Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 1:8
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
8. First, I thank my God ] First, before any other message. Such messages of thanksgiving are characteristic of St Paul. See 1Co 1:4; Eph 1:16; Php 1:3; Col 1:3; 1Th 1:2; 1Th 2:13; 2Th 1:3; 2Th 2:13; Phm 1:4. “ My God:” again characteristic. 1Co 1:4; 2Co 12:21; Php 1:3; Php 4:19; Phm 1:4. Cp. Act 27:23, and Gal 2:20, for the spirit of the words.
through Jesus Christ ] As the Mediator. See Rom 8:34. The idea includes both His merit as opening the path of prayer, and His present agency in commending the suppliants.
your faith ] The strength and simplicity of your reliance on your Lord, and allegiance to Him. See, for full illustration, 1Th 1:8-10.
is spoken of ] Lit. is being proclaimed, as a thing of public interest and notoriety. The reference doubtless is only to the intercourse between Christian Churches; for, as yet, the conduct of the Roman disciples would hardly attract the notice of the heathen public. A few years later, St Paul’s Roman residence, and then the Neronian persecution, altered the case in this respect. See 1 Thessalonians 1, just quoted, for a beautiful illustration both of the fact of such Christian communication and its power.
throughout the whole world ] See Col 1:6 for same words. The phrase would be perfectly intelligible as meaning “through the Roman empire.” In Act 11:28; Act 17:6; Act 19:27; Act 24:5, the same phrase and sense appear, but with a different word in the Gr.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
8 17. The good report of the Roman Church. Paul desires to visit them, and to preach the gospel of faith to them
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
First – In the first place, not in point of importance, but before speaking of other things, or before proceeding to the main design of the Epistle.
I thank my God – The God, whom I worship and serve. The expression of thanks to God for his mercy to them was suited to conciliate their feelings, and to prepare them for the truths which he was about to communicate to them. It showed the deep interest which he had in their welfare; and the happiness it would give him to do them good. It is proper to give thanks to God for his mercies to others as well as to ourselves. We are members of one great family, and we should make it a subject of thanksgiving that he confers any blessings, and especially the blessing of salvation, on any mortals.
Through Jesus Christ – The duty of presenting our thanks to God through Christ is often enjoined in the New Testament, Eph 5:20; Heb 13:15; compare Joh 14:14. Christ is the mediator between God and human beings, or the medium by which we are to present our prayers and also our thanksgivings. We are not to approach God directly, but through a mediator at all times, depending on him to present our cause before the mercy-seat; to plead for us there; and to offer the desires of our souls to God. It is no less proper to present thanks in his name, or through him, than it is prayer. He has made the way to God accessible to us, whether it be by prayer or praise; and it is owing to his mercy and grace that any of our services are acceptable to God.
For you all – On account of you all, that is, of the entire Roman church. This is one evidence that that church then was remarkably pure. How few churches have there been of whom a similar commendation could be expressed.
That your faith – Faith is put here for the whole of religion, and means the same as your piety. Faith is one of the principal things of religion; one of its first requirements; and hence, it signifies religion itself. The readiness with which the Romans had embraced the gospel, the firmness with which they adhered to it, was so remarkable, that it was known and celebrated everywhere. The same thing is affirmed of them in Rom 16:19, For your obedience is come abroad unto all men.
Is spoken of – Is celebrated, or known. They were in the capital of the Roman Empire; in a city remarkable for its wickedness; and in a city whose influence extended everywhere. It was natural, therefore, that their remarkable conversion to God should be celebrated everywhere. The religious or irreligious influence of a great city will be felt far and wide, and this is one reason why the apostles preached the gospel so much in such places.
Throughout the whole world – As we say, everywhere; or throughout the Roman Empire. The term world is often thus limited in the scriptures; and here it denotes those parts of the Roman Empire where the Christian church was established. All the churches would hear of the work of God in the capital, and would rejoice in it; compare Col 1:6, Col 1:23; Joh 12:19. It is not improper to commend Christians, and to remind them of their influence; and especially to call to their mind the great power which they may have on other churches and people. Nor is it improper that great displays of divine mercy should be celebrated everywhere, and excite in the churches praise to God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rom 1:8-16
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all.
True Christian zeal
I. As it respects God is–
1. Thankful.
2. Sincere.
3. Constant.
4. Prayerful.
5. Dependent (Rom 1:8-10).
II. As it respects man is–
1. Earnest.
2. Communicative.
3. Loving.
4. Unquenched by difficulties.
5. Expansive.
6. Humble, not a merit but a debt.
7. Self-sacrificing. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Pauls desire to see Rome
I. The facts of the passage.
1. I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world (Rom 16:19). The world here means, in the first place, the Roman Empire. But the term must be limited further to a particular class in the empire; though even at this time the general population were alive to some of the great Christian facts. The expression however, does not mean that the people in all parts of the empire were all talking about the faith of the Romans, because as you know there are twenty distinct worlds even in this London of ours. There are different classes that actually intermingle, but do not touch. There may be a world close to you that may have connections all over the nation and yet you know nothing abort it. Literary men have a world of their own, and they are known one to another all over the world; and there are religious teachers who are known all over their world, and yet they often know nothing of one another, So the meaning is that every city wherever Paul went, amongst the Christian people with whom he mingled, the faith and obedience of the Roman Christians was spoken of. And when I was in America I did not enter a single town but I met with some one or more persons who had been in this place. I was mingling with a certain class; they found me out and I found them out, because we had sympathies in common; but there are many millions of people who never heard either of them or me. Well now, three years after the apostle wrote that he got to Rome, and called a number of most respectable Jews, yet these men seemed to know nothing of the faith or obedience of the Christians at Rome; but only knew concerning the sect that it was everywhere spoken against. Now these two accounts may at first seem rather startling, but they are perfectly in harmony, with each other if properly viewed; and the entire naturalness of the two convinces me of the truth of both statements. The Jews and the Christians at Rome lived in different worlds.
2. God is my witness (verses 9-12).
(1) The two points in the passages are these–that the apostle was very earnest in his prayers that he might get to Rome, and have a prosperous journey. The other point is that he wished to impart some spiritual gift and to be comforted by mutual faith. I think he means not to confer any miraculous gift as an apostle, but that as an authoritative teacher by preaching the truth, they might be rooted and grounded in the faith. There is an exquisite delicacy of feeling here. Paul had been uttering a great thing about what he wished to get to Rome for. And then, as if he had uttered nothing that might imply apostolic authority and distinction, but as if he had simply placed himself on a level with the people, he says, that is, that I, etc. (verse 12).
(2) Now I very much doubt whether these things came to pass; and it may do us much good to learn that the prayers even of an apostle, and long continued, were not answered. We must always be ready for disappointments, and be prepared for a very different state of things from that for which we pray. Instead of getting to Rome soon, it was three years (two of them in prison), then he was shipwrecked, and when he got to Rome he was a prisoner. You will find in chap. 15 that he asked the people at Rome to join their prayers with his for the same thing. But their prayers were unanswered. And so with respect to the other point. The letters written from Rome contain some alarming statements about how things had gone. He says that there were some who preached the gospel out of envy and strife, wishing to add affliction to his bonds; and although the things that happened to him turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, yet those hopes which he had formerly cherished were disappointed.
3. The apostle goes on–Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come to you (but was hindered), that I might have some fruit among you, even as among other Gentiles. He wanted to have men converted as well as to comfort and impart spiritual gifts to the Church. The apostle felt that he had a dispensation committed to him. I am called and commissioned, and, therefore, am a debtor to all men; I am, therefore, ready to preach the gospel to you at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel.
II. The lessons.
1. In regard to the Christian life we perceive here its–
(1) Peculiar nature in opposition, generally, to philosophic theism, or anything else. I thank my God through Jesus Christ, says Paul. That means God contemplated as revealed by Christ; and it is well known that the apostles and early Christians conducted their worship in the name of Christ, as a mediator and advocate.
(2) That it is habitually earnest and devotional; praying in everything; in everything giving thanks; committing everything to God, asking even for a prosperous journey, believing in the gracious presidency of God over human affairs; expecting answers, but being prepared for disappointments.
(3) Its peculiar sympathies, as becomes the children of the same father; an interchange of affection, fellowship and union, and be comforted together by mutual faith.
2. In relation to the apostle.
(1) The union of prayer and preaching; and he did both with earnestness. He preached as if the conversion of the world depended upon it, and as if he was able to convert the world. But we find him equally earnest in prayer.
(2) He is always modest but manly. He says, I want to comfort and establish the Church, and I want to be comforted together with you by mutual faith.
(3) He served God in his spirit in the gospel of His Son, with earnestness, with sincerity, and with faith. Paul had a great idea of duty, and the word debtor comes from duty: that which is due to another is duty from me.
(4) He was not ashamed of the gospel because of the commission which he had received from on high. (T. Binney.)
Thankfulness for the blessings of others
The expression of thanks to God for His mercy to them was fitted to conciliate their feelings and to prepare them for the truths he was about to communicate to them. It showed the deep interest he had in their welfare, and the happiness it would give him to do them good. It is proper to give thanks to God for His mercies to others as well as to ourselves. We are members of one great family, and we should make it a subject of thanksgiving that He confers any blessings, and especially the blessing of salvation, on any mortals. (A. Barnes.)
Standard of thankfulness
As physicians judge of the condition of mens hearts by the pulse which beats in their arms, and not by the words which proceed from their mouths; so we may judge the thankfulness of men by their lives rather than by their professions. (Dictionary of Illustrations.)
The bond of Christian union
is a bond of–
I. Brotherly love (Rom 15:8-10)
II. Mutual help (Rom 15:11-12).
III. United effort for the spread of Christs kingdom. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Thanksgiving
I. Is every Christians first duty.
II. Should be offered through Jesus Christ.
III. Should be presented for every blessing and for all.
IV. Is especially due for the success of the gospel. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Personal religion
My God, is–
1. The Author of my being and my well-being.
2. The object of my worship.
3. My covenant God in Christ. The text is the language of–
I. Faith in Christ. God is only ours through faith in Him, only according to the new covenant (Jer 31:33; Heb 8:10). Receiving Jesus and trusting in Him God becomes our God (Joh 1:12; Gal 3:26).
II. Love. That is our God which we most love and esteem (Psa 73:25).
III. Trust (Psa 18:2). The object of our confidence is our God (Job 31:24; Hab 1:16).
IV. Subjection, dedication, obedience (Isa 44:5; Act 27:23). Conclusion:
1. Thanksgivings to be presented to God as our God in Christ.
2. The gospel teaches us not only to say our Father, but my God.
3. God as our God, the most glorious and only satisfying portion. (T. Robinson, D. D.)
Thankfulness for faith spoken of
I. Faith spoken of proves–
1. Its nobility.
2. Its boldness.
3. Its fruitfulness.
II. Thanks given for this on account of–
1. Honour bestowed on the Romans.
2. Benefit likely to accrue to others.
3. Glory redounding to Christ. (T. Robinson, D. D.)
Exemplary faith
I. Its features–Consistent; earnest; loving.
II. Its effects–a good report; glory and thanks to God. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. First, I thank my God] From this to the end of Ro 1:17 belongs to the preface, in which the apostle endeavours to conciliate the good opinion of the Christians at Rome, and to prepare their minds for his reproofs and exhortations.
Your faith is spoken] , is celebrated, throughout the whole world-in every place where the Christian religion is professed, through all parts of the Roman dominions; for in this sense we should understand the words, the whole world.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
First, here, is not a word of order, for there follows no secondly, &c.; but it serves to show, that here the Epistle begins, for all before was but a preface or inscription: q.d. In the first place. See the like, 1Ti 2:1.
Throughout the whole world, that is, through many parts of it; it is a figurative speech: see the like, Joh 12:19. Or else, by the whole world may be understood the Roman empire, which ruled at that time over a great part of the known world. See the like, Luk 2:1. Besides, there was a resort to Rome from all parts of the world, and so this report might be diffused far and near. The faith of the gospel at Rome made it more famous than all its victories and triumphs. Oh, how is Rome degenerated! We may take up the complaint concerning her which we find, Isa 1:11,12. The Romanists urge this place to prove Rome the mother church; but without reason: the church of Thessalonica had as high a eulogy: see 1Th 1:8.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. your faith is spoken ofthroughout the whole worldThis was quite practicable throughthe frequent visits paid to the capital from all the provinces; andthe apostle, having an eye to the influence they would exercise uponothers, as well as their own blessedness, given thanks for such faithto “his God through Jesus Christ,” as being the source,according to his theology of faith, as of all grace in men.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
First, I thank my God, through Jesus Christ, for you all,…. After the inscription and salutation, follows a thanksgiving, which begins the epistle: it is usual with the apostle in all his epistles to make requests for the churches, with thanksgivings for mercies; his view in it was, to glorify God, to testify his affection to the saints, and to show that all they had must be referred to the grace of God. The object of thanksgiving is God not merely as a creator and preserver, but as a Father, the Father of Christ, and our Father in Christ; as the one God, and our God, Father, Son, and Spirit. The apostle styles him, my God; which distinguishes him from all others, points out his particular interest in him, expresses his knowledge of him and faith in him, and demonstrates that what he did now, he did in faith. The person through whom thanks are given is Jesus Christ. There is no coming to God but through Christ, nor is any sacrifice either of prayer or praise acceptable without him, and since all we have come through him, it is but reasonable that thanks for them should be returned by and through him; the persons for whom this thanksgiving is made were all the Romans, all the saints at Rome, the members of the church there, of whatsoever rank and degree, and in whatsoever, state and condition; the thing for which the apostle was thankful for particularly was, not that their city was mistress of the whole world, and their fame for power, wealth, and grandeur, was spread abroad far and near; but, says he,
that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world; which shows that faith is a grace of great account: God has put an honour upon it, by making it the receiver of all his gifts, and that gives glory to God, and without it nothing is acceptable to him; it answers many excellent uses and purposes in experience; it is that by which saints live upon Christ in this world, and look to the glories of another. This also shows that the saints at Rome did not hide their faith in their breasts, but declared it to others; a public profession both of the grace and doctrine of faith is to be made, and constantly held; both are to be shown forth to others, by deeds as well as words; which greatly redounds to the honour of such churches, causes joy in other churches, and in all the ministers of the Gospel, and is the occasion of many thanksgivings to God.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Paul’s Love to the Roman Christians. | A. D. 58. |
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; 10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. 13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. 14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. 15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
We may here observe,
I. His thanksgivings for them (v. 8): First, I thank my God. It is good to begin every thing with blessing God, to make that the alpha and omega of every song, in every thing to give thanks.—My God. He speaks this with delight and triumph. In all our thanksgivings, it is good for us to eye God as our God; this makes every mercy sweet, when we can say of God, “He is mine in covenant.”–Through Jesus Christ. All our duties and performances are pleasing to God only through Jesus Christ, praises as well as prayers.–For you all. We must express our love to our friends, not only by praying for them, but by praising God for them. God must have the glory of all the comfort we have in our friends; for every creature is that to us, and no more, which God makes it to be. Many of these Romans Paul had no personal acquaintance with, and yet he could heartily rejoice in their gifts and graces. When some of the Roman Christians met him (Acts xxviii. 15), he thanked God for them, and took courage; but here his true catholic love extends itself further, and he thanks God for them all; not only for those among them that were his helpers in Christ, and that bestowed much labour upon him (of whom he speaks Rom 16:3; Rom 16:6), but for them all.–That your faith is spoken of. Paul travelled up and down from place to place, and, wherever he came, he heard great commendations of the Christians at Rome, which he mentions, not to make them proud, but to quicken them to answer the general character people gave of them, and the general expectation people had from them. The greater reputation a man hath for religion, the more careful he should be to preserve it, because a little folly spoils him that is in reputation, Eccl. x. 1.–Throughout the whole world, that is, the Roman empire, into which the Roman Christians, upon Claudius’s edict to banish all the Jews from Rome, were scattered abroad, but had now returned, and, it seems, left a very good report behind them, wherever they had been, in all the churches. There was this good effect of their sufferings: if they had not been persecuted, they had not been famous. This was indeed a good name, a name for good things with God and good people. As the elders of old, so these Romans, obtained a good report through faith, Heb. xi. 2. It is a desirable thing to be famous for faith. The faith of the Roman Christians came to be thus talked of, not only because it was excelling in itself, but because it was eminent and observable in its circumstances. Rome was a city upon a hill, every one took notice of what was done there. Thus those who have many eyes upon them have need to walk circumspectly, for what they do, good or bad, will be spoken of. The church of Rome was then a flourishing church; but since that time how is the gold become dim! How is the most fine gold changed! Rome is not what it was. She was then espoused a chaste virgin to Christ, and excelled in beauty; but she has since degenerated, dealt treacherously, and embraced the bosom of a stranger; so that (as that good old book, the Practice of Piety, makes appear in no less than twenty-six instances) even the epistle to the Romans is now an epistle against the Romans; little reason has she therefore to boast of her former credit.
II. His prayer for them, v. 9. Though a famous flourishing church, yet they had need to be prayed for; they had not yet attained. Paul mentions this as an instance of his love to them. One of the greatest kindnesses we can do our friends, and sometimes the only kindness that is in the power of our hands, is, by prayer to recommend them to the loving-kindness of God. From Paul’s example here we may learn, 1. Constancy in prayer: Always without ceasing. He did himself observe the same rules he gave to others, Eph 6:18; 1Th 5:17. Not that Paul did nothing else but pray, but he kept up stated times for the solemn performance of that duty, and those very frequent, and observed without fail. 2. Charity in prayer: I make mention of you. Though he had not particular acquaintance with them, nor interest in them, yet he prayed for them; not only for all saints in general, but he made express mention of them. It is not unfit sometimes to be express in our prayers for particular churches and places; not to inform God, but to affect ourselves. We are likely to have the most comfort in those friends that we pray most for. Concerning this he makes a solemn appeal to the searcher of hearts: For God is my witness. It was in a weighty matter, and in a thing known only to God and his own heart, that he used this asseveration. It is very comfortable to be able to call God to witness to our sincerity and constancy in the discharge of a duty. God is particularly a witness to our secret prayers, the matter of them, the manner of the performance; then our Father sees in secret, Matt. vi. 6. God, whom I serve with my spirit. Those that serve God with their spirits may, with a humble confidence, appeal to him; hypocrites who rest in bodily exercise cannot. His particular prayer, among many other petitions he put up for them, was that he might have an opportunity of paying them a visit (v. 10): Making request, if by any means, c. Whatever comfort we desire to find in any creature, we must have recourse to God for it by prayer for our times are in his hand, and all our ways at his disposal. The expressions here used intimate that he was very desirous of such an opportunity: if by any means; that he had long and often been disappointed: now at length; and yet that he submitted it to the divine Providence: a prosperous journey by the will of God. As in our purposes, so in our desires, we must still remember to insert this, if the Lord will, James iv. 15. Our journeys are prosperous or otherwise according to the will of God, comfortable or not as he pleases.
III. His great desire to see them, with the reasons of it, v. 11-15. He had heard so much of them that he had a great desire to be better acquainted with them. Fruitful Christians are as much the joy as barren professors are the grief of faithful ministers. Accordingly, he often purposed to come, but was let hitherto (v. 13), for man purposeth, but God disposeth. He was hindered by other business that took him off, by his care of other churches, whose affairs were pressing; and Paul was for doing that first, not which was most pleasant (then he would have gone to Rome), but which was most needful–a good example to ministers, who must not consult their own inclinations so much as the necessity of their people’s souls. Paul desired to visit these Romans,
1. That they might be edified (v. 11): That I may impart unto you. He received, that he might communicate. Never were full breasts so desirous to be drawn out to the sucking infant as Paul’s head and heart were to be imparting spiritual gifts, that is, preaching to them. A good sermon is a good gift, so much the better for being a spiritual gift.–To the end you may be established. Having commended their flourishing he here expresses his desire of their establishment, that as they grew upward in the branches they might grow downward in the root. The best saints, while they are in such a shaking world as this, have need to be more and more established; and spiritual gifts are of special use for our establishment.
2. That he might be comforted, v. 12. What he heard of their flourishing in grace was so much a joy to him that it must needs be much more so to behold it. Paul could take comfort in the fruit of the labours of other ministers.–By the mutual faith both of you and me, that is, our mutual faithfulness and fidelity. It is very comfortable when there is a mutual confidence between minister and people, they confiding in him as a faithful minister, and he in them as a faithful people. Or, the mutual work of faith, which is love; they rejoiced in the expressions of one another’s love, or communicating their faith one to another. It is very refreshing to Christians to compare notes about their spiritual concerns; thus are they sharpened, as iron sharpens iron.–That I might have some fruit, v. 13. Their edification would be his advantage, it would be fruit abounding to a good account. Paul minded his work, as one that believed the more good he did the greater would his reward be.
3. That he might discharge his trust as the apostle of the Gentiles (v. 14): I am a debtor. (1.) His receivings made him a debtor; for they were talents he was entrusted with to trade for his Master’s honour. We should think of this when we covet great things, that all our receivings put us in debt; we are but stewards of our Lord’s goods. (2.) His office made him a debtor. He was a debtor as he was an apostle; he was called and sent to work, and had engaged to mind it. Paul had improved his talent, and laboured in his work, and done as much good as ever any man did, and yet, in reflection upon it, he still writes himself debtor; for, when we have done all, we are but unprofitable servants.–Debtor to the Greeks, and to the barbarians, that is, as the following words explain it, to the wise and to the unwise. The Greeks fancied themselves to have the monopoly of wisdom, and looked upon all the rest of the world as barbarians, comparatively so; not cultivated with learning and arts as they were. Now Paul was a debtor to both, looked upon himself as obliged to do all the good he could both to the one and to the other. Accordingly, we find him paying his debt, both in his preaching and in his writing, doing good both to Greeks and barbarians, and suiting his discourse to the capacity of each. You may observe a difference between his sermon at Lystra among the plain Lycaonians (Acts xiv. 15, c.) and his sermon at Athens among the polite philosophers, Acts xvii. 22, &c. He delivered both as debtor to each, giving to each their portion. Though a plain preacher, yet, as debtor to the wise, he speaks wisdom among those that are perfect, 1 Cor. ii. 6. For these reasons he was ready, if he had an opportunity, to preach the gospel at Rome, <i>v. 15. Though a public place, though a perilous place, where Christianity met with a great deal of opposition, yet Paul was ready to run the risk at Rome, if called to it: I am ready—prothymon. It denotes a great readiness of mind, and that he was very forward to it. What he did was not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. It is an excellent thing to be ready to meet every opportunity of doing or getting good.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
First ( ). Adverb in the accusative case, but no (in the next place) as in Heb 7:2 or as in Jas 3:17 follows. The rush of thoughts crowds out the balanced phraseology as in Rom 3:2; 1Cor 11:18.
