I have said that the Grace Commentary is the world’s first grace-based commentary, but is it true?
In my 40+ years of reading Bible commentaries and study Bibles, I have found:
- countless commentaries that preach law
- many commentaries that mix grace with law
- no grace-based commentaries
Which is why we need one.
With 10,000+ entries, the Grace Commentary is on track to becoming the first truly grace-based commentary. Unlike every commentary I have read, it is totally free from mixture. There may be no other commentary like it.
“But Paul, have you seen the commentary by _____?” I have.
“Doesn’t _____ offer a grace-based commentary?” You might think so, but look closer and you’ll see a lot of law and condemnation mixed in.
But don’t take my word for it. See for yourself.
I recently surveyed popular study Bibles and Bible commentaries to see how many preached law, grace, or a mixture of the two. I also rated them in terms of their reading clarity. I shared the results on Escape to Reality, but I thought you might like to see the full report.
Up until now, this ebook has only been available to patrons. But since you are a valued Grace Commentary reader, I thought you might like to see the whole thing.
In the ebook, I outline my method for measuring law and grace. You can use this method to assess your favorite commentary or study Bible.
You can download the free ebook (pdf) from the Grace Bible website.
Grace and peace,
Paul
I am looking so forward to reading and digesting this ‘COMMENTARY REVEIW’.
Oh my goodness this is wonderful, thank you so much for sharing Paul!
Remakable, scope and clarity, thank you Paul!
If you merely google grace commentaries, the word ‘Grace’ is in the ‘________. I find it is a helpful reference tool even if uneven quality from pov of free grace.
There are many books with the word grace in the title, but if they offer “uneven quality” when it comes to grace that usually means they are mixing in a bit of law. A little bit of poison spoils the well.
Paul, There is zero law in ‘______.’ The authors are just as committed as you to grace free from law. They are vehemently against any form of Lordship Salvation. The ‘uneven quality’ expression refers to differences in the writing and scholarship skills among the authors.
I had a quick look at the online sample provided by Amazon and the first thing I saw was dead works and threats being preached in connection with the Lord’s Prayer. If you believe this commentary is free from mixture, I encourage you to apply the test I outline in the study note and get back to me with a score. Note that I have hidden the name of the book to protect authors’ identities.
Thanks. I will apply the test asap. fyi – the idea of a test like this is great! I hope you realize how much I agree with you and your project. It’s inspired & encouraging to me. I have been stunned the last few years at the dilution & near evaporation of fgt around the world.
“One of the commentaries in my study (G) is a modern commentary that is popular with some of my friends.” This would be interesting to look at…why not identify the author?
Two reasons: (1) I’m not into naming and shaming. (2) I want you to decide for yourself using the simple procedure I outline in the note.
Integrity issue arises from your ‘moderation’ criteria. This is my first time on your site. Do you not ‘name and shame’ only when it supports your goal? This is important since your write as if you have exclusive true textual comments on pure grace…disingenuous, though good marketing. Please ignore this if I have it all wrong…would not be the first time!
I have no desire to shame anyone. To show that existing commentaries sometimes preach law, I sometimes name 100-year-old old commentaries from dead authors. This is so you can check it out for yourself to see that I’m not making this stuff up. But that’s as far as I go. As far as my moderation criteria are concerned, I prefer short comments and will delete any with links or advertising.
But Paul, what about _______ Commentary? Would you consider this to be a grace based commentary?
I answer this question in the study note. But no.
LOVIT!!!