Romans 1:7

to all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. [The apostle opens his Epistle with one of his characteristic sentences: long and intricate, yet wonderful in its condensation and comprehensiveness, his style of expression being, as Tholuck says, "most aptly compared to a throng of waves, where, in ever loftier swell, one billow presses close upon the other." The opening here may be compared with that at Galatians 1:1-5. Taken without its qualifying clauses, the sentence runs thus: "Paul to all that are at Rome: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." (Comp. Acts 23:26) This sentence the apostle enlarges by three series of statements which lead up to each other, and the items of which also introduce each other, thus forming a closely connected chain of thought. First, by statements about himself, which assert that he, Paul, is an apostle, separated from worldly occupations, and sent out to preach the gospel (Galatians 1:1; Acts 9:15; Acts 22:14-15); second, by statements about the gospel, viz.: that it had its source of origin in God, that it was no innovation, being promised long beforehand through the prophets in the Holy Scriptures (comp. Acts 26:22; see Micah 4:2; Isaiah 40:9; Isaiah 52:7; Nahum 1:15); that it concerned God's Son; third, by statements about God's Son, viz.: that according to the flesh (i. e., as to his human or fleshly nature) he was born (in the weakness of a child), and thus came into being as a descendant of David (which was required by prophecy-- Psalms 89:36; Psalms 132:11-12; Jeremiah 23:5); that according to the spirit of purity or holiness (i. e., as to his spiritual or divine nature, which, though a Sonship, was birthless, and hence did not come into being, but existed from the beginning) he was pointed out, declared or demonstrated to be the Son of God with power; which power manifested itself by triumphing over death in his resurrection (Psalms 7:2; Psalms 16:10; comp. 2 Timothy 2:8; Acts 13:23; Acts 13:30); and that the Son of God is Jesus Christ our Lord. Thus Paul's thought completes its circle, and comes back again to himself and his apostleship, and introduces the second series of statements, which are about himself and his apostleship in this gospel of the Son of God: First, that through this Jesus Christ our Lord he had received grace (i. e., forgiveness, reconciliation, salvation, and all the other blessings which the gospel bestows), and the apostleship of which he has spoken; and that the aim of that apostleship, or the purpose for which he was sent, is (1) to produce among all nations, i. e., the Gentiles, that obedience to the will of God which results from faith, or belief, in Jesus Christ, and (2) to glorify or exalt the name of Jesus Christ by promoting this obedience, etc. (Acts 9:15); (the majesty, dignity and authority of the apostleship are emphasized by the Lordship of him who gave it, by the world-wide scope of it and the glorious purpose of it); second, that his apostleship embraced those to whom he wrote, since they were also Gentiles, who had been called into this faith which made them Christ's. And here the second series leads to the third, and Paul now addresses the Roman Christians, to whom he writes, and states that they are: (1) the object of God's love, and (2) called to that obedience of faith which separates from sin and makes holy. Thus, step by step, Paul explains as to what gospel he is an apostle, as to whom his gospel relates, from whom he received his apostleship, for what purpose he had received it, what right it gave him to indite this letter, and to whom the letter was addressed. So much for the paragraph as a whole. Looking over its items, we may remark that: the term "servant" employed by Paul applied to all Christians generally (1 Corinthians 7:22; Ephesians 6:6); but the apostles loved to appropriate it, as expressing their entire devotion to Christ and his people, and lack of all official pride (James 1:1; 2 Peter 1:1; Judges 1:1; Revelation 1:1). The phrase "spirit of holiness" is equivalent to Holy Spirit. It serves to show that Jesus had the same divine nature as the Holy Spirit, yet does not confuse the two personalities, so as to lose our Lord's identity. The resurrection of our Lord differed from all other resurrections in several important respects, each of which aided to reveal his divinity: (1) The prophets announced it beforehand (Psalms 16:10-11). (2) He himself announced it beforehand (Matthew 16:21). (3) The power which raised him was not external to him, but within him (John 2:19; John 10:17-18). (4) It was a representative and all-inclusive resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:22). (5) It was not a temporary restoration, like the cases of Lazarus and others who returned once more to the grave, but an eternal triumph over death (Romans 6:9; Revelation 1:18). (6) It was the firstfruits of a like immortality for all those who, being part of the mystical body of Christ, shall be raised with him at the last day (1 Corinthians 15:23-26). Lard, in his comments on this paragraph, calls attention to the fact that faith and belief are absolutely synonymous, for the two words in our English Bible are represented by one single substantive in the Greek text, viz.: pistis, which is derived from the verb pisteuoo, which is uniformly translated "believe." An endless amount of theological discussion and mystical preaching would have been avoided if our translators had not given us two words where one would have sufficed. Having in his opening address shown that he had an official right to write to the church at Rome, the apostle next reveals to them that he has an additional right to do so because of his interest in them and affection for them, which is manifested by his thanksgivings, prayers, etc.]