Through (). As the mediator or medium of thanksgiving as in 7:25.
For (). Concerning, about.
That (). Or because. Either declarative or causal makes sense here.
Your faith ( ). “Your Christianity” (Sanday and Headlam).
Is proclaimed (). Present passive indicative of , to announce () up and down (). See also , to bring back news (Joh 5:15), , to announce from one as the source (Mt 2:8), , to announce far and wide beforehand (Ac 3:18).
Throughout all the world ( ). Natural hyperbole as in Col 1:6; Acts 17:6. But widely known because the church was in the central city of the empire.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
First [ ] . Not above all, but in the first place. The form of the phrase leads us to expect a succeeding clause introduced by secondly or next; but this is omitted in the fullness and rapidity of Paul ‘s thought, which so often makes him negligent of the balance of his clauses.
Through Jesus Christ. As the medium of his thanksgiving : “As one who is present to his grateful thoughts; in so far, namely, as that for which he thanks God is vividly perceived and felt by him to have been brought about through Christ.” Compare Rom 7:25; Col 3:17; Eph 5:20. In penitence and in thanksgiving alike, Jesus Christ is the one mediator through whom we have access to God.
For you all [ ] . The preposition means rather concerning, about.
Is proclaimed [] . The different compounds of the simple verb ajggellw to announce, are interesting. The simple verb occurs only at Joh 20:18. 15 Anaggellein is to report with the additional idea of bringing tidings up to or back to the person receiving them. So Joh 5:15. The impotent man brought back information to the Jews. Compare Mr 5:14. So Christ will send the Comforter, and He will bring back to the disciples tidings of things to come. Joh 16:13 – 15. See Act 14:27; 2Co 7:7; 1Pe 1:12.
Apaggellein is to announce with a reference to the source from [] which the message comes So Mt 2:8; Act 12:14. Compare Luk 7:22; Luk 8:34, Act 5:22.
Kataggellein is to proclaim with authority, as commissioned to spread the tidings throughout, down among those that hear them, with the included idea of celebrating or commending. So here. Compare Act 16:21; Act 17:3. Thus in ajnaggellein the recipient of the news is contemplated; in ajpaggellein the source; in kataggellein the relation of the bearer and hearer of the message. The first is found mostly in John, Mark, and Acts; the second in the Synoptists and Acts; the third only. in the Acts and Paul.
Throughout the whole world. Hyperbolical, but according with the position of the metropolitan church. Compare 1Th 1:8.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “First, I thank my God,” (proton men eucharisto to theo mou) “Firstly (in priority) I thank my God”; Paul had personal gratitude (sincere thanksgiving) for the good testimony of the church brethren in Rome; The term “my God” indicates the personal relationship he had to God, 1Th 5:18.
2) “Through Jesus Christ for you all,” (dia lesou Christou peri panton humon) “Through Jesus Christ concerning all of you”; Jesus Christ is the “mediator-agent,” through whom God’s children must approach him (not thru an earthly priest or religious saint), Eph 2:18; 1Co 8:6.
3) “That your faith is spoken of,” (hoti he pistis humon ketangelletai) “Because your faith is being announced, reported, or witnessed,” continually, repeatedly. Note that the occasion for Paul’s happy hearted gratitude for the Roman Church brethren was their testimony for Christ, their fidelity to truth, 1Th 1:8.
4) “Throughout the whole world,” (en holon to kosmo) “in all (parts of) the world,” then known as the Roman Empire that ruled the world, even as far as the Lord had commanded his church to go, Act 1:8; Mat 28:18-20; Mar 16:15; Joh 2:21; Joh 3:16-17.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
8 . I first (28) indeed, etc. Here the beginning commences, altogether adapted to the occasion, as he seasonably prepares them for receiving instruction by reasons connected with himself as well as with them. What he states respecting them is, the celebrity of their faith; for he intimates that they being honored with the public approbation of the churches, could not reject an Apostle of the Lord, without disappointing the good opinion entertained of them by all; and such a thing would have been extremely uncourteous and in a manner bordering on perfidy. As then this testimony justly induced the Apostle, by affording him an assurance of their obedience, to undertake, according to his office, to teach and instruct the Romans; so it held them bound not to despise his authority. With regard to himself, he disposes them to a teachable spirit by testifying his love towards them: and there is nothing more effectual in gaining credit to an adviser, than the impression that he is cordially anxious to consult our wellbeing.
The first thing worthy of remark is, that he so commends their faith, (29) that he implies that it had been received from God. We are here taught that faith is God’s gift; for thanksgiving is an acknowledgment of a benefit. He who gives thanks to God for faith, confesses that it comes from him. And since we find that the Apostle ever begins his congratulations with thanksgiving, let us know that we are hereby reminded, that all our blessings are God’s free gifts. It is also needful to become accustomed to such forms of speaking, that we may be led more fully to rouse ourselves in the duty of acknowledging God as the giver of all our blessings, and to stir up others to join us in the same acknowledgment. If it be right to do this in little things, how much more with regard to faith; Which is neither a small nor an indiscriminate ( promiscua ) gift of God. We have here besides an example, that thanks ought to be given through Christ, according to the Apostle’s command in Heb 13:15; inasmuch as in his name we seek and obtain mercy from the Father. — I observe in the last place, that he calls him his God. This is the faithful’s special privilege, and on them alone God bestows this honor. There is indeed implied in this a mutual relationship, which is expressed in this promise,
“
I will be to them a God; they shall be to me a people.” (Jer 30:22.)
I prefer at the same time to confine this to the character which Paul sustained, as an attestation of his obedience to the end in the work of preaching the gospel. So Hezekiah called God the God of Isaiah, when he desired him to give him the testimony of a true and faithful Prophet. (Isa 37:4.) So also he is called in an especial manner the God of Daniel. (Dan 6:20.)
Through the whole world. The eulogy of faithful men was to Paul equal to that of the whole world, with regard to the faith of the Romans; for the unbelieving, who deemed it detestable, could not have given an impartial or a correct testimony respecting it. We then understood that it was by the mouths of the faithful that the faith of the Romans was proclaimed through the whole world; and that they were alone able to judge rightly of it, and to pronounce a correct opinion. That this small and despised handful of men were unknown as to their character to the ungodly, even at Rome, was a circumstance he regarded as nothing; for Paul made no account of their judgment.
(28) “It does not mean here the first in point of importance, but first in the order of time.” — [ Stuart ]. The same author thinks that men here has its corresponding δε in Rom 1:13, Οὐ θέλω δέ ὑμᾶς, etc., — Ed
(29) “ Faith is put here for the whole religion, and means the same as your piety. Faith is one of the principal things of religion, one of its first requirements, and hence it signifies religion itself.” — [ Barnes ]. It is indeed the principal thing, the very basis of religion. Heb 11:6. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE ORIGIN AND OBJECT OF CHRISTIAN OBLIGATION
Rom 1:8-19.
THE Epistle to the Church at Rome presents the Apostle Paul in a new vocation. All through the Book of Acts, from the day of his conversion until his arrival at Rome, Paul gave his ministry wholly to Preaching the Kingdom of God; and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ. After he commenced preaching the other Apostles were eclipsed, including even the eloquent and Spirit-filled Peter.
This address to the Christians at Rome was not delivered by word of mouth, but was penned as an Epistle; and, as Joseph Parker says, Now that Paul begins to write, all other writers will stand behind him. For he will prove himself as capable with the pen as he has with the tongue. This Epistle is a masterpiece in literature. It is also the peerless systematic theology; and it evidences Pauls ability quite as well, if not better, than any address he ever delivered.
We have already studied the Apostles claim of Divine appointment; his salutation to the Roman Christians; his evident anxiety for their spiritual growth; his yearning to be with them in bodily presence that he might establish them in the faith; and we come to the study of the text with its many and magnanimous suggestions.
There are few passages of Scripture that lie nearer my heart than this. To me at least, it contains great fundamentals, such as I am pleased to preach and to impress upon this my loved people. Hear its first suggestion,
I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.
So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that are at Rome also (Rom 1:14-15).
CHRISTS SACRIFICE LAID A LIEN ON LIFE
The debt is in consequence of His death. When Paul says here, as he does, I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise, and to the unwise, he does not mean that he has received from these people some favors for which he has given no sufficient compensation. It is true that Paul had received Greek learning; and equally true that Paul enjoyed Roman citizenship, but to the Barbarians he owed no personal obligation; and to the unwise he could hardly be in debt, employing that term in its ordinary use. Another idea was in his mind, namely, that Christs sacrifice for him had laid on him an obligation to serve whoever he could, and whenever. He saw the great truth Jesus meant to impart, when at the close of His last Passover Supper, He rose from the table, girded Himself with a towel and washed the disciples feet, adding,
If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one anothers feet.
For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you (Joh 15:14-15).
Therein is the origin of Christian obligation. Christs act toward you and toward me measures my responsibility and your responsibility toward our fellow mortals. One must discern this truth in order to know the real motive for all Christian philanthropy.
John Tauler, at a time when the Popes ban lay on all his land, hanging, as S. E. Herrick says, Like a thunder cloud over Alsatia, continued his customary labors with the stricken people, and addressed a letter to his brother priests urging them to comfort the people and keep on preaching and administering the sacraments, in spite of the Popes words. For, said he, ye are bound to visit and console the sick, remembering the bitter pain and death of Christ, who hath made satisfaction, not for your sins only but also for those of the whole world.
That is the true motive of Christian obligation to meet in some little measure the mind of that Master who has done so much for us.
There are few motives so pure; none so powerful! It is only a while ago that young Doctor Terry, a girl physician in Chinamissionary for the Methodist churchwas murdered at Tsun-Hua. When she was in this country and was about ready to return to her work, she said, It requires courage to go back. If it were money for which missionaries go, there is not enough of it in the world to induce us to return to live amidst the depressing influences of heathendom; but for Christs sake we willingly, yea, gladly, undertake this service.
The Chinese had never done anything for Dr. Terry to put her into their debt; but when, with Paul, she remembered what Christ had done for her, she was obliged to say, I am a debtor to the Chinese also. And in her effort to discharge her conscious obligation to Christ, she laid down her beautiful young life, counting even the price thereof a poor payment of all she owed. Paul here sounded the motive of all missions, ancient and modern. Because of what Gods Son has done for me I am my brothers keeper, though that brother lives beneath another sun and I have never seen his face.
In the name of the needy, Christ calls for the discharge of this debt. There are people who earnestly wish they could have lived in the time of the wise men and with them brought on offering to the infant Jesus; there are those who covet Marys privilege in the precious spikenard; there are those who envy Joseph in providing for Jesus a splendid tomb; and who forget that Jesus is as much in need of gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh, as much in need of Marys sacrifice and Josephs expression of love, as He ever was in the time of His earth life; and that it is just as easy to make an offering to Him now as it was then. The hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, the prisoner, the stranger, present Christs call and your opportunity, for He has said, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.
Every time Dives went out his front gate Christ appealed to him for assistance through the pitiful plight of Lazarus; and today, it is impossible for you and me to live in a city like this without seeing the Son of God in its suffering citizens, and remembering that they present opportunities for the payment of our obligations Christward.
In the discharge of this debt there is no respect of persons. Paul says, I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. Paul was speaking of the four classes of people who filled up the cities in which he wrought; the countries over which he traveled. If his words were properly interpreted, in our day they mean that we are in debt to the native born and to the foreigner; to the white man and to the black man; to the rich and to the poor; to the high and to the humble; to the ignorant and to the learned, For there is no respect of persons with God. Peter had to learn that, taught by the Holy Ghost; and Cornelius gave occasion to his instruction. And we have to learn it over and over again, for there are all too many of us who are prone to select the subjects of our interest, the objects of our mission. You recall the history that Dr. and Mrs. Clough made in India. They began their school work there with the high caste Brahmins. Sixty-two sons of this upper society came into his school for instruction, and paid a good tuition. Shortly three men of low caste, converts to Christ, presented themselves and asked for the same opportunities of education. The aristocratic Brahmins threatened to leave the school in case these in question were accepted. While Dr. Clough was debating what he should do, two more converts requested admission. Like a man of God Dr. Clough gave himself to prayer, and said, Oh, guide us in this extremity of the mission, while his wife in another room was uttering almost the same words. Simultaneously, in their separate rooms, the husband and wife were visited by the Holy Ghost who brought to their remembrance this Scripture,
Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called;
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
That no flesh should glory in His presence (1Co 1:26-29).
Both husband and wife realized that their system must be changed; that their obligation to the ignorant of India was quite as great as to its better bred; that they were in debt alike to the foolish and to the wise. That decision resulted in an entire change in the method of education. But, as Dr. Pierson, in his Miracle of Missions has remarked, They were now to build the church like a pyramid, from the broad base of the lowest classes upward. It is Gods way; and Gods way only. Hence the words, God is no respector of persons: But in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him (Act 10:34-35). The stricken man by the Jericho road is the Good Samaritans opportunity to discharge Divine due bills.
But our next sentence suggests a further thought For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Rom 1:16).
CHRISTS GOSPEL IS THE TOUCHSTONE OF LOYALTY
Pauls words, I am not ashamed of the Gospel, are full of suggestion as to existing conditions. All about him were men and women who were ashamed of it; who, if you had asked them if they were Christians, would have been more embarrassed by the question than Peter was by the interrogation of the porch maid. Paul affirms himself to be apart from that company.
He was not ashamed to practice the Gospel. That is where its real adoption begins; the man who merely preaches it does not necessarily make the Gospel his own; to prove his passion for it he must practice it. I have met not a few under conviction of sin who have earnestly inquired if they couldnt be saved without meeting this and that Bible requirement, requirements that were contrary to the lusts of the flesh. To every such an one I have felt compelled to answer, You cant be saved except you surrender all and start in to practice what Christ has prescribed. Do you remember what Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, in A Singular Life made Captain Hap say of Bayard when, on one occasion, the scholarly, ease-taking Fenton was telling that soul-winner that others than himself were following the Master in their way? To this Captain Hap replied, It is just about here, Mr. Fenton, you folks set out to foller Him; but our minister he lives like Him; there is an almighty difference. Jesus Himself said, Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. And when the practice of Christianity meant to Paul perils of waters, perils of robbers, perils by his own countrymen, perils by the heathen, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils among false brethren, weariness and painfulness, hunger and thirst, repeated fastings, cold and nakedness, he pushed on in the practice of that Gospel, saying, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.
Preaching it tested his loyalty still further. To the Greeks it was foolishness; to the Jews it was a stumbling block; to the Roman and Barbarian, an affront alike to their faith and the desires of their fleshan unpopular theme to speak upon in Pauls time and to Pauls generation.
The offense of the Cross is not removed. How many of us can say, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, when our very speech excites a hiss and our seriousness is met with scorn. A young lady student in a State University, converted in one of my meetings, had to brave the derision of her roommates and stand for her newly-found faith before a flood of fun-making. But, like Paul, she said, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Her loyalty to the Lord has been proven in that she dared to speak to these same scoffers in the name of the Nazarene.
Henry Van Dyke thinks that a preacher who speaks has to face this constant exhausting demand of a ministers life, to declare the Divine message without fear or favor; to search the Scriptures and tell men plainly what they teach, without regard to human tradition; and, he adds, Surely the man who has to do this needs courage. Aye, verily, and Paul exhibited it. If every Greek had been an agnostic, every Roman a demon, and every Barbarian barbarous, and every Jew a murderer, Paul would have stood in the midst saying, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.
Herrick says of John Huss, He was always combatting sin rather than heresy; and men who persistently do that will always run the risk of being accused of heresy; and if the age will allow, of being burned for it by those who set orthodoxy of thought above correctness of life. And yet, if the fagot pile had been before his face, Paul would have said, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. The test of religion for you and for me is not different. To preach the Gospel to those who gladly receive it may be encouraging; but to preach it where men reject it, and resist you, calls for more courage. But, after all, it is just there our loyalty is put to the test; just there, in fact, our acceptance with God is settled, for the Son of Man Himself, said, Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels (Mar 8:38).
Opposition is the best test of loyalty to the Lord. Paul had been put to this test also. When he preached to the Greeks a multitude rose up together against him. He was sent to the inner prison of Philippi; his feet were made fast in the stocks. In Rome the opponents chains clanked in his cell. When he preached to the Jews they stoned him and left him as dead. Mr. Moody, in his active imagination, visited Paul, and held a conversation with him, and put to him some questions: Paul, you have been beaten by these Jews four times and they are going to give you thirty-nine stripes more; what are you going to do after you get out of the difficulty? Preach! is this Apostles reply. You are going to continue preaching! Let me give you a little advice. Dont be quite so radical; just use a little finer language and some flowery sentences; and pacify the Jews; and get in with them. But the Apostle answers, This one thing I do * * I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Php 3:14). After his experience in the Philippian jail he asked him, Paul, dont you think that you have been too zealous for Christ? They will behead you shortly. Hadnt you better retract? Behead me? he says, Let them do it; Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day (2Ti 4:8).
There is an old frontispiece in Wycliffes first Bible representing the cause of truth in the Holy Scriptures by a bright flame in the foreground, while all around it the enemies of the truth, with the devil at their head, are trying to blow it out. There are the bishops, priests and cardinals with the Pope himself and the devil leading them on, blowing and blowing, until it seems as if they would burst. But instead of blowing out the fire they only blow it in, and it blazes and blazes until they are scattered before its consuming breath, and even the devil himself is fain to fly to a cooler atmosphere. Dr. A. B. Simpson says, This is ever true of the cause of Christ. Opposition, persecution and misrepresentation only strengthens it, as we have all had such good reason often to prove. Nobody can hurt us but ourselves and when an enemy cometh in like a flood, let us quietly ask the Spirit of the Lord to lift up a standard against him, and we shall hear a voice proclaiming, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts (Zec 4:6).
Paul was one of the few preachers who learned the practice of the most difficult of the Beatitudes, and in his second Epistle was able to say, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christs sake (2Co 12:10). And when he was writing to Timothy he said, Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me; and then he adds, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (2Ti 3:10-12). It is the great Apostles appeal to the followers of the Lord in all centuries: Be not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation; and even when they must suffer for it, to endure hardness as good soldiers.
The last sentence of this text is not so easily interpreted, and yet, its proper understanding is profitable, For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
This seems to me to be the suggestion:
CHRISTS GOSPEL REVEALS GODS RIGHTEOUSNESS IN REDEMPTION
For therein is revealed the righteousness of God, by faith unto faith, by the faith of the preacher unto the faith of the profitable auditor. The righteous shall live by faith, and faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom 10:17).
Herein is revealed the righteous plan of salvation. They tell us the Apocalypse is the plan of the Age. I believe it. But the plan of redemption runs through the entire Word of God. It reveals the righteousness of God, in making many righteous by the life of OneJesus Christ. For if by one mans offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. * * That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 5:17; Rom 5:21).
It was a plan born of the mind of God, bred in His great hearta plan by which all that believe are justified from all things by which they could not be justified by the law of Moses. Years since I read a sermon by Principal Edwards of England, in which that destructive critic, after having admitted his failure to reach many souls concludes, I am ready to confess, dear friends, if the Christian conscience cannot save the world, I give it up! I abandon the hope of ever seeing the day, from the heavenly Jerusalem, when the whole world will have come to the Crucified One; I abandon all hope of making Christianity as universal as the race, unless we can do it by the power of an individual conviction, of an enlightened conscience.
Paul was never in any such a strait. Believing as he did in the power of the Gospel unto salvation, he had not seen his ministry to souls fail, and so never felt the necessity of looking to so feeble a source as an individual conscience for a substitute of the Gospel.
The Redeemers plan of salvation approved itself to Pauls peerless mind and he preached it to his auditors, claiming the promise that it should not return unto God void; that it should accomplish that which God pleased and prosper in the thing whereto He had sent it.
Again, Gods righteousness was revealed in that His plan of salvation included righteous promises.
Universalism is a Scriptureless larger-hope. Every promise of God is righteous in that it demands of men a voluntary response that shall influence character for good. He does promise to have mercy upon us and to abundantly pardon us; but the condition is, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord (Isa 55:7). He does promise to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness; and declares that He will be faithful and just in both. But the condition is, If we confess our sins.
The Psalmist understood that so well that he gave it expression when his penitential words were, I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest (Psa 51:3-4).
Finally, The revelation of Gods righteousness in redemption presents a mighty appeal to sinners. It is the appeal of mercy and justice in perfect accord. God would not have the law which was good broken without executing its penalty; but such was Gods love that He laid Himself upon the altar of sacrifice to save men the consequences of their own sin. We love Him therefore because He first loved us.
Frank Smith was a character in American history. Great interest attaches to a piece of personal history which he made in Andersonville prison. After inconceivable suffering, it came about one day that a half a dozen men were to be released from that hell by exchange. Smiths name was among them. He went to an infidel comrade to say good-by, and in parting pled with the man to give his heart to God. The man bitterly answered, There is no God for He would not permit such agony as we endure. Hearing this, Smith put his pass into the infidels hand and said, You can take my place and I will stay. When the comrade found that he meant it, he asked, Why do you do this? Because, replied Frank, Jesus stood in my stead. The man broke down and said, Pray for me. That day a soul was saved, but Frank stayed behind in the dungeon while the infidel, converted now to Christ, went free. Some months afterward a second exchange was ordered. Again Franks name was on the roll. He was filled with joy at the thought of going to mother and wife and home. But when he went to say good-by to a young comrade wasting with consumption, the poor fellow threw his arms about his neck and cried, Oh Frank, how can I die without you? You led me to Christ and I have counted on you to close my eyes and carry my last message to mother. And Frank answered, I will not leave you. He found a man that took his pass and back he went a second time to endure for anothers sake the horrors of Andersonville, and there he stayed until one day the flag of peace was lifted and all the living went forth to liberty.
That is the Gospel incarnate; that is the Word of faith which we preachChristianity in practice; and that is the Gospel that has ever been the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; and whatever man may say or do against it, that saving power will never pass away!
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
CRITICAL NOTES
Rom. 1:8. Your faith is spoken of, etc.Rome frequented by strangers, and so the faith of the Church easily made known. , the beautiful order of the visible world.
Rom. 1:10. Making request, if by any means, etc.Grotius happily renders: Si forte Dei voluntas felicitatem mihi indulgeat ad nos remindi. Making request is a special word for prayer, and implies a sense of need. Lightfoot says precatio points to the frame of mind and rogatio to the act of solicitation.
Rom. 1:12.The apostle here uses wise gentleness without any dissimulation.
