Paul Ellis's Blog, page 8

Does God Accept Me?

Recently I was listening to a podcast that said young men are becoming emasculated because they live life through a screen. They don’t take risks, they don’t leave home, and they definitely don’t ask girls out on dates. The remedy, apparently, is they need to be taught how to handle rejection.

Learning to handle rejection is an important life skill. But there’s an easy way and a hard way to learn it.

The hard way is to let life knock you down again and again until you either harde...

Which Bible Commentaries Are Grace Based?

As a young preacher preparing to preach, I needed to take care that I didn’t say anything stupid.

For this reason, I would check my sermon notes against one or two of my favorite Bible commentaries. I considered these commentaries guard rails that kept me in line. I now realize they were also fetters keeping me shackled to dead works.

Pastors read commentaries, sometimes late on a Saturday in a mild state of panic. Of course, you don’t have to be a pastor to read a commentary. Man...

The Two Books Your Pastor Reads

My dad was a pastor and when he died young I inherited all his books, Bibles and commentaries. When I became a pastor, I bought more Bibles and commentaries. I have quite the library.

Your pastor might not have a lot of books, but I can almost guarantee that there are two books he reads regularly; his favorite Bible translation and his favorite Bible commentary.

A Bible commentary is a systematic analysis and interpretation of scripture which is usually presented in a verse-by-ver...

Keywords of Grace and Law

Every Bible teaching, sermon or message you have ever heard has been one of three kinds: law-based, grace-based, or a mixture of grace and law.

A law-based interpretation puts the emphasis on you and your works, while a grace-based interpretation puts the emphasis on Christ and his work. Law- and grace-based interpretations can be recognized by their different vocabularies.

Keywords of law

Words that often appear in law-based messages include; you must, you should, work, ...

The Old vs the New Covenant

Are you familiar with Biblical covenants? Reading the Bible without understanding covenant is like going to a medicine cabinet when you are ill and swallowing whatever pills you find. You might get better, or you might get sick and die.

All medicine is good, but not all medicine is good for you.

In the Bible there are at least five covenants between God and man. But the two biggies are those by which we divide the scriptures, the Old and New Testaments, or the old and new covenants...

What is the New Covenant?

Imagine going through 12 years of school and never being taught how to read or write. Your teachers taught you maths, music and physical education, but they neglected to teach you the basics of reading and writing.

That would be a serious oversight. You would leave school illiterate and ill-equipped for life.

You wouldn’t be able to apply for jobs, complete a mortgage application, receive texts, read contracts, or check the labels on medicine bottles.

Your life would be serious...

Why Do I Still Sin If I Am Saved?

Saint, you don’t have a sinful nature. The old sinner you used to be has been crucified with Christ. One with the Lord you have his heart, his desires, his spiritual DNA, his mind, and his holy nature.

“So why do I still sin?”

This is a great question. So are these:

“If I’m 100% holy in Christ, how come I don’t act 100% holy?”

“If I’m righteous, how come I don’t feel righteous?”

“Why do I sin when I don’t want to sin?”

“Is it possible to lead a sinless life?”

“Will I...

What Does it Mean that Judgment Begins at the House of God?

Yesterday I heard from a pastor who is a long-time Escape to Reality reader. He asked me about a particular scripture, and I directed him to the relevant page on the Grace Commentary.

“What’s the Grace Commentary?” He’d never heard of it. Perhaps you have not heard of it either. If not, the Grace Commentary is the place to go when you come across tough scriptures like this:

It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God. (1 Peter 4:17)

This scripture is sometimes u...

The Dangers of Taking Bible Verses out of Context

Two men go to see the doctor. The first is suffering from advanced cancer and needs immediate treatment. The second is completely healthy and is going for a routine check-up.

The doctor is a perfect physician who prescribes the appropriate treatment in each case. However, the pharmacist bungles the prescriptions and gives each man the other’s medicine.

The man with cancer is given multivitamins and told to exercise daily, while the healthy man is given an extensive course of chemot...

Why Read the Seven Letters to the Churches?

Did you know that Jesus sent letters from heaven?

I suspect 90% of people do not know, and many of those who do know dismiss them as irrelevant.

“The seven letters to the Revelation churches are not for me.”

That’s not true. The letters from Jesus were sent to the first-century churches of Asia, but they are timeless. They contain messages for all of us.

Dismiss the seven letters and you might as well dismiss the whole Bible.

The seven letters to the churches

In the se...