressed through adoption into his family through faith in his Son, Jesus (Ephesians 1:5). This faith is expressed by confessing Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:10), and nobody can do that unless the Holy Spirit is indwelling them (1 Corinthians 12:3). When the Holy Spirit saves a person, He gives them a new nature—He gives them a heart of faith to replace their heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:26). The person goes from living for himself to living for Christ. The person goes from hating God to loving God through Jesus. Thus an individual knows they have been predestined for salvation only when they believe the gospel, and see in their heart faith and love ...

When Does Salvation Start? Are we justified before, in, or after baptism? Are we united to Christ? Do we become one with Christ, and does God become 100% for us before, in, or after baptism?” Because in the New Testament, the word saved is used for what happens before, in, and after baptism. Ephesians 2:8: We “have been saved.” 1 Corinthians 1:18: We “are being saved.” Romans 13:11:“Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.” Being saved happened before is happening now, and will happen finally in the future. The word salvation in the New Testament is broad and includes pieces of salvation. But what’s really being asked is “When did it all start? When was the first moment of union with Christ — the moment of justification, which is not a process like sanctification is, but is decisive?” “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). When did that start? At what point does God count us a child — not a child of wrath, which we all are by nat...