Dr Paul Allen

Substitutionary atonement—the belief that Christ absorbed God’s wrath for sinners through his death on the cross. While eager to teach this precious truth, I knew many people today find it untenable and unpalatable. Modern people balk at the bloodiness of the cross. Why would God kill his own Son? Some even label it “divine child abuse.” One author describes God as a “bratty violent murderer who . . . desperately needed his son’s blood in order to save all the rotten humans he accidentally created.” Some emphasize other atonement theories that deal less with sin and sacrifice (i.e., Christus Victor, or Christ as example). These theories have merit, revealing implications of Christ’s death, but too often they’re wielded to oppose substitutionary atonement, not supplement it. In this environment of skepticism, how do we preach Christ crucified? The obvious answer is: preach the Word. “Let the lion loose,” Charles Spurgeon said. But alongside clear exegesis is one of the preacher’s sharp...

The Scriptures give us a robust revelation about all that Jesus accomplished on the cross. As we go about seeking to categorize all of the various dimensions of the cross, we discover that there are both vertical and horizontal dimensions to Jesus’ work. The vertical dimensions are foundational; the horizontal is consequential.  The vertical dimensions include Jesus’ defeat of Satan (Gen. 3:15; John 12:31; Col. 2:15), His propitiating the wrath of God (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:7; 1 John 2:2; 4:10), His atoning for our sin (Heb. 1:3; Rom. 4:7–8), His breaking the power of sin (Rom. 6:9–14), His securing the new heavens and new earth (Heb. 2:5–11), and His overcoming the world (John 12:31; 16:33). The horizontal dimensions include His becoming the example of self-sacrificial living (Rom. 15:2–3; 1 Peter 2:21) and His reconciling men to one another, thereby making peace for those who formerly lived in hostility with one another (Eph. 2:14). When men pervert or deny the biblical teaching conc...

Who needs to be saved? Everyone! Not one person has escaped sin’s devastating effects, and no one can do anything about this on their own. We come to the solution to this universal problem: the doctrine of salvation. The basis of salvation for any and every individual is Christ’s death—and only Christ’s death. This truth is known as the sufficiency of the death of Christ . Anything we sinful humans might contribute to our own salvation is excluded. When Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished” ( John 19:30 ), he meant it. The gospel—the good news of salvation—is succinctly stated in 1 Corinthians 15:1–8: 2-5 By this gospel you are saved … that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared [to the disciples and hundreds of others]. The good news is that anyone can be saved by believing that Jesus died for their sins, was buried, and was resurrected. The significance...

“[ Christ ] gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people , zealous of good works .” ( Titus2:14 ) If one were to ask why Jesus died, the average evangelical would usually say that He died to save us from our sins. It is true that “Christ died for our sins ” ( 1 Corinthians 15:3 ), but this is not the whole answer, by any means. Too many Christians think of the death of Christ only in terms of what it means for them—not what it meant to Him. Our text says that He died for us and redeemed us from iniquity, not just to keep us from going to hell, but to “purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Paul says: “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living” ( Romans 14:9 ). He wants a people who will have Him as Lord of their lives. “Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; . . . That he might present it to himself a glorious ch...

Deutsch: Jesus und Apostel Simon Petrus, Matthäus-Evangelium 4.18-20 English: Jesus and Saint Peter, Gospel of Matthew 4.18-20 Français : Jésus et Saint Pierre, Évangile selon Matthieu 4.18-20 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) ( ) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Some believe that Christians should pay less attention " theological doctrines" and more to "the very words of Jesus ."  As a person who has been fascinated with theology, I'll even have to admit that some days the whole business of theology is weariness to the soul. Who really cares about the difference between the imputation or infusion of righteousness? Or infra- and supra-lapsarianism? Or whether faith is a free choice or something that is compelled by a glorious vision of God ? Or a hundred and one other theological disputes that, frankly, seem to make little difference in how most people live for God day to day? But the love of neighbor—that I can get a handle on, especially when you give me a story to pictu...

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia When you embrace the doctrines of grace, the one that was hardest to swallow was the L in the TULIP acronym: limited atonement—or perhaps better stated (though ruining the acronym): particular redemption, or definite atonement . Both the intent and extent of the atonement was divinely ordained to infallibly secure the salvation of all those whom the Father had chosen from before the foundation of the world (John 6:39; 10:11, 14–15; Ac 20:28; Eph 5:25). Jesus’ death didn’t simply make salvation possible, and then leave the appropriation of the cross’s benefits to the sovereign will of the sinner. No, it actually purchased the salvation of God’s elect (1Pet 2:24; Rev 5:9). Interestingly, one of my chief objections to the doctrine wasn’t so much on textual or exegetical grounds. It was that it contradicted the way we have always heard the Gospel preached in evangelism. You hear the Gospel preached as if it was merely: “Jesus d...

Image via Wikipedia "Make thee an ark of gopher wood ; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch." ( Genesis 6:14 )   It may be surprising to learn that God 's instructions to Noah concerning the Ark's design contain the first reference in the Bible to the great doctrine of atonement .  The Hebrew word used here for pitch ( kaphar ) is the same word translated "atonement" in many other places in the Old Testament .   While the New Testament word "atonement" implies reconciliation, the Old Testament "atonement" was merely a covering (with many applications).  As the pitch was to make the Ark watertight, keeping the judgment waters of the Flood from reaching those inside, so, on the sacrificial altar, "it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul" ( Leviticus 17:11 ), keeping the fires of God's wrath away from the sinner for whom the sacrifice was substituted and slain. ...