Rom. 1:13. Some fruit.Not personal profit, as Koppe, but spiritual fruitfruit from spiritual seed, fruit from my apostolical labours.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Rom. 1:8-14
A beautiful letter.In these days of postcards the art of letter-writing is not likely to be cultivated to any great extent. Addisons Spectator is placed on our shelves, but not studied. Greysons Letters had a good circulation in their day, and yet, though only a few short years have passed since Henry Rogers wrote them, how seldom are they seen. Some of our novelists write in their books good letters; still, it is to be feared that the readers skim over them lightly. It is satisfactory to find that the letters of St. Paul are not dead letters. They are not read as much as we could wish, still they are read; and further, they are felt far more than they are read. In these verses we have a letter within a letter. We are not now to deal with the whole of the letter to the Romans, but with that portion which is contained in these seven verses.
I. This is a letter with a joyful commencement.The postmans knock sends a thrill through the house. The greater part of his messages are appeals for help, tales of suffering, records of distress. Shall we go back to the times when letters were franked? Shall we envy those who lived in remote regions, and whose letters might lie for weeks in the wayside post-house? In Pauls letter there is no appeal for help. He does not begin with a mournful phrase. He makes us read as he writes, I thank my God. If we could say my God as we say my house, my business, or my estate, then we should the oftener say, I thank my God. Paul thanks God for a good reportfaith spoken of throughout the whole world. How startling to modern notions to make religion the prominent topic in our letters! When writing to friends we are thankful for their health, for their safe investments, for their introduction into higher society, and so on. How far does the report of our faith reach? Is there a Church in England to-day the report of whose faith would reach as far as from Rome to Corinth? Could any modern Paul with any just metaphorical licence say with reference to any English Church, Scotch Church, American Church, or any other, I thank my God that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world?
II. This is a letter with a necessary personal reference.Some letters are disfigured by the presence of too many capital Is. Our letters are sometimes the record of our own doings, which may be of more interest to the writers than the readers. Pauls personal reference has an intimate connection with the welfare of others. Here is (a) a solemn oath; (b) the true method of Christian servicewith the spirit in the gospel; (c) intercessory prayer.
III. Thus this is a letter with an altruistic purpose.Altruism was taught before the appearance of Comte. The Comtist doctrine inculcates the sacrifice of self for the good of others. Pauls practice anticipates Comtist doctrine. Shall we say that Paul practised as well as preached, while Comtists only preach? We only know in part, so we must be forgiven as we affirm that we have never heard of Monsieur Comtes self-denying labours and sacrifices for the good of humanity. Paul desired a prosperous journeywhat we all desirea prosperous journey that we may reap some , some earthly advantage or emolument or some mere excitement. Paul desired a prosperous journey that he might impart. The he looked for was that souls might be saved as the result of his preaching. He desired a prosperous journey that he might sow spiritual seed, and in due season reap the of a spiritual harvest.
IV. This letter refers to the mystery of the divine let.It is a mystery that there should be a let to the benevolent purpose of St. Paul. The divine lets are scattered thickly through and before all human doings and purposes. Where is the love in the let? Why does God permit the scheme to be thwarted? Why are noble purposes broken off? Why have we to sing in mournful measures, How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle and before the conquest was gained? Why was Stephen stoned? Gods love is not a mere soft sentiment, the emotion of an amiable nature. Gods love is guided by wisdom. Paul was let, but God is wise; and Paul acknowledges divine wisdom. Stephen was let from further life-work by stones. But we may say with Augustine that the Church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen. Let us see to it that the lets of life are not of our making. If the let is divine, we may be sure all is well. When God says stand still, it is that He may make a brighter revelation of His power and wisdom.
V. This letter acknowledges a debt.Our letters are often claims. The creditor writes for payment. The debtor does not often voluntarily write to, express his indebtedness. Paul writes, I am debtor. The poor tentmaker might well be a debtor. Trade is bad. Tentmaking is not remunerative. Will Paul be able to pull through? His creditors are very numerous. Will they be merciful, and accept a very small composition? His creditors are Greeks and Barbarians, wise and unwise. Ah, Paul was a debtor to divine love and gracious calling! He was a debtor without any human creditors. Right royally he discharges the claim. If ever a minister were free from the blood of man, that minister was St. Paul. We are all debtors to Goddebtors to our fellows on account of what we have received. How is the debt being discharged? Are we faithful? are we loving? are we living for others?
Rom. 1:11. Genuine philanthropy.In these words we have a sketch of genuine philanthropy.
I. Its distinguishing power.It is a power to impart some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established or confirmed. There is a philanthropy that has power to impart certain material and mental gifts, but is unable to impart the spiritual.
1. All men require spiritual gifts;
2. Most men have them not;
3. None but those who have them can impart them.
II. Its distinguishing inspiration.I long. It is my deep craving, my burning desire. To enrich men spiritually is to enrich them completely and for ever. And this is evermore the supreme desire of genuine philanthropy. Brethren, my hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.Homilist.
Rom. 1:11-12. The benefits of Christian communion.There was a mutual desire on the part of the apostle and the Roman Christians to see each other. Pauls special reasons were:
1. To bestow comfort on the members who had laboured under extraordinary difficulties;
2. Paul in great need of comfort himself. For years Paul had been struggling, beating out new tracks, disputing with error, perpetually striving. Long among strangers, he yearned to be with friends. This suggests:
I. That there is between Christians a bond of sympathy.A spiritual freemasonry. The fact that there is so little of it to-day is sadly suggestive. Downright Christianity compels us to a gracious consideration for other people.
II. The benefits of Christian communion.
1. Special help for the forlorn, gracious upliftings for the lowly, rest for the weary, counsel for the perplexed. There are times when solitude is demandede.g., for heart-searching. Yet too much isolation not good. Brooding over our troubles makes them appear insurmountable.
2. In a real Christian communion there is no caste. There ought not to be. Calvin says: In Christs Church no one is so poor as not to be able to confer on us some important benefit; but our pride, alas! hinders us from reaping mutual advantages. The early Christians knew no caste. Mistress and maid knelt together before the Lord. There is room for more of this to-day.
3. The old saying applies: In the multitude of counsellors, etc.
III. The reciprocity of Christian communion.By mutual intercourse we are gainers. By mutual consideration of the gospel message souls are refreshed and invigorated. The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. Neither veteran in the Christian ranks nor young Christian can afford to ignore Christian communion. It will never lower ones dignity to listen to the advice of those who have fought more battles, seen more dangers, travelled greater distances in the heavenly way. The warnings of our fathers in the Church are like letters of gold.Albert Lee.
Paul the debtor.Paul has many names for himselfnone of them lofty, all of them lowly; the highest, simply an apostle. Sometimes it is Paul the servant of Jesus Christ; sometimes Paul the aged; sometimes Paul the prisoner; sometimes it is less than the least of all saints; sometimes the chief of sinners. Here it is anothera debtor. It is then of Paul the debtor we are to speak.
I. To whom is he a debtor?Not to self; not to the flesh; not to the law. He owes nothing to these. We might say he is debtor to God, to Christ, to the cross. But these are not now in his mind. It is to Greek and Jew, wise and unwise, men of all nations; the whole fallen world, that he feels himself a debtor. They have done nothing for him indeed: they have persecuted, condemned, reviled him; yet that does not alter his position or cancel his debt. His debt to them is founded on something which all this ill-usage, this malice, cannot alter. Yes, a Christian is debtor to the worldnot to his family only, or his nation, but to the whole world. Let this thought dwell in us and work in us, expanding and enlarging us, elevating our vision. We speak of the world being debtor to the Church: let us never forget that, according to Pauls way of thinking, and to the mind of the Holy Spirit, the Church is debtor to the world.
II. When and how he became a debtor.Even as a Jew he was a debtor, for he possessed something which the world did not. It was when Paul became possessed of the unsearchable riches of Christ that he felt himself a debtor to the world. He had found a treasure, and he could not conceal it: he must speak out; he must tell abroad what he felt. He was surrounded by needy fellow-men, in a poor, empty world. Should he keep the treasure to himself? No. As the lepers of Samaria felt themselves debtors to the starving city, so did Paul to a famishing world. His debt directly is to God; but then, indirectly, it is to the world. Thus the Christian man feels his debthis obligation to the world because of his obligation to God. But then a man must know that he has the treasure himself before he can be quickened into a feeling of his responsibility to others.
III. How he pays the debt.By carrying to them that gospel which he had received. He goes to Corinthdoing what? Paying there a part of his infinite debt. He goes to Athens, to Thessalonica, to Romedoing what? Paying in each place part of the infinite debt which he owes to God. He is a rich man, and can afford to give. We pay our debt:
1. By making known the gospel to others;
2. By prayer for others;
3. By our givings;
4. By our consistent life. Yes, you are debtors to all. Show that you feel this. Be constrained by a loving sense of your infinite obligations and responsibilities to Him who loved you.H. Bonar.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom. 1:8-13
Rome is now changed.The faith of the Roman Christians came to be thus talked of, not only because it was excelling in itself, but because it was eminent and observable in its circumstances. Rome was a city upon a hill; everyone took notice of what was done there. Thus those who have many eyes upon them have need to walk circumspectly, for what they do, good or bad, will be spoken of. The Church of Rome was then a flourishing Church; but since that time how is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! Rome is not what it was. She was then espoused a chaste virgin to Christ, and excelled in beauty; but she has since degenerated, dealt treacherously, and embraced the bosom of a stranger, so that (as that good old book the Practice of Piety makes appear in no less than twenty-six instances) even the Epistle to the Romans is now an epistle against the Romans. Little reason has she therefore to boast of her former credit.Henry.
Faith of the Romans had good results.In the beginning of his epistles Paul generally subjoined to the apostolic benediction a solemn thanksgiving for the faith, charity, patience, and other virtues of the brethren to whom he wrote, to make them sensible of their happy state, and to lead them to a right improvement of the advantages which they enjoyed as Christians. The faith of the Romans which occasioned so much discourse was their turning from idols. An event of this kind could not fail to be spoken of with wonder through the whole empire, as there were multitudes of strangers continually coming to Rome from the provinces who on their return home would report what they had seen. For this the apostle thanked God, because the conversion of the Romans encouraged the inhabitants of other cities to forsake the established idolatry. Besides, Rome being the metropolis of the world, the conversion of so many of its inhabitants brought no small credit to the evidences of the gospel.Macknight.
Light increased by shining.That is, that being with you, we may be comforted together. This is an epanorthosis in which he at the same time both corrects and explains the two proximate ends of his desire, and intimates that he desires to be with themthat whatever comfort God might bestow on them through him, he might be a partaker of the same along with them, so that teacher and taught might be encouraged in common, and the faith of each increased to their mutual advantage. By this the apostle teaches us that the brightest lights in the Church shone by communicating light, were instructed by teaching others, and by ministering to the faith of others were more and more confirmed in their own belief.Ferme.
Natural that Paul should desire to see Rome.At this time Paul had not seen Rome. But how natural was it in a man of his taste and intelligence to wish to see it! Nothing had made such a figure in history as this imperial city. From a kind of village it extended in a course of years till it became the mistress of the nations and the metropolis of the world. How powerfully must curiosity have been awakened by its extent, its majesty, its edifices, its institutions, its laws and customs! Paul was also a citizen; and while some, with a great ransom, purchased this privilege, he was freeborn. Yet his longing to see it was not to indulge the man and the Roman, but the Christian and the apostle. He longed to impart to the beloved and called of God there some spiritual benefit. But see the order of divine grace. Before he was useful to them, they imparted some spiritual benefit to him and established his wavering confidence. For when he had landed at Puteoli and advanced towards Rome, the brethren came to meet him as far as the Appii Forum and the Three Taverns, whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage. Here we see that the most eminent servants of God may be depressed and desponding, and that it is possible for them to derive assistance and comfort from those who are much inferior to them in office, condition, abilities, and grace. There is no such thing as independence. Let none be proud; let none despair. The Christian Church is a body, and the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee; nor the head to the feet, I have no need of you. But how was this prosperous journey according to the will of God, for which he made so many requests, to be accomplislied? How little did he imagine the way in which he was to visit this famous city! He enters it, indeed; but in the character of a prisoner, driven thither by persecution, and after being shipwrecked upon a certain island. So high are Gods thoughts above our thoughts, and His ways above our ways. So little do we know what we pray for. So often by strange and sometimes by terrible things in righteousness does He answer us as the God of our salvation. So fulfils He the promise, I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.W. Jay.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Text
Rom. 1:8-13. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. Rom. 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers Rom. 1:10 making request, if by any means now at length I may be prospered by the will of God to come unto you. Rom. 1:11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; Rom. 1:12 that is, that I with you may be comforted in you, each of us by the others faith, both yours and mine, Rom. 1:13 And I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you (and was hindered hitherto), that I might have some fruit in you also, even as in the rest of the Gentiles.
REALIZING ROMANS, Rom. 1:8-13
15.
Who proclaimed the faith of the Romans? Were other churches and Christians talking to Paul about the faith of the Roman church? In what other way could the faith of the church at Rome be made known?
16.
What is meant by the whole world as used by Paul? Had he been in the whole world?
17.
Why did Paul call God to witness the truth of his statement? Would not the Romans believe him?
18.
Paul served God in, or with, his spirit. What is meant? Jesus said to worship in spirit and truth (Joh. 4:24). Is this what Jesus had in mind?
19.
Paul refers to his prayers for many Christians. If he prayed unceasingly for the Romans, (28 persons mentioned in chapters 1516), for the Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, Corinthians, and others, he must have spent a good deal of time just calling out the names in his prayers. Is this a fair evaluation of what he meant?
20.
If by any means . . . I may be prospered by the will of God to come unto you (Rom. 1:10). What does Paul mean by means? Can you think of some specific means through which the will of God was working out? Is the will of God working out in your life? Read carefully Jas. 4:13-15 in this connection.
21.
What is the spiritual gift Paul wanted to impart to the saints in Rome? Let us have no hasty answers. Are you sure you do not know? There are some definite possibilities as to meaning. Name one. Perhaps there is only one.
22.
Please note now that Rom. 1:12 explains or enlarges on Rom. 1:11. How could the faith of Paul comfort the saints? Vice versa? Is there a better word than comforted to use here? Use one, and then look up the original from one source or another.
23.
Who hindered PaulSatan or God? Consider this question in light of the one we asked on any means (Ques. No. 20).
24.
What fruit did Paul expect? Was it the fruit of the Spirit in the saints or the fruit of salvation in sinners? It does seem to me that more weight is to be found on one side of this question than on the other. Which is it?
Paraphrase
Rom. 1:8-13. And first, I thank my God through Jesus Christ, on account of all of you who have embraced the gospel, that your faith in Jesus Christ is so conspicuous, that it is spoken of throughout the whole Roman empire.
Rom. 1:9 In saying I am thankful for your conversion, I speak the truth; for I call God to witness, whom, with the utmost earnestness, I serve in the ministry of the gospel of his Son, that constantly I make affectionate mention of you.
Rom. 1:10 Always in my prayers, requesting that by some means, now at length, I may have a prosperous journey to Jerusalem, (Rom. 15:25) by the will of God, under whose direction I execute my ministry, and then to come to you.
Rom. 1:11 For I greatly desire to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, in order that ye may be established against the heathens, who wish to bring you back to idolatry, and the Jews, who would subject you to the law.
Rom. 1:12 And this is proposed, that I may be comforted together with you, through the mutual faith both of you, whose faith will be confirmed by these gifts, and of me, whose faith will be confirmed when I see unbelievers converted by these gifts.
Rom. 1:13 Now, brethren, lest ye should be surprised that I, who am the apostle of the Gentiles, and who have expressed such a desire to see you, have never yet preached in Rome, I would not have you ignorant, that oftentimes I purposed to come to you, (though I have been hindered hitherto), in order that I might have some fruit of my ministry among you, the idolatrous inhabitants of Rome also, even as among the other Gentiles.
Summary
Paul is thankful that the belief of the disciples in Rome is spoken of everywhere. He always mentions them in his prayers, and desires at some time a prosperous journey to them. He longs to see them, and to impart to them some spiritual gift to strengthen them. From their mutual belief, he hopes to derive much comfort. Paul had often purposed to come to them, and had been hindered. He desired some fruit among them, such as he had in the other nations.
Comment
After this, he then expresses his personal desires for those in Rome in a prayer of thanksgiving, a prayer on their behalf, and a statement of his desire to visit them for the purpose of mutual helpfulness. In speaking of his desired but hindered visit, he mentions that the purpose of his visit would be to have some fruit in you also, even as in the rest of the Gentiles, (Rom. 1:8-13)
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(8) I thank my God through Jesus Christ.How can the Apostle be said to thank God through Jesus Christ? Christ is, as it were, the medium through whom God has been brought into close relation to man. Hence all intercourse between God and man is represented as passing through Him. He is not only the divine Logos by whom God is revealed to man, but He is also the Head of humanity by whom the tribute of thanks and praise is offered to God.
Throughout the whole world.A hyperbole, which is the more natural as the Apostle is speaking of Rome, the centre and metropolis of the world as he knew it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(8-17) The Apostle congratulates the Romans on the good report of them that he had heard. He had long and earnestly desired to visit them in person. Yes, even in Rome he must preach the gospelof which he is not ashamed, but proud. It is fraught with nothing less than salvation itself alike to Jew and Gentile. In it is revealed that great plan or scheme of God by which man is made just before Him.
To the modern reader who does not make an effort to enter into the mind of the Apostle, the language of these verses, may seem too high-pitched for the occasion. It is not easy to realise the intensity with which St. Paul felt on what in any degree, however small, affected the spiritual life of those who acknowledged the same Master that he did. He had few of those petty distractions that we have. The whole force of his rich and impressible nature was concentrated upon this one subject; and his expressions reflect the state of tension in which he felt himself to be. Thus it is that they take a solemnity and earnestness to which an ordinary correspondence would not attain.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8-17. The direct address. Thus far in his superscription the apostle speaks of both himself and the Romans mainly in the third person singular and plural. He now addresses them in the second person plural directly, and treats of personal matters.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
8. First Before the main argument.
The whole world Wherever Christians exist. From this we learn, contrary to the supposition of some commentators, that a body of Christians now existed at Rome, and that from their metropolitan position the fact was well known throughout the wide spread Christian republic.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.’
He wants them first of all to know that he thanks ‘my God’ through Jesus Christ for all of them, because he is aware that their faith is spoken of throughout the world. ‘My God’ brings out the very personal feeling that Paul had for God. It also occurs in 1Co 1:4; Php 1:3. He saw Him as ‘my God’, not because he was excessively possessive, but because his heart was so warmed towards Him. He felt in close association with Him.
And he thanked Him ‘through Jesus Christ’. This use here in Romans of the idea of Christ’s mediatorship as related to his thanksgiving is unique. It is not introduced in his thanksgivings elsewhere. It probably arises in this case because of the nature of the introduction above, with its emphasis on ‘the Son’. He is continuing the emphasis on the Father’s association with the Son, and on the fact that the Gospel of God is concerning His Son.
What he thanks God for is that ‘their faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.’ Whilst the words may contain a little flattery (he was trying to win their hearts so that they would give his words a fair hearing), they do also indicate the fact that the church in Rome was well known and well spoken of throughout the world with which Paul was familiar.
‘Your faith.’ What is being spoken about is the strength of their trust in Jesus Christ. All knew of the vibrant faith of those in the church at Rome. And it had to be vibrant in order to survive what was brought against it.
It is important to note the phrase ‘throughout the whole world’. It is, of course, not literally true. There were many parts of the world where the Gospel had not reached. It was speaking rather of the world known to Paul. We can compare how ‘all the earth’ came to hear the wisdom of Solomon’ (1Ki 10:24), that is all the world as known to the people of Jerusalem. The same proviso applies there. It means the world as known to the writer. This should always be borne in mind when we come across the word ‘world’ in the New Testament and especially in Revelation. It is referring to the world known to the writer.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Paul Explains To The Roman Christians His Desire To See Them And The Reason For It (1:8-12).
Paul stresses to the Roman Christians that he thanks God for the effectiveness of their testimony and unceasingly prays for them, desiring to meet up with them so that he can share with them in discussions about their mutual faith, their faith and his. He is conscious that he has been given a unique understanding of the Gospel, but he is humble enough to recognise that he can learn from them too.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Paul’s Prayer of Thanksgiving – Paul begins many of his epistles with a prayer, a feature typical of ancient Greco-Roman epistles as well, [134] with each prayer reflecting the respective themes of these epistles. For example, Paul’s prayer of thanksgiving to the church at Rome (Rom 1:8-12) reflects the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in redeeming mankind. Paul’s prayer of thanks for the Corinthians (1Co 1:4-8) reflects the theme of the sanctification of believers so that the gifts of the Spirit can operate through them as mature believers walking in love. Paul’s prayer to the Corinthians of blessing to God for comforting them in their tribulations (2Co 1:3-7) reflects the theme of higher level of sanctification so that believers will bear the sufferings of Christ and partake of His consolation. Paul’s prayer to the Ephesians (Eph 1:15-22) reflects the theme of the believer’s participation in God the Father’s great plan of redemption, as they come to the revelation this divine plan in their lives. Paul’s prayer to the Philippians (Php 1:3-11) reflects the theme of the believer’s role of participating with those whom God the Father has called to minister redemption for mankind. Paul’s prayer to the Colossians (Col 1:9-16) reflects the theme of the Lordship of Jesus Christ over the life of every believer, as they walk worthy of Him in pleasing Him. Paul’s prayer of thanksgiving to the Thessalonians (1Th 1:2-4) reflects the theme of the role of the Holy Spirit in our complete sanctification, spirit, soul, and body. Paul’s second prayer of thanksgiving to the Thessalonians (2Th 1:3-4) reflects the theme of maturity in the believer’s sanctification.
[134] John Grassmick says many ancient Greek and Roman epistles open with a “health wish” and a prayer to their god in behalf of the recipient. See John D. Grassmick, “Epistolary Genre,” in Interpreting the New Testament Text, eds. Darrell L. Bock and Buist M. Fanning (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2006), 232.
Rom 1:8-12 serves as an introduction to a people that Paul does not know personally. Therefore, he begins by praying for them and expressing his deep desire to visit them.
Rom 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
Rom 1:8
Act 18:2, “And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.”
Suetonius speaks of such a banishment of all the Jews from Rome by the emperor Claudius (A.D. 41 to 54) during the years A.D. 49 or 50.
