Dr Paul Allen

Octavius Winslow once famously said, “Who delivered up Jesus to die? Not Judas, for money; not Pilate, for fear; not the Jews, for envy—but the Father for love.” 1  We could just as easily edit this statement in the following way: “Who put Jesus on the cross? Judas, for money; Pilate, for fear; the Jews, for envy; and you and me, for enmity.”  We should never tire of hearing this truth, to which we must often return. Our understanding of the nature of our depravity is essential if we are to rightly understand the nature of Jesus's death. In short, the doctrine of human depravity helps us better understand who delivered Jesus up to the death on the cross. When considering the nature of sin, many professing Christians focus on the horizontal relationships they sustain with those around them. In a genuine sense, we have all been culturally conditioned to think of the manifold ways we violate the last six—rather than the first four—commandments.  Perhaps it is because the rel...

In his second letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul gives a long, scathing description of a group of people he calls heartless, abusive, brutal, and treacherous ( 2 Tim. 3:2–4 ). He then, in no uncertain terms, says, “Avoid such people” (v. 5). But didn’t Jesus spend time with sinners? Shouldn’t we do the same? Yes and no. Avoid Such People Paul isn’t talking about sceptics or people exploring Christianity. We shouldn’t avoid people who don’t identify as Christians. We should welcome them into our homes and invite them to know Jesus. Nor is Paul talking about people struggling with sin, as we all do. He’s talking about professing Christians who  embrace  their sin. They may have the appearance of godliness, but they’ve denied its power to transform their life ( 2 Tim. 3:5 ). These people go to church and may even consider themselves  more  spiritual than others because they’re open-minded. Unlike uptight Christians, they’re free from rules. They live a more enlightened...

For Martin Luther , the work of Christ came to sinners outwardly in God ’s institutions and inwardly by the Holy Spirit and faith. Both the outward and the inward were necessary. He wrote: “Now when God sends forth his holy gospel he deals with us in a twofold manner, first outwardly, then inwardly. Outwardly he deals with us through the oral word of the gospel and through material signs, that is, baptism and the sacrament of the altar . Inwardly he deals with us through the Holy Spirit, faith, and other gifts. But whatever their measure or order the outward factors should and must precede. The inward experience follows and is effected by the outward. For he wants to give no one the Spirit or faith outside of the outward Word and sign instituted by him, as he says in Luke 16 [:29], “Let them hear Moses and the prophets.” Accordingly Paul can call baptism a “washing of regeneration” wherein God “richly pours out the Holy Spirit” [Titus 3:5]. And the oral gospel “is the power...

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin . 1 John 1:7 There is a common cultic heresy to the effect that the blood of Christ has no cleansing efficacy of itself, even though this contradicts the plain statement of our text. John wrote the above words long after Christ’s blood had all been spilled on the cross, but it was still miraculously cleansing sinners in His day, and is in ours as well. It is true that Christ’s blood supported His physical life, for “the life of the flesh is in the blood” ( Leviticus 17:11 ). But His blood was not like the blood of other men, for it was “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” ( 1 Peter 1:19 ), uncontaminated either by genetic defects due to accumulated generations of mutations (as in all other men and women) or inherent sin.  When His blood was shed, it did not simply disappear into the...

When Scripture calls God , or individual Persons of the Godhead , "holy" (as it often does: Lev. 11 :44, 45; Josh. 24:19; 1 Sam. 2:2; Ps. 99:9; Is. 1 :4; 6:3; 41 :14, 16, 20; 57:15; Ezek. 39:7; Amos 4:2; John 17 :11 ; Acts 5:3, 4, 32; Rev. 15:4), the word signifies everything about God that sets Him apart from us and makes Him an object of awe, adoration, and dread to us. It covers all aspects of His transcendent greatness and moral perfection, and is characteristic of all His attributes, pointing to the "Godness" of God at every point.  The core of this truth, however, is God's purity that cannot tolerate any form of sin (Hab. 1:13), and calls sinners to constant self-abasement in His presence (Is. 6:5). Justice, which means doing in all circumstances things that are right, is one expression of God's holiness. God displays His justice as Lawgiver and Judge, and also as Promisekeeper and Pardoner of sin. His moral law, requiring behavior that matche...

On the days when I sit down and read listener emails to the  Ask Pastor John   podcast , I brace myself for impact. I know that by opening those emails I enter into some of the darkest trials, sins, and relational struggles I can imagine: churches splitting, marriages ending, children dying, teenagers rebelling, men and women being haunted by memories of physical, spiritual, and sexual abuse . The darkest stories are always the most complex and complicated stories, making them least likely to make it to the podcast (a medium best served by brief questions with broad applicability). Every one of those tough emails reminds us that our podcast will never substitute for the labors of pastors and brothers and sisters in local churches. Losing a Grip A woman (I’ll call her Julie) recently emailed to say, “For about 23 or more years, I genuinely thought I was a Christian. I thought I wanted God , I thought I believed in God, and I thought I needed God. After a 20-year ...

Expecting the Expected Jim got sick and had to forsake his climb up the corporate ladder. This brought stress into his marriage to Jen that he would never have anticipated. Brad and Savannah got busier and busier and quit communicating as they should, and their relationship paid the price. Brent struggled with a secret sin for years, and when Liz discovered it, it almost ended their marriage. India and Frank always seemed to be in a battle for control. It was an exhausting marriage to be a part of. Alfie and Sue never seemed to be in the same place spiritually. Jared and Sally had an infectious affection for one another, but their financial woes brought much stress to their marriage. Jung’s mother pulled her into loyalty battles again and again. It caused lots of conflict between her and Kim. There are two observations to make about all these marriages. First, none was a bad marriage. No one was about to walk out. No one had been unfaithful as yet. There had been no abuse or violenc...

The very heart of the gospel as he explains Martin Luther's latin phrase, "Simul Justus et Peccator." Perhaps the formula that Luther used that is most famous and most telling at this point is his formula simul justus et peccator. And if any formula summarizes and captures the essence of the Reformation view, it is this little formula. Simul is the word from which we get the English word simultaneously. Or, it means 'at the same time.' Justus is the Latin word for just or righteous. And you all know what et is. Et the past tense of the verb 'to eat.' Have you et your dinner? No, you know that's not what that means. You remember in the death scene of Caesar after he's been stabbed by Brutus he says, "Et tu, Brute?" Then fall Caesar. And you too Brutus? It simply means and. Peccator means sinner. And so with this formula Luther was saying, in our justification we are one and the same time righteous or just, and sinners. Now if he would...

Original sin has to do with the fallenness of human nature. Jonathan Edwards wrote a tremendous treatise on original sin. He not only devoted himself to a lengthy exposition of what the Bible teaches about man's fallen character and his propensity toward wickedness, but he made a study from a secular, rational perspective that addressed the philosophy that was widespread in his day: Everyone in the world is born innocent, in a state of moral neutrality in which they don't have any predilection toward either the good or the evil. It's society that corrupts these innocent natives, so to speak.  As we are exposed to sinful behavior around us, our normal, natural innocence is eroded by the influence of society. But that begs the question, How did society get corrupt in the first place? Society is people. Why is it that so many people have sinned? It's almost axiomatic in our culture that nobody is perfect. And Edwards asked questions like, Why not? If everyone were...