Romans 1:1–7
“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God, which he promised before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was born of the offspring of David according to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we received grace and apostleship for obedience of faith among all the nations for his name’s sake; among whom you are also called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans opens with a greeting that already carries the substance of Paul's message. In seven verses he identifies himself, names the gospel to which he has been set apart, identifies the Son at its center, explains the purpose of his apostolic commission, and places the Roman believers within that mission. The greeting is therefore not disposable formality. It establishes the gospel as God's work, promised in Scripture, centered on his Son, and proclaimed among the nations.
The Son stands within Israel's history as the descendant of David and is declared Son of God in power by resurrection from the dead. Through him Paul has received grace and apostleship for the “obedience of faith” among the nations, and the Christians in Rome belong among those called to Jesus Christ. Paul's opening emphasis rests on divine initiative: God promised the gospel, the gospel concerns his Son, Christ commissioned Paul, and the Roman believers have been called to belong to him.
A Servant of Jesus Christ
Romans 1:1
“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God.”
The word translated “servant” is doulos. It can be translated “slave,” and that stronger sense of ownership should not disappear simply because “servant” sounds more comfortable in English. Paul begins by identifying himself as a man who belongs to another. Jesus Christ possesses the ultimate authority; whatever authority Paul has exists beneath his.
Paul immediately identifies himself as an apostle, so the order matters. He claims real authority without presenting himself as an independent religious authority whose teaching rests on personal brilliance or status. He is the servant of Jesus Christ and an apostle only because Christ has called and commissioned him.
This language also fits a long biblical pattern in which those specially commissioned by God are described as his servants. When Moses dies, the book of Joshua begins:
Joshua 1:1–2
“Now after the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh, Yahweh spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, ‘Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go across this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them.’”
David is similarly called God's servant in the covenant account of 2 Samuel 7:
2 Samuel 7:5
“Go and tell my servant David, ‘Yahweh says, “Should you build me a house for me to dwell in?”’”
The prophets are described collectively as God's servants as well:
Amos 3:7
“Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.”
Paul need not be using doulos as a formal title in every biblical occurrence. The scriptural pattern nevertheless clarifies the force of his self-description: God's servant belongs to God for the accomplishment of God's purposes. Paul identifies himself as belonging to Jesus Christ in that kind of commissioned service.
He is also “called to be an apostle.” Apostleship is not a profession Paul selected for himself, but a commission he received. He makes the same claim to the Galatians:
Galatians 1:1
“Paul, an apostle—not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.”
He describes that calling more fully in the same letter:
Galatians 1:15–16
“But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I didn’t immediately confer with flesh and blood.”
The parallel with Romans 1:1 is close. Paul was called and set apart for a particular purpose, which Romans identifies as “the Good News of God.”
The phrase establishes the gospel's source and ownership. Paul can elsewhere call it “my Good News” because it has been entrusted to his preaching, but he did not originate it. He belongs to Christ, has been called as an apostle, and has been set apart for God's gospel; his identity, authority, and task are all received rather than self-created.
Promised Beforehand in the Scriptures
Romans 1:2
“which he promised before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.”
Paul refuses to present the gospel as a religious innovation. The decisive events have occurred in Christ, but those events belong to a story already being told in Israel's Scriptures. The gospel is what God “promised before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,” so continuity with those Scriptures is part of Paul's definition of the message itself.
Paul's own argument demonstrates that continuity. He can describe God's righteousness in Christ as something “testified by the law and the prophets”:
Romans 3:21–22
“But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe.”
The words “but now” announce decisive divine action in Christ while the Law and the Prophets testify to what has been revealed. The gospel is new in the sense of fulfillment, not in the sense of detachment from God's prior promises.
Romans 16:25–26
“Now to him who is able to establish you according to my Good News and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret through long ages, but now is revealed, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known for obedience of faith to all the nations.”
Paul makes the same connection between gospel, prophetic Scripture, the nations, and the obedience of faith in his closing doxology:
Concerning His Son
Romans 1:3–4
“concerning his Son, who was born of the offspring of David according to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The gospel is “concerning his Son,” which prevents it from being reduced to a mechanism or an abstract plan of salvation. Its center is a person: God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul first describes him as one “born of the offspring of David according to the flesh.” Jesus stands within Israel's history and, more specifically, within Israel's royal promises.
2 Samuel 7:12–13
“When your days are fulfilled, and you sleep with your fathers, I will set up your offspring after you, who will proceed out of your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”
The promise to David established a royal expectation within Israel's Scriptures. Isaiah describes the coming ruler from Jesse's line:
Isaiah 11:1–2
“A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit. Yahweh’s Spirit will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh.”
Jeremiah 23:5–6
“‘Behold, the days come,’ says Yahweh, ‘that I will raise to David a righteous Branch. He will reign as king and deal wisely, and will execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely. This is his name by which he will be called: Yahweh our righteousness.’”
Paul's identification of Jesus as David's descendant therefore does more than supply genealogical information. It places Jesus within Israel's expectation of the promised Davidic king.
Romans 1:4
“declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”
Paul has already called Jesus “his Son” before mentioning either Davidic descent or resurrection, so verse 4 cannot mean that Jesus first became God's Son when he rose from the dead. The Son is the subject of the whole sentence, a point consistent with Paul's description of God sending “his own Son”:
Romans 8:3
“For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.”
God sends the one who is already his Son. Galatians uses the same pattern:
Galatians 4:4–5
“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.”
Romans 1:4 therefore describes a change in the Son's condition or public designation: he is declared Son of God “with power” according to the Spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead. The Davidic Messiah who entered human history “according to the flesh” has passed through death into resurrection life.