“He banished from Rome all the Jews, who were continually making disturbances at the instigation of one Chrestus” ( The Lives of the Twelve Caesars: Claudius 25.4)
Bible scholars believe that this Latin author is most likely referring to the same incident that is mentioned in Scripture. Thus, these Jewish believers probably went forth throughout the Roman Empire proclaiming the Gospel, much as did Aquila and Priscilla. This would have allowed their faith to be spoken of throughout the world, as stated in Romans.
Rom 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
Rom 1:9
Rom 8:9, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit , if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
Php 3:3, “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit , and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”
Rom 1:9 Comments – It was Paul’s unceasing prayers for these believers at Rome that gave him enough familiarity with them to write his lengthy greeting to them in the closing chapter of this epistle.
Rom 1:10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.
Rom 1:10
Rom 1:10 “by the will of God to come unto you” Comments – We hear the language of servanthood in Rom 1:10 as Paul seeks permission from his Master and Lord to visit Rome. This phrase literally reads, “if by the good pleasure of God’s will I might come to you.” In other words, Paul was seeking to find God’s will in Him being pleased to send him to Rome.
Scripture References – Note:
Mat 26:39, “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt .”
Jas 4:15, “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will , we shall live, and do this, or that.”
Rom 1:10 Comments – One of the main reasons that Paul wanted to visit the church at Rome is revealed in Rom 1:8. Paul had heard of their faith in Christ Jesus. This had led him to invest in this great work at Rome through much prayer. He had sown his work of faith and love into their lives. He now wanted to see his investment.
Rom 1:11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;
Rom 1:11
Rom 1:11 “that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift” Comments – It is interesting to note that Paul speaks in general terms about the impartation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to the believers at Rome. This is probably because he understood that each particular gift is chosen and imparted by the Spirit, and not by the will of man. The varieties of spiritual gifts that are determined by the Holy Spirit are later listed in Rom 12:6-8.
Rom 12:6-8, “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.”
Rom 1:11 Comments – In Rom 1:11 Paul tells the saints in Roman that he wants to visit them in order to impart a spiritual gift ( ). He mentions in the next verse that this gift means their mutual faith will bring comfort to both Paul and the Roman believers. This comfort can come in many forms. For some, it may be simply words of comfort and encouragement and love that strengthen their faith and wisdom. For others, their comfort may be an impartation of the anointing by the gifts of the Spirit because when believers get together, the anointing is often present. For still others, Paul may bring some love offerings and material gifts. God knows what each individual at Rome needed. Note that in 2Co 1:15, Paul makes a similar statement when he tells them that his next visit will bring them an additional benefit, or grace ( ).
2Co 1:15, “And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit;”
Rom 1:12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
Rom 1:12
Rom 15:24, “Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company .”
Rom 15:32, “That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed .”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Calling of the Gentiles through the Gospel In Rom 1:8-17 Paul begins a discussion on the calling of the Gentiles by explaining his divine call to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. He will offer a pray of thanksgiving for God’s work in the lives of the believers in Rome (Rom 1:8-12), then express his desire to visit Rome in order to bear fruit in this harvest field based upon his debt to all of mankind as an apostle of Jesus Christ (Rom 1:13-15). He then expresses his inner compulsion to preach the Gospel, trusting in its power to transform lives (Rom 1:16-17).
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. Paul’s Prayer of Thanksgiving Rom 1:8-12
2. Paul’s Desire to Visit Rome Rom 1:13-15
3. The Power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ Rom 1:16-17
Illustration – When asked to announce that a leading ministry was coming to Uganda to speak, the Lord quickened this passage of Scripture to me. I told them that this powerful minister was looking forward to visiting them (Rom 1:11). I then explained the purpose of this visit. It was to impart a spiritual gift into their lives. I explained that spiritual gifts come in many different ways, in the form an anointing, or as faith, or as wisdom, and even as material gifts. I explained that this minister would speak words of wisdom that will improve the quality of their lives, if they would receive it. I then told them that they would also be a blessing to this minister (Rom 1:12). Then, I told them that there were three things that they needed to do in order to get ready for this meeting so that they could be a blessing for this minister of the Gospel. First, they need to pray, so that no hindrances stop this meeting (Rom 1:13 and Rom 15:31 a). Secondly, I told them that this minister is coming to pay a spiritual debt in the kingdom of God (Rom 1:14). Since she is paying a bill, you need to give of yourselves also in order to help prepare this church building so that it can handle the large crowd that will attend. They needed to give financially as well as giving themselves in the ministry of helps as the church services take place. Thirdly, they need to receive the message that will be preached (Rom 1:15). I told them that if they will receive this ministry, God would send to them other great ministers.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Calling of the Gentiles and Jews In Roman Rom 1:8 to Rom 3:20 Paul reveals how God has called Gentiles and Jews through the Gospel of His Son (Rom 1:8-17) because (1) mankind has rejected God’s call through the revelation of His creation (Rom 1:18-32), which revelation bore witness to man’s understanding of God through his mind, (2) man has rejected God’s call through his conscience (Rom 2:1-16), which conscience is the voice of man’s heart, (3) and man has rejected God’s call through the Mosaic Law (Rom 2:17 to Rom 3:20), which bears witness to man’s unrighteous deeds and actions of his body. Thus, God has testified of Himself to man’s mind, spirit, and body, the triune make-up of man. In this section revealing God’s call to mankind, Paul expound s upon His method of divine judgment because of the fact that all have sinned, the Jew as well as the Gentile.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. The Calling of the Gentiles thru the Gospel Rom 1:8-17
2. God’s Wrath Reveals Man’s Rejection of His Call Rom 1:18 to Rom 3:20
Justification Begins with the Depravity of Mankind – As a side note, it is interesting that Paul does not begin his exposition on justification by discussing the existence of God, but rather, by explaining the depravity of mankind. However, Paul does make a brief statement about the witness of God’s existence in Rom 1:19-20, where creation testifies of a general revelation of mankind.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Doctrinal Message: The Doctrine of Justification (An Exposition of The Gospel of Jesus Christ) In Rom 1:8 to Rom 11:36 Paul the apostle gives an exposition of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; but it is presented from the perspective of the office and ministry of God the Father as He makes a way of justifying mankind and bringing him into his eternal glory in Heaven. Thus, we can describe Rom 1:8 to Rom 11:36 as an exposition of the doctrine of justification through faith in Jesus Christ. The body of the epistle of Romans discusses God the Father’s method of justification for mankind (Rom 3:21 to Rom 8:16), while His predestination is emphasized in the introduction (Rom 1:1-7), His divine calling introduces this section of doctrine (Rom 1:8 to Rom 3:20), and His plan of glorification for the Church (Rom 8:17-28) and for Israel are given (Rom 9:1 to Rom 11:36) are given last.
In this grand exposition of the doctrine of justification through faith in Jesus Christ Paul uses a number of examples to explain God’s way of justifying mankind. For example, Abraham’s faith is used to explain how we also put our faith in Christ to be justified before God. The analogy of Adam being a type and figure of Christ is used to explain how divine grace takes effect in the life of the believer. He uses the example of the laws of slavery and freedmen to explain our need to walk in our new lives, no longer under the bondages of sin. The illustration of marriage and widowhood is used to explain how we are now free from the Law and bound to Christ. It is very likely that the Lord quickened these examples and analogies to Paul while he sought to understand and explain this doctrine of justification in the synagogues and to the Gentiles during his years of evangelism and church planting. So, when he sat down to write out an exposition of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul drew upon many of the examples that he had used over the years under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. The Calling of Gentiles Rom 1:8 to Rom 3:20
2. God’s Righteousness Revealed In Christ Rom 3:21 to Rom 8:16
3. Glorification by Divine Election: Glorification Rom 8:17-28
4. Summary of God’s Divine Plan of Redemption Rom 8:29-39
5. Divine Election and Israel’s Redemption Rom 9:1 to Rom 11:32
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Introduction to the Letter
Paul’s longing to see the Christians of Rome:
v. 8. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
v. 9. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the Gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,
v. 10. making request if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.
v. 11. For I long to see you that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;
v. 12. that is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. In this introduction Paul pursues the course usually adopted by him in his epistles, namely, of first placing himself in relation with his readers; and his first point of contact with them is gratitude for their participation in Christianity. “First,” above all things, before everything else. Very emphatically Paul brings out this thought of his sincere gratitude, which must always stand first in the Christian’s life and precede all prayers and wishes. Note that the apostle refers to “my God. ” That is the essence of true faith, that the believer puts his personal trust in God and uses the language of personal application with a full understanding of personal obligation. It is the God whose he is and whom he serves, Act 27:23. Through Jesus Christ, Paul thanks God; for without the salvation gained by our great Substitute man could not enter into the proper relation with God, nor could any work of man, even prayer and thanksgiving, be pleasing to God. The precious name of Jesus Christ, which has been named three times in the salutation, appears also in the introduction proper, at the head of the letter. His thanks to God concern them all, for they are actuated by the fact that their faith, visible to all men by its fruits and manifestations, by their Christian life, was spoken of in the whole world. Since Rome was the capital of the world, anything unusual happening there was sure to be transmitted and to spread into all parts of the world with great rapidity. It was a fine testimony to the soundness of their faith that the Roman Christians had such an enviable reputation wherever the Christian religion was professed.
The thanksgiving of Paul was naturally a matter between him and God; it was hidden from the observation of men. He therefore appeals to God, who hears his ceaseless prayers for the Roman Christians, as a witness of the truth of his statement, of the sincerity of the love which he bears them, although he had not till now stood in personal elation with them. It was this God to whom Paul here appealed in solemn affirmation, whom he served in his spirit in the Gospel of His Son. His spirit, his regenerated heart, enables him to perform his work in prayerful communion with God. He serves God in the Gospel of His Son, in the preaching of the redemption earned through the blood of the Son of God. This ministry is a sacrificial service, a true act of worship, a fine external manifestation of the internal relation with God. A true minister of the Word does not only serve God in the Gospel when he proclaims the Word publicly and privately, but also when he deals with God alone, in the communion of prayer for himself and all those entrusted to his spiritual care.
To his thanksgiving in behalf of the Roman Christians, Paul added a constant reminder about them, pleading with the Lord whether, in accordance with his prayers, he would ever be so fortunate as to come to them by the will of God. That was one of the most eager wishes of the apostle, to see the brethren in Rome face to face, to be sped on his way to them, to have the good fortune that would enable him to make the journey to see them. But he places the matter into the hands of God. The Lord of the universe and the Church, whose almighty hand shapes circumstances and destinies, could and would surely at His appointed time arrange matters so that Paul would see Rome, Jas 4:15.
The reason for his earnest petition and pleading Paul states to be his sincere longing to see the Christians in Rome, to become personally acquainted with them, with the purpose of transmitting to them some spiritual gift, in order to confirm, to establish them. Whatever of gracious gift Paul might be able to communicate to them in the form of teaching, admonition, consolation, he did not ascribe to his own personality and gifts, but to the mercy of God, of which they became partakers through the Spirit of God. For it is the Holy Ghost alone that works spiritual benefits in the heart of men through the preaching of the Word. But while the brethren at Rome will thus be confirmed and strengthened in their faith and in their Christian life, Paul himself will not remain without benefit. He himself will find comfort, consolation, Christian encouragement among them when they are strengthened. Both parties will thus gain an advantage through faith in one another, by their mutual faith, whose oneness is here emphasized. As Paul gives evidence of his faith by instructing the Roman Christians, by testifying of his faith, so they give evidence of their faith by accepting the Word of God with gladness. Thus both would receive comfort and cheer in their faith. He that teaches and confirms others, himself has benefit there from and is edified, since he sees that the Word is received by the hearers with all indications of the gracious power of God.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Rom 1:8. First, I thank, &c. In the very entrance of this epistle are the traces of all spiritual affections; but of thankfulness above all, with the expression of which almost all St. Paul’s epistles begin. He here particularly thanks God, that what otherwise himself should have done, was doneat Rome already. My God, expresses faith, hope, love, and consequently all true religion. The goodness and wisdom of God are remarkable, in that he established the Christian faith in the chief cities, such as Jerusalem and Rome, whence it might be diffused throughout the whole world. Bengelius.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rom 1:8 . ] To that, which Paul desires first of all to write, there was meant to be subjoined something further , possibly by . But, amidst the ideas that now crowd upon him, he abandons this design, and thus the remains alone. Comp Rom 3:2 ; and on Act 1:1 ; 1Co 11:18 ; Schaefer, a [341] Dem. IV. p. 142; Hartung, Partikell . II. p. 410.
] , , Act 27:23 ; comp 1Co 1:4 ; Phi 1:3 ; Phi 4:19 ; Phm 1:4 .
] These words to be connected with , not with , as Koppe and Glckler think, against which Rom 7:25 and Col 3:17 are clearly decisive contain the mediation, through which the takes place. The Apostle gives thanks not on his own part and independently of Christ, not , but is conscious of his thanksgiving being conveyed through Jesus Christ, as one who is present to his grateful thoughts; in so far, namely, as that for which he thanks God is vividly perceived and felt by him to have been brought about through Christ. Comp on Col 3:17 ; Eph 5:20 . Thus Christ is the mediating causal agent of the thanksgiving. To regard Him as its mediating presenter (Origen, Theophylact, Bengel, and others, including Hofmann) cannot be justified from Paul’s other writings, nor even by Heb 13:15 . Theodore of Mopsuestia well observes: .
] quite simply: your faith (on Christ); the praiseworthy character of the is only set forth by the context ( . . .) afterwards. Everywhere one hears your faith openly spoken of. Comp Rom 16:19 . Observe how this flattering expression of the Apostle and the thanksgiving coupled with it, as also the . . [345] , in Rom 1:11-12 , point to the church not as Jewish-Christian but as Pauline . Mangold’s reference to Phi 1:15-18 , in opposition to this inference, leaves out of view the quite different personal situation under which the latter was written. Comp on Phi 1:18 , note .
. ] a popular hyperbole, but how accordant with the position of the church in that city, towards which the eyes of the whole world were turned! Comp 1Th 1:8 . It is, moreover, obvious of itself, that the subjects of the are the believers . As to the unbelievers, see Act 28:22 .
[341] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
[345] . . . .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Rom 1:8-15 . First of all the Apostle now as under various forms in all his epistles, with the exception of that to the Galatians (also not in 1 Timothy and Titus) expresses with thanksgiving towards God his pious joy at the faith of his readers; and then assures them of his longing to be with them and to labour among them personally. The thanksgiving is short , for it relates to a church not only personally unknown to him, but also far removed from the sphere of labour which he had hitherto occupied; but the expression of it is in accordance with the position of the church in the metropolis of the world.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
II
The Introduction
Rom 1:8-15
8First [of all],39 I thank my God through Jesus Christ for [concerning]40 you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world [in all the world]. 9For God is my witness, whom I serve with [in] my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that [how, ]41 without ceasing I make mention of you [how unceasingly 10I remember you;] always in my prayers; Making request, [; always asking in my prayers,]42 if by any means now at length [if haply now at last]43 I might have a prosperous journey [I may be prospered]44 by the will of God to come unto you. 11For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you [share with you, ] some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established [in order that ye may be strengthened];45 12That is, that I may be comforted together with you, by the mutual faith both of you and me [among you by each others faith, both 13yours and mine].46 Now [But] I would not47 have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes [often] I purposed to come unto you (but was let48 [hindered] hitherto)49 that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles [the rest of the Gentiles]. 14I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise [Both to Greeks and to Barbarians; 15both to wise and to unwise, I am debtor]. So,50 as much as in me is [as far as lies in me], I am ready,51 to preach the gospel to you [also] that [who] are at Rome also [omit also].
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Second Section.The connecting link in the form of doxology, and the transition of the author to his designed argument in the fundamental topic. The praise of the faith of the Roman Christians known all over the world, and the desire and purpose of the Apostle to visit them.
Rom 1:8. First of all, I thank.De Wette: In all his Epistles, with the exception of Galatians, 1 Tim., and Titus,52 the Apostle pursues the natural course of first placing himself, so to speak, in relation with his readers; and his first point of contact with them is gratitude for their participation in Christianity. [So also Alford in loc]. Comp. also 1Th 1:2; 2Th 1:3; 1Co 1:4. This means more definitely that the Apostle, in his epistles, with thanksgiving to God, seizes the point of connection for his subsequent argument; and this point of connection is in general a recognition of what has been already attained, but it takes its peculiar form from the condition of the different churches. Kllner calls this, captatio benevolenti. Tholuck: The Apostle opens his way to the hearts of the church by a declaration of his love. [Words-worth: As usual, the Apostle begins with a sentiment by which he expresses his gratitude to God, and conciliates the good will of those to whom he writes.P. S.] According to Tholuck [De Wette] and Meyer, we would properly expect an [or ] after , but not in point of fact, since the marks the emphasis of the following introductory word.My God. Not only the expression of genuine feeling (De Wette), but also of the thought that God has shown Himself as the God of his apostolic call, by opening before him a path in Rome for the cause of Christ (Act 28:15). [The language of personal application, with a corresponding sense of personal obligation: the God who, with all His blessings and promises, belongs to me, as I belong to Him, and am bound to serve Him. Comp. Act 27:23 : , , 1Co 1:4; Php 1:3; Php 4:19; Phm 1:4.P. S.]Through Jesus Christ. [Not to be connected with (Koppe, Glckler), but with .P. S.] Comp. Rom 7:25; Col 3:17; Heb 13:15; 1Pe 2:5. Origen: Christ, as the mediator of the prayer, also presents the thanksgiving. [Velut per pontificem magnum: opportet enim scire eum qui vult offerre sacrificium Deo, quod per manus Pontificis debet offerre. So also Calvin, who refers to Heb 13:15, Bengel, Olshausen, and Hodge, who justly says that it is the clear doctrine of the Bible that, in all our approaches to God in prayer or praise, we must come in the name of Christ as the ground of our acceptance.P. S.] Meyer objects to this view as not justified by Pauls usual method, and explains that he renders thanks for what has come to pass by Christ. [Similarly Alford.] But what is meant by giving thanks for every thing in the name of Jesus Christ? (Eph 5:20.) The thanksgiving, as well as prayer, must be sanctified by the spiritual communion with Christ, and thus come before God; by this means, all selfish interests, and all human and passionate joy at the obtained results are excluded.For you all. The and were often confounded or changed by the copyists; therefore the Recepta has here. Here, as at the beginning of Rom 1:7, the Apostle emphasizes the fact that he has in view all the believers in Rome, and will not appeal to or favor any partisan tendency.That your faith is spoken of. Mention is made of it, and it has become famous among Christians in the whole world (see Rom 10:18; Rom 16:19). The expression, which has the outward appearance of being hyperbolical, acquires its complete significance chiefly in consequence of the powerful position of the metropolis of Rome, by the weight which Christianity gained in all the world by the conquest of this central home of the world, and by the Apostles views of the future of this apostolic station. See the quotations from Grotius and Calvin in Tholuck. [Meyer: a popular hyperbole, but admirably suited to the position of the congregation in the metropolis of the world, to which the eyes of all were directed. Remember the adage: Orbis in urbe continetur.P. S.]
Rom 1:9. For God is my witness. The for establishes the foregoing. Here, therefore, the thanksgiving through Christ is also explained (Php 1:3; Col 1:3; 1Th 1:2). The sense of the solemn asseveration is: My declaration is before the face of God. The free asseverations of this character arise in the Apostles case from the inner character of his work and the loftiness of his position. He cannot adduce earthly witnesses of the peculiarity of the facts which he has to assure; they are of heavenly origin, and he calls on God as their witness: that is, his whole knowledge of God, and his apostolic conscience, must be pledged. Pareus: Ignotus ad ignotos scribens jurat. Against this, Meyer quotes Php 1:18 [and 2Co 1:23.P. S.] as decisive. The necessities for such strong expressions of the fervent man were indeed very different; but one species of them is that adduced by Pareus. The general constraint of the Apostle to let his readers sometimes look into the sanctity of his inner life, is secured by the solemn asseveration against all danger of profanation. Meyer adduces as a motive the strange fact that he, the Apostle to the Gentiles, had not yet become active in the church at Rome, although it belonged to his school. [Bengel: A pious asseveration respecting a matter necessary and hidden from men, especially from those who were remote and unknown. Alford: There could be no other witness to his practice in his secret prayers, but God: and as the assertion of a habit of incessantly praying for the Roman Christians, whom he had never seen, might seem to savor of an exaggerated expression of affection, he solemnly appeals to this only possible testimony. To the Ephesians, Philippians (see, however, Php 1:8), Colossians, Thessalonians, he gives the same assurance, but without the asseveration. The thus calling God to witness is no uncommon practice with Paul; see ref. in E. V. The Apostles frequent appeal to God (2Co 1:23; 2Co 11:31; Php 1:8; 1Th 2:5; 1Th 2:10; Gal 1:20) is a devout recognition of Gods omniscience, and hence an act of worship. It disproves the literal interpretation of Mat 5:33 ff., which prohibits perjury, and all useless and thoughtless swearing. Comp. Tholuck, Die Berpredigt, p. 263 ff. (3d ed.).P. S.]
Whom I serve in my spirit. The idea of the real service of God, which so powerfully pervades the Epistle to the Romans, first appears with the (see Rom 1:21; Rom 2:22; Rom 3:25; Rom 5:2; Rom 12:1; Rom 15:16; Rom 16:25-27; comp. Act 7:7). As such a , he stands before God. But he serves Him in his spirit; that is, his priesthood is not merely external, but the living service of God by a spiritually awakened, vital, and steadfast consciousness.53 Grotius and Reiche have found in the . an antithetical relation to the Jewish in the law. Meyer thinks such an idea farfetched. But we are rather of the opinion that the Apostle is still thinking of all external character of worship, and especially that of the heathen Romans. [Umbreit, approvingly quoted by Alford: The Apostle means that he is an intelligent, true priest of his God, not in the temple, but in his spirit; not at the altar, but at the gospel of His Son. () and () are used in the Septuagint of the ministrations of the Jewish priesthood in the temple (comp. Luk 1:23; Heb 8:6; Heb 9:21), and in the New Testament applied to the Christian ministry, and to worship generally (Mat 4:10; Php 2:17). The words , &c., give additional force to his solemn asseveration, and attest its sincerity.P. S.]In the gospel of his Son. (Genitive of the object.) His spirit is the temple, the sphere of his service; the gospel of the Son of God in the great work of evangelization, is the substance and form of his service of God.How without ceasing. Meyer: does not stand for (as it is usually taken, even by Fritzsche), but expresses the mode (the degree). This thanking without ceasing is not only more precisely defined, but more exactly conditioned by what follows.
