Dr Paul Allen

Galatians 4:3-5 – In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. In the ancient world, your rights, freedoms, and future were largely determined by your social status. If you were a slave, your future was bleak. If you were a son, your future was bright. There was one exception, however. Even though an adult, a slave could still be adopted as a son. On a rare occasion, this did happen, the family inheritance and all of its blessings were passed on to the slave who had become a son. That simple change in legal status literally changed everything for a person’s life and legacy. In the context of the New Testament, when believers are referred to as sons of God, this is a legal status for men and women. In that day, sons and not daughters w...

Since prayer is a principal element of worship and fundamental to the believer’s walk with God, it is critical that we understand not just how to pray but to whom we should pray. The answer to this question not only guides our prayers in a practical way, but it reinforces essential Christian doctrine and fosters true piety. Biblical prayer is ordinarily to be addressed to the Father, in the name of the Son, by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. This scriptural pattern calls attention to the Trinitarian nature of redemption ( Eph. 1:1–14 ) and underscores key aspects of the believer’s relationship with God. First, prayer should ordinarily be directed to God the Father. Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” ( Matt. 6:9 ). The Father sent His Son into the world to redeem sinners and to reconcile us to Him ( John 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:18–19 ). Through faith in Christ, we may boldly cry out, “Abba! Father!” ( Gal. 4:6 ). The Apostle Paul writes,...

As I understand things, there are basically three views in dispute (with thanks to Dr. Michael Svigel for the chart below): The  incarnational   subordination  view holds that the second member of the Trinity is submissive to the first beginning at the incarnation, or “in the state of His humiliation” (Goligher’s words). In other words, before the incarnation, there was no submission within the Trinity. This is the view I see Trueman and  Goligher defend . The  economic   subordination  view holds that there is submission, in the Trinity before the incarnation, but only in relationship to others outside of the Trinity—so the Son submits to the Father in matters of creation and redemption, but there is no submission between the Father and the Son as they relate to each other.  The  eternal   subordination  view teaches that there is submission in the Trinity not only in matters of creation and redemption, but also...