Dr Paul Allen

The Bible opens with these words: “In the beginning God created.” The way He created was by speaking: “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). As the psalmist says, “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Ps. 19:1). As soon as mankind appears, God speaks to them. He speaks to Adam and Eve and to their family; He speaks to Noah, Abraham, and the patriarchs. From Moses to Malachi, the prophets thunder, “Thus says the Lord.” He speaks to the world through Jesus, the Word of God. The writer to the Hebrews says, “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son” (Heb. 1:1–2 RSV). On the day of Pentecost the Spirit of God was poured out for all believers: “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:39), and it is through the Spirit’s gift of tongues (languages)—God speaking—that the world is alerted to this truth

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” ( 2 Peter 1:4 ) Scripture is full of promises, more than 2,800 in the Old Testament and more than 1,000 in the New. The first of these exceeding great and precious promises was the Protevangel (“first gospel”) of Genesis 3:15. Immediately after the Fall of Adam and Eve through the temptation of Satan, that old serpent, God promised the coming Seed of the woman, the Savior: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; [He] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” The first New Testament promise, significantly, is this same primeval promise, now made far more specific: “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” ( Matthew 1:21 ). The last promise of the Old Testament s

The LORD shall reign for ever and ever .” ( Exodus 15:18 ) The Bible is a book of eternity, its words “for ever . . . settled in heaven” ( Psalm 119:89 ). The theme of eternity is prominent throughout; in fact, the words “for ever,” “everlasting,” and the like occur more than 600 times. Many occurrences (49, to be exact) seem to make the concept even more complete, being combined either as “for ever and ever” or “from everlasting to everlasting.” The first of these is in our text: “The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.” He is the eternal King of all creation! How beautiful and appropriate it is, then, to find that the last (the 49th) of these occurrences tells us that we—His redeemed saints—also “shall reign for ever and ever” ( Revelation 22:5 ). To note just a few of the other truths that will last for ever and ever, consider first of all the creation: “Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. . . . For he commanded, and they were created. He that also

HOLY SPIRIT - FOIX (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “. . . the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost .” ( Titus 3:5 ) The Holy Spirit ’s eternal impacts on our lives (regeneration and renewal) are brought together in this text in a rather unique way. To begin with, the Greek words are unusual—“regeneration” being used only twice in the New Testament and “renewal” only five times in various forms. They come together only in this passage. “ Regeneration ” (paliggenesia) means to “birth again” where God gives up the ability or faith to believe the gospel message. Saved is from sōzō, which, although it is sometimes used in the New Testament of physical, temporal deliverance (see, e.g., Matt. 8:25; John 12:27), is most often used of spiritual salvation. Those words have always been cherished by those who have been saved. Our salvation is the most important and precious thing about us, to which nothing else can begin to compare. Biblical Christianity is a saving religion

Many times the Bible uses symbolic language in order to teach. Often spiritual truth can be conveyed more realistically by the employment of symbols, which bring a picture to the human mind. Thus, there are a number of symbols used throughout the Scripture for this purpose. We list those which are most apparent. A. A Mirror. “For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror …” (Jas. 1:23–25 NASB ). This illustrates the revealing power of the Word. B. A Critic. “For the word of God … is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart ” ( Heb. 4:12). “The Greek of Heb. 4:12 reads, ‘The Word of God is … a critic of the thoughts and intents of the heart.’ ”21 C. Seed. “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever” (1 Pt. 1:23). (See also: Lk. 8:5–15, note especially v. 11, “The seed is the word of God”; Is. 55:10, 11; Jas. 1:18.)

Titlepage of the New Testament section of a German Luther Bible, printed in 1769. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) What does this word “ inspiration ” really mean as it is applied to the Bible ? Unfortunately, not all churchmen are agreed. Therefore, we have various theories of inspiration: 1. Liberal views of inspiration. The liberal theologian ’s view is expressed particularly in the statement: “The Bible contains the Word of God .” This suggests that it also contains a varied admixture of the words of men. Their position may be stated as follows: From place to place within the Book are to be found revelations which God at times gave to pious men, much as He illumines men’s minds today with insights into Divine truth. The Bible is a sort of religious scrap book in which are recorded stories, legends, geneologies, and love poems, classified, arranged and rearranged without any regard to chronological or literary perfection. The dangerous part of this view is that it places into th

His Only-begotten Son and the Word of God 1885-1896 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “The Bible is not the Word of God , Jesus is. John says he is the Eternal Logos, the true Word spoken from all eternity, and to put such a focus on the Bible as the Word of God is to take it off their point: Jesus. In fact, it’s tantamount to bibliolatry–elevating the Bible to the 4th person of the Trinity .” Ever heard something like that before? It’s become a truism among many of the Christian internet set, and something like it has been popular in theological circles for some time now. I must admit, when I first heard the slogan myself, I was thrown off a bit. I mean, John does identify Jesus as the Logos , the Word, of God from all of eternity–the truest and deepest reality Father is eternally speaking. What’s more, it’s true that from time to time you can run across someone in a fundamentalist church who treats the Scriptures as if they were dropped from heaven and yet remain utterly oblivious t

Grace Community Church Worship Center (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) John 4:1–45 “ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (v. 24). Worship is perhaps the most comprehensive of all the means of grace our Father has given to us. When we come together to praise our sovereign Lord , we have the privilege of engaging in Bible study by hearing the preached Word of God, praying as a corporate body , exercising stewardship as we give our tithes and offerings, and meeting with Christ as we partake in the sacraments. Regrettably, too many churches today have forgotten the awesome privilege and sacred duty of worship, preferring to create “seeker-friendly” services that often cater more to our culture and its love of entertainment than to the adoration of our Creator . In the “ seeker-sensitive ” model, worship has become a means to attract the unchurched through the means of marketing with little regard as to whether such a model is proper for worshiping

Ilocano Bible comics published by the Philippine bible Society. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy. [ Psalm 98:8] You don’t interpret the Bible literally, do you?” The way this question is phrased assumes that surely I, as an educated Bible scholar, could not possibly be so ignorant as to take the Bible literally. Now, I’m just mischievous enough to answer, “Of course I do.” I say it as if obviously anybody who knows anything will interpret the Bible  literally. I go on to explain what this business of interpreting the Bible is all about. Literal interpretation means interpreting according to the “letter.” What does the text actually say? We should be seeking the plain sense of the meaning of the text when we come to the Bible. We are to interpret the Bible according to its letters and its literature, according to the way it is actually written. Sometimes people think, because the Bible is the Word of God ,

Oil painting of a young John Calvin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 22:11–14 “‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness . In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen” ( vv. 13–14 ). When the first invitees turn down their summons to the king’s feast, others, bad and good, come to the table ( Matt. 22:10 ). Does this mean that God ’s banquet will include the profoundly wicked who finally trusted Christ as well as those who, though upright by human standards, saw their lack of perfection and served Jesus ? Or, are the “bad” guests those who profess faith falsely, the poor fish who in Matthew 13:47–50 dwell among the good until the end? The first interpretation is certainly biblical, but the concluding verses of the parable of the tenants ( 22:11–14 ) favor the latter option. Ancient kings often provided the proper attire to the guests at their feasts and, this second group of invitees has need of appr