Dr Paul Allen

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...

We do not know how humans would have left this world had there been no Fall; some  doubt whether they ever would have done so. But as it is, the fruit of sin and God 's  judgment on it brings about the separation of body and soul through bodily death (Gen.  2:17; 3:19, 22; Rom. 5:12; 8:10; 1 Cor. 15:21 ), making it a certainty for everyone. This  separation of soul and body is a consequence of the spiritual separation from God that  first brought about physical death (Gen. 2:17; 5:5) and that will be deepened after death  for those who leave this world without Christ . In itself , death is an enemy (1 Cor. 15:26) and  a terror (Heb. 2:15). For Christians , the final terror of physical death is abolished. Jesus, the risen Savior,  Himself passed through a terrible death, enduring the anger of God. He takes from us  God's anger, and He lives to help us as we leave this world for the place He has prepared  in the next (John...

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” ( Galatians 2:20 ) The verb “to be,” in its various forms and tenses, enjoys wide usage throughout Scripture. Verses employing it, as it relates to us, contain many of the greatest and most precious truths. Consider the following sampling. Past tense: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” ( Romans 5:8 ). “When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God” (v. 10). “You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” ( Ephesians 2:1 ). “You, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled” ( Colossians 1:21 ). Present tense: “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven” ( Romans 4:7 ). “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?” ( 1 Corinthians 3:16 ). “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unt...