Lectures on the Epistle to the Romans

by H.A. Ironside

"John Phillips writes with enthusiasm and clarity, . . . cutting through the confusion and heretical dangers associated with Bible interpretation." â Moody Magazine

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction

176 pages, Hardcover

First published July 30, 1927

About the author

Henry Allen "Harry" Ironside (October 14, 1876-January 15, 1951) was a Canadian-American Bible teacher, preacher, theologian, pastor, and author.

Ironside was one of the most prolific Christian writers of the 20th Century and published more than eighty books and pamphlets, many of which are still in print. As an editorial reviewer wrote of a 2005 republication, "Ironside's commentaries are a standard and have stood the test of time."

Reviews

[Yibbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Romans. This book has always been a comfort to me. The righteousness of God shown to each of us through the Good News. It is the book that I turn to when life is overwhelming. But – there were things that left me completely puzzled. And even though I had read through it numerous times and heard many sermons on various passages, I didn’t have a grasp of the fuller message of the book, or how the various sections built toward that message. This book helped me get that fuller picture.
Ironsides starts out with a brief overview of the divisions of the book. Just understanding that will be a huge help in understanding the arguments the author so carefully lays out. The whole book is divided into three sections: “The Righteousness of God Revealed in the Gospel” (chapters 1-8), “The Righteousness of God Harmonized with His Dispensational Ways” (chapters 9-11), and “Divine Righteousness Producing Practical Righteousness in the Believer” (chapters 12-16). Each of those are subdivided roughly by chapters.
The only thing is that at the end of it you will only feel that you have barely scratched the surface of the book. It’s not a verse by verse. It’s more a section by section. There are some sections that he expounds upon in some depth, but other sections are only briefly summarized. It will leave you ready to study even deeper. It is a wonderful place to start your study though.
I highly recommend it.

[Michael Walker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ironside was pastor of Moody Temple in Chicago until his death in 1950. He was proponent of a 19th c. human construct designed to explain the Bible, called "dispensationalism", which is unbiblical and indefensible, yet many unsuspecting Christians fall for this teaching. Essentially dispensationalism splits the Bible into sections, or eras, wherein God works with his creation differently depending on the era. An example that is obvious is the Old Testament and New Testament. But dispensationalists see Jesus' time on earth as a third dispensation, generally called the "Kingdom Dispensation," which is fundamentally distinct from OT and NT dispensations (most dispensationalists posit more than these 3 dispensations). So, God deals with people differently based on the era they live in. This view ignores Malachi 3:6, and Hebrews 13:8; He is a just God; He is not capricious.

[Mark Roossinck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overview of Romans! Strongly devotional!

[Randy Corn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lectures on the Epistle to the Romans by H.A. Ironside, Loizeaux Brothers, 1928, 175 pages

I bought the complete set of Ironside commentaries in 1982, soon after I graduated from seminary and went to pastor my first church. Through the years I have consulted them when dealing with a particular passage but this is the first time I have read one from beginning to end. I have to say that I would recommend this approach. I had always thought of Ironside as having a common sense approach to biblical interpretation and that opinion was reinforced by this reading, but I was also struck by the comprehensive understanding the author has of the epistle. He sees how all the parts fit together and makes that clear to the reader.

As a preacher I have always been looking for sermon illustrations and quotable turns of phrase. Ironside is not as prolific in this category as some other homiletical or devotional commentaries, but there is ore to be mined in this book.

[Rapp]

To no fault of the author, I spent about 10 months on this book, having been distracted by some other reading material after I was about halfway through. I enjoyed Ironside's outline of Romans; it helped me to place things better in the book. The book is actually a series of 11 lectures the author combined into book form. Though there were gems scattered throughout the text, I missed the connectedness and energy that a book-form may have given. I will probably consult the book in my future readings of Paul's epistle to the Romans.

[Rapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

To no fault of the author, I spent about 10 months on this book, having been distracted by some other reading material after I was about halfway through. I enjoyed Ironside's outline of Romans; it helped me to place things better in the book. The book is actually a series of 11 lectures the author combined into book form. Though there were gems scattered throughout the text, I missed the connectedness and energy that a book-form may have given. I will probably consult the book in my future readings of Paul's epistle to the Romans.

[Read1000books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since this is actually a series of lectures going through the New Testament book of Romans, this book is difficult to use as a verse-by-verse commentary (there are no verse numbers in the margins). BUT, that said, it is excellent to go through in devotional fashion as you read Romans. This is the third book I've read by Ironside and I fully intend to acquire and read more.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was going to be a help to studying Romans, but it seem to be more of a sermon than a commentary. It goes over passages of Romans in detail but not line by line. It's an assessment of themes and a commentary on those themes. Helpful, but not what I had hoped to have from Ironside. Loved his book on Repentance, called Except Ye Repent.

[F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Ironside's commentaries. His heart is present in all his writings as well as his head. Perfect mixture of warmth and scholarship. Sound, solid, scriptural. If you have never heard of him but know J. Vernon McGee- think of Ironside as the McGee of his day. Speaking of McGee- he almost always mentions Ironside's books in his bibliographys.

personal note- takes me so long to read these because I am teaching through the book myself [the book of Romans] on a weekly basis and only read the chapter corresponding to the chapter I am teaching.