Rom 1:10. Always in my prayers. His spiritual longing and striving are directed toward Rome; therefore he is ever (and everywhere. Bretschneider: Ubicumque locorum et quovis tempore. Luther: in all places) praying with his mind fixed on Rome. The thought is thus defined, if, with Tischendorf, we place a comma after . We prefer this view to that of Meyer: Always asking in my prayers. [Comp. here my Textual Note in defence of Meyers punctuation.P. S.] There was, during his prayers, an unceasing remembrance of the Romans (the is the determination of the time or the occasion), and this became a specific and urgent prayer.If haply now at last I. The expression declares at the same time the earnestness of the petition, and humble resignation.Might have a prosperous journey [better: may be prospered.P. S.] Meyer: The active seldom has the exact signification, to lead well, expeditum iter prbere; but the passive never means via recta incedere, expeditum iter habere, but always [even in Pro 17:8] metaphorically, prospero successu gaudere. [Meyer then quotes a number of passages.P. S.] Therefore the explanation, which anyhow gives a trivial idea, prospero itinereutar (Vulgate, and others), must be rejected. [So also Alford.] Nevertheless, the choice of the word was suited to the allusion that the prosperity which the Apostle desired would consist in a successful journey to Rome; and we have sought to express this in the translation (Wohlfahrt). The affair is a subject of his prayerful solicitude, for it is not from selfishness, but only in accordance with Gods will that he will come to Rome. (Schott connects the . . . not with , but with ; but then the word would not seem to have been well chosen.)
Rom 1:11. For I long to see you, . Fritzsche: simply cupio. [Not valde or ardenter cupio; comp. 2Co 5:2; for does not intensify, but simply expresses the direction of the , which itself means strong desire. So also De Wette, Meyer, and Alford.P. S.] Schott, . According to Schott, the see you, , would indicate that Paul did not design to stay in Rome. But yet it constitutes an antithesis to the Epistle now about to be written.Some spiritual gift, . De Wette: is simply a gift, without special reference to Divine grace. [De Wette understands by it the , Rom 1:12, and is followed by Alford.P. S.] But the word must be explained by Pauls use of language, especially by 1Co 12:4. The specific gift of Paul consists in his being the Apostle to the Gentiles; and without doubt this expression means not only that the Roman Church is to receive a general spiritual blessing from him, but shall also share in this special spiritual gift. [But such specific reference seems to be excluded by , nor was the apostolate of the Gentiles strictly communicable to a congregation. Hence I prefer, with Tholuck, Olshausen, and Philippi, to give a more general application: spiritual invigoration of the whole Christian life, , , , , &c. So Hodge: Any increase of knowledge, of grace, or of power.P. S.] The adjective , especially in connection with , can only denote a spiritual quality of the gift which proceeds from the communion of the divine Spirit. [Springing from the Spirit of God, and imparted to the spirit of man; Alford]. The following explanations are one-sided: Miraculous gifts (Bengel, &c.); gifts of the human spiritual life (Kllner, &c.). The , some, expresses not only the Apostles modesty (Meyer), but an acknowledgment that the Romans were already in the faith, together with an intimation that something was still wanting in them.In order that ye may be strengthened (see Rom 16:25). This is the object of the charismatic communication. [Paul uses the passive , since he is simply the instrument through which God Himself strengthens and invigorates the spiritual life in man; comp. Rom 16:25 : , and 2Th 2:17.P. S.]
Rom 1:12. That is, that I may be comforted together with you, &c. The connection of the two objects serves to explain one as well as the other. The Apostle wishes that the Romans be strengthened by him (the choice of the passive is not merely an expression of modesty, but also of the information that the matter is not of human choice, but that the blessing must come from the Lord), not only in their faith in general, but also in their particular calling as Roman Christians in their central relation to the world. And the result there-from will be, that the Apostle will be encouraged and aided in his universal apostleship. The addition, that is, &c., is therefore not a sancta adulatio (Erasmus), nor a safeguard against the appearance of presumption (Meyer),54 but the statement of his whole purpose. This purpose is not to seek comfort and consolation among them, as the ( in the New Testament) is explained by many, in harmony with the Peshito and Vulgate; but he will find Christian encouragement among them when they are strengthened (Meyer). Yet this is not only in general, but with a view to his Western mission. The does not include the readers (Fritzsche), but is related as a termination to the of the Romans. This can be seen by the following: By our common (reciprocal) faith, both yours and mine. This is a brief form of expression (Reiche, Van Hengel, and others, supply the with an ). He declares the fact that the communion of faith should serve for the reciprocal promotion of the faith. Fritzsche and Schott miss , but this is implied in the words of the first person in Rom 1:11.
Rom 1:13. But I would not have you ignorant. Well-known form of announcement, especially of something new and important (Rom 11:25; 1Co 10:1; 1Th 4:13).That oftentimes I purposed, &c. Together with the Apostles other impediments, it is of special consideration that, after every missionary journey, he found it necessary to return to Jerusalem in order to establish the unity of his new congregation with the mother church. Many delays were occasioned also by the necessary inspection and review of his organized churches, their internal disturbances, and the persecutions on the part of the Jews. The fact that he desired first to establish his mission in the East, he could not call an impediment. Meyer points to Rom 15:22. [So does Alford.] But the Apostle seems to intimate here (according to Rom 1:20-21) that he must prepare the church at Rome, as a church already existing, for his visit (by sending out his friends in advance). Meyers remark is odd: Therefore hindered neither by the devil (1Th 2:18), nor by the Holy Ghost (Act 16:6); for his general hinderance is specified in these terms.That I might have some fruit. Harvest-fruit, as a laborer. The figure is frequent (Php 1:22) [Joh 4:36; Joh 15:16; Col 1:6. The fruit is not the result of Pauls labor, or his reward, but the good works of the Roman Christians who have been planted to bring forth fruit to God. This fruit the Apostle expected to gather and to present to God. Alford.P. S.]. The choice of the expression is evidently a new evidence of his delicacy and modesty. We cannot urge that is the antithesis of have (Meyer: gehabt htte) and obtain (Kllner).Among you also. The intensifies the comparison, in lively expression. The expression, , is used here to indicate definitely the Gentiles; first, because the Romans, as Romans, are Gentiles, from whom the remaining Gentiles are distinguished as such; then, because he has hitherto labored as the Apostle to the Gentiles. See the Exeg. Note on Rom 1:14. Schott: There runs, from Rom 1:11-13, this thought: The Apostle Paul, in preparing himself for apostolic preaching in the midst of the Western Gentile world, regards it necessary to secure the Roman Church as a point of support and departureso to speak, as a base of operations. While this opinion is correct enough as far as the definiteness of his aim is concerned, the Apostle was far from regarding Rome merely as the means for an end, without first having chiefly in view the purpose of edifying the Roman Church for its own sake.
Rom 1:14. To Greeks and to Barbarians. What is the desire of his heart and his effort, is at the same time his calling and the duty of his office. His apostleship belongs to the whole Gentile world, and for this reason incidentally also to the Jews. Therefore, in consequence of the existing unity of Grecian and Roman culture, the Greeks and the Romans are combined under the term Greeks, in antithesis to the so-called Barbarians (Cicero, De Fin. ii. Romans 15 : Non solum Grcia et Italia, sed etiam omnis barbaria), just as the term wise comprehends Jews and Greeks (1Co 1:26), and the unwise those barbarian nations who stood lowest in intellectual culture.55 The antithesis of Greeks and Barbarians means, according to the original Greek usage, Greeks and non-Greeksthe latter as uncultivated Barbarians in a national sense. It is in this sense that the present passage is interpreted by Reiche and others. But at a time when Greek was written in Rome, and to Rome, the word undoubtedly indicated an historical antithesis of culture, according to the expression quoted from Cicero; and Paul, with his refined feeling, could hardly have chosen the word in the former restricted sense. (Ambrosiaster, and others.) Meyer objects that the Romans were nowhere enumerated as Hellenes. But this is certainly the case in Rom 1:16, where the Hellene represents heathendom in general. Comp. Rom 2:9-10; Rom 10:12; and the many antitheses of a similar character in the Acts of the Apostles, and in the other Pauline Epistles. Therefore Meyers statement is unsatisfactory, that Paul would only express his Gentile-apostolic obligation in its universality, and that he does this in double merismat c form, as well according to nationality as according to the degree of culture. The sense certainly is, that he is pledged to all Gentiles. In this relation, he is in the sense of indebtedness, which he assumed at his call. See 1Co 9:10.56
Rom 1:15. So, as far as lies in me, I am ready. So far as it depends on him, he is not only willing, but determined; his inclination corresponds to his indebtedness ( = ). is variously explained. 1. , : (sc. ). 2. ( ) . 3. (= ). 4. : . De Wette and also Meyer [in the third edition of 1859, but not in the fourth.P. S.] are fur the first: As far as I am concerned, there is readiness. [This explanation connects with , and takes as the predicate and a substantive = .P. S.] Reiche [Calvin, Philippi, Van Hengel, and Meyer, in the fourth edition of 1865, where he gives up his former view.P. S.] are for the second: And so am Ias far as lies in meready. Fritzsche is for the third: My readiness, or desire, is. [ in this case is taken us a mere periphrase for , but it has an emphasis, and expresses Pauls sense of dependence on a higher will.P. S.] Tholuck is for the fourth: So, for my part, I am ready. [Tholuck, though not very decidedly, follows Beza (Quidquid in me situm est, id promptum est), Grotius, Bengel, and Rckert, and takes as the subject of the sentence = , and as an adjective and as the predicate: I am ready. But Meyer objects that is never used as a periphrase for the personal pronoun; for , and for not being parallel.P. S.] I think the explanation of Reiche the correct one.57 For further particulars, see De Wette, Tholuck, and Meyer. Theodore Schott explains the , under such circumstances, and translates thus: Under such circumstances it is my present inclination. But Paul has not at all spoken of circumstances. He asserts that , used absolutely, never means itaque, but always under this condition, these circumstances. But as the circumstances may be attending, so they may be causative; comp. Rom 5:12.To you also who are in Rome. Schott thinks that by these words are meant, not the Christians in Rome, but the Gentile inhabitants of Rome! The natural conclusion from this view would be, that his Epistle also must have been designed for the Gentiles in Rome. Certainly he had in view from the start, besides the Christians, those Gentiles also who were yet to be converted, [ is emphatically added, since Rome, the caput et theatrum orbis terrarum, could least of all be excluded from that general apostolic commission. Bengel and Meyer.P. S.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The point of connection (Rom 1:8). Every Pauline Epistle has its definite point of connection. So, too, has every apostolic sermon of Peter, Paul, and John. And this is as much a vital law for proper Christian preaching, as for missions. See the connecting point in Acts 17. The doxological character of this section. Without gratitude for what is given, there is no real continuance, still less any real progress. Gratitude must also be sanctified by working in Christ.
2. Asseverations, prayers, proofs of the Apostles prayer. See the Exeg. Notes.
3. The difference between the longing of the Apostle for Rome, and the longing of the modern world for Rome. If the Pauline Christianity of the Evangelical Church were not so much paralyzed by the indifference of humanitarianism, by the hatred and ignorance of rationalism, and by the morbid literalism of confessionalism and sectarianism, it would be able to wield the weapons of the Spirit as heroically against medival Papal Romewhich is now besieged at so many pointsas Paul, the poor tent-maker, combatted pagan, imperial Rome. Still, the gospel of God will triumph in the end.
4. The great missionary thought of the Apostle (Rom 1:11-12). See the Exeg. Notes. Rom 1:12 : The Popes do not write thus to the Romans.
5. The impediments (Rom 1:13). Although the Apostle knew well that on the absolute height of faith all impediments are only means of advancement for believers (Rom 8:28), he yet speaks of impediments with a truly human feeling. But each of these impediments marks a point where he surrenders to God his desire to pass beyond those sacred limits through which an enthusiast would have violently broken.
6. How Paul subsequently attained the object of his wishes, though not according to human purposes, but according to the counsel of God; first as a prisoner, and last as a martyr.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
How the Apostle introduces himself to the Church at Rome: 1. As remembering it in prayer (Rom 1:8-10); 2. as desiring its personal acquaintance (Rom 1:11-12); 3. as previously prevented from visiting it and fulfilling his obligation (Rom 1:13-15).The truly Christian manner of introducing ones self to strange people.Praise without flattery (Rom 1:8).Under what circumstances can we call on God to witness? 1. When we are conscious that we serve Him; 2. when the matter in hand is sacred (Rom 1:9).We cannot always do what we would (Rom 1:11-13).For what purpose should Christian friends visit each other? 1. To give; 2. to receive (Rom 1:11-12).Paul a debtor to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, to the wise and the unwise: 1. In what did his obligation consist? 2. when did he acknowledge it? 3. how did he desire to discharge it? (Rom 1:14-15).The obligation of Christians to the heathen (Rom 1:14).
Starke: We have greater occasion to thank God for spiritual than for temporal blessings (Rom 1:8).We must not always be brief in prayer, but we must continue until the heart becomes warmed (Rom 1:10).Complete sovereignty over auditors does not belong to any teacher or preacher (Rom 1:13).Quesnel: Thankfulness is one of the most excellent, but one of the most neglected duties. Preachers must supply this deficiency on the part of their flocks (Rom 1:8).The oath may be allowed, if Gods honor requires it (Rom 1:9).Cramer: The presence and living voice of teachers can accomplish more than the mere reading of their writings. Therefore Christians should not think that they have done enough, when they read Gods word in sermons at home; but, whenever they can, they should hear their instructors personally, and industriously attend public worship (Rom 1:11).Osiandri Bibl.: We should do no less than our calling directs; but we should not include therein any thing that does not belong to it, lest we trespass on the office of another (Rom 1:15).
Lisco, on Rom 1:9-12 : The fruits of the (apostolical) sense of gratitude: (a.) Continual remembrance of the Roman Christians in prayer; (b.) prayer that, by the will of God (Rom 1:10), an open way might be made for his personal acquaintance with the church.
Heubner, on Rom 1:8 : 1. There is an extended Christian celebrity in the estimation of others; yet it must not be sought nor circulated designedly, but come of itself; 2. we learn that Christian churches should take knowledge of each other. Metropolitan cities can exert an important influence on the whole country. So with Rome at that time.On Rom 1:9 : Sacred fidelity to ones calling is true service of God.
Lange: The justification of praise: 1. So far as it corresponds to the truth; 2. is embraced in thanksgiving; 3. is sanctified as an incitement to greater success.The estimation of good human conduct is not ignored by the exclusion of the merit of works, but secured against profanation.Rome formerly a celebrated congregation of believers.The different phases of Rome in universal history.The apostolical longing for Rome: 1. An image of the longing of Christ (Luk 12:49); 2. a life-picture of human destination.The sanctification of longing.The proper estimate of impediments in life: 1. We should distinguish between imaginary and real hinderances; 2. we should not become discouraged by them, but we should not stubbornly force our way through them; 3. we should overcome them by prayer; 4. we should transform them into helps. (The Epistle to the Romans, besides other blessings, arose from the Apostles hinderances.)
[Burkitt: From the Apostles longing to see the Romans, learn: 1. That the establishment in faith and holiness is needed by the holiest and best Christians; 2. that the presence of the ministers of Christ with their people is necessary for their establishment; 3. that the Apostle desired to be personally present with the Church and saints at Rome for his own benefit as well as for their advantage.Henry: Rom 1:8. The faith of the Roman Christians came to be talked of because of the prominence of Rome. That city being very conspicuous, every thing done there was talked of. Thus, they who have many eyes upon them need to walk very circumspectly; for, whether they do good or evil, it will certainly be reported. How is the purity of Rome departed! The Epistle to the Romans is an argument against them.Scott: The most of us must own with shame that we are not so earnest or particular, even in our narrow circles, as Paul was in respect to his most extensive connections and multiplied engagements. We ought to long for opportunities of usefulness, as worldly men do for a prosperous trade, or occasions of distinguishing themselves and acquiring celebrity.Clarke: Rom 1:9. Paul presents the spiritual worship of God in opposition to the external. Our religion is not one of ceremonies, but one in which the life and power of the eternal Spirit are acknowledged and experienced.Barnes: 1. One effect of religion is, to produce the desire of the communion of saints 2. nothing is better fitted to produce growth in grace than such communion; 3. the firm faith of young converts is very much calculated to excite the feeling and strengthen the hope of Christian ministers; 4. the Apostle did not disdain to be taught by the humblest Christians.J. F. H.]
Footnotes:
[39]Rom 1:8.[, primum quidem, zuvrderst, first of all. The is omitted in the pressure of thought and flow of speech, as in Act 1:1; Rom 3:2; 1Co 11:18. Comp. Winer, Grammar, p. 508 (6th ed), and Alex. Buttmann, Grammatik des N. T. Sprachgebrauchs, p. 313. Alford finds the corresponding in Rom 1:13, and connects thus: Ye indeed are prospering in the faith; but I still am anxious further to advance that fruitfulness. But this anxiety was already expressed in Rom 1:10, and the in Rom 1:13 is simply .P. S.]
[40]Rom 1:8. is best supported in opposition to . [The prepositions and both occur in this connection (1Co 1:4; Col 1:3; 1Th 1:2; 2Th 1:3), though more rarely (Eph 1:16; Php 1:4), with substantially the same meaning; the difference is, that , concerning, implies simply that the Roman Christians are the subject of thanks; while , for, in behalf of, for the sake of, gives the idea of intercession and aid. But has also the latter meaning. They are often confounded by the MSS., but the best codices (. A. B. C. D*. K.) and critical editors (Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Meyer, Alford, Wordsworth) are here in favor of against the of the textus receptus.P. S.]
[41]Rom 1:9.[ differs from and expresses the mode or degree. Comp. Php 1:8; 2Co 7:15; 1Th 2:10; Act 10:28, and Meyer and Philippi in loc.P. S.]
[42]Rom 1:10.[The translation depends here upon the punctuation, which is left to critical conjecture, the ancient MSS. having no punctuation. I make a comma or semi-colon after , and connect , …, with . So Meyer, Philippi, Alford (in his notes). Dr. Lange, however, in his version and Exeg. Notes, follows Tischendorf, who makes a comma after , like the E. V. In this case must be taken as an intensification of = assidue semper, assiduissime; but this would require a different position of the words, viz., . As it is, is better taken as an explanation of , so as to mark at the same time a progress of the idea, the incessant remembrance of the Romans culminating in direct prayer.P. S.]
[43]Rom 1:10.[ , ob etwa endlich einmal (Meyer, Olshausen, Lange, &c.); Alford: if by any means before long. , haply, possibly, implies the possibility of new delays and hindrances. , already, may mean finally or at last, with reference to things long hoped for and delayed, and in connection with , tandem aliquando. See Hartung, Partikellehre Rom 1:238. The Apostles desire in this respect was granted about three years afterwards, a. d. 61.P. S.]
[44]Rom 1:10.[Or succeed, . The original meaning of , way, journey, is lost in the verb. See Exeg. Notes. But the parting wish in Greece to travellers is even now , as in Italy, buon viaggio, a happy journey.P. S.]
[45]Rom 1:11.[Dr. Lange inserts after gift: personal, peculiar grace, and after established: for your world-historical calling. See his explanation below, which I cannot adopt.P. S.]
[46]Rom 1:12.[ , . The infinitive . (which compound verb only occurs here in the N. T.) is parallel with the preceding , the subject being understood from , Rom 1:11. The is generally resolved into , you and I, but Meyer, on account of , makes Paul the only subject of . This would require the omission of together in the E. V. The (which is politely put first) and explain , which is a little more emphatic than , showing that faith dwelled in the hearts of the Roman Christians. The mutual faith of the E. V. suggests the wrong sense: faith which each has in the other. Dr. Lange, in accordance with his specific interpretation of , adds to comforted: made joyful for the common call for the conversion of the world.P. S.]
[47]Rom 1:13.[For , Codd. D*. E. G. and Ital. read .P. S.]
[48] Rom 1:13.[The verb to let, is used here, and 2Th 2:7, by the E. V. in the rare sense to hinder, to forbid, to prevent (, ), as in Tennysons lines:
Mine ancient wound is hardly whole,
And lets me from the saddle.
But the word is now generally used in the opposite sense, to allow, to permit. On the contrary, the verb to prevent, in the E. V. (and in the Anglican Liturgy), means to precede, to anticipate (pr-venire); while in modern English it signifies the reverse, to hinder, to obstruct.P. S.]
[49]Rom 1:13.[The words , are a parenthesis, since must depend upon , &c. It is not necessary on this account to take in the adversative sense, to which Fritzsche and Meyer object. is only here in the N. T. a particle of time, although often in Plato and later writers.P. S.]
[50]Rom 1:15.[Or: And so, Hence. The force of is: Since I am a debtor to all the Gentiles, &c.P. S.]
[51]Rom 1:15.[ , , (sc. ). On the different interpretations of this phrase which do not materially alter the sense, comp. Exeg. Notes. As may be inferred from my punctuation, I connect (with the E. V., Calvin, Philippi, Wordsworth, Meyer, in his last edition) with , and take as equivalent to the substantive (as for , Rom 2:4; comp. , , 1Co 1:25), and as the subject of the sentence: This being so (), there is, on my part, or, as far as I am concerned ( , quantum ad me), a willingness or desire (); or I, as much as in me is, am willing (Calvin: Itaque, quantum in me est, paratus sum). Comp. , Eph 1:15; , Act 13:28; 1Co 3:3; 1Co 15:32). is more expressive than (after ) would be; the Apostle laying stress on his dependence and submission to a higher power, as if to say: As far as it depends on me, I am anxious to come and preach to you, but my will is subject to the will of God, who may have decreed otherwise.P. S.]
[52][1 Tim. is no exception, comp. 1Ti 1:13-17; nor is 2 Cor., as Olshausen thinks, for in 2Co 1:3-22 we have an equivalent. The absence of the usual praise and thanksgiving in the Epistle to the Galatians, is to be explained by their apostasy from the simplicity of the gospel.P. S.]
[53][De Wette: Das innere lebendige Element und somit die Wahrhafligkeit des Dienstes. Meyer: , in meinem hheren sittlichen Selbstbewustsein, welches die lebensvolle innere Werksttte dieses Dienstes ist. On the spiritual service of God, comp. Joh 4:24.P. S.]
[54][So also Wordsworth, who explains : Think not that I am so presumptuous as to imagine that the benefit will be wholly yours.P. S.]
[55][an onomatopotic word imitating a rough sounding, unintelligible languagemeans originally simply a foreigner, a man speaking a strange tongue (1Co 14:11; comp. Ovids Barbarus hic ergo sum, quia non intelligor ulli), and does not necessarily imply reproach, but the Greeks, with their pride of race and culture, and the Romans, with their pride of power, looked down with sovereign contempt upon all other nations. Hellen and Barbarian refers to the distinction of language and race; wise and unwise, to the difference of natural intelligence and culture in every nation. Rome, being an epitome of the world, included representatives of all nations and all shades of culture and ignorance. The Jews should not be mixed in here; the Apostle speaks simply of his indebtedness to the whole Gentile world without distinction of race and culture.P. S.]
