Epistle of Paul to Romans

'God's righteousness revealed in the gospel is the provision of His grace to meet the exigency of His wrath. And nothing discloses its glory and efficacy more than this.' pg xxiv No one is more able or probably likely to succeed John Murray in explaining God's glory as the sole cause of redemption. Where others have erred by focusing on revelation, Murray resisted and concentrated on biblical theology and redemptive history. And whereas Barth and his co-conspirators sought to interpret their findings on Christology, Murray wisely opted to maintain the first cause of salvation: Theology Proper. Romans 8:23 'The redemption of our body' specifies that in which the adoption consists - it is the resurrection when the sons of God will be clothed with the immortal and incorruptible body.' Book 1, pg 309 Murray was the stalwart of Reformed theology in his generation. And not unlike Murray, as Paul was instrumental in proclaiming His glory among the Gentiles, Paul too was faced with the competing challenges of Greek wisdom and Roman power, not unlike in nature to the Enlightenment and current economic powers. Added to which, the cross as symbol of God's power to reconcile fallen man to Himself, was misunderstood to be a sign that constituted for Jews an offense. And yet, given all the hostility that came by the Fall, and within the subsequent glorification of man's wisdom and power as supreme, God simply called. And called effectively. The economy of grace was divinely promoted as such revelation moved onto the world scene. It was as such most successful strategically that the apostle should write the Epistle to the believers in Rome - seeking to teach the nature of the grace of God and thereby fulfill his commission as apostle to the Gentiles. 'There is no discrimination arising from race or culture and there is no obstacle arising from the degradations of sin. Wherever there is faith, there the omnipotence of God is operative unto salvation. This is a law with no exception.' Book 1, pg 28 ON SPIRITUAL ISRAEL: Romans 9:6 -13 Murray's direction is not unique; it reflects the maturity of Reformed exposition correctly by seeking to understand how God's purpose in election might stand. 'Verse 6 is literally rendered, 'But it is not such that the word of God has failed' and means that the case is not such that the faithfulness of God is impugned. Hence it is to the apostle's grief that the reservation of verse 6 is to be attached. This grief is the reflection in Paul's consciousness of an objective situation; it has compelling grounds and its reality is certified by ultimate sanctions. In the context of the history referred to in verses 4, 5, the anticlimax of Israel's unbelief and of Paul's anguish incident thereto might appear to contradict the covenant promises of God. It is this inference that Paul denies. 'The word of God' should be understood in a more specific sense, and not in the sense of Scripture as a whole. It is the word of promise

'God's righteousness revealed in the gospel is the provision of His grace to meet the exigency of His wrath. And nothing discloses its glory and efficacy more than this.' p xxiv No one is more able or probably likely to succeed John Murray in explaining God's own glory as the sole cause of redemption. The cross as symbol of God's power to reconcile fallen man to Him, is misunderstood to be a sign that constitute for Jews an offense. And yet, given all the hostility that came by the Fall, and with the subsequent glorification of man's wisdom and power as supreme, God simply calls. And calls effectively. The covenant of grace was divinely promoted as such revelation moved onto the world scene. It was as such most successful strategically that the apostle should write the Epistle to the believers in Rome - seeking to teach the nature of the grace of God and thereby fulfill his commission as apostle to the gentiles. 'There is no discrimination arising from race or culture and there is no obstacle arising from the degradations of sin. Wherever there is faith, there the omnipotence of God is operative unto salvation. This is a law with no exception.' Book 1:28 ON SPIRITUAL ISRAEL: Romans 9:4-13 Murray's direction is not unique; it reflects the maturity of Reformed exposition correctly by seeking to understand how God's purpose in election might stand. 'Verse 6 is literally rendered, 'But it is not such that the word of God has failed' and means that the case is not such that the faithfulness of God is impugned. Hence it is to the apostle's grief that the reservation of verse 6 is to be attached. This grief is the reflection in Paul's consciousness of an objective situation; it has compelling grounds and its reality is certified by ultimate sanctions. In the context of the history referred to in verses 4, 5, the anticlimax of Israel's unbelief and of Paul's anguish incident thereto might appear to contradict the covenant promises of God. It is this inference that Paul denies. 'The word of God' should be understood in a more specific sense, and not in the sense of Scripture as a whole. It is the word of promise in the covenants alluded to in verse 4. Covenant in Scripture is synonymous with oath-bound promise, and the statement here is to the same effect as saying God's covenant has not come to nought. Then the reason is given: 'they are not all Israel who are of Israel.' Those 'of Israel' are the physical seed, and natural descendants of the patriarchs. In the other expression, 'they are not all Israel', obviously the denotation is much more limited and the thought is that there is an 'Israel' within ethnic Israel. The Israel distinguished from the Israel of natural descent is the true Israel. They are indeed 'of Israel' but not co-extensive with the latter. It is in accord with our Lord's usage to make this kind of distinction within a designated class. He distinguished between those who were disciples and those truly disciples (John 8

I enjoy this commentary because I can use it to help with block diagramming and for word by word explanations. It is a bit high level but still usable.

John Murray is an important figure in the Presbyterian and Reformed faith in the 20th century. His commentary on Romans is thorough and insightful, building on the heritage which he inherited from the great Reformed thinkers from Luther and Calvin to B. B. Warfield and Geerhardus Vos, the latter under whom he studied at Princeton. Murray shows particular sensitivity to the Old Testament background of Paul's epistle to the Romans and Paul's consciousness of his place in the history of salvation, a history which to Paul culminated in the person and death/resurrection of Jesus the Christ. Dr. Murray's admirable treatment of Paul's doctrine of the Spirit may only be surpassed by his successor at Westminster Theological Seminary, Dr. Richard B. Gaffin (and by his professor at Princeton, Dr. Geerhardus Vos). Murray's work is scholarly but not so that it would be inaccessible to the intermediate student. Murray does interact with his contemporaries; but could have taken it a litter further. The only criticism against Murray's Romans is his treatment of chps. 9-11 where he fails to break out of the dogmatic mould, and thus fails to capture the movement of the epistle from the anteclimax at the end of chp. 8 to the climax at the end of chp. 11. Overall, however, Murray's is a helpful and insightful commentary, a must for students and pastors.

Murray's commentary on Romans is the best 20th century treatment of the work, easily beating Barth's earlier work. Tying in with his "Redemption Accomplished and Applied", Murray seizes the main theme of Romans, our justification, and carefully exegetes the book with a continual thought to the overall theme