Dr Paul Allen

A very common definition of sin is “to miss the mark.” This comes from one proposed lexical definition of the Hebrew word חטא. This definition is catchy, but it is partial and can give a misleading impression. After all, the Bible does not use just one or two words to refer to sin. Commentators have actually located around twenty different terms in the Old and New Testaments.1 Each of these terms may have somewhat different lexical domains, and their particular individual meanings must be determined by their context. For most of the Bible, especially the Old Testament, the authors assume that their readers already know what sin is. Finding a single comprehensive definition for sin requires more than focusing on the words themselves. It must instead come from the use of the term and the larger concept that emerges across the whole of the Scriptures. One important way to define sin is what might be called a metaphysical perspective. This approach is common in the early church and in the ...

There are several ways we could divide the different positions various churches and denominations hold for baptism. To keep things brief and simple, we’ll break this exercise up into the six major views of baptism that exist in the church today to discover the recipients, mode, and meaning of baptism for each one. Cripplegate The first view of baptism is the Roman Catholic Church. In Roman Catholicism, the recipients of baptism are new converts and their children. Roman Catholicism predominantly practices infant baptism, sometimes called paedobaptism, from the Greek word for infant. The mode of baptism is typically pouring water on the head of the one being baptized. The meaning of baptism in the Roman Catholic Church is complex. In summary, though, we can say it teaches that baptism washes away a person’s sins and includes that person as a member of the church. A sinner, therefore, cannot be saved under Roman Catholicism without receiving water baptism. According to this view, regener...

Death is the incontrovertible proof that sin is real. Sin is a destructive power, holding humanity in its murderous grip. None is exempt. All need forgiveness of sins and salvation from eternal death. Jesus Christ’s resurrection speaks to this all-important need. And the message of Acts 13:26-41 is straightforward: Jesus secured forgiveness of sins for those who believe through His resurrection. Christ’s resurrection is the key to understanding and receiving salvation. In this sermon, the Apostle Paul emphasised the significance of Jesus’ resurrection for sinners’ salvation. Let’s see what Paul said as he laid out the gospel message of Christ’s resurrection. We must first understand that we are dealing with historical facts when it comes to the gospel message. When the apostles preached the gospel, their message was not a matter of theological or philosophical speculation. The apostolic message was based on events happening in time and space that could be proven or disproven by witness...

Christianity is a religion irreducibly and uniquely fixated on the death of its Saviour. Every Sunday, in every corner of the globe, Christians partake of the Lord’s Supper and in so doing proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again (1 Cor. 11:26). We often think of Christ’s death as an atonement for sin, but it is also worth reflecting here that Christ suffered on the cross not just for our sin but for our shame. We tend to focus on the physical pain of crucifixion, and it was horrendous. It was an unbelievably cruel way to kill someone. It was a gruesome ordeal where naked criminals died in excruciating pain. Even many of the Romans spoke out against crucifixion as a hideous and barbaric instrument. But the Gospels don’t focus on any of that. Yes, Jesus suffered physical torment. But so did two other men on that hill, and so did hundreds of criminals who were crucified by Rome. In fact, what’s physically remarkable about Jesus’s death on the cross is that he died so quickly (Mark ...

  "On the third day, he rose from the dead." Etched in my memory from childhood are those lines from a familiar Easter hymn in evangelical circles, "He Lives": "You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart." Despite the warmth that such sentiment offers, it hardly fits the bill sketched out by the Apostle Peter: "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" ( 1 Pet. 3:15 ).  Many ideas can be, and often are, embraced by the heart that are simply wrong. Santa Claus and the tooth fairy may be harmless childhood myths, but when we are making claims about eternal matters, emotionally useful fantasies will not suffice.  Eventually, we grow up, and if our understanding of the Christian truth-claims does not mature as well, we are likely to be blown about by the trendy gusts of whim. In an informal survey of evangelical Christians recently, nearly everyone agreed with the statem...