[56][We mention, as an exegetical curiosity, that Dr. Wordsworth finds in this passage proof of the universal gift of language for preaching the gospel: How could St. Paul be said to owe the debt of the gospel to all the world, if he had not the means of paying it? And how could he pay it, without the coinage of intelligible words? It would be hard for Dr. Wordsworth to prove that Paul preached in the Chinese, the Sanscrit, the Teutonic, and Celtic languages, to nations who understood no other, and whom he never visited. From Act 14:11; Act 14:14, it would seem that he did not understand the popular language of Lycaonia. The knowledge of Greek and Hebrew was sufficient for his apostolic mission within the limits of the whole Roman empire.P. S.]
[57][Comp. my Textual Note13on Rom 1:15, p. 68.P. S.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
DISCOURSE: 1819
A MINISTERS JOY OVER HIS PEOPLE
Rom 1:8. I thank my God, through Jesus Christ, for you all.
AS a title of honour, a minister may assume the character of an ambassador from God. But the paternal relation is that which exhibits him before us in the most endearing view. Under the character of a father, St. Paul frequently addressed his converts [Note: 1Th 2:11.]. Sometimes he even compared himself with a mother travailing in birth with them [Note: Gal 4:19.]; yea, and as a nursing mother, drawing forth, as it were, the breast to them, and desiring to impart to them his very soul, because they were so dear to him [Note: 1Th 2:7-8.]. There is scarcely one of his Epistles which does not begin with thanking God for them, and pouring forth his petitions in their behalf. The Church of Rome, though he had never yet seen their face in the flesh, were exceeding dear to him; and the more so, because the fame of their attainments had spread throughout the whole world. They were not all equally eminent; yet for all of them, without exception, did he return thanks to God: nor did he think it at all necessary to abstain from bestowing just commendations upon them [Note: Rom 15:14.]. Nor shall we do wrong, if, with paternal regard, we express our thankfulness to God for the blessings he has bestowed on those over whom he has placed us, and whom he has graciously committed to our pastoral care.
We give thanks to God, therefore, brethren, for you all:
I.
For those of you who have begun to manifest a concern for your souls
Truly this is a just ground of thanksgiving to God
[Look at the world around you, and see how regardless men are of their eternal interest They even put God far from them; saying, We desire not the knowledge of thy ways Every thing occupies in their minds a higher place than God
But we need not think of others. Look only at your own conduct, from your youth up, till the moment that God was pleased to open your eyes to a sense of your guilt and danger. See how little you cared for God, or for your own souls. Instead of living unto Him who died for you, even to the Lord Jesus Christ who bought you with his blood, you lived altogether to yourselves, and were, so to speak, without God in the world It is possible that some few may have known God, like Timothy, from their very childhood, and never experienced any remarkable change, whether of heart or life. But this is the lot of very few. The great mass of believers were once as manifestly alienated from God as the world around them still are. Compare, then, your present with your former state; and say if there be not reason to bless and adore God for the change that has been wrought in you ]
We do then, and will, thank God through Jesus Christ in your behalf
[The change has proceeded from God alone. It was he who first opened your heart to attend to the things which were spoken in his blessed word. He quickened you from the dead; endued you with, I will not say new faculties, but certainly with new dispositions; by means of which, you have been brought to hate the ways which you once followed, and to seek the things which you once despised And it is for Christs sake that God has vouchsafed this great mercy, even for the sake of him who bought you with his blood, and intercedes for you at the right hand of God Through that Saviour, then, will I render thanks to God, and bless him for all that he has done for your souls. It may be that, at present, your attainments are but small. But God forbid that 1 should despise the day of small things. It is true, also, that where the change is but small, and but recently experienced, we have not that confidence in your state which we feel in reference to more advanced Christians. But nevertheless we rejoice, even as the angels in heaven do, at the first return of a repenting sinner to his God: and we desire to pray to God that he would establish all which he has wrought in you, and confirm unto the end the blessed work he has begun.]
But with yet greater delight will we return thanks,
II.
For those who have made some progress in the Divine life
Over such persons we rejoice with very exalted joy
[Of those who begin a heavenly course, how many run well only for a season! The stony-ground hearers are very numerous; and their end most deeply to be bewailed. How many thousands are turned aside by the fear of man; and leave off to behave themselves wisely, because they cannot bear the cross which an adherence to Christ would bring upon them! The cares of this life, also, arrest many in their course, and drag them down to the concerns of this perishing world. And not a few are ensnared by the lusts of the flesh, which they will not mortify; or by the vanities of the world, which they cannot prevail upon themselves to renounce. Even in the apostolic age there were many, who, after having known the way of righteousness, have forsaken it, and turned back as a dog to his vomit, and as the sow that has been washed to her wallowing in the mire Shall we not bless God, then, for those who have maintained a steadfastness in the ways of God, and have made their profiting to appear? Surely, if augmented growth in corporeal and intellectual strength in a child be a ground of joy and gratitude to his parent, much more must a progress in the divine life, amongst his hearers, be an occasion of praise and thanksgiving to him who watches over them in the Lord ]
We do then bless God, through Jesus Christ, for you
[We well know to what temptations you are exposed, and what conflicts with sin and Satan you have had to maintain; and we therefore adore him who has graciously given you strength according to your day, and held you up in his everlasting arms. O! when we think of the account which poor apostates have to give, and how fearful will be their condition in the eternal world; and when, on the other hand, we contemplate your future prospects; we cannot but bless God for you. Yes, whilst for them we weep, and would have our eyes as a fountain of tears to run down night and day; for you we would adore and magnify our God, and implore him to perfect that which concerns you, that what he has begun in grace may be consummated in glory ] Most of all, however, must we thank God,
III.
For those who are walking worthy of their high and heavenly calling
To such our text more especially refers; because the Apostle specifies, as the peculiar ground of his thanksgiving, that their faith was spoken of throughout the whole world. Now for such we thank God,
1.
Because of the glory which they bring to God
[They live for God: they honour God: they commend his religion throughout the world. A man of low attainments causes but a dim light to shine around him: but a man who runs well the race that is set before him, is seen of all, and approved of all, whose judgment in any respect accords with the mind of God. He is, in fact, a light in the world: and those who behold him are constrained to glorify our Father which is in heaven ]
2.
Because of the good they do to mankind
[Who are they that promote the knowledge of God in the world? Who labour for the salvation of their fellowmen? I will not say that persons may not give the aid of their wealth and influence to a religious society from corrupt motives: but those who set on foot these societies, and exert themselves with most self-denying labour in them, are the persons of whom I am now speaking. In truth, but for them there would be little religious good done in the whole world. Works of humanity might go on without them: but works of religion would stagnate altogether. Nothing but apostolic zeal can do the work of an Apostle: but that work as far transcends every other, in real excellence and use, as the effulgence of the sun exceeds the twinkling of a star.]
3.
Because of the blessings that await them in a better world
[Who can contemplate the blessedness of a pious soul when admitted into the immediate presence of God, and not rejoice in its welfare? And can we see you, my brethren, pressing forward in your heavenly course, and labouring incessantly to finish the work assigned you, and not thank our God in your behalf? Would not the very stones cry out against us, if we were so insensible, so altogether destitute of love either to God or man? For those that are departed in the faith of Christ we cannot but rejoice: and for you who are daily ripening for glory, we cannot but feel a measure of thankfulness proportioned to the attainments they make, and the prospects they enjoy.]
Permit me now to address you all,
1.
Individually
[That which rendered the Christians at Rome so eminent, was their faith. Let that grace, then, be cultivated by every one of you. That is the root from which every other grace proceeds. Abound in that; and every other grace will be carried on and perfected within you.]
2.
Collectively
[Be careful, all of you, that we be not disappointed of our hope respecting you Then shall we thank God also for you in the eternal world, and have you as our joy and crown of rejoicing for ever and ever.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. (9) For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; (10) Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. (11) For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; (12) That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. (9) For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; (10) Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. (11) For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; (12) That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
I beg the Reader to observe, how the Apostle begins his subject to the Church, after he had finished his prayers to God, and implored grace and peace for the people. He enters upon his Epistle with thanksgiving. Reader! nothing can more effectually call forth praises to the Lord, when the heart is tinder the teaching of God the Spirit, than a deep sense of the Lord’s mercies to the Church. Though Paul had no personal knowledge of the saints at Rome, yet knowing by their call to God in Christ, that they were beloved of God, they were beloved to Paul also. There is a oneness of heart and affliction among the saints of God, which proves a kindred of souls, and manifests an union with each other, from an union with the Lord Jesus. No wonder the Apostle longed to see them, whose faith carried with it such an honorable testimony everywhere.
But what I would more particularly request the Reader to notice, is, what Paul expected from seeing them, namely, that while through grace he might be enabled to impart to them some spiritual gift, he himself, though so great an Apostle, might receive from them comfort. It were devoutly to be wished that this statement of Paul’s was but more generally regarded in our Churches, both by ministers and people. The Apostle here speaks of a mutual faith. And, surely, as the faith is the same in all the members of Christ’s body, in all its properties, all flowing as it doth from one and the same fountain, which is Christ; however different in the greatness or smallness of the stream, it must be, or ought to be, a faith which worketh by love, and therefore the consequences would be truly blessed, if they were thus sought for. And it is very blessed both to minister and people, when the one is refreshed under the Lord from the labors of his servant, and the other is comforted in his own, and their establishment in grace by the Word. Paul felt the sweetness of this, and so must all faithful ministers also, when they can adopt Paul’s language; he told the Corinthians, that they had acknowledged his labors in part, and we are (said he) your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus, 2Co 1:11-14 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
Ver. 8. Your faith is spoken of ] See Rom 16:26 , and Juvenal, Tacitus, and other profane writers, who bitterly exagitate the doctrines and practices of those Roman Christians. Now that must needs be good that such men speak evil of: and as Jerome writeth to Austin, Quod signum maioris gloriae est, Omnes haeretici me detestantur: the heretics hate me; and that is no small grace to me.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
8 17. ] OPENING OF THE EPISTLE. His thankfulness for the faith of the Romans: remembrance of them in his prayers: wish to visit them: hindrances hitherto, but still earnest intention of doing so, that he may further ground them in that Gospel, of which he is not ashamed, inasmuch as it is THE POWER OF GOD TO ALL WHO BELIEVE. This leads to the announcement ( in a citation from the Scripture ) of one great subject of the Epistle , viz.: JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
8. ] This placing himself in intimate connexion with his readers by mention of and thankfulness for their faith or Christian graces, is the constant habit of Paul. The three Epistles, Gal., 1 Tim., and Titus, are the only exceptions: Olsh. adds 2 Cor., but in ch. Rom 1:3-22 we have an equivalent: see especially Rom 1:6-7 ; Rom 1:11 ; Rom 1:14 .
] The corresponding follows, Rom 1:13 . ‘Ye indeed are prospering in the faith: but I still am anxious further to advance that fruitfulness.’ There is no to follow to .
] . , , , . ; , . Chrys. Hom. iii. p. 436.
. . ] “Velut per Pontificem magnum: oportet enim scire eum qui vult offerre sacrificium Deo, quod per manus Pontificis debet offerre.” Origen. So also Calvin, “Hic habemus exemplum, quomodo per Christum agend sunt grati, secundum Apostoli prceptum ad Heb 13:15 .” Olshausen says, “This is no mere phrase, but a true expression of the deepest conviction. For only by the Spirit of Christ dwelling in men’s hearts are thanksgivings and prayer acceptable to God.” But perhaps here it is better to take the words as expressing an acknowledgment that the faith of the Romans, for which thanks were given, was due to, and rested on the Lord Jesus Christ: see ch. Rom 7:25 , and rendering there.
] This prep. and both occur in this connexion, see 1Co 1:4 ; Col 1:3 ; 1Th 1:2 ; 2Th 1:3 ; Eph 1:16 ; Phi 1:4 : and it is impossible to say, in cases of their confusion by the MSS., which may have been substituted for the other. The internal criticism which would adopt as being the less usual, may be answered by the probability that , being known to be sometimes used by Paul, may have been substituted as more in his manner for the more usual . So that manuscript authority in such cases must be our guide; and this authority is here decisive. The difference in meaning would be, that would give more the idea that thanks were given by Paul on their behalf , as if he were aiding them in giving thanks, for such great mercies: whereas would imply only that they were the subject of his thanks, that he gave thanks concerning them .
. ] “In ejusmodi gratulationibus Paulus vel totum Christianismum describit, Col 1:3 , sqq., vel partem aliquam, 1Co 1:5 . Itaque hoc loco fidem commemorat, suo convenienter instituto, Rom 1:12 ; Rom 1:17 .” Bengel.
] De Wette notices the other side of the report, as given by the Jews at Rome, Act 28:22 , to Paul himself. This praise was in the Christian churches , and brought by Christian brethren .
] A popular hyperbole, common every where, and especially when speaking of general diffusion through the Roman empire, the ‘orbis terrarum.’ The praise would be heard in every city where there was a Christian church, intercourse with the metropolis of the world being common to all.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 1:8 . . Nothing can take precedence of thanksgiving, when Paul thinks of the Romans, or indeed of any Christian Church in normal health. 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 Rom 1:10 . (Weiss.) . . Jesus Christ must be conceived here as the mediator through whom all our approaches to God are made (Eph 2:18 ), not as He through whom the blessings come for which Paul gives thanks. : the “all” may have a certain emphasis when we remember the divisions to which reference is made in chap. 14 is “the fact that you are Christians”. The very existence of a Church at Rome was something to be thankful for. is, of course, hyperbole, but a Church in Rome was like “a city set on a hill”.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rom 1:8-15
8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, 10always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. 11For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; 12that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Rom 1:8 “First” In this context “first” means “from the beginning” or “I must begin” (J. B. Phillips).
“I thank my God through Jesus Christ” Paul normally addresses his prayers to God through Jesus Christ. Jesus is our only way to approach God! See Special Topic: Paul’s Prayers of Praise and Thanksgiving at Rom 7:25.
“for you all” This use of “all,” like Rom 1:7, may reflect the jealousy and conflict between the believing Jewish leaders who fled Rome under Nero’s edict and the resultant believing Gentile leaders who had replaced them for a few years. Romans 9-11 addresses this same issue.
It is also possible that the inclusion is addressed to “the weak” and “the strong” of Rom 14:1 to Rom 15:13. God loves all of the church at Rome and He loves them equally!
“because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world” Rom 16:19 made allusion to the same truth. This was obviously an Oriental overstatement (hyperbole) referring to the Roman world (cf. 1Th 1:8).
Rom 1:9 “God. . .is my witness” Paul was taking an oath in God’s name (cf. Rom 9:1; 2Co 1:23; 2Co 11:10-11; 2Co 11:31; 2Co 12:19; Gal 1:20; 1Th 2:5). This was his Jewish way of asserting his truthfulness.
NASB”how unceasingly”
NKJV, NRSV”without ceasing”
NJB”continually mention”
NIV”how constantly”
This theme of Paul’s constant and urgent prayers (cf. 1Th 1:2; 1Th 2:13; 2Ti 1:3) should be an example church leaders diligently follow (cf. 1Th 5:17). Prayer opens a powerful spiritual door. We have not because we ask not (Jas 4:2).
“in my spirit” This is a good example of the use of pneuma for the human spirit (cf. Rom 8:5; Rom 8:10; Rom 8:16; Rom 12:11) used in the sense of human life (i.e., breath, Hebrew ruach, BDB 924, cf. Gen 6:17; Gen 7:15; Gen 7:22).
SPECIAL TOPIC: SPIRIT (PNEUMA) IN THE NT
Rom 1:10 “always in my prayers making request” Paul did not start this church and yet he consistently prayed for them (cf. 2Co 11:28), as he did for all his churches! See SPECIAL TOPIC: INTERCESSORY PRAYER at Rom 9:3. However, Paul had many friends and co-workers in the Roman church as chapter 16 clearly shows.
“if” This is a first class conditional sentence which is assumed to be true from the author’s perspective or for his literary purposes. Paul planned to visit Rome on his way to Spain (cf. Rom 15:22-24). He probably did not plan to stay a long time. Paul always wanted to minister in a new field where no other person had worked (cf. Rom 15:20; 2Co 10:15-16). It is possible that one of the purposes of the Roman letter was to solicit funds for his missionary journey to Spain (cf. Rom 15:24).
“by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you” This is paralleled in Rom 1:13; Rom 15:32. Paul did not feel that his life and travel plans belonged to himself, but to God (cf. Act 18:21; 1Co 4:19; 1Co 16:7). See Special Topic at Rom 12:2.
Also notice that God’s will can be affected by believers’ prayers!
Rom 1:11 “‘For I long to see you'” This parallels Rom 15:23. For a long time Paul wanted to meet the believers in Rome (cf. Act 19:21).
“that I may impart some spiritual gift to you” The phrase “spiritual gift” was used in the sense of spiritual insight or blessing (cf. Rom 11:29; Rom 15:27). Paul saw himself as uniquely called to be the Apostle to the Gentiles (cf. Rom 1:15).
“that you may be established” This is an aorist passive infinitive of histmi. The word has three meanings.
1. establish, Rom 1:11; Rom 16:25; 1Th 3:13; 2Pe 1:12
2. strengthen, Luk 22:32; 1Th 3:2; 2Th 2:17; 2Th 3:3; Jas 5:8; Rev 3:2
3. a Semitic idiom for making a firm decision, Luk 9:51
See Special Topic at Rom 5:2.
Rom 1:12 This is the purpose of Christian fellowship. The gifts are meant to unite believers into a ministering community. Believers are gifted for the common good (cf. 1Co 12:7). All gifts are relevant. All the gifts are given by the Spirit at salvation (cf. 1Co 12:11). All believers are called, gifted, full-time ministers (cf. Eph 4:11-12). Paul clearly states his sense of Apostolic authority, but also a community-wide mutuality. Believers need one another! Believers are the Body of Christ.
Rom 1:13 “I do not want you to be unaware, brethren” This is an idiom which Paul uses often to introduce important statements (cf. Rom 11:25; 1Co 10:1; 1Co 12:1; 2Co 1:8; 1Th 4:13). It is similar in literary purpose to Jesus’ “Amen, amen.”
“and have been prevented thus far” This is a passive verb. This same phrase occurs in 1Th 2:18 where Satan is the agent. Paul believed his life was guided by God but disrupted by Satan. Somehow both are true (cf. Job 1-2; Daniel 10). The use of this term in Rom 15:22 implies the hindrance was Paul’s missionary work in the eastern Mediterranean area, which is not yet complete (but close).
“that I might obtain some fruit among you” In this context “fruit” may refer to converts, but in Joh 15:1-8 and Gal 5:22 it referred to Christian maturity. Matthew 7 says “by your fruit you shall be known,” but it does not define the term fruit. The best parallel is probably Php 1:22, where Paul uses this same agricultural metaphor.
Rom 1:14 “I am under obligation” Paul uses this term several times in Romans.
1. Paul is obligated to preach the gospel to all Gentiles (here).
2. Paul is not obligated to “the flesh” (Rom 8:12).
3. The Gentile church is obligated to help the mother church in Jerusalem (Rom 15:27).
“to Greeks” This referred to the civilized, cultured people around the Mediterranean Sea. Alexander the Great and his followers had Hellenized the known world. The Romans had taken over and assimilated the Greek culture.
“to Barbarians” This (onomatopoeia) term meant the uneducated or uncultured people groups, usually to the north. It was used of people who did not speak Greek. Their speech sounded like “bar bar bar” to the Greeks and Romans.
“to the wise and to the foolish” It is possible that this is parallel in the Greek text to “barbarians,” but not necessarily so. This may be another way of referring to all people groups and individuals.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
thank. See Act 27:35.
through. Greek. dia. App-104. Rom 1:1. Compare Joh 14:6.
for. Greek. huper, as in Rom 1:5, but the texts read peri, concerning (App-104.)
spoken of. Greek. katangello. App-121.
throughout. Greek. en. App-104.
world. Greek. kosmos. App-129.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
8-17.] OPENING OF THE EPISTLE. His thankfulness for the faith of the Romans: remembrance of them in his prayers: wish to visit them: hindrances hitherto, but still earnest intention of doing so, that he may further ground them in that Gospel, of which he is not ashamed, inasmuch as it is THE POWER OF GOD TO ALL WHO BELIEVE. This leads to the announcement (in a citation from the Scripture) of one great subject of the Epistle,-viz.: JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 1:8. , first) A next does not always follow; and in this passage, the affectionate feeling and emotion of the writer have absorbed it.-) The corresponding follows at Rom 1:13. You are, says he, already indeed in the faith; but yet I am desirous to contribute something to your improvement.-, I give thanks) Even at the beginning alone [besides similar beginnings in other epistles] of this epistle, there are traces of all the spiritual emotions. Among these, thanksgiving takes the preeminence: and with it almost all the epistles commence. The categorical idea of the sentence is: You have found faith. Thanksgiving, which is an accessory idea, renders the discourse modal (i.e., shows the manner in which the subject and predicate, in the categorical sentence, are connected),-comp. note to ch. Rom 6:17. Paul rejoices that, what he considered should be effected by him elsewhere, as a debtor to all, was already effected at Rome.- , my God) This phrase, my God, expresses faith, love, hope, and, therefore, the whole of true religion, Psa 144:15; Hab 1:12. My God is the God whom I serve; see next verse.-, through) The gifts of God come to us through Christ, our thanksgivings go to God through Christ.- , faith) In congratulations of this kind, Paul describes either the whole of Christianity, Col 1:3, etc., or some part of it, 1Co 1:5. He therefore mentions faith in this passage, as suited to the object, which he has in view, Rom 1:12; Rom 1:17.-, is spoken of) An abbreviated mode of expression for, You have obtained faith; I hear of it, for it is everywhere openly declared; so, 1Th 1:8, he says, that the faith of the Thessalonians is spread abread in every place.- , throughout the whole world) The Divine goodness and wisdom established the faith in the principal cities, especially in Jerusalem and Rome, from which it might be disseminated throughout the whole world.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 1:8
Rom 1:8
First, I thank my God-Pauls thought here, as in nearly all his Epistles, is gratitude. [The expression of thanks to God for his mercy to them was fitted to conciliate their feelings, and to prepare them for the truths which he was about to communicate to them. It showed the deep interest which he had in their welfare, and the happiness it gave him to do them good.]
through Jesus Christ for you all,-Since Jesus Christ is the Mediator of the new covenant, which was inaugurated on the first Pentecost after his resurrection from the dead, all prayers and thanksgivings are to be offered to God through him; hence, Paul says: Whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col 3:17). Giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. (Eph 5:20).
that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.- Rome was the capital of the then known world. From it the government sent ambassadors and rulers to all parts of the world. There was constant communication between Rome and all parts of the empire, which brought all classes from all countries to the city. The activity and zeal of the church reached and converted many of these, and they in turn carried the gospel to their homes; and so their faith, perfected, came to be spoken of throughout the whole world. This good report was augmented by Christians who visited Rome and witnessed their great devotion to God. [For this the apostle thanked God, because the conversion of the Romans encouraged the inhabitants of other cities to forsake idolatry, and from that center the light of Divine truth could radiate to the remotest parts of the Roman Empire; just as all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks (Act 19:10), as a result of Pauls protracted stay in Ephesus, the metropolis of the province. Paul -understood that the quickest way to evangelize the world was to establish Christianity in the centers of influence.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
world
kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield “Mat 4:8”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
I thank: Rom 6:17
through: Eph 3:21, Eph 5:20, Phi 1:11, Heb 13:15, 1Pe 2:5, 1Pe 4:11
that your: Rom 16:19, 1Th 1:8, 1Th 1:9
the whole: Mat 24:14, Luk 2:1, Act 11:28
Reciprocal: Mar 13:10 – General Rom 10:18 – their sound 1Co 1:4 – thank 2Co 3:2 – known Eph 1:16 – Cease Phi 1:3 – I thank Phi 4:19 – God Col 1:3 – give Col 1:9 – since Col 3:17 – giving 1Th 1:2 – General 1Th 2:13 – thank 2Th 1:3 – are 2Th 2:13 – we 1Ti 2:1 – and 2Ti 1:3 – I thank Phm 1:4 – General 3Jo 1:3 – when Rev 3:10 – all Rev 16:14 – the whole
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1:8
Rom 1:8. World is from KOSMOS and means the people of the earth. Rome was a center of population, being the capital of the Roman Empire. People coming and going to and from this capital would learn of the church and would carry the information back home.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 1:8. First of all. Some find the second thought in Rom 1:10, or Rom 1:13; others translate chiefly. As the absence of secondly suggests a slight emphasis, we render as above (comp. chap. Rom 3:2).
