Paul Ellis's Blog, page 5

Why do I need a New Covenant Bible Commentary?

The Bible is a big book. We need help if we are to make sense of it. This is why people write Bible commentaries and study Bibles.

Commentaries and study Bibles illuminate scripture by describing the context. They ask questions like, who was this verse written too, when, and why?

Any preacher worth their salt will tell you that we need to read the Bible in context, but what is the proper context? Jesus is. He is the Living Word who gives meaning to the written word.

This seems ...

Is the Christian Life a Marathon or a Sprint?

Have you ever noticed how the older you get, the harder it is to run?

I used to run 10ks and half-marathons. I once jogged a 50km trail in seven hours. But that was a long time ago. These days, my knees are shot, and running is becoming a distant memory.

I mention this because of this well-known saying: “The Christian life is a marathon.” Funny thing, but you rarely hear old guys saying this. It’s usually fit young pastors who say things like:

The Christian life is not a sprint...

Bad News, Good News, Thank Yous

In my last email, I promised E2R subscribers a special Christmas treat. I said I had “a little project” I was working on.

Well, I have bad news and good news.

The bad news is I didn’t get it finished in time. This has been a huge year of writing and about a week ago I hit the wall. I had nothing left in the tank. Instead of beating myself up about it, we went away on a family weekend to here…

It was a lovely break. I played games with the kids, I went for a walk with Camilla, and...

Your Christmas Sorted

Christmas is the season of giving, so next week I plan to send Escape to Reality subscribers a special gift. It’s a little something I think you will love. (Not a subscriber? Sign up now. It’s free!)

In the meantime, here are five grace-based gifts you may want to get for all the wonderful people in your life.

1. The perfect gift for someone new to grace

The Gospel in Ten Words is the book I recommend to new believers and people who are starting out in grace. In a word, it’s abo...

What is the Grace Bible?

What is the Grace Bible? The Grace Bible is your grace-based, easy-to-read, new covenant study Bible.

Unlike other study Bibles that burden you with guilt and leave you confused, the Grace Bible has good news on every page. It’s your new covenant guide to the abundant life that is ours in Christ.

Here are three facts you probably don’t know about the Grace Bible:

Fact 1: Amazon nearly killed the Grace Bible

I have published over a dozen books on Amazon with no problems, but f...

What is the Hope of His Calling?

There is a prayer in the Bible that goes right over our heads. Here it is:

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. (Ephesians 1:18)

Paul prayed that you would know the hope of his calling. Has his prayer been answered? Do you know the hope of God’s calling?

Judging by the obsession many have with getting into heaven, I suspect that many do no...

What Did James Say About Grace?

“Did James understand grace? Were he and Paul on the same page? Are we saved by faith plus works like he said? Should his book be in the Bible?”

People have been asking these questions for hundreds of years. According to some, James did not understand the gospel of grace. Well, maybe he did a little bit. But he was confused. And too Jewish. Either way, you can’t learn much about grace from James.

Before we proceed, here’s a pop quiz I’m calling…

“Which apostle?”

Can you guess...

Am I Completely Forgiven?

You’d be surprised how hard it is to convince some people that God has forgiven all their sins – past, present, and future.

“Sure, I believe God loved me enough to send his Son to rescue me, but has he forgiven all my sins? I’m not so sure.”

When I started Escape to Reality 15 years ago, I wrote about forgiveness every other week because so many people just couldn’t see it. They had all these crazy ideas.

“God will only forgive me if I forgive others.”

“God’s forgiveness come...

Is “Love your Neighbor” Part of the New Covenant?

If there is one book that highlights the dangers of mixing grace with law it’s Galatians. Which is why I am always surprised when people use Galatians to mix grace with law.

You wouldn’t think it was possible. It’s like opening a cookbook and finding recipes for poison. It’s like finding yeast in your matzah.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. (Galatians 5:9)

While writing my commentary on Galatians, I did a lot of reading. I was surprised at how often I found pe...

Why do I Need a Bible Commentary?

“Why does anyone need a commentary to tell them what the Bible ‘really’ means?”

This question was put to me by someone on Facebook. It’s a fair question and it was followed by another:

“Isn’t God’s word clear enough on its own?”

The short answer is “no.” If the Bible was clear, we would all agree about everything in it and the church would be a shining beacon of peace and unity. If the Bible was clear, there wouldn’t be 40,000 denominations and we wouldn’t have 400 different En...