R. C. Sproul writes “the theme of the Protestant Reformation which was born through a study of the book of Romans was the theme sola deo gloria—to God alone the glory. God alone is worthy of our honour and all the glory, dominion and power. It is God who is glorified in this epistle, and Paul concludes the epistle with this final admonition: ‘Give glory to God.’ We glorify God the Father through our obedience and devotion to God the Son who has redeemed us from the curse of the law.”

The church universal is full of those who came to saving faith as a result of Paul’s letter to the church at Rome. While the Bible is not a textbook on systematic theology, but rather the base of it, Romans comes as close as any biblical book to being that systematic study of God. Needless to say, you cannot fully understand and appreciate the Gospel of Jesus Christ without having some familiarity with the book of Romans.

Sproul has given the reader an excellent, easy to read, six-page summary of the epistle that whets the appetite to read on. (I also appreciate the two-page topical index.) The commentary, while not exegetical in the technical sense of the term, is a reliable exposition of Romans. Sproul doesn’t soft-pedal the more complex passages dealing with the ordo salutis, especially election and predestination, but writes with the clarity and definiteness of a Calvinistic scholar. He tells the reader when the text is not completely clear to him and evaluates other interpretations that he considers inaccurate.

This book reflects Sproul’s gift of making the Bible easier to understand for laymen and teachers. It will not replace commentaries by Stott, Morris, Calvin, Hodge, and other weightier commentaries but it will be helpful to use devotionally, as a reference, or to pass along to a friend to whom you may be witnessing. It will be a good starter to have available for your own study and teaching.

- Charles Dunahoo, CEP Coordinator