Twelve Sermons on the Law and the Gospel
William Romaine's twelve sermons emerged from his conviction that the Church of England had lost sight of the gospel's distinctiveness from moral law. Preaching at St. Dunstan-in-the-West and other London pulpits during the 1750s, Romaine addressed congregations steeped in moralistic religion that emphasized human duty over divine grace. These sermons, published together in 1761, represented his systematic effort to restore what he saw as the biblical relationship between law and gospel within Anglican preaching.
Romaine argues that the law serves primarily to reveal human sinfulness and drive souls to Christ, while the gospel announces free justification through faith alone. He insists that confusing these two functions destroys both true holiness and genuine comfort. The law demands perfect obedience but provides no power to achieve it; the gospel freely gives both righteousness and sanctifying grace through union with Christ. Romaine systematically demonstrates how different biblical passages function as either law or gospel, showing preachers and hearers how to distinguish between God's demands and God's gifts. He warns against turning the gospel into a new law by making faith itself a work, and against softening the law's severity in ways that diminish appreciation for grace.
These sermons shaped evangelical Anglican preaching for generations and influenced the development of Lutheran-Reformed dialogue about the law-gospel distinction. Romaine's clear articulation of forensic justification and his insistence that sanctification flows from rather than contributes to justification marked him as a key figure in eighteenth-century evangelical theology. His work provided theological precision to the revival movements of his era while maintaining thoroughly Anglican commitments.
Who should read this: Preachers seeking theological clarity about the relationship between divine demand and divine gift will find Romaine's distinctions essential, as will anyone confused by moralistic Christianity or antinomian distortions of grace. Those looking for pietistic devotional material or contemporary cultural engagement should look elsewhere.