Proclaimer Blog
The Gospel Transformation Bible
There are many study Bibles, of course. Many. And many of them are good (with a few not quite so hot). One of my favourites is particularly underrated, I feel. Perhaps that is because it is relatively unknown. It is Crossway’s ESV Gospel Transformation Bible. Catchy title, I know. But behind the slightly clunky title is a remarkable resource. Edited by Bryan Chappell and Dane Ortlund, this Bible has contributions from the likes of Kathleen Nielson, Dave Helm, James Hamilton, Mike Horton, Greg Gilbert, Iain Duguid, Colin Smith, Bruce Ware, Kent Hughes, Kevin DeYoung and Mike Bullmore – in other words, a long list of people we would know and trust.
But what makes it stand apart is the focus of the study notes which have one basic aim – to show how each portion of Scripture fits in with the big story and comes back to Christ. Then, alongside this, there are really helpful application notes. Bryan Chappell explains this in the introduction:
“The goal… is twofold (1) to enable readers to understand that the whole Bible is a unified message of the gospel of God’s grace culminating in Jesus Christ, and (2) to help believers apply this good news to their everyday lives in a heart-transforming way.”
What this means is that the GTB is a really useful resource to put into the hands of Bible study leaders, occasional preachers and Sunday School teachers. They can’t hope to have extensive libraries on their shelves, but as one-volume books go, this is worth its weight in gold. You don’t see it in bookstores very often, but tenofthose.com have a load at ridiculously cheap prices (£70 bibles for £9). I’m not being paid to promote them (though I would take the cash!). I genuinely believe that – even if you don’t use the ESV text – this is a really helpful book. At these prices, you could buy each of your Sunday School teachers a copy as a Christmas present.
Well, why not?