Romans 1:6

Vv. 6 may be construed in two ways: either the κλητοὶ ᾿Ι. Χ. may be taken as a predicate: “in the midst of whom (Gentiles) ye are the called of Jesus Christ,” or the last words may be taken in apposition to the subject: “of the number of whom ye are, ye who are called of Jesus Christ. ” The former construction does not give a simple meaning; for the verb ye are has then two predicates which conflict with one another: “ye are in the midst of them,” and: “ye are the called of Jesus Christ.” Besides, is it necessary to inform the Christians of Rome that they live in the midst of the Gentiles, and that they are called by Jesus Christ? Add the καί, also, which would signify: like all the other Christians in the world, and you have an addition wholly superfluous, and, besides, far from clear. What has led commentators like De Wette, Meyer, etc., to hold this first construction is, that it seemed to them useless to make Paul say: “ye are among, or ye are of the number of the Gentiles.” But, on the contrary, this idea is very essential. It is the minor premiss of the syllogism within which Paul, so to speak, incloses the Romans. The major: Christ has made me the Apostle of the Gentiles; the minor: ye are of the number of the Gentiles; conclusion: therefore, in virtue of the authority of that Christ who has called you as He has called me, ye are the sheep of my fold. The καί, also, from this point of view is easily explained: “of the number of whom (Gentiles) ye also are, ye Romans, falling consequently like the other Gentiles called by me personally to my apostolical domain.” The title κλητοὶ ᾿Ι. Χ., called of Jesus Christ, corresponds to the title which Paul gave himself, Romans 1:1: κλητὸς ἀπόστολος, “ an apostle by calling. ” They are bound to hear him in virtue of the same authority under which he writes to them, that of Jesus Christ. The complement: “ called of Jesus Christ,” may be taken as a genitive of possession: “called ones belonging to Jesus Christ.” But it is better to regard it as a genitive of cause: “called ones, whose calling comes from Jesus Christ.” For the important thing in the context is not the commonplace idea that they belong to the Lord; it is the notion of the act by which the Lord Himself acted on them to make them believers, as on Paul to make him their apostle. The idea of calling (of God or Christ), according to Paul's usage, includes two thoughts, an outward solicitation by preaching, and an inward and simultaneous drawing by the Holy Spirit. It need not be said that neither the one nor the other of these influences is irresistible, nor that the adhesion of faith remains an act of freedom. This adhesion is here implied in the fact that the Romans are members of the church and readers of these lines.

If we needed a confirmation of the Gentile origin of the majority of this church, it would be found in overwhelming force in Romans 1:5-6, especially when taken in connection with Romans 1:4; and really it needs far more than common audacity to attempt to get out of them the opposite idea, and to paraphrase them, as Volkmar does, in the following way: “I seem to you no doubt to be only the apostle of the Hellenes; but, nevertheless, I am called by Jesus Christ to preach the gospel to all nations, even to the non-Hellenes such as you, believers of Jewish origin!”

We come now to the second and third parts of the address, the indication of the readers and the expression of the writer's prayer.