The Message of Romans: God's Good News for the World (The Bible Speaks Today)

Rating:
Summary: Best on Romans: Conservative, Scholarly, Logical
Review: I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is an ideal commentary for pastors, professors, and serious laymen. If you can only afford one commentary on Romans, make it this one.

Serving as a pastor for over 25 years, I have either taught or preached through Romans on several occasions. As I was sharing my plans to tackle Romans yet another time, my good friend ( a fellow pastor with degrees from Moody, Dallas, and Trinity) said, "Ed, you have to get Stott's commentary. It is the best. I just did Romans and bought Stott's when I was half-way through. Wish I had it the whole time." Since my pal hesitates making recommendations and does not inflate matters, I knew it had to be good. I took my friend's word and was not disappointed. It was better than I imagined. Much better than Hodge, Lenski, Newell, and a host of others. Not tedious or tangent-prone like some of the mega-sets.

Stott is first and foremost an interpretter. He addresses possibilities and then draws his conclusion. He is solid, conservative, believes in sovereign grace, and truly seeks to understand the original intent of the author. His purpose is to interpret correctly, not to twist texts to fit an agenda.

He is thorough yet not tedious; understandable but not simplistic; concise, but not cold. The commentary is 406 pages (not including the study guide at the end), but the print is large and easy on the eye. The many Scripture references are footnoted at the bottom of each page (making them easy to find), as are other references, but they take up little space at the bottom. There are no tedious explanatory notes footnoted; all you need is in the text itself.

If you are a Bible-believing Christian, this volume is the one to get.