I thank my God. (See introductory note). The Apostle pursues the natural course of first placing himself, so to speak, in relation with his readers; and his first point of contact with them is gratitude for their participation in Christianity (De Wette). There is a touching emphasis in the phrase my God with its personal appropriation and corresponding sense of personal obligation. In this expression he sums up all those experiences he had personally made (Godet) of the covenant faithfulness of God.
Through Jesus Christ. The thanksgiving is through Chris; comp. Heb 3:15. and similar passages. Jesus Christ is also the medium through whom came the blessings for which he is thankful; but the other thought is the prominent one.
For you all. The thanksgiving was concerning them, or, on their behalf.
That. The word also means because; but here the two senses are practically the same.
Your faith is published, declared among Christians. That the Roman church was comparatively unknown to unbelievers, even to the Jews at Rome, appears from Act 28:22. The praiseworthy character of their faith may be inferred from the thanksgiving.
In the whole world. A popular hyperbole, but how accordant with the position of the church in that city, toward which the eyes of the whole world were turned! (Meyer.)
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. The great and wonderful success of the gospel; it had produced faith in the hearts, and obedience in the lives of the Romans, which had made them famous throughout the world: Your faith, says the apostle, is spoken of throughout the whole world; that is, through all the Roman empire, which at that time ruled over a great part of the known world. The entertaining of the gospel at Rome, made that place more celebrated and famous than all the victories and triumphs of the Roman emperors; faith and holiness make a place and people more renowned than all outward prosperity and happiness.
Observe, 2. That this their renowned faith was the ground, yea, the highest and chiefest ground of the apostle’s rejoicing; First, I thank my God, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
Learn thence, That it is both the duty and the disposition of the faithful ministers of Jesus Christ, to be highly thankful to God, above all things, for the powerful success of the gospel, in bringing sinners to the faith and obedience of Jesus Christ. This is our rejoicing, nay, this will be our crown of rejoicing, in the day of Christ: We value our lives only by their usefulness to the souls of our beloved people; we live as we see some of you stand fast in the Lord; we die as we see others stick fast in their sins.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Rom 1:8. I thank In the very entrance of this one epistle are the traces of all spiritual affections, but of thankfulness above all, with the expression of which almost all Pauls epistles begin; my God This word expresses faith, hope, love, and consequently all true religion; through Jesus Christ The gifts of God all pass through Christ to us; and all our petitions and thanksgivings pass through Christ to God: for you all, that your faith is spoken of By this term faith, the apostle expresses either the whole of Christianity, as Col 1:3, &c, or some branch of it, as Gal 5:22. And in the beginning of his epistles he generally subjoins to the apostolic benediction a solemn thanksgiving for the faith, or for the faith, love, patience, and other graces of the brethren to whom he wrote, to make them sensible of their happy state, and to lead them to a right improvement of the advantages which they enjoyed as Christians. Throughout the whole world The faith of these Romans, being faith in the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah expected by the Jews, and in the living and true God through him, included, of course, their turning from every species of idolatry; an event which could not fail to be spoken of with wonder through the whole empire, as there were multitudes of strangers continually coming to Rome from the provinces, who, on their return home, would report what they had seen. This event would be especially made the subject of conversation in the churches everywhere, through all parts of the empire, it being matter of joy to them all that the religion of Christ was professed in the imperial city, more especially as it was a most happy presage of the general spread of their holy religion; the conversion of the Romans encouraging the inhabitants of other cities to forsake the established idolatry, and turn to God. And, indeed, the wisdom and goodness of God established faith in the chief cities, in Jerusalem and in Rome particularly, that from thence it might be diffused to all nations. Add to this, that Rome being the metropolis of the world, the conversion of so many of its inhabitants brought no small credit to the evidences of the gospel.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Second Passage (1:8-15). The Interest long taken by the Apostle in the Christians of Rome.
The address, had drawn a sort of official bond between the apostle and the church. But Paul feels the need of converting it into a heart relation; and to this end the following piece is devoted. The apostle here assures his readers of the profound interest which he has long felt in them, though he has not yet been able to show it by visiting them. He begins, as usual, by thanking God for the work already wrought in them, Rom 1:8; then he expresses his lively and long cherished desire to labor for its growth, either in the way of strengthening themselves spiritually, Rom 1:9-12, or in the way of increasing the number of believers in the city of Rome, Rom 1:13-15.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
First [i. e., before I proceed to other matters, I wish you to know that], I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. [Through the mediation of Christ (comp. Heb 13:15; 1Pe 2:5; Col 3:17; Eph 5:20) Paul offers thanks on account of the Christians at Rome, because their faith had so openly and notoriously changed their lives from sin to righteousness that, wherever the apostle went, he found the churches in the whole Roman world, which then embraced western Asia, northern Africa and almost the whole of Europe, took notice of it. The apostle realized the incalculable good which would result from the proper enthronement of Christ in so important a center as Rome, and in view of its future effects on the world, its present influence over the church, its tendency to lighten and facilitate his own labors, and many like blessings and benefits, Paul thanks God that his enthronement had taken place in the loyal heart of those whom he addresses. He refers to the knowledge of believers, for the church was comparatively unknown to unbelievers, even in the city itself– Act 28:22]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
8. In the first place, I thank God through Jesus Christ concerning you all, because your faith is spoken of in the whole world. The emperors had built great highways into every country in the known world (as it belonged to them by conquest), so traveling was convenient in all the known earth. The stranger in every foreign land had nothing to do but find the Roman road and walk in it till he reached the worlds metropolis; as all the roads in England centralize in London. Throughout their universal conquests during seven hundred years, Rome made it a rule to adopt all the religions of the conquered nations, bringing all their gods to Rome, where all were worshipped in the Pantheon, a magnificent circular marble edifice 200 feet in diameter and 200 feet high, still standing and in a perfect state of preservation, now useful for the Holiness people to preach in, as all have a perfect right in that temple to worship any god in all the world, and in any way. Therefore the new religion (Christianity), within the twenty-eight years since Pentecost, had received notoriety throughout the whole world, in the reports carried by the travelers from Rome to the ends of the earth. Bygone ages have been filled with miracles, not only recorded in the Bible, but great and wonderful unwritten by an inspired pen. In 753 B. C. the jealous king of Alban had Romulus and Remus exposed in the wild woods on the banks of the Tiber. A wolf finding them, instead of devouring them, nursed them with her own milk. Corroboratory of this historic legend, they still keep wolves in the same cave on the spot. I saw them when I was there in 1895. These exposed infants, reared by the wolf, became shepherds on the spot, becoming a rendezvous of the wandering pioneers, and soon swelling into a tribe. By the famous stratagem, well known in history, of securing wives from the Sabines, resulting in the accession of that nation, they proceeded with their conquests over the nations of the earth. So constant was the work of death that the Temple of Janus, whose open doors indicated war, and closed were the signal of peace, never was closed but twice during the 753 years once during the reign of Numa Pompilius, and again immediately after the first Punic war. At the end of the period it was permanently closed, as the whole world was conquered and peace had come to abide. Then was fulfilled the prophecy, The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from beneath his feet, till Shiloh come. When the Romans had conquered all the world, then Augustus Caesar was crowned universal monarch, thus taking the scepter from Judah and all other nations at the very time when Shiloh was born in Bethlehem, thus making the birth of the Savior significantly the herald of peace on earth and good will to men, as the Romans had conquered and thus brought universal peace. Do you not see the hand of God in all this? Nothing was so important to the preaching of the gospel in all the earth as a powerful universal empire precisely such as Rome. Do you not see with what rapidity Paul passed from nation to nation, preaching the gospel? This he could not have done if all of these nations had not been under the same government.
What was true of Paul was equally true of all the apostles and their numerous comrades. Paul, being a learned man, wrote up his travels. The original twelve, unlearned and ignorant men, with few exceptions, left us no history of their ministry; however, we have a mere epitome in contemporaneous tradition that they all, like Paul, went to the ends of the earth, preaching faithfully till bloody martyrdom set them free to fly away to glory: Paul beheaded and Peter crucified at Rome; Luke hung on an olive-tree in Greece; Matthew suffering martyrdom in Ethiopia, Matthias in Abyssinia, Mark in Alexandria; James, the son of Zebedee, beheaded by Herod Antipas; James, the son of Alpheus, precipitated from a pinnacle of the temple; Andrew crucified in Armenia, Philip in Asia Minor; Bartholomew skinned alive by order of the barbarous king in Phrygia; Jude shot full of arrows in Tartary; Thomas interpenetrated with a cruel iron bar, and thus martyred, in India; and John, having been miraculously delivered from the caldron of boiling oil in Rome into which he was cast to make soap of him, was then banished to Patmos, where he saw the apocalyptic visions; finally, at the age of 101 years, was translated to Heaven from Ephesus, Asia Minor. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and other Christian Fathers, so certify, and I believe. Why have we no record in Scripture? Good reason: John himself was the last writer, surviving all the other apostles thirty years. Hence no one was left to record his translation. John Wesley believed it, and so do I. God, in His wonderful providence, gave the Romans the whole world in one vast consolidated empire, as a grand preparation for the universal propagation of the gospel, which would have been an impossibility without the protection of a universal government. For a similar reason, He gave Alexander the Great all nations A. D. 325, in order to establish the Greek language in all the world as the necessary vehicle which God in His wonderful providence had prepared to transmit the gospel to the world, and retain it in its inspired original to the latest generation.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Rom 1:8-16. Pauls Intention to Visit Rome.
Rom 1:8-10. Of the faith of the Romans the whole world hears: the Apostle thanks God for this, and names them constantly in his prayers. He invokes God as witness, for this is much to say about strangers; his service in the gospel makes him deeply interested in the Church of Rome. He has begged of God that he might have the good fortune to visit them; at last the hindrances are disappearing (Rom 1:13; cf. Rom 15:20-29).
Rom 1:11-13. He longs to impart to them some grace of the Spirit, some added strength; or rather, he anticipates a reciprocal encouragement. Here as elsewhere amongst the Gentiles, he would fain win fruit to his ministry.
Rom 1:14 f. The debt he owes on Christs account to men of every race and condition, makes him eager to preach to you that are in Rome, i.e. to you Roman people.
Rom 1:16. To shrink from this would mean to be ashamed of the gospel, which he has proved to be Gods power working for salvation to every one that believesto the Greek as well as the Jew. First is a doubtful reading (WH).
Rom 1:17. Not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is Gods saving power, which operates by the revelation of Gods righteousness: the efficacy of the message lies in the character of God who sends it. Pauls view of the Divine righteousness as identified with salvation, is based on Isaiah 45 f. (cf. Rom 1:2, also Rom 3:21). Righteousness, in the sense of Deutero-Isaiah, is no hard legality, contrasted as in mens narrow thoughts with goodness (Rom 5:7); it embraces the whole perfectness of Jehovahs character manifested in His dealings with Israel. Jehovahs fidelity to covenant, His fatherly regard for His people (Isa 45:10 f; Isa 63:16; Isa 64:8), are integral to this righteousness and make it, through the responsive trust they evoke, a power for salvation. In such righteousness the Gospel reveals God to mankind. The revelation operates in the sphere of faith: its apprehension starts from faith, and proceeds unto faith. On mans part faith is the Alpha and Omega of salvation, as righteousness is upon Gods. The saying of Hab 2:4 illustrates the vital power of faith, which is mans hold upon the character of God. In the light of the doctrine of Justification unfolded later, many find here a righteousness (in man) derived from God (cf. Php 3:9). But Gods power, righteousness, anger, are interlinked in identical grammatical construction (Rom 1:16-18); to construe the central phrase differently is to dislocate the passage; in the third sentence the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men are emphatically contrasted with the righteousness of God (see Detached Note, ICC, p. 34).
The theme of Rom 1:16 f. is unfolded in Rom 1:18 to Rom 8:39 : Rom 1:18 to Rom 3:20 sets forth the guilty and lost condition of mankindof the world at large, and the Jews in particular; Rom 3:21 to Rom 8:39, the saving intervention of Gods righteousness, acting in Jesus Christ and realised universally through faith. The positive demonstration is supported by a negative proof, going to show that the law could not do (ch. 7) what the grace of Christ has triumphantly accomplished (ch. 8).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
SECTION 2. HE HAS LONG DESIRED TO PREACH TO THEM
CH. 1:8-15
In the first place, I thank my God through Jesus Christ about you all, that your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Gospel of His Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers beseeching if by any means at all a way will be opened for me, in the will of God, to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift of grace, in order that ye may be established; and that is, that we may be encouraged together in your midst through each others faith, both yours and mine. Moreover, I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, that frequently I purposed to come to you and was hindered till now, in order that I might have some fruit among you also, as also among the other Gentiles. Both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to wise men and to foolish, I am a debtor. Hence my readiness to preach, also to you in Rome, the Gospel.
Rom 1:8. After greeting the believers at Rome, Paul declares his deep and long-cherished interest in them. Many thoughts arise, one after another, in his mind. He tells us the first; but does not arrange the others in order, pouring forth all in one full stream of thought and feeling. So in Rom 3:1. Pauls first thought here, as in nearly all his letters, is gratitude. In approaching God, he first thanks Him for blessings received, and then asks for more.
My God: Pauls own God, with whom he has personal and individual dealings. Even when thanking God for others, he turns his back on them and alone draws near to God. Cp. 2Co 12:21. For he feels that Gods goodness to his readers is personal kindness to himself.
Through: as in Rom 1:5.
Through Jesus Christ: the channel of all blessing from God to man and of all thanks from man to God. Cp. Rom 7:25; Heb 13:15.
You all: consequently throughout the epistle we have no reproof or correction. Contrast 1Co 1:4; 1Co 1:11.
Faith: the earliest Christian grace. The fuller description of the readers in Col 1:4; 1Th 1:3; 1Th 3:6 arose perhaps from fuller information. By thanking God for their faith, Paul recognised that in some fair sense it came from God. See under Rom 12:3. It must have made itself known by works of faith: but what these were, we are not told.
In all the world. This warns us not to take literally, without careful examination, the universal expressions of the Bible: see under Rom 5:18. Wherever Paul goes in his travels, he hears of his readers faith. What he hears calls forth gratitude to God: for the universality of their good name is some proof that they deserve it.
Rom 1:9-10. Explanation and confirmation of the foregoing: a reason for the gratitude just expressed. Paul thanks God for their faith, because he constantly prays for them, and because their faith is thus Gods answer to his prayer and a mark of Gods personal kindness to himself. Notice that Paul prays constantly for all the Churches to which he writes. In his devotions, he takes them one by one to God. Hence every blessing to them is a gift from God to him. The constancy of Pauls prayer is greater than words can tell. He therefore appeals to God, who is the only witness of his prayers.
Serve: as in Rom 1:25; Rom 9:4; Rom 12:1, not as in Rom 1:1 : used in the Bible only for service of God, especially the priestly service of the temple. The temple was the palace of God: the priests were His domestic servants.
In the Gospel: sphere of Pauls priestly work for God, viz. announcement of the good news about His Son. Important parallel in Rom 15:16.
Spirit: that in man which is nearest to God and most like God. See note under Rom 8:17.
In my spirit: the inner, as the Gospel is the outer, sphere of Pauls service. The service of the Jewish priests might be only bodily and mechanical. But the preaching of the Gospel was a sacrifice offered in the inmost and uppermost chamber of Pauls being. So Joh 4:24. This inward service, in a matter so dear to God as that of His own Son, gave solemnity to Pauls appeal. For the godless cannot appeal to God. But Pauls well-known devotion to the service of God was proof that his appeal was neither frivolous nor false. The words whom I serve in my spirit expound and justify the words my God in Rom 1:8. They who in the solitude of their spirit bow down to God can appeal to Him as their God.
Paul never prays for his readers without earnestly asking to be allowed to visit them.
A-way-opened: same word in 1Co 16:2; 3Jn 1:2. It denotes, under the figure of a good way opened, any kind of prosperity.
Now: a speedy visit hoped for.
At all: uncertainty as to details. The words if by any means express a desire to come at any cost, and suggest difficulty and doubt. This prayer was answered in an unexpected manner.
In the will of God: implies submission. But submission did not prevent earnest and persevering prayer. Pauls desire was to go to Rome; but he will not do so till it becomes evident that what he desires is also the will of God. Cp. Rom 15:32. He also remembers that the opening of a way for him depends, not upon circumstances, but upon God. Cp. Jas 4:15.
Rom 1:11. Reason and motive of Pauls prayer: he wishes to do them good.
Gift-of-grace: any mark of Gods free favour. Same important word in Rom 5:15-16; Rom 6:23; Rom 11:29 : also in a technical sense in Rom 12:6, where see note. Cp. 1Co 1:7.
Spiritual: pertaining to the Holy Spirit, probably. All inward gifts of God are wrought in mans spirit by the Spirit of God: so 1Co 12:11. And Paul hopes to be a medium through which God will impart such gifts to his readers at Rome. For from within those in whom the Spirit dwells flow rivers of living water: Joh 7:38.
Established: enabled to stand firmly in the Christian life, in spite of influences tending to throw them down.
May be established: not by Paul, but by God: Jud 1:24. But increased stability follows every spiritual gift.
Rom 1:12. A new thought: to do them good, is to receive good for himself. If I impart to you a spiritual gift, making you firmer in the Christian life, both you and I will be encouraged, i.e. moved to Christian hope and work (same word as exhort in Rom 12:1); I
by your faith and you by mine. Notice the modesty of these words. Even the great apostle will receive blessing from the Roman Christians. Similar modesty in Rom 15:14-15.
Rom 1:13. Not only has Paul prayed to be allowed to see his readers, but he has frequently purposed to come. This proves the earnestness of his prayer. Prayers not accompanied by serious effort to obtain the blessing asked for are an empty form.
I would not have you ignorant: so Rom 11:25; 1Co 10:1; 1Co 12:1; 2Co 1:8; 1Th 4:13 : it lays stress on what follows.
Hindered: explained in Rom 15:22. An object Paul had in view in his purpose to go to Rome, in addition to the objects described in Rom 1:11-12, was to gather fruit there as he had done among the other Gentiles. His success among others was a ground of hope for success at Rome.
Fruit: Rom 6:21-22; Rom 15:28; Gal 5:22; Eph 5:9; Php 1:11; Php 1:22; Php 4:17 : a good result derived from the organic outworking and growth of moral and spiritual life. To do good to others, is, according to the laws of the Kingdom of God, to receive a harvest of blessing for ourselves.
Rom 1:14. Greeks and Barbarians: the common Greek summary of the civilised and uncivilised nations. Its use by Paul reveals to how great an extent in his day the civilisation of the world was Greek. The culture even of Rome was of Greek origin. He writes without thought probably to which class the Romans belong. The broad distinction in his day was between those who used the Greek language and partook of Greek civilisation and those who did not.
Wise: acquainted with arts and sciences learnt only by a special education. See note under 2Co 2:5.
Foolish: men of dull perception. To those who know more, and to those who know less, than others, I am a debtor. Paul received the Gospel in trust for all, without distinction of nationality or intelligence, and is therefore under obligation, both to God who entrusted it and to those for whom it was entrusted, to proclaim it to all within his reach. He is a steward of the mysteries of God: 1Co 4:1; 1Pe 4:10. Therefore his efforts to do them good are but the discharge of a duty to God and to them. The civilisation and learning of the Greeks, the coarseness and ignorance of the barbarians, do not lessen this obligation. The wise need the Gospel, the foolish are capable of receiving it; and therefore both have a claim on Paul. Notice here a modest but correct view of Christian beneficence. To do all we can, is but to pay a just debt. To claim gratitude for doing good, is to mistake utterly our position and obligation.
Rom 1:15. Hence my readiness etc. The obligation just mentioned is another reason for Pauls desire to visit Rome. He wishes to see his readers in order to do them good, and thus to strengthen the faith they already possess.
Preach-the-Gospel: literally to announce good news: cognate verb to the word Gospel in Rom 1:1. Same word in Rom 10:15; Rom 15:20; 1Co 1:17, etc. It may be transliterated evangelize.
