Romans 1:8

πρῶτον μέν. Nothing can take precedence of thanksgiving, when Paul thinks of the Romans, or indeed of any Christian Church in normal health. πρῶτον μὲν suggests that something is to follow, but what it is we are not told; Paul's mind unconsciously leaves the track on which it started, at least so far as the linguistic following out of it is concerned. Perhaps the next thing was to be the prayer referred to in Romans 1:10. (Weiss.) διὰ Ἰ. Χ. Jesus Christ must be conceived here as the mediator through whom all our approaches to God are made (Ephesians 2:18), not as He through whom the blessings come for which Paul gives thanks. περὶ πάντων ὑμῶν : the “all” may have a certain emphasis when we remember the divisions to which reference is made in chap. 14 ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν is “the fact that you are Christians”. The very existence of a Church at Rome was something to be thankful for. ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ is, of course, hyperbole, but a Church in Rome was like “a city set on a hill”.