Paul’s Prison Letters: A Look Inside His Freedom

Today is the release of my latest book, a paraphrase of Paul’s four prison letters, called: “The Gospel Cannot Be Chained.”

Below is the introduction to each letter. If you would like to order a copy you can do so at amazon.com here.

Ephesians

Paul, a man transformed by grace, born again in love and set apart, according to God’s plan, to proclaim the divine message of new life for all. To my faith-filled brothers and sisters in Ephesus: grace and peace to you, given freely to us all by our beloved Father in heaven.

How wonderful our God is; how amazing his grace! Indeed, our hearts can’t help but praise him. God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, has truly blessed us beyond measure. For a man can earn money in order to buy things of luxury, but he cannot earn the peace of God; and what no man can earn, God has freely given us. What man could ever earn the joy of God? What man could ever earn the rest of God? No man can earn these heavenly blessings, and yet, through our faith in Jesus, God has freely given us all of them as a gift.

Oh, how he loves us. Just as the cross was planned by God before the creation of the world, so was his decision to reveal the depths of his love to all who would accept his Son. It does our hearts good to remember that God’s plan has its foundations in eternity and the good news of his grace was a message stirring in his heart before time was even created. Oh, how amazing our God is! Before he began creating the universe he had already finished planning our eternal salvation; a way that all of us could be made holy, dearly loved and without blame in his sight – a gift that lasts forever. Brothers and sisters, we have good reason to rejoice, for through Jesus we have been made ‘new’ in God’s eyes. We will never again be seen in our faults, but rather, forever seen in his grace. For, according to natural law, we were all born once through the body of our earthly mothers, but now, through divine grace, we have been born again through the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, not as children of men, but as children of God. Hallelujah.

Philippians

From Paul and Timothy, servants of the greatest message ever proclaimed: the good news that God is not holding our sins against us, but rather, is graceful and mighty to save.

To all the believers in Jesus at Philippi, together with your fellow brothers and sisters among you who have been graced to oversee your communal life together: grace and peace to you all from God our Father who pours out his grace upon you without restraint through our Lord Jesus Christ.

My siblings in Christ, before I say another word, I just have to tell you how much I love you all. Oh, I’m telling you the truth, I find myself filled with joy and spontaneously thanking our God every time I simply remember you. I’m full of hope and happiness whenever I pray about you all, because I know how you have always stood with me in our mutual faith and commitment in God’s gospel. The gospel that declares God is love, God is gracious, and God has made a way to freely reconcile all of mankind to himself by faith in his Son apart from any other requirements. Your partnership in the gospel is so comforting, for, although there are those who reject the reality of God’s radical good news, you have embraced it from the first day you heard it until now.

Colossians

Paul, singled out by God to proclaim the truth of his divine love for mankind that is now understood through the grace of his Son Jesus. Together with Timothy our brother. To my faith-filled brothers and sisters in Colossae, set apart and made alive in the endless love of Christ; grace and peace to you in abundance from our heavenly Father.

We are always thanking God, our eternal Father, for you all. Indeed, ever since we received news of your faith, and the love you have for each other, we have been filled with joy and continue to thank God over and over that you have received the light of life. What a blessing it is for all of us to finally understand the truth: that God considers us so valuable he allowed his Son to die for us, in order that we can now live eternally with him. We have such significance in the eyes of the Almighty.

I must say, it truly is a joy to hear of your faith, and how God is working powerfully within your community. A faith that has arisen through your understanding of God’s love for you and the acceptance of your glorious inheritance, stored up for you in heaven. Oh, how ‘good’ the ‘news’ truly is. God has established a covenant for us based on his nature, his love, and his divine grace.

We no longer need to live distant from him, scared of him, or ashamed before him. We no longer strive to relate with him based on our limited strength and faithfulness; rather, through a glorious act of his grace, our new covenant is based on his divine strength and his perfect ability to be faithful to us. We have entered into a covenant with God that isn’t sealed with our imperfect sacrifices, but rather, with the perfect sacrifice of Christ. How incredible to know that the covenant we have now received was not sealed with the blood of men, nor the blood of animals, but with the blood of Christ. He did everything on our behalf, so that God could now freely give to us as a gift all the benefits of Christ’s perfect finished work.

That gift, my friends, is the gospel: the good news that God has now established his very own nature in you. That is what his grace is my friends. It is the very nature of God. It’s not just a nice word, or a theoretical doctrine – it’s real. It’s alive in you! Grace is God’s divine, empowering nature of love.

Philemon

Paul, chained temporarily by man, but set free eternally by Christ Jesus; together with Timothy, our mutual brother.

To Philemon my beloved friend and fellow proclaimer of God’s abounding love; greetings also to Apphia our sister, Archippus our fellow freedom fighter and to all the believers who meet together in your home. Grace, love, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ.

My beloved brother, I must express once more how truly blessed I am by our friendship; indeed, I thank God every time I am reminded of you. It is a delight to hear of the love you have for our mutual brothers and sisters in Christ, and the encouragement you impart to them, as they continue to grow in their own faith walk, just as your own faith continues to abound in the revelation of God’s love and grace. My heart is full of joy when I think of you, and I want to encourage you to continue, just as you already are, to be active in sharing your faith in the good news that God truly is graceful and abounding in love, in order that the Lord can continue to reveal the fullness of his unfailing, unending and incomparable love to your heart and mind; together with the full measure of every good thing we have been given in Christ. Enjoy the blessing of sharing the good news of God’s grace. For I can testify that it is not only a joy to proclaim, but it also reminds our own hearts of all we have been given in Christ. It is so wonderful to remember you and your example of divine acceptance; you are a blessing to the whole Church, for you don’t sit in judgment of others for their lack and weaknesses, but allow God’s nature of love to truly shine.

I will be sharing more from the book on my blog throughout the month. If you would like to order a copy you can do so at amazon.com here. I’m really excited about this book’s release, and believe it will help a lot of people be refreshed with the reality of God’s message of grace that Paul so passionately preached.

Blue skies,
Mick