One can’t read Evangelical commentaries on the book of Romans, with few exceptions, without wondering (if one allows oneself to wonder such things) how they can be so confident about conclusions that allegedly follow from arguments that don’t seem to warrant that sort of confidence.

But the answer probably lies in a fundamental Protestant principle.  One finds that Protestants don’t only hold that Romans supports distinctively Protestant beliefs; they host that Romans clearly and plainly supports such beliefs.

Even to justify Protestantism from the content of Paul’s letter to the Romans is not enough.  One must do so in a way that indicates that there are no hard choices and no close calls.  Otherwise, one is subverting the faith.

This is an odd position to be in:

But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.