Paul Ellis's Blog, page 11

A Grace Commentary for Every Believer

Imagine a world where every believer knows how to read scripture through a new covenant lens. Imagine they have a study guide that is simple, beautiful and free from mixture. Something like this:

The Grace Commentary is a study guide that will help you grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Our goal is to put The Grace Commentary in the pocket of every believer. Just imagine how helpful that would be for leaders like Pastor Joe Ganahl of South Dakota:

The Grace Commentary...

3 Reasons Why You Need the Grace Commentary

A new generation is rising – men and women who eat, drink and breathe undiluted grace. They are done with dead works and mixture. For them, it’s grace or nothing.

If this describes you, here are three reasons why the Grace Commentary is the study tool you’ve been waiting for.

1. It’s 100% grace

The Grace Commentary answers the question, how do I read this scripture from a new covenant perspective? The Grace Commentary is 100 percent grace-based and guaranteed free from mixture. ...

What Does it Mean to be Righteous?

When I was a kid, my favorite moment in the school year was the minute the last exam finished. “Time’s up, pens down. Please remain seated until your paper is collected.”

Can you remember the sweetness of that moment?

All the work and the study were behind you; all the tests had been done. Into your mind came one of the sunniest thoughts a young person can have: School’s out for summer!

This is how it is for the believer when the gospel of righteousness takes root in their hear...

What does it Mean to Abide in the Vine?

Abiding in the vine is the antidote to independence, and the remedy to barrenness.

Every believer knows these words of Jesus. “Abide in me, and I in you” (John 15:4). But what did he mean and how do we do it?

Jesus gives us this word-picture:

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

Many look at this verse and see “abiding = bearing much fruit.” They draw a terrible conclusion:...

Who Are the Grace Preachers?

Can you recommend a grace-based church in my area?

I get asked this question a lot. What people want to know is, where are the grace preachers? Or who are the grace preachers?

As if there was a special directory of those preaching grace.

Who are the hypergrace preachers? I usually recommend Paul, John, Peter, James, and Jesus of course. And let’s not forget David, Isaiah, Zechariah, Jeremiah, Jonah, Joel and even Moses.

But that’s not the answer people are looking for.

Grace p...

Special Fathers’ Day Giveaway

Hi friends,

This Sunday is Fathers’ Day in many countries. If you are looking for something special to do with your family why not try a table reading of my script “The Good Father”?

What? “The Good Father” is the parable of the prodigal son told like you’ve never heard it before.

How? All you need is 4–8 readers.

Cost? For the next three days it’s completely free!

Where? Get it here. (The system will ask you to suggest a fair price. Feel free to put $0.)

What else? If ...

Are You Wearing the Full Armor of God?

One thing pastors like to do is dress up as Roman soldiers and preach on the armor of God. “You need to wear the full armor of God,” they say as they bash their gladii (swords) against their scuta (shields). It’s a lot of fun.

But does it work?

Apart from the memory of Pastor Frank’s paunch poking out from under a shiny breastplate, what have you really taken from these sermons? Have you put on the armor of God? Are you wearing it now? Let’s check.

Without reading on, ask yours...

Law + Works + Grace = ?

The stories we tell ourselves shape our lives.

For example, if you buy into a narrative that says, “The Bible is a book of rules we must obey,” you will find laws to obey on every page.

If you believe, “The Bible teaches us to work for God’s favor,” you will find long lists of things to do.

But read the Bible with mindset of grace, and you will get a completely different picture. You will see what Christ has done your behalf, and how you can reign in life by receiving his abunda...

The Study Bible You’ve Been Waiting For

Do you know how to use a Bible commentary? A commentary is a kind of explainer. It tells you what the scriptures mean.

Or to be precise, it tells you what the commentator thinks they mean.

Which means if your commentary was written by someone with an old covenant mindset, you’ll get an old covenant interpretation of the Bible.

Since I read the Bible through a grace lens, readers have long been asking me to write a Bible commentary. For years I said no. Who’s got that kind of tim...

What’s With the Head Coverings?

When I wrote my book about women in the church, my aim was to examine every verse that has been hijacked to oppress and silence women.

I wanted to show that contrary to what many of us have heard, woman are in no way inferior to men. In the new covenant of grace, women can preach, teach, and lead, and do anything God calls them to do.

But there was one verse I could not explain:

Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head…. (1 Corinthians 11:10a)

In ...