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Contents
Cover
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Welcome to the Teach the Text Commentary Series
Introduction to the Teach the Text Commentary Series
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction to Romans
Romans 1:17
The Gospel of God in Christ through Paul
Romans 1:815
The Obedience of Faith of the Gentiles
Romans 1:1617
The Gospel of Deliverance
Romans 1:1832
The Story of Israel and the Story of Gentiles
Romans 2:111
The Story of Israel Now and Later
Romans 2:1216
The Story of the Gentiles Now and Later
Romans 2:1724
Paul Reinterprets the Story of Israel
Romans 2:2529
The Gentiles and the Restoration of Israel
Romans 3:18
The Faithfulness of God and the Covenantal Curses on Israel
Romans 3:920
The Whole World Is under the Curses of the Covenant
Romans 3:2126
Gods Saving Righteousness and the Restoration of Israel
Additional Insights
Sacrifice | Redemption | Pauls Use of Traditional Material
Romans 3:2731
Boasting in the Law versus Justification by Faith
Additional Insights
Faith and Law in Paul
Romans 4:18
The Story of Abraham versus the Story of Israel
Romans 4:917a
The Abrahamic Covenant versus the Mosaic Covenant
Romans 4:17b25
Faith, Abraham, and the Christian
Romans 5:14
The New-Covenant Blessings: Peace and Hope
Romans 5:511
The New-Covenant Blessings: Love
Romans 5:1214
Adam, the Law, and the Curse of the Covenant
Romans 5:1521
The New Humanity as a Blessing of the New Covenant
Romans 6:17
New Dominion as a Blessing of the New Covenant: Dead to Sin
Additional Insights
The Backgrounds of Christian Baptism
Romans 6:814
New Dominion as a Blessing of the New Covenant: Alive to God
Romans 6:1523
The Christians New Dominion: Dedicated to Righteousness
Romans 7:112
Freedom from the Law through Christ, Enslavement to the Law through Adam
Romans 7:1325
Wretched Man That I Am: Battle of the Two Ages within the Christian
Romans 8:117
The Holy Spirit and the Blessings of the New Covenant
Romans 8:1830
The Spirit and the Glory of the Age to Come and the New Covenant
Romans 8:3139
Justification before God because of the Love of Christ
Romans 9:15
Israel and the Present Curses and the Past Blessings of the Covenant
Romans 9:629
Covenantal Curses on Israel, Covenantal Blessings on Gentiles
Romans 9:3010:5
The Reversal of the Deuteronomic Curses and Blessings: Replacing Law with Faith
Additional Insights
Deuteronomic Background | Zealotry | Telos
Romans 10:621
The Reversal of the Deuteronomic Curses and Blessings: Righteousness by Faith
Romans 11:110
Exile for National Israel, Restoration for Spiritual Israel
Romans 11:1124
The Kindness and Sternness of God
Romans 11:2532
The Mystery and Mercy of God
Romans 11:3336
The Divine Plan of Salvation
Romans 12:12
Witnesses of the New Covenant
Romans 12:38
Service in the New-Covenant Community
Additional Insights
The Background of Pauls Body Imagery
Romans 12:921
The New-Covenant Ethic of Love
Romans 13:17
God and Government
Romans 13:814
Ethics and Eschatology
Romans 14:112
Weak and Strong Should Get Along
Romans 14:1323
Strong and Weak Christians: The New and the Old Covenants
Romans 15:113
The Unity of the Strong and the Weak and the New Covenant
Romans 15:1421
Paul the Apostle of the New Covenant to the Gentiles
Romans 15:2229
Pauls Collection for Jerusalem and Mission to Spain
Romans 15:3033
Curses on Unbelievers, Blessings on Believers
Romans 16:12
Paul, Phoebe, Patronage, and Spain
Romans 16:316
Pauls Greetings to the Roman Churches
Romans 16:1720
Curses on the False Teachers, Blessings on the Roman Christians
Romans 16:2123
Greetings to Roman Christians from Pauls Coworkers in Corinth
Romans 16:2527
The Doxology
Notes
Bibliography
Image Credits
Contributors
Subject Index
Back Cover
Welcome to the Teach the Text Commentary Series
Why another commentary series? That was the question the general editors posed when Baker Books asked us to produce this series. Is there something that we can offer to pastors and teachers that is not currently being offered by other commentary series, or that can be offered in a more helpful way? After carefully researching the needs of pastors who teach the text on a weekly basis, we concluded that yes, more can be done; this commentary is carefully designed to fill an important gap.
The technicality of modern commentaries often overwhelms readers with details that are tangential to the main purpose of the text. Discussions of source and redaction criticism, as well as detailed surveys of secondary literature, seem far removed from preaching and teaching the Word. Rather than wade through technical discussions, pastors often turn to devotional commentaries, which may contain exegetical weaknesses, misuse the Greek and Hebrew languages, and lack hermeneutical sophistication. There is a need for a commentary that utilizes the best of biblical scholarship but also presents the material in a clear, concise, attractive, and user-friendly format.
This commentary is designed for that purposeto provide a ready reference for the exposition of the biblical text, giving easy access to information that a pastor needs to communicate the text effectively. To that end, the commentary is divided into carefully selected preaching units, each covered in six pages (with carefully regulated word counts both in the passage as a whole and in each subsection). Pastors and teachers engaged in weekly preparation thus know that they will be reading approximately the same amount of material on a week-by-week basis.
Each passage begins with a concise summary of the central message, or Big Idea, of the passage and a list of its main themes. This is followed by a more detailed interpretation of the text, including the literary context of the passage, historical background material, and interpretive insights. While drawing on the best of biblical scholarship, this material is clear, concise, and to the point. Technical material is kept to a minimum, with endnotes pointing the reader to more detailed discussion and additional resources.