The promise of the “Word and Spirit Commentary on the New Testament” series is to “engage the biblical text both in its ancient setting and with regard to its message for Spirit-filled Christians today” (viii).

When my morning devotional reading brought me back around to Romans it was the perfect opportunity to read through Sam Storms’s commentary. Having read Moo, Dunn, and Wright on Romans in the past, I thought this was a good opportunity to refresh myself on the major arguments and read a charismatic interpretation of the book.

There’s no sugar-coating it—I was disappointed. Although Storms is certainly charismatic, his Calvinistic understanding felt misplaced in this commentary. Here are a few of my frustrations:

Although the series adopted the NIV as the default text because it’s “widely used in contexts that identify as Spirit-filled” (viii), Storms almost exclusively defaults to the ESV. This issue comes to the forefront in chapter 16 when Junia is described idiosyncratically by the ESV as “well known to the apostles” instead of “outstanding among the apostles” (NIV). To be fair, Storms gives both options, but doesn’t take a stand on the issue.

Speaking of not taking a stand, there are many issues in Romans where the an interpretive decision significantly changes the meaning of Paul’s letter. An example of this is where Storms discusses the argument between “through faith in Jesus Christ” or “through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. He leaves this argument by citing Thomas Schreiner (a Reformed Baptist scholar he cites often) who gives four logical arguments for the traditional view. Storms doesn’t declare his position but implies it by giving Schreiner the last word.

Of course, when he reached the Romans 12 on prophecy, I was all ears, given my academic background. Sadly, he repeated the same old narrative: “Unlike prophecy in the old covenant . . ., prophecy in the new covenant is to be carefully “weighted” (1 Cor. 14:29), “tested” (1 Thess. 5:21a) or judged to determine what is “good” and “evil” (1 Thess. 5:21b–22), and it is always subordinate in authority to that of the apostles (1 Cor. 14:38–38)” (191). Well yes, prophecy must be discerned in the New Testament, but it was discerned in the Old Testament as well. Just ask the Jerusalemites who had to choose between Hananiah or Jeremiah! This sort of talk flows from Grudem’s work on the topic and serves to artificially drive a wedge between Old Testament and New Testament prophecy.

While I did find Storms’s non-committal style to be frustrating, it does demonstrate humility. When sorting out the meaning of “gift” in Rom 1:11, he gives various options before saying, “I’m inclined to endorse the third view noted above” (23). I certainly respect that approach to the text.

In the end, if you’re in that part of the Venn diagram where Charismatic and Calvinistic overlap, you’ll likely enjoy Storms’s work. For the Wesleyan/Arminian people, not so much.

Storms, Sam. Romans. Baker Academic, 2024. Word and Spirit Commentary on the New Testament.