Just in Time! Romans by RC Sproul

I just started my exegesis paper titled, “The Apostasy of Israel and the Mission to the Gentiles: Looking at Romans 11” for my Biblical Theology of Mission class. And little and behold I received my copy of RC’s newest title by Crossway.

I have heard many say over the last month about this title “do we really need another commentary on the Book of Romans?” But after already reading selected potations of RC’s new title, I say yes, yes for 2 reasons mainly.

One – The commentary is a selection of the sermons RC has preached through the book of Romans. Why is this good? Is instead of a critical, in-depth, hard to follow along read, it is as if you are listening to RC talk right at you with his stories and jokes all together in one.

Two – The commentary is easy to understand. This can be bad and good, but yet great for the unregenerate. The book can and should be given to those that have not heard the Gospel. RC puts the importance upon the gospel and staying focused on that, easy as 1, 2, 3… It is both good for the unsaved and saved.

From Crossway,

“Sproul’s sermons at St. Andrew’s Chapel are the foundation of these never-before-published expositions on Paul’s epistle to the Romans.

Chrysostom had it read aloud to him once a week. Augustine, Luther, and Wesley all came to assured faith through its impact. The Reformers saw it as the God-given key to understanding the whole of Scripture.

Throughout church history the study of the book of Romans has been pivotal to understanding Christian life and doctrine. Convinced that “Paul’s fullest, grandest, most comprehensive statement of the gospel” is just as vital today, R. C. Sproul delivered nearly sixty sermons on Romans from October 2005 to April 2007 at St. Andrew’s Chapel, where he has pastored for more than a decade. These never-before-published, passage-by-passage expositions will enrich any study of this weighty epistle.”

From others,

Sinclair B. Ferguson, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina

“‘R. C. Sproul,’ someone said to me in the 1970s, ‘is the finest communicator in the Reformed world.’ Now, three decades later, his skills honed by long practice, his understanding deepened by years of prayer, meditation, and testing (as Martin Luther counseled), R. C. shares the fruit of what has become perhaps his greatest love: feeding and nourishing his own congregation at St. Andrew’s from the Word of God and building them up in faith and fellowship and in Christian living and serving. The St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary will be welcomed throughout the world. It promises to have all R. C.’s hallmarks: clarity and liveliness, humor and pathos, always expressed in application to the mind, will, and affections. R. C.’s ability to focus on the ‘the big picture,’ his genius of never saying too much, leaving his hearers satisfied yet wanting more, never making the Word dull, are all present in these expositions. They are his gift to the wider church. May they nourish God’s people well and serve as models of the kind of ministry for which we continue to hunger.”

W. Robert Godfrey, President, Westminster Seminary California

“R. C. Sproul, well-known as a master theologian and extraordinary communicator, now shows that he is a powerful, insightful, helpful expository preacher. This collection of sermons is of great value for churches and Christians everywhere.”

Derek W. H. Thomas, John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Practical Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary; Minister of Teaching, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi

“I tell my students again and again, ‘You need to buy good commentaries and do so with some discernment.’Among these commentaries there must be preacher’s commentaries, for not all commentaries are the same. Some may tell you what the text means but provide little help in answering the question, ‘How do I preach this text?’ R. C. Sproul is a legend in our time. His preaching has held us in awe for half a century, and these pages represent the fruit of his latest exposition, coming as they do at the very peak of his abilities and insights. I am ecstatic at the prospect of reading the St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary series. It represents Reformed theology on fire, delivered from a pastor’s heart in a vibrant congregation of our time. Essential reading.”

Steven J. Lawson, Senior Pastor, Christ Fellowship Baptist Church, Mobile, Alabama

“R. C. Sproul is the premier theologian of our day, an extraordinary instrument in the hand of the Lord. Possessed with penetrating insight into the text of Scripture, Dr. Sproul is a gifted expositor and world-class teacher, endowed with a strategic grasp and command of the inspired Word. Since stepping into the pulpit of St. Andrew’s and committing himself to the weekly discipline of biblical exposition, this noted preacher has demonstrated a rare ability to explicate and apply God’s Word. I wholeheartedly recommend the St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary to all who long to know the truth better and experience it more deeply in a life-changing fashion. Here is an indispensable tool for digging deeper into God’s Word. This is a must-read for every Christian.”

Joel R. Beeke, President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

“How exciting! Thousands of us have long been indebted to R. C. Sproul the teacher, and now, through the St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary, we are indebted to Sproul the preacher, whose sermons are thoroughly biblical, soundly doctrinal, warmly practical, and wonderfully readable. Sproul masterfully presents us with the ‘big picture’ of each pericope in a dignified yet conversational style that accentuates the glory of God and meets the real needs of sinful people like us. This series of volumes, a joint effort between two premier publishers, is an absolute must for every Reformed preacher and church member who yearns to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ Jesus. I predict that Sproul’s pulpit ministry in written form will do for Christians in the twenty-first century what Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s sermonic commentaries did for us last century. Tolle lege, and buy these volumes for your friends.”

Michael S. Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California

“John Wesley once said of a colleague that Scripture so thoroughly pulsed through his spiritual veins that he ‘bled Bibline.’ The same could be said without exaggeration of R. C. Sproul. More specifically, one could easily say that he ‘bleeds Pauline.’ The theology of the Apostle to the Gentiles courses through Dr. Sproul’s veins in all of his work. Therefore, it is a special privilege to be able to read his sermons on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Romans has turned the world upside down for two millennia. Not only did it lead to Augustine’s conversion; it was a primary source for his defense of the gospel against Pelagius. This epistle was the catalyst for the Reformation and shaped the minds and hearts of many leaders of the modern missionary movement. Romans continues its revolution to the present day and each of R. C. Sproul’s expositions reminds us why. Read this book and, by God’s grace, you’ll never be the same.”