How The Gospel is Revealed in All 66 Books of the Bible

Book Review By David P. Craig

What’s Unique About the Gospel Transformation Bible’s Notes?

(1) It’s unique in how it handles applying the Scriptures. There are many good application study Bibles on the market today. Most of these Bibles focus on two aspects of application: (a) What should we do according to what this passage is teaching? and (b) Where should we be applying these truths? The Gospel Transformation Bible is unique in that it helps you focus on two other important elements of application: (c) Why we should apply the gospel daily; and (d) How we can apply the gospel daily. It guides us in having a proper motivation for obeying God – out of gratitude for His amazing grace. It also demonstrates how we are enabled by the power of the gospel to do what God calls us to do.

(2) It’s unique in the fact that it shows how all the major themes of the Scriptures are integrated and how all these themes ultimately point to or find their fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ.

(3) It’s unique in that it shows how each passage is a part of the flow of the gospel in the immediate context, but also in the over all thrust of redemptive history in the rest of the Bible.

(4) It’s unique in that it demonstrates how the good news of the gospel is just as evident in the Old Testament as in the New Testament.

(5) It’s unique in demonstrating how the message of the Bible about God’s love promises, points to, and culminates in Jesus.

(6) It’s unique in showing how the finished work of Christ matters not only in relationship to our past and our future, but especially in the present. We need the power of the gospel to help us in all the difficult realities of life – suffering, pain, decision making, identity issues, and so forth.

(7) It’s unique in that it demonstrate how the grace God pervades all of Scripture and empowers us to stand firm in the gospel over the attacks we face daily with the world, the flesh, and the Devil.

(8) It’s unique in that it gives us pointers to Christ and to the gospel in places that we wouldn’t be naturally inclined to see them (Much like the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 who didn’t understand how Isaiah was talking about Jesus).

(9) It’s unique in that it helps you focus on the big idea that the comprehensive theme that ties the 66 books of the Bible all together is the unfolding narrative of God’s commitment to redeem a family from every language, tribe, and people group and make all things new through Jesus. The notes show how every passage in every chapter of every book in the Bible unfolds the plan of redemption through the gospel.

(10) It’s unique in that it helps you delight in finding Christ for yourself in the text, and seek to be transformed into his likeness out of gratitude for His amazing grace displayed time and again in the gospel. In other words the notes focus on information (knowledge) that transforms the heart (emotions and the will). It isn’t about duty, so much as delight over who God is and what He has provided for us in the gospel of Christ.

(11) It’s unique in that the scholar’s who write the introductions and notes to each book of the Bible articulate how each author  focuses on  how the particulars of each book reveals and unfolds the grace of God and how their message transforms the heart.

(12) It’s unique in that the notes are targeted at the heart so that your heart is transformed by the Knowldge of the greatness of the gospel. It’s about our identity in Christ and that we serve Him out of our renewed affections for Who God is and what He has done for us through Christ’s Person and work. It is not so much about what you do, or what you know, but about who you “are” in Christ.

The Book of Daniel As An Example

Our temptation or inclination is to typically focus on the prophetic aspects (controversies) of the book of Daniel, or the heroism of Daniel and his friends as exiles in Babylon. The Bible in other words is about information or about us. However, Daniel is really about the people of God who are in exile in a pagan environment. However, in the midst of that exile Daniel and his friends remember that God has given them His Word and that He will be faithful to His promises. Daniel and his friends trust God even when they can’t take care of themselves. The message of Daniel is a message of grace. It is the message that God provides for Daniel and his friends what they can’t provide for themselves. Daniel’s trust and hope lie not in his own wisdom and strength, but in the wisdom, promises, and character of his God. It is in believing in God’s promises and grace that Daniel gets his strength.

What we learn from Daniel is that as the grace of God was revealed to him in the past, present, and future, so can we hope in the promises of God which are ultimately fulfilled in Christ. God demonstrates his faithfulness to Daniel and to us through His revealed prophecies and promises which are found in the coming of Christ. Daniel isn’t primarily about heroism or prophecy, but about the grace of God that culminates in the gospel of Christ. Our hope as exiles in this world is the same. Our hope is in the gospel which frees us from our past, empowers us for today, and gives us hope for the future.

10 Reasons I Recommend The Gospel Transformation Bible

(1) It will help you see the types, promises, and promises of God in the Old Testament that are ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

(2) It will give you guiding principles for studying how each passage, book, and period of the Bible unfolds the theme of redemption from Genesis to Revelation.

(3) It will impact your affections for Christ and the gospel. You will be touched by the majestic and intimate grace of God for you.

(4) It will motivate you to share the gospel with others. It will re-ignite an excitement in you for the gospel that will overflow out of your heart to your mouth with those who don’t know about Jesus.

(5) It will help you to see that all of the Scriptures are about Jesus. You will learn how to see Jesus through the “Jesus lens” as you read the Old and New Testament’s.

(7) It will help you become less legalistic or irreligious. It will help you to understand God’s grace in such a way that you become a more gracious and balanced individual.

(8) It will help you see the big picture of the Bible. It’s kind of like putting a bunch of pieces together of a large puzzle without the picture. When you read through all the notes in this Bible you will see a beautiful tapestry of Christ – and that He was there all along. He longs for you to discover and bask in His grace.

(9) It will renew and excitement in you for Bible study – and not just to know more doctrine, but because you will find yourself becoming more like Jesus. It will help to transform your character as you are conforming to the image of Christ.

(10) It will help you to personally know God more intimately. You may fall in love with God for the first time, or may rekindle your love for Him. Because you will find in the notes how the message of the Bible and all of history, and meaning itself finds its culmination in a love relationship with God through Christ Jesus.

*I was provided with a Bible to read and review by the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.