I can remember about a dozen years ago being told by my pastor to listen to a sermon from S. Lewis Johnson. I remember that I was trying to multitask at the time but was unsuccessful. I stopped what I was doing and was riveted. Johnson in his thick but soothing southern drawl unpacked the Bible in a clear, captivating, and compelling way. He modeled what you think about when you think of a preacher: he got out of the way, pointed to Christ and really left an impression. He made difficult passages clear and simple passages profound. In both cases he magnified Christ.
In light of this I am quite pleased over a new publication by Zondervan entitled Discovering Romans: Spiritual Revival for the Soul. The volume is a collection of Johnson’s sermons from Romans. The sermons have been adapted by Mike Abendroth.
If you don’t already know S. Lewis Johnson was a bit of a rare bird theologically–at least for his time. He was Calvinistic, Premillennial (dispensational variety) who believed in the federal headship of Adam. He was a master of the original languages, teaching Greek and Hebrew (as well as NT and Systematic Theology) at Dallas Theological Seminary for 31 years. He also taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Grace Theological Seminary.
However, if you are not in seminary or a graduate, don’t let this intimidate you. Johnson preached in a way that was very understandable. In this volume you will find a commentary that is both expositional and devotional. That is, it reflects a faithful expositional commentary while maintaining the elements of a devotional work. If you are a pastor, there are many helpful ideas for outlining passages in Romans as well as application questions. You might consider it along the same lines as a volume in the Preaching the Word series that Kent Hughes edits.
The content and the arrangement of the commentary are very helpful. And Abendroth, tasked with adapting the material, serves us well by consolidating massive amounts of material in a digestible book format. He has served us well in this.
Discovering Romans is available at Amazon at a discounted rate: paperback | kindle
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