All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters. 15 You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. With this Spirit, we cry, “ Abba, Father. ” 16 The same Spirit agrees with our spirit, that we are God’s children. 17 But if we are children, we are also heirs. We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him.
Preceded by an essay on biblical preaching, Sloyan's astute work attempts to achieve the "plain sense" (Luther) or "literal sense" (Aquinas) of each text, largely through modern historical-critical exegesis. He deftly situates each reading in its historical background and its liturgical setting, as well as within its larger scriptural world through multiple cross-references and allusions.
Usable within the whole range of lectionary traditions, Sloyan's work includes a CD-ROM with the full text (fully searchable) and instant access to each biblical passage referenced. Those entrusted with the preaching task have here an extremely valuable commentary made even more usable through the tools available on CD-ROM.