Resurrection is not supporting evidence tacked onto Paul's gospel. It belongs to the identity and saving work of the Son whom Paul proclaims: David's descendant has been raised from the dead and is named “Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Grace, Apostleship, and the Obedience of Faith
Romans 1:5
“through whom we received grace and apostleship for obedience of faith among all the nations for his name’s sake.”
Paul received his ministry “through” Jesus Christ. The structure of authority remains clear: Jesus is Lord, and Paul's apostleship is derived from him. The purpose of that commission is “obedience of faith” among the nations.
Romans 16:25–26
“Now to him who is able to establish you according to my Good News and the preaching of Jesus Christ … according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known for obedience of faith to all the nations.”
The phrase appears again in Paul's closing doxology, where the gospel is made known among the nations “for obedience of faith.” Faith and obedience therefore cannot simply be made enemies in Paul's theology.
Romans 4:4–5
“Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed. But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.”
Paul is equally clear that justification is not a wage God owes to a successful worker and that his mission aims at obedience arising from faith. “Obedience of faith” cannot mean that human obedience earns God's favor; neither can saving faith be reduced to sterile intellectual agreement. The gospel announces Jesus Christ as Lord, and faith in that gospel entails a changed allegiance.
Romans 6:16–18
“Don’t you know that when you present yourselves as servants and obey someone, you are the servants of whomever you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were servants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered. Being made free from sin, you became servants of righteousness.”
Paul does not say that these Christians earned salvation by obedience. He describes people formerly enslaved to sin who have become obedient “from the heart.” Grace has produced a different allegiance, which is why the same letter can speak naturally of faith and obedience without confusing obedience with meritorious achievement.
Romans 16:19
“For your obedience has become known to all. I rejoice therefore over you. But I desire to have you wise in that which is good, but innocent in that which is evil.”
Romans 1:5 does not by itself answer every theological question about faith, works, justification, and sanctification, but it does establish an important boundary: the gospel excludes boasting in human achievement while the faith it calls forth is not a dead faith without allegiance. Paul seeks the obedience of faith.
Among All the Nations
Romans 1:5
“for obedience of faith among all the nations for his name’s sake.”
The word translated “nations” is ethnē, which can also be rendered “Gentiles.” Paul's apostolic ministry is directed especially toward the Gentile world, and the inclusion of the nations belongs within the promises already given in Scripture.
Genesis 12:1–3
“Now Yahweh said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.’”
The Abrahamic promise already looked beyond Abraham's immediate family toward “all the families of the earth.” Isaiah likewise describes God's saving purpose reaching the nations:
Isaiah 49:6
“Indeed, he says, ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.’”
Paul's Gentile mission is therefore not an abandonment of Israel's Scriptures but an outworking of the purposes announced within them. The nations are being gathered through Israel's Messiah in fulfillment of promises that already looked beyond Israel to the wider world.
The mission also has a stated purpose: “for his name's sake.” The nations are not being gathered for Paul's reputation, movement, or personal empire. His apostolic commission exists for the honor of Jesus Christ.
Called to Belong to Jesus Christ
Romans 1:6
“among whom you are also called to belong to Jesus Christ.”
The believers in Rome are among the nations reached by the gospel. Their own existence as Christians belongs within the mission Paul has just described, and the repeated language of calling ties Paul's commission to their identity:
Romans 1:1
“called to be an apostle.”
Romans 1:6
“called to belong to Jesus Christ.”
Romans 1:7
“called to be saints.”
Paul's calling concerns his apostolic commission, while theirs concerns their identity as Christ's people. In both cases, the initiative belongs to God: the Romans have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.
To belong to Christ is the controlling feature of their identity. Paul began by calling himself Christ's servant; he now addresses the Romans as Christ's people.
Loved by God and Called to Be Saints
Romans 1:7
“to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints.”
Before giving these Christians a command, Paul tells them who they are: beloved of God and called to be saints. The Greek hagioi means “holy ones,” not an elite class of unusually accomplished Christians. Paul applies the designation to the ordinary believers receiving his letter.
Leviticus 19:1–2
“Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, “You shall be holy; for I, Yahweh your God, am holy.”’”
Holiness means belonging to the holy God and living as his people. Paul therefore addresses the Roman Christians as people already loved by God and called as his holy ones. Their identity precedes the exhortations that will arise from it.
Romans 6:22
“But now, being made free from sin and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification and the result of eternal life.”
God's grace does not make holiness irrelevant; his mercy produces a life offered to him. Yet the order in Romans 1:7 matters. Paul does not tell these Christians to make themselves holy enough for God to accept them. He addresses them first as those whom God loves and has called to be his holy people, so exhortation rests upon a relationship already given.
Grace and Peace
Romans 1:7
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Because similar greetings appear throughout Paul's letters, “grace and peace” can sound conventional. Here, however, the source of that blessing is striking: “God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul has identified Jesus as God's Son, David's descendant, the Son of God in power, and Lord, and now places the Father and Jesus Christ together as the source of grace and peace.
Jesus is not one more servant through whom God delivers a blessing. Paul is the servant; Jesus is the Lord to whom Paul belongs, through whom he received apostleship, concerning whom the gospel speaks, for whose name the nations are called, and to whom the Roman Christians belong. Grace and peace come from the Father and from him.
The greeting is therefore thoroughly centered on Jesus Christ. Paul belongs to him as servant, the gospel concerns him, the prophetic promises converge upon him as David's descendant, resurrection declares him Son of God in power, and Paul names him Lord. Through him Paul received grace and apostleship, for his name the nations are called to the obedience of faith, and the believers in Rome belong to him. Paul's opening description of the gospel can be stated in the words of the text itself: it is the Good News of God “concerning his Son.”