The Gospel Explained

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16). No book of the Bible states the good news more completely, or defends it more carefully, than Paul's letter to the church at Rome. Written near the end of his third missionary journey to a congregation he had never visited but hoped soon to see, Romans has shaped the church more than any other New Testament letter - it broke open Martin Luther's own understanding of grace, and it was Romans that John Wesley was listening to when his heart was "strangely warmed."

The Gospel Explained: Reflections on the Book of Romans is the twenty-second volume in The Daily Quiet Time Reflections Series, continuing the same daily, one-reading-at-a-time approach used throughout the series - most recently in the Gospel volumes and the Book of Acts. Drawn from more than a decade of daily Quiet Time writing and Sunday school teaching at First Baptist Church in Dallas, Eugene Han and Eunmi Kim walk through all sixteen chapters of Romans across five chapters, one for each sitting of the Daily Quiet Time reading plan: Romans 1-3, 4-7, 8-10, 11-13, and 14-16. Read together, the five trace the letter's own unmistakable arc - the need for righteousness, the gift of righteousness by faith, the life of righteousness in the Spirit, the vindication of God's righteousness in His dealings with Israel, and the practice of righteousness in ordinary Christian life.

This is not a technical commentary written for seminarians. It is a layman's companion for ordinary believers who want to read Paul's greatest letter slowly enough to actually understand it - from the courtroom logic of justification, to the soaring assurance of Romans 8, to the hard and hopeful questions of Israel's future, to the practical wisdom of living at peace with weaker believers, difficult authorities, and each other.

Each chapter includes:

• A close, readable walk through that day's passage, grounded in careful study but written for everyday readers
• Honest engagement with Romans's hardest material - election and human responsibility in chapters 9-11, the ongoing struggle with sin in chapter 7 - without rushing past the tension for easy answers
• Cross-references tracing Paul's use of the Old Testament, which he quotes here more than in any other letter
• Reflection and discussion questions after every chapter, ideal for personal devotion or small-group Bible study