Romans

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ReformedCuban

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Good afternoon, everyone. I'll be teaching from Paul's Epistle to the Romans at my church soon. What are some good commentaries that I can consult? I'll also consider other works and materials.
 
You might like to read Martyn LLoyd-Jones multi volumes on Romans.
I second this recommendation. Lloyd-Jones’ set on Romans is technically not a commentary, but a set of sermons. Be that as it may, they are very helpful and devotional, and the table of contents in every volume is very detailed in terms of content and topics covered.

Also, Lloyd-Jones stopped preaching on Romans after chapter 14, which is very sad. But I strongly recommend anything and everything by Lloyd-Jones.
 
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All the above are quality standard commentaries. You might like to read Martyn LLoyd-Jones multi volumes on Romans. Or if you prefer you can listen to them https://www.mljtrust.org/free-sermons/book-of-romans/

Dr Lloyd-Jones recommended this combination. He also made good use of John Murray.

The problem with Lloyd-Jones is that you have to slog through a lot of text to get specific information you're looking for. I think it was D. A. Carson who commented that you can learn a lot from Lloyd-Jones, but only if you read quickly!
 
Let's not forget C. E. B. Cranfield's two volumes, if you're looking for something more technical, but well-written.
 
The problem with Lloyd-Jones is that you have to slog through a lot of text to get specific information you're looking for. I think it was D. A. Carson who commented that you can learn a lot from Lloyd-Jones, but only if you read quickly!
As has been noted above Lloyd-Jones on Romans is not a commentary as such. It is a sermon series. It is best to read them as sermons.
 
Hey everyone. I appreciate the feedback. I have ordered some of the books mentioned, and I just got some of them. I now have the commentaries by Moo, Hodge, and Hendriksen. I'm expecting Haldane's commentary in a few days.
All the above are quality standard commentaries. You might like to read Martyn LLoyd-Jones multi volumes on Romans. Or if you prefer you can listen to them https://www.mljtrust.org/free-sermons/book-of-romans/

Dr Lloyd-Jones recommended this combination. He also made good use of John Murray.
I actually have the MLJ Library on my phone. I'll listen to the series.

I second this recommendation. Lloyd-Jones’ set on Romans is technically not a commentary, but a set of sermons. Be that as it may, they are very helpful and devotional, and the table of contents in every volume is very detailed in terms of content and topics covered.

Also, Lloyd-Jones stopped preaching on Romans after chapter 14, which is very sad. But I strongly recommend anything and everything by Lloyd-Jones.
That's a shame. Do you know why he stopped?

If you do not mind reading old English, Peter Martyr Vermigli's commentary on Romans is available on EEBO.
I can read the Geneva and 1611 KJV quite well, so I don't expect this one to be quite different. Has anyone tried to translate a modern version of his commentary?
 
Let's not forget C. E. B. Cranfield's two volumes, if you're looking for something more technical, but well-written.
My pastor actually recommended Cranfield. I just got his abridged commentary from an elder.

Is he influenced by Barth? Keith Mathison writes in his list of recommended commentaries of Romans that Cranfield takes a Barthian approach to Romans.
 
My pastor actually recommended Cranfield. I just got his abridged commentary from an elder.

Is he influenced by Barth? Keith Mathison writes in his list of recommended commentaries of Romans that Cranfield takes a Barthian approach to Romans.
For your purposes, Cranfield would be overkill. I would study Romans in this order:

  1. Technical/more advanced: Moo, Shedd, or John Murray
  2. Followed by John Brown of Edinburgh's commentary. Brown's commentary is rich and will help you digest Romans in a more experiential manner, which will greatly benefit your audience and your soul.
  3. Calvin. Because it is Calvin. He is always sober, profound, and helps walk you through his conclusions. One always feels they are sitting with Calvin in his study as he guides you through his thought process.
Check our Sinclair Ferguson's series on Romans. You will glean teaching points form him.

 
My pastor actually recommended Cranfield. I just got his abridged commentary from an elder.

Is he influenced by Barth? Keith Mathison writes in his list of recommended commentaries of Romans that Cranfield takes a Barthian approach to Romans.

I wouldn't really call Canfield a Barthian. Barth did absolutely zero exegesis. Canfield is very attentive to the text, so that's a big difference.

1. I worked through Moo last year. Quite excellent but unique take on Romans 7.
2. Murray is the classic. Very technical.
 
That's a shame. Do you know why he stopped?
He preached through Romans for many years. As he got older, some fairly significant health issues, including cancer, forced him to retire from ministry. So he could not finish is Romans series.
 
I had avoided Stott for a long time (his annihilationism), and was very surprised, when reading his commentary on either Galatians or Ephesians, how good it was. I even gave away his The Cross of Christ in great measure due to that, which I sort of regret now.
 
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I had avoided Stott for a long time (his annihilationism), and was very surprised, when reading his commentary on either Galatians or Ephesians, how good it was. I even gave away his The Cross of Christ in great measure due to that, which I sort of regret now.

All good books. His commentary on Acts is also superb.
 
That's a shame. Do you know why he stopped?
Here is this explanation that I had read some years ago from Lloyd-Jones himself.

“I was at Romans 14:17. I had dealt with ‘righteousness’, with ‘peace’ on March 1st, and there I was stopped. David Martyn Lloyd-Jones I was not allowed to deal with ‘joy in the Holy Ghost’. I have the feeling that this was not accidental. God intervened and I could suggest a reason why. I was able to deal with righteousness and peace (I had fleeting experiences of it), but the third thing is the profoundest of all. Why was I not allowed to deal with it? Because I knewsomething, but not enough about it. ‘I want you to speak with greater authority on this,’ God said.
Here is what I would put before you. For six months, until September, I did not preach at all. For four months I have had the most valuable experience of being a listener. My general impression is that most of our services are terribly depressing! I am amazed people still go to church; most who go are female and
over the age of forty. The note missing is ‘joy in the Holy Ghost’. There is nothing in these services to make a stranger feel that he is missing something by not being there.”
 
Good afternoon, everyone. I'll be teaching from Paul's Epistle to the Romans at my church soon. What are some good commentaries that I can consult? I'll also consider other works and materials.
May I ask in what capacity are you teaching on this lofty epistle? Adult Sabbath school? Have you publicly taught before?

I assume you are teaching it with the oversight of your session.
 
May I ask in what capacity are you teaching on this lofty epistle? Adult Sunday school?

I assume you are teaching it with the oversight of your session.
Yes, it's within the oversight of my session.

Ever since we started meeting again back in August of 2020, my church initiated a semester-styled class program that replaced our normal adult Sunday school (temporarily, I hope). They take place in-between our two services.
 
Yes, it's within the oversight of my session.

Ever since we started meeting again back in August of 2020, my church initiated a semester-styled class program that replaced our normal adult Sunday school (temporarily, I hope). They take place in-between our two services.
Excellent. May the Lord cause that time to be fruitful.
 
It would be a huge mistake not to get Murray.
I don't particularly like Murray on Romans, actually. *Ducks to avoid heresy charges.* I found myself disagreeing with him in passage after passage, and was left wondering why so many in the Reformed world think it is one of the best. I wouldn't want to avoid him, but neither is he in my top five or even ten.
 
One more resource to consider is John Piper's sermon series on Romans. He goes through it very thoroughly (around 230 sermons if memory serves). I found the sermons generally excellent. They can be downloaded for free from DesiringGod.com. If you have a commute or other period of time that isn't suitable for reading but works for listening, good audio sources become quite valuable.
 
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