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The main purpose of this set of mission focused Commentaries is to fill a large gap. At least to my limited knowledge, a set of Bible Commentaries that has this same mission focus does not exist. , the commentaries are in simple English for those who speak English as a second language. It may be that I am uninformed since I served the Church as a foreign missionary in Nigeria my entire career from 1964-1997; and I had very little contact with developments in the field of Biblical studies during that period of time. Yet, this gap surprises me, since the entire Bible reveals, in many beautiful and carefully planned details, how God’s mission-heart has always been busy carrying out his gracious mission-plan to lost mankind. After Jesus’ ascension, God began to carry out the final stages of his mission-plan in a new era by beginning to create a new nation of Israel, the Church. He did so by sending his Holy Spirit to empower the mission-hearts of the faithful believers on Pentecost Day (Acts 1:8). A mission commentary on the Bible will demonstrate the purpose of Holy Scripture: to fuel the mission heart of Christ’s church.
Paul Bruns' LETTER TO THE ROMANS continues his set of the MISSION BIBLE COMMENTARY. A set of Bible commentaries that has a focus on missions is rare. In fact, we know of no other such Bible commentary. The author has written for those who speak English as a second language, but the commentaries are useful for all. And, as Dr. Bruns says: "I, of course, hope that many Christians around the world will be eager to use this set of commentaries. Therefore, I want to begin by saying that even though my commentaries may not “sound” scholarly, I trust that no Bible scholar will be put-off by the level of language that I have used; they are also meant for you! I hope that everyone can benefit. Obviously, the level of language that I have used is very deliberate. Based on more than 30 years of experience as a foreign missionary, I have seen that the need for this type of mission-based commentaries is truly enormous, because the need extends far beyond the native-English speaking world. I have observed four things: a) First, in many areas of the world where the Christian Church is still relatively young, the majority of the church leaders have received only minimal training. Therefore, they have limited Bible knowledge. b) Secondly, the majority of these church leaders also lack Bible helps that they can use to teach others. c) Thirdly, of course, the sad result is that the members of these churches also lack Bible knowledge. d) And finally, of course, the vast majority of these people are also non-native speakers of English...as a Bible scholar, I have made every attempt to be as technically correct as possible, I have also made a very serious attempt at consistently controlling the level of language that I used, so that everyone will be able to understand."