THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS ·
AN EXPANDED PARAPHRASE
11. THE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. Ch. 1: 16-11: 36
https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/eq/1958-4_220.pdf
The Way of Holiness (Romans 6–8)
F.F. Bruce, “The Epistle to the Romans: An Expanded Paraphrase,” The Evangelical Quarterly 30.4 (1958), pp. 220–225
What it is: This is not a commentary. It is one installment of Bruce’s serialized paraphrase of Romans, rendering Paul in plain modern English. It picks up mid-series (“Continued”) and ends “To be continued.”
The big idea: Grace is no license to sin. Through union with Christ the believer is set free from three tyrants: sin, the law, and death.
Three freedoms
- Freedom from sin (ch. 6). “Why not go on sinning?” Bruce answers, “Perish the thought!” Baptized into Christ’s death, our “old personality was crucified along with Him.” We are slaves of someone, so present yourselves to God. “Sin pays its slaves the wages of death; God bestows eternal life as His free gift.”
- Freedom from the law (7:1–25a). Like a widow free to remarry, we “died in relation to the law” and are united to the risen Christ. The law is “holy, righteous and good,” but sin used it as “a base from which to attack me.” The cry “Unhappy man that I am!” ends in “Thanks be to God.”
- Freedom from death (7:25b–8:39). God sent His Son “as a sin-offering” and “passed the death-sentence on sin.” The Spirit makes us sons who cry “Abba,” joint-heirs with Christ. Creation groans in “birth-pangs,” the Spirit intercedes, and God “causes everything to co-operate for good.”
The finale (8:31–39): “If God is on our side, who can be against us?” Christ is “our Advocate” at God’s right hand, and nothing in all creation “can ever separate us from God’s love which is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Takeaways
• Holiness flows from union with Christ, not from law-keeping.
• The law exposes sin; it cannot conquer it. The Spirit can.
• Present suffering is not worth comparing with coming glory.
• Bruce’s phrasing (“old nature,” “penal servitude,” “investiture as sons”) makes familiar verses fresh.
Note: the big idea and takeaways are my framing. Everything quoted is Bruce’s own wording from the PDF.