I have profound respect for the life and ministry of the late R.C. Sproul. He was a genuinely godly man. He founded Ligonier Ministries, was the first president of Reformation Bible College, authored more than one hundred books, inspired countless believers through preaching, teaching, and public speaking, and served the Lord Jesus Christ faithfully until he passed from this life to the next in 2017. It was a joy to hear him in person at Together for the Gospel conferences. His book The Holiness of God is a classic that all Christians should read.

Therefore, I was eager to include Sproul’s Romans: An Expositional Commentary, published in 2019 by Ligonier Ministries, among the resources I read during my 19-month teaching series through Romans at my church. I regularly included insights from this volume in the chapter handouts I prepared for my class. There were also numerous occasions when I read explanations and captivating stories from the book to the class.

A few thoughts stand out as I reflect on the experience of reading this thorough, 471-page commentary:

• Sproul is knowledgeable enough in Biblical languages to justify his own translation of words and passages, which he frequently offers, helping the reader gain a deeper understanding than some translations provide.
• The commentary is a blend of insights from decades of academic study and teaching and simple stories from his past that weave together to capture the mind and heart, driving his points home.
• It was impossible to read the text without hearing it in Sproul’s voice, imagining him sitting on a panel at a conference, casually dropping truth bombs on the participants.

There were several other extensive, more academic commentaries I consulted while teaching through Romans, but none of the others produced the same joy and eagerness to read as Sproul’s. I approached some other commentaries with a sense of obligation–“I guess I ought to read what _____ wrote about this.” But not Sproul. After my usual reading through a dozen study Bibles to jot down notes, Sproul’s commentary was the first I turned to, happily diving in to learn and smile along the way. That may not sound very academic, but it is very human, and we need to leave room for that in our personal study, whether the end goal is teaching others, as I do, or not.

Sproul divides Romans in his commentary into 58 different passages, devoting a short chapter to each. That’s an average of only eight pages per chapter, so it is easily digestible, and equally convenient to find commentary on a specific text from Romans that is still substantive. Every chapter begins with the biblical text, followed by his commentary. The index at the back of the book is an index of names rather than subjects–an interesting and helpful inclusion.

Many excellent scholars and others have written on the apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans. There is no shortage of options for someone wanting commentary and insights on this critically important, Holy Spirit-inspired letter by Paul. Still, for a helpful combination of academic insight and practical understanding of the letter, I highly recommend R.C. Sproul’s Romans: An Expositional Commentary. You won’t be disappointed.