Dr Paul Allen

  GENESIS 6:9–11 “These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth” The now-familiar toledot formula (“these are the generations of”) signals a new storyline in the Bible, Until the end of chapter 9, Moses focuses on Noah and his salvation from the flood. Verse 9 elaborates on 6:8, telling us the divine favour Noah enjoys is due to his righteous and blameless disposition. The Hebrew word translated “blameless” is also used for animals without blemish and fit for sacrifice. Noah is a good man; from a human perspective, he might even be called “perfect,” as some translations render verse 9. This raises questions because other biblical passages clearly assert there is no person who is righteous (Ps. 14:1–3; Rom. 3:9–18). Does Moses, therefore, contradict the rest of the Bible in Genesis 6? Distinguishing between the two ways the Bible speaks of righteousness solves our dilem...

When writing to Christians in the city of Thessalonica, the Apostle Paul instructs them, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” ( 1 Thess. 5:16–18). These words are instruction to a church newly founded by Paul, composed of people who left Greco-Roman paganism to embrace Jesus Christ by faith.  Rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks in all circumstances should characterize the lives of these new Christians in the face of heated opposition from those who do not understand why people would worship a Jewish rabbi from far-away Palestine who claimed to be the Son of God but was put to death by the Romans. To command Christians to rejoice under difficult circumstances is hard to understand without a context. We can understand why people who are facing opposition would need to pray—they must seek the grace of God to sustain them during their trials. We can understand why they should give co...

What’s the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning? For most of us, the first and most natural things that flood our minds when the alarm goes off do not produce praise or comfort. More often than not, the burdens of the day come rushing in before we can even take a couple breaths — a struggling relationship, some conflict, that meeting, the mistake you made, the task list that’s too long for today, the pain you’re feeling, that sin you can’t seem to shake. And underneath them all, there’s the nagging feeling that we won’t find the strength to make much of a difference about any of it. If we’re not careful, those first few groggy, heavy minutes can define the rest of the day. We’re not naturally prone to follow the command to set our minds on things above, where Christ is (Colossians 3:1–4). It has always seemed ironic and foolish that the first few moments after a full night of total, unaware dependence, we immediately wake up and go into independent, s...

“Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.” ( 2 Corinthians 8:7 ) The “grace” of which Paul was writing in our text is the grace of giving! Many Christians may show diligence and love in their Christian life, but are still very reluctant to give sacrificially to the work of the Lord. Many follow what they consider the “law of tithing” (most Christians don’t even do that!) and consider this to be meritorious. The fact is, however, that giving for the Christian is not a law to be obeyed, but a grace to be cultivated. The motivation cited by Paul for abounding in this grace was not the Old Testament ordinance, but the New Testament example in the church at Philippi. Consider, he said, “the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of thei...

498 years ago tomorrow, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther famously nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany, kick-starting the Protestant Reformation. Nearly 500 years later, God’s people reserve this day to celebrate the rescue of His Word from the shackles of Roman Catholic tyranny, corruption, and heresy. The glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in the sufficient Scriptures had been recovered, and it’s been doing its saving work ever since. Romans 1:16–17 stands at the heart of the Reformation, especially because of how central it was in Luther’s conversion . Luther speaks of how he had hated the phrase, “the righteousness of God,” because he understood it to be speaking only of God’s standard of righteousness by which He would judge unrighteous sinners. But eventually, he says, “I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that through which the righteous live by a gift of God, namely by faith. Here I felt as if I were entirely bo...

“Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.” (Psalm 119:41) The Hebrew word hesed, used here for “mercy,” has a breadth of meaning. Its basic connotation is “kindness” and is most often used in God’s patient dealing with the nation of Israel through their long, and often rebellious, history. The most frequent contextual use focuses on God’s withholding judgment during specific times or events, rather than executing the just sentence demanded by disobedience to His laws. It is in that sense that “salvation” is often connected to mercy. God “rescues” a person or nation from the consequences of foolish or rebellious actions because He is merciful: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This section of Psalm 119 clearly states that these mercies are according to the Word of God. No event dilutes the holiness of God. No judgment withheld violates the innate nature of the thrice-holy Creator. Mercy may delay judgment for ...

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” ( Isaiah 53:6 ) As Christ hung on the cross, the Jewish leaders felt that He was guilty of blasphemy—a mere man, claiming to be God. In short, they felt that He was dying for His own sins. Their tragic misconceptions were predicted centuries before, as recorded in the treasured 53rd chapter of Isaiah: “We hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. . . . we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted” (vv. 3-4). But not so! God did not punish Him for His sins, but for ours. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities” (v. 5). “For the transgression of my people was he stricken” (v. 8). The penalty for sin has always been death, and even though “he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him” (vv. 9-10). He was the perfect “of...

“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.” ( Psalm 119:1 ) The Hebrew word barak appears over 300 times in the Bible. It basically means to endue or bless with power for success, prosperity, fruitfulness, longevity, and so on. The oft-used Aaronic blessing ( Numbers 6:24-26 ) closes with, “The LORD lift up [turn] his countenance upon [toward] thee, and give thee peace,” and is initiated by the greater upon the lesser. The opening stanza of Psalm 119 identifies the traits of a lifestyle subject to the Word of God and then claims the blessing that comes as the resultof those who “seek him with the whole heart” ( Psalm 119:2 ). The unknown psalmist saturates all 22 stanzas with eight key words describing the intimate role by which inspired Scriptures empower godly behavior. Six are used in this opening testimony and prayer. Those who “walk in the law [torah] of the LORD” and “keep his testimonies” (edah) receive God’s blessing ( Psalm 119:1-2 ). These in...

Definitions are simply descriptions of the way people use words. Words don’t have intrinsic definitions. They are given definitions by the way people use them. When I say I want to define joy for you, I am asking whose joy are we talking about, or what use of the word are we talk-ing about? I mean joy as the apostle Paul uses it in his letters, and particularly in the book of Philippians. I am not just asking about the meaning of joy in general. I am talking about Christian joy, as Paul the apostle describes it. So let me give you my definition, and then take it apart one piece at a time. Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit, as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the Word and in the world. A Good Feeling Christian joy is a good feeling. By that, I mean it is not an idea. It is not a conviction. It is not a persuasion, or a decision. It is a feeling. Or — I use the words interchangeably here — an emotion. One of the marks of the differenc...