Romans for You 8-16 Review

The book of Romans is one of many people’s favourite books in the bible, containing a great explanation of the gospel, and how our lives are transformed in light of it. But it isn’t always the most straight forward read, full of deep theology. A new commentary/devotional from Tim Keller aims to make it more accessible to the every day person like me and you.
Romans for You is a tricky book to categories – it is a commentary, but it is one written so as to be readable, applicable and practical for regular people. As such, it assumes nothing and has a glossary of theological terns used you can refer to if necessary which is help, it sets out verse references in a clear way unlike some commentaries, and while there are original language words these are all well explained and you don’t need to have any previous knowledge.
Particularly helpful was the way it is broken into short segments within chapters, and each segment has questions at the end to help you apply what you have read to your life, so even if you just have time to read a short bit there will be stuff to help you apply God’s word to your life.
As Romans is such a meaty book this book only looks at chapters 8-16 (chapters 1-7 were addressed in an earlier volume).  It can be read straight through, as a segment by segment devotional or by jumping to the part that deals with a passage you want to look at. The level of depth and detail is perfect for those with no previous scholarly background who have an eagerness to grow, and those with a good previous bible knowledge will still find fresh goodness and wisdom in here, as Tim Keller is one of those pastors full of wisdom that we all can learn from. If Romans is a book you enjoy but find confusing in parts, or just want to understand better, this is a great entry level commentary that may even I spire you to move on to harder stuff.