REVIEW. In writing to you, my first thought is gratitude to God: and I remember that all blessing comes through Christ. Wherever I go, I hear of your faith. The news fills me with thankfulness: for it is a gift of my God, and an answer to my prayers. How ceaseless are my prayers for you, is known only to Him whom in my heart of hearts I serve by proclaiming the good news of salvation through His Son. Whenever I pray for you, I pray that if well-pleasing to God I may be permitted by some means to visit you. My reason is that I desire to be a channel through which the Spirit may bestow some gift of Gods favour, and thus strengthen you. Such blessing to you will be a gain to me. If I come into your midst, I shall be encouraged by your faith and you by mine. Not only do I desire, but I have often purposed, to visit you: but hitherto my apostolic work has hindered me. For I wish to sow seed at Rome, and thus reap among you a harvest of blessing such as I have gathered among others. Moreover, I wish to discharge my obligation to Him who in His undeserved favour has entrusted to me, for the good of all men, the Gospel of Christ. This felt obligation makes me ready to preach the Gospel also at Rome.
In 1, an ambassador claimed our respect by the greatness of his business and of his Master. In 2, a man who calls us brethren wins our affection by the warmth of his love. He thanks God because he hears good about us: and he never prays without praying for us and praying that God will enable him to see our face. For years he has been planning to make a long journey to do us good. He is sure that intercourse with us will give encouragement to him: and he looks upon our Church as a field in which he will reap a harvest of blessing. Though we have never seen him and his name is highly honoured wherever there are Christians, he calls himself our debtor. In writing these words, Paul doubtless sought only to express his feelings towards these far-off brethren. But he could not have written words more calculated to increase the attention which his foregoing words called forth. In 1, our spirits bowed before one who stood so high in the service of so great a Master. But now the ambassador of Christ comes to us as one like ourselves. Across the waters which roll between him and us, we hear a brothers voice and see a brothers face.
Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament
1:8 {4} First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is {p} spoken of throughout the {q} whole world.
(4) He obtains their favourable patience, in that he points out what it is that they can be praised for, and his true apostolic good will toward them, confirmed by taking God himself as witness.
(p) Because your faith is such that it is spoken well of in all churches.
(q) In all churches.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
B. Purpose 1:8-15
Having begun with a formal and unusually long greeting compared to his other epistles, Paul next proceeded to address his readers more personally. He had not met the Christians to whom he wrote, so he spent some time getting acquainted and sharing his heart with them.
"One of the first lessons of effective leadership is the importance of setting priorities. Not only must things be done right (management) but the right things must be done (leadership)." [Note: Mounce, p. 65. Cf. Cranfield, 1:78-79.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Paul felt concern for the welfare of this church. The faith of the Roman church had become well known in the few years since it had come into existence (cf. Eph 1:15-16; Col 1:3-4; 1Th 1:3). Typically Paul began by offering commendation to his readers for some praiseworthy trait whenever he could. Here he thanked God for the Romans through Jesus Christ, who had created access to God. He praised the Roman Christians for their obedience to God by trusting in Jesus Christ (cf. Rom 1:5). Failure to trust in Christ is really disobedience to God since God now commands everyone to believe in His Son (cf. Act 17:30-31).
Paul called God as his witness (Rom 1:9) because what he was about to say might be difficult to believe. He claimed to pray for the Romans unceasingly, namely, frequently, but not without stopping. The Greek word translated "unceasingly" (adialeiptos, cf. 1Th 5:17) denotes that not much time elapsed between his prayers for them. These saints were constantly in his thoughts and prayers. "In my spirit" (NASB) means "with my whole heart" (NIV).
"We are reminded that the real work of the ministry is prayer. Preaching is more a result of the ministry of prayer than it is a ministry itself. A sermon that does not rise from intense and heart-searching prayer has no chance of bearing real fruit." [Note: Mounce, p. 66.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 3
GOOD REPORT OF THE ROMAN CHURCH: PAUL NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL
Rom 1:8-17
HE has blessed the Roman Christians in the name of the Lord. Now he hastens to tell them how he blesses God for them, and how full his heart is of them. The Gospel is warm all through with life and love; this great message of doctrine and precept is poured from a fountain full of personal affection.
Now first I thank my God, through Jesus Christ, about you all. It is his delight to give thanks for all the good he knows of in his brethren. Seven of his Epistles open with such thanksgivings, which at once convey the commendations which love rejoices to giver wherever possible, and trace all spiritual virtue straight to its Source, the Lord. Nor only here to “the Lord,” but to “my God”; a phrase used, in the New Testament, only by St. Paul, except that one utterance of Eli, Eli, by his dying Saviour. It is the expression of an indescribable appropriation and reverent intimacy. The believer grudges his God to none; he rejoices with great joy over every soul that finds its wealth in Him. But at the centre of all joy and love is this-“my God”; “Christ Jesus my Lord”; “who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Is it selfish? Nay, it is the language of a personality where Christ has dethroned self in His own favour, but in which therefore reigns now the highest happiness, the happiness which animates and maintains a self-forgetful love of all. And this holy intimacy, with its action in thanks and petition, is all the while “through Jesus Christ,” the Mediator and Brother. The man knows God as “my God,” and deals with Him as such, never out of that Beloved Son who is equally One with the believer and with the Father, no alien medium, but the living point of unity.
What moves his thanksgivings? Because your faith is spoken of, more literally, is carried as tidings, over the whole world. Go where he will, in Asia, in Macedonia, in Achaia, in Illyricum, he meets believing “strangers from Rome,” with spiritual news from the. Capital, announcing, with a glad solemnity, that at the great Centre of this world the things eternal are proving their power, and that the Roman mission is remarkable for its strength and simplicity of “faith,” its humble reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ, and loving allegiance to Him. Such news, wafted from point to point of that early Christendom, was frequent then; we see another beautiful example of it where he tells the Thessalonians {1Th 1:8-10} how everywhere in his Greek tour he found the news of their conversion running in advance of him, to greet him at each arrival What special importance would such intelligence bear when it was good news from Rome!
Still in our day over the world of Missions similar tidings travel. Only a few years ago “the saints” of Indian Tinnevelly heard of the distress of their brethren of African Uganda, and sent with loving eagerness “to their necessity.” But recently (1892) an English visitor to the Missions of Labrador found the disciples of the Moravian Brethren there full of the wonders of grace manifested in those same African believers.
This constant good tidings from the City makes him the more glad because of its correspondence with his incessant thought, prayer, and yearning over them.
For God is my record, my witness, of this; the God whom I serve, at once, so the Greek () implies, with adoration and obedience, in my spirit, in the Gospel of His Son. The “for” gives the connection we have just indicated; he rejoices to hear of their faith, for the Lord knows how much they are in his prayers. The divine Witness is the more instinctively appealed to, because these thoughts and prayers are for a mission Church, and the relations between St. Paul and his God are above all missionary relations. He “serves Him in the Gospel of His Son,” the Gospel of the God who is known and believed in His Christ. He “serves Him in the Gospel”; that is, in the propagation of it. So he often means, where he speaks of “the Gospel”; take for example, ver. 1 above; Rom 15:16; Rom 15:19 below; Php 1:5; Php 1:12; Php 2:22. “He serves Him,” in that great branch of ministry, “in his spirit,” with his whole love, will, and mind, working in communion with his Lord. And now to this eternal Friend and Witness he appeals to seal his assurance of incessant intercessions for them; how without ceasing, as a habit constantly in action, I make mention of you, calling them up by name, specifying before the Father Rome, and Aquila, and Andronicus, and Junias, and Persis, and Mary, and the whole circle, personally known or not, in my prayers; literally, on occasion of my prayers; whenever he found himself at prayer, statedly or as it were casually remembering and beseeching.
The prayers of St. Paul are a study by themselves. See his own accounts of them, to the Corinthians, the Ephesians, the Philippians, the Colossians, the Thessalonians, and Philemon. Observe their topic; it is almost always the growth of grace in the saints, to their Masters glory. Observe now still more their manner; the frequency, the diligence, the resolution which grapples, wrestles, with the difficulties of prayer, so that in Col 2:1, he calls his prayer simply “a great wrestling.” Learn here how to deal with God for those for whom you work, shepherd of souls, messenger of the Word, Christian man or woman who in any way are called to help other hearts in Christ.
In this case his prayers have a very definite direction; he is requesting, if somehow, now at length, my way shall be opened, in the will of God, to come to you. It is a quite simple, quite natural petition. His inward harmony with the Lords will never excludes the formation and expression of such requests, with the reverent “if” of submissive reserve. The “indifference” of mystic pietism, which at least discourages articulate contingent petitions, is unknown to the Apostles; “in everything, with thanksgiving, they make their requests known unto God.” And they find such expression harmonised, in a holy experience, with a profound rest “within this will,” this “sweet beloved will of God.” Little did he here foresee how his way would be opened; that it would lie through the tumult in the Temple, the prisons of Jerusalem and Caesarea, and the cyclone of the Adrian sea. He had in view a missionary journey to Spain, in which Rome was to be taken by the way.
“So God grants prayer, but in His love Makes ways and times His own.”
His heart yearns for this Roman visit. We may almost render the Greek of the next clause, For I am homesick for a sight of you; he uses the word by which elsewhere he describes Philippian Epaphroditus longing to be back at Philippi, {Php 2:26} and again his own longing to see the son of his heart, Timotheus. {2Ti 1:4} Such is the Gospel, that its family affection throws the light of home on even unknown regions where dwell “the brethren.” In this case the longing love however has a purpose most practical; that I may impart to you some spiritual gift of grace, with a view to your establishment. The word rendered “gift of grace” is used in some places {see especially 1Co 12:4; 1Co 12:9; 1Co 12:28; 1Co 12:30-31} with a certain special reference to the mysterious “Tongues,” “Interpretations,” and “Prophecies,” given in the primeval Churches. And we gather from the Acts and the Epistles that these grants were not ordinarily made where an Apostle was not there to lay on his hands. But it is not likely that this is the import of this present passage. Elsewhere in the Epistle the word “charisma” is used with its largest and deepest reference; Gods gift of blessing in Christ. Here, then, so we take it, he means that he pines to convey to them, as his Lords messenger, some new development of spiritual light and joy; to expound “the Way” to them more perfectly; to open up to them such fuller and deeper insights into the riches of Christ that they, better using their possession of the Lord, might as it were gain new possessions in Him, and might stand more boldly on the glorious certainties they held. And this was to be done ministerially, not magisterially. For he goes on to say that the longed for visit would be his gain as well as theirs; that is, with a view to my concurrent encouragement among you, by our mutual faith, yours and mine together. Shall we call this a sentence of fine tact; beautifully conciliatory and endearing? Yes, but it is also perfectly sincere. True tact is only the skill of sympathetic love, not the less genuine in its thought because that thought seeks to please and win. He is glad to show himself as his disciples brotherly friend; but then he first is such, and enjoys the character, and has continually found and felt his own soul made glad and strong by the witness to the Lord which far less gifted believers bore, as he and they talked together. Does not every true teacher know this in his own experience? If we are not merely lecturers on Christianity but witnesses for Christ, we know what it is to hail with deep thanksgivings the “encouragement” we have had from the lips of those who perhaps believed long after we did, and have been far less advantaged outwardly than we have been. We have known and blessed the “encouragement” carried to us by little believing children, and young men in their first faith, and poor old people on their comfortless beds, ignorant in this world, illuminated in the Lord. “Mutual faith,” the pregnant phrase of the Apostle, faith residing in each of both parties, and owned by each to the other, is a mighty power for Christian “encouragement” still.
But I would not have you ignorant, brethren. This is a characteristic term of expression with him. He delights in confidence and information, and not least about his own plans bearing on his friends. That often I purposed (or better, in our English idiom, have purposed) to come to you, (but I have been hindered up till now,) that I might have some fruits among you too, as actually among the other Nations. He cannot help giving more and yet more intimation of his loving gravitation towards them; nor yet of his gracious avarice for “fruit,” result, harvest and vintage for Christ, in the way of helping on Romans, as well as Asiatics, and Macedonians, and Achaians, to live a fuller life in Him. This, we may infer from the whole Epistle, would be the chief kind of “fruit” in his view at Rome; but not this only. For we shall see him at once go on to anticipate an evangelistic work at Rome, a speaking of the Gospel message where there would be a temptation to be “ashamed” of it. Edification of believers may be his main aim. But conversion of pagan souls to God cannot possibly be dissociated from it.
In passing we see, with instruction, that St. Paul made many plans which came to nothing; he tells us this here without apology or misgiving. He claims accordingly no such practical omniscience, actual or possible, as would make his resolutions and forecasts infallible. Tacitly, at least, he wrote “If the Lord will,” across them all, unless indeed there came a case where, as when he was guided out of Asia to Macedonia, {Act 16:6-10} direct intimation was given him, abnormal, supernatural, quite ab extra, that such and not such was to be his path.
But now, he is not only “homesick” for Rome, with a yearning love; he feels his obligation to Rome, with a wakeful conscience. Alike to Greeks and to Barbarians, to wise men and to unthinking, I am in debt. Mankind is on his heart, in the sorts and differences of its culture. On the one hand were “the Greeks”; that is to say, in the then popular meaning of the word, the peoples possessed of what we now call “classical” civilisation, Greek and Roman; an inner circle of these were “the wise,” the literati, the readers, writers, thinkers, in the curriculum of those literatures and philosophies. On the other hand were “the Barbarians,” the tongues and tribes outside the Hellenic pale, Pisidian, Pamphylian, Galatian, Illyrian, and we know not who besides; and then, among them, or anywhere, “the unthinking,” the numberless masses whom the educated would despise or forget as utterly untrained in the schools, unversed in the great topics of man and the world; the people of the field, the market, and the kitchen. To the Apostle, because to his Lord, all these were now impartially his claimants, his creditors: he “owed them” the Gospel which had been trusted to him for them. Naturally, his will might be repelled alike by the frown or smile of the Greek, and by the coarse earthliness of the Barbarian. But supernaturally, in Christ, he loved both, and scrupulously remembered his duty to both. Such is the true missionary spirit still, in whatever region, under whatever conditions. The Christian man, and the Christian Church delivered from the world is yet its debtor. “Woe is to him, to it, if that debt is not paid, if that Gospel is hidden in a napkin.”
Thus he is ready, and more than ready, to pay his debt to Rome. So (to render literally) what relates to me is eager, to you too, to the men in Rome, to preach the Gospel. “What relates to me”; there is an emphasis on “me,” as if to say that the hindrance, whatever it is, is not in him, but around him. The doors have been shut, but the man stands behind them, in act to pass in when he may.
His eagerness is no light-heartedness, no carelessness of when or where. This wonderful missionary is too sensitive to facts and ideas, too rich in imagination, not to feel the peculiar, nay the awful greatness, of a summons to Rome. He understands culture too well not to feel its possible obstacles. He has seen too much of both the real grandeur and the harsh force of the imperial power in its extension not to feel a genuine awe as he thinks of meeting that power at its gigantic Centre. There is that in him which fears Rome. But he is therefore the very man to go there, for he understands the magnitude of the occasion, and he will the more deeply retire upon his Lord for peace and power.
Thus with a pointed fitness he tells himself and his friends, just here, that he is “not ashamed of the Gospel.” For I am not ashamed; I am ready even for Rome, for this terrible Rome. I have a message which, though Rome looks as if she must despise it, I know is not to be despised. For I am not ashamed of the Gospel; for it is Gods power to salvation, for everyone who believes, alike for Jew, (first,) and for Greek. For Gods righteousness is in it unveiled, from faith on to faith; as it stands written, But the just man on faith shall live.
These words give out the great theme of the Epistle. The Epistle, therefore, is infinitely the best commentary on them, as we follow out its argument and hear its message. Here it shall suffice us to note only a point or two, and so pass on.
First, we recollect that this Gospel, this Glad Tidings, is, in its essence, Jesus Christ. It is, supremely, “He, not it”; Person, not theory. Or rather, it is authentic and eternal theory in vital and eternal connection everywhere with a Person. As such it is truly “power,” in a sense as profoundly natural as it is divine. It is power, not only in the cogency of perfect principle, but in the energy of an eternal Life, an almighty Will, an infinite Love.
Then we observe that this message of power, which is, in its burthen, the Christ of God, unfolds first, at its foundation, in its front, “the Righteousness of God”; not first His Love, but “His Righteousness.” Seven times elsewhere in the Epistle comes this phrase; rich materials for ascertaining its meaning in the spiritual dialect of St. Paul. Out of these passages, Rom 3:26 gives us the key. There “the righteousness of God,” seen as it were in action, ascertained by its effects, is that which secures “that He shall be just, and the Justifier of the man who belongs to faith in Jesus.” It is that which makes Wonderfully possible the mighty paradox that the Holy One, eternally truthful, eternally rightful, infinitely “law abiding” in His jealousy for that Law which is in fact His Nature expressing itself in precept, nevertheless can and does say to man, in his guilt and forfeit, “I, thy Judge, lawfully acquit thee, lawfully accept thee, lawfully embrace thee.” In such a context we need not fear to explain this great phrase, in this its first occurrence, to mean the Acceptance accorded by the Holy Judge to sinful man. Thus it stands practically equivalent to-Gods way of justifying the ungodly, His method for liberating His love while He magnifies His law. In effect, not as a translation but as an explanation, Gods Righteousness is Gods Justification.
Then again, We note the emphasis and the repetition here of the thought of faith. “To every one that believeth”; “From faith on to faith”; “The just man on faith shall live.” Here, if anywhere, we shall find ample commentary in the Epistle: Only let us remember from the first that in the Roman Epistle, as everywhere in the New Testament, we shall see “faith” used in its natural and human sense; we shall find that it means personal reliance. Fides est fiducia, “Faith is trust,” say the masters of Reformation theology. Refellitur inanis hoereticorum fiducia, “We refute the heretics empty trust,” says the Council of Trent against them; but in vain. Faith is trust. It is in this sense that our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Gospels, invariably uses the word. For this is its human sense, its sense in the street and market; and the Lord, the Man of men, uses the dialect of His race. Faith, infinitely wonderful and mysterious from some points of view, is the simplest thing in the world from others. That sinners, conscious of their guilt, should be brought so to see their Judges heart: as to take His word of peace to mean what it says, is miracle. But they should trust His word, having seen His heart, is nature, illuminated and led by grace, but nature still. The “faith” of Jesus Christ and the Apostles is trust. It is not a faculty for mystical intuitions. It is our taking the Trustworthy at His word. It is the opening of a mendicant hand to receive the gold of Heaven; the opening of dying lips to receive the water of life. It is that which makes a void place for Jesus Christ to fill, that He may be mans Merit, mans Peace, and mans Power.
Hence the overwhelming prominence of faith in the Gospel. It is the correlative of the overwhelming, the absolute, prominence of Jesus Christ. Christ is all. Faith is mans acceptance of Him as such. “Justification by Faith” is not acceptance because faith is a valuable thing, a merit, a recommendation, a virtue. It is acceptance because of Jesus Christ, whom man, dropping all other hopes, receives. It is, let us repeat it, the sinners empty hand and parted lips: It has absolutely nothing to do with earning the gift of God, the water and the bread of God; it has all to do with taking it. This we shall see open out before us as we proceed.
So the Gospel “unveils Gods righteousness”; it draws the curtains from His glorious secret. And as each fold is lifted, the glad beholder looks on “from faith to faith.” He finds. that this reliance is to be his part; first, last, midst, and without end. He takes Jesus Christ by faith; he holds Him by faith; he uses Him by faith; he lives, he dies, in Him by faith; that is to say, always by Him, by Him received, held, used.
Then lastly, we mark the quotation from the Prophet, who, for the Apostle, is the organ of the Holy Ghost. What Habakkuk wrote is, for Paul, what God says, Gods Word. The Prophet; as we refer to his brief pages, manifestly finds his occasion and his first significance in the then state of his country and his people. If we please, we may explain the words as patriots contribution to the politics of Jerusalem, and pass on. But if so, we pass on upon a road unknown to our Lord and His Apostles. To Him, to them, the prophecies had more in them than the Prophets knew; and Habakkuks appeal to Judah to retain the Lord Jehovah among them in all His peace and power, by trusting Him, is known by St. Paul to be for all time an oracle about the work of faith. So. he sees in it a message straight to the soul which asks how, if Christ is Gods Righteousness, shall I, a sinner, win Christ for me. “Wouldst thou indeed be just with God, right with Him as Judge, accepted by the Holy One? Take His Son in the empty arms of mere trust, and: He is thine for this need, and for all.”
“I am not ashamed of the Gospel.” So the Apostle affirms, as he looks toward Rome. What is it about this Gospel of God, and of His Son, which gives occasion for such a word? Why do we find, not here only, but elsewhere in the New Testament, this contemplated possibility that the Christian may be ashamed of his creed, and of His Lord? “Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me, and of My words, of him: shall the Son of Man be ashamed”; {Luk 9:26} “Be not thou ashamed of the testimony of our Lord”; “Nevertheless, I am not ashamed”. {2Ti 1:8; 2Ti 1:12} This is paradoxical, as we come to think upon it. There is much about the purity of the Gospel which might occasion, and does too often occasion, an awe and dread of it, seemingly reasonable. There is much about its attendant mysteries which might seem to excuse an attitude, however mistaken, of reverent suspense. But what is there about this revelation of the heart of Eternal Love, this record of a Life equally divine and human, of a Death as majestic as it is infinitely pathetic, and then of a Resurrection out of death, to occasion shame? Why, in view of this, should man be shy to avow his faith, and to let it be known that this is all in all to him, his life, his peace, his strength, his surpassing interest and occupation?
More than one analysis of the phenomenon, which we all know to be fact, may be suggested. But for our part we believe that the true solution lies near the words sin, pardon, self-surrender. The Gospel reveals the eternal Love, but under conditions which remind man that he has done his worst to forfeit it. It tells him of a peace and strength sublime and heavenly; but it asks him, in order to receive them, to kneel down in the dust and take them, unmerited, for nothing. And it reminds them that he, thus delivered and endowed, is by the same act the property of his Deliverer; that not only the highest benefit of his nature is secured by his giving himself over to God, but the most inexorable obligation lies on him to do so. He is not his own, but bought with a price.
Such views of the actual relation between man and God, even when attended, as they are in the Gospel, with such indications of mans true greatness as are found nowhere else, are deeply repellent to the soul that has not yet seen itself and God in the light of truth. And the human being who has got that sight, and has submitted himself indeed, yet, the moment he looks outside the blessed shrine of his own union with his Lord, is tempted to be reticent about a creed which he knows once repelled and angered him. Well did Paul remember his old hatred and contempt; and he felt the temptations of that memory, when he presented Christ either to the Pharisee or to the Stoic, and now particularly when he thought of “bearing witness of Him at Rome,” {Act 23:11} imperial, overwhelming Rome. But then he looked away from them to Jesus Christ, and the temptation was beneath his feet, and the Gospel, everywhere, was upon his lips.