How To Tell if Your Commentary is Grace Based?

Do you know how to stay free? We stay free by testing everything.

We test the spirits to see whether they are from God (1 John 4:1). We test teachings to see if they align with scripture (see Acts 17:11). And we test our Bible commentaries to see if they fully proclaim the gospel of Christ.

I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. (Romans 15:19b)

In an earlier article I said that your pastor reads two books – a Bible and a Bible commentary. Many Christians have been profoundly influenced by the Bible, but few realize they have also been influenced by their pastor’s favorite commentary.

What people think happens:

What actually happens:

Ideally, every commentary will meet two standards: (1) it will fully convey the gospel of Christ and (2) do so in language that is accessible to the widest possible audience. Sadly, most commentaries fail both tests.

According to my research, virtually every commentary preaches law or mixture, and many of them do so in language that is hard to read. As far as I’m aware, there is only one commentary that is totally free from mixture:

“Paul, have you considered XYZ Commentary?”

Please don’t ask me to identify commentaries or name and shame other scholars.

Instead, let me put the ball back in your court. Why not test your favorite commentary and draw your own conclusions? It’s not hard to do.

Below is a list of 50 “shibboleth” scriptures whose meaning is subject to interpretation. You can interpret these scriptures through lenses of law or grace.

How to use this list:

1. Pick some scriptures from the list below. Pick as few or many as you like.
2. Look up these scriptures in your favorite commentary.
3. Decide whether the commentary offers a law- or grace-based interpretation or some mix of the two. A law-based interpretation will emphasize works you must do while a grace-based interpretation will emphasize the goodness of God.

The trick is to look out for the keywords of grace and law. In the full-length study note that accompanies this article, I go through the whole procedure, step by step, using the ten scriptures marked in bold below.

If you find a verse-by-verse Bible commentary that scores highly on grace, you have found a rare thing. If that commentary is freely available and easy to read, even better.

But chances are you won’t find such a thing. Believe me, I’ve looked.

If you do your own test, I would love to hear the results. Let me know in the comments below. Tell me (1) the name of the commentary (which I will disguise), (2) whether it scored highly on law or grace or a mixture of the two, and (3) how many verses you used to come to your conclusion.

Have fun!

50 Shibboleth Scriptures

Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 6:15 But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Matthew 18:34–35 And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.
Matthew 22:37–38 And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment.
Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.
Luke 9:23 If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luke 9:62 No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.
John 5:28-29 Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
John 15:2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit
John 15:10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
Romans 2:6-8 God will repay each person according to what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
Romans 2:13 For it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.
Romans 11:22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
Romans 13:8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
1 Corinthians 7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.
1 Corinthians 11:27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment (bema) seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?
Galatians 5:4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Galatians 5:14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Galatians 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
Ephesians 6:18 Pray at all times
1 Timothy 1:19 keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.
2 Timothy 2:12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
Hebrews 6:4–6 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
Hebrews 10:26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
James 1:12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him.
James 2:17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
James 3:8 No one can tame the tongue.
James 2:8 If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
James 2:14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
James 5:9 Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.
2 Peter 1:5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, etc.
1 Peter 4:17 It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God.
2 Peter 1:9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 3:6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has seen him or knows him.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not burdensome.
Revelation 2:4 But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Revelation 2:10c Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Revelation 2:26 He who overcomes, and he who keeps my deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.
Revelation 3:2 Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.
Revelation 3:5 He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
Revelation 3:15–16 I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
Revelation 14:12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
Revelation 22:12 Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.

Note: For comparison purposes, a grace-based interpretation of these scriptures can be found on the Grace Commentary.

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TGB Update: I am charging along with the next installment in the Grace Bible series. If all goes to plan, The Grace Bible: Galatians will be released in July/August.