This is the longest of all Paul’s greetings, and verses 1-7 are (if you notice the punctuation in almost every major English translation) one long sentence. The outline of the salutation is typical for a first-century letter: The Author’s identification and function (verses 1-6), The Recipients’ location and identification (verse 7a), The Greeting (verse 7b).

The gist of the paragraph, what stands out in the paragraph, is the gospel of God, prophesied in Scripture and concerning Jesus Christ. The gospel was Paul’s life and the theme of this letter. This is a gospel greetings.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, (Rom. 1:1)

As with almost every epistle (an English word derived from the Greek word epistole (ἐπιστολή), which we typically refer to as a letter), the author identifies himself. No one wrote more epistles in the New Testament than Paul .

Because he wrote so many letters (13 included in the NT)—some to churches he had started, some to churches he had visited or had only heard about, as well as a few letters to young pastor disciples—we know a lot about him. And yet we ought to try to appreciate what the recipients of this letter knew about him, which only could come from reports (since he hadn’t been to Rome yet) and from the letter itself.

Paul identifies himself in this letter in three related ways.

First, he is a servant of Christ Jesus . A doulos (δοῦλος) is a slave. So many English translations use the word “servant,” including William Tyndale as far back as 1522. There is a tendency today to make a significant distinction between slave and servant, defining a servant as one who serves in perhaps better, less abject conditions. But the ones who read this letter would not have had a lot of questions about what this word meant, even though they might have known different δοῦλος in different situations. Based on what we know about the demographics of Rome in the first-century, many of the recipients of this letter were probably slaves themselves.

The point is that the slave is bound to another, to an owner or master. The slave is not free, which is just as much a relational bond as it is an economic class.

Paul’s master is Christ Jesus. Three more times in this opening paragraph Paul reverses the order, “Jesus Christ” (see verses 4, 6, 7). Whatever the possible nuance of order, Jesus is the focal point of this greeting as will become obvious in the following verses.

It is an interesting first impression for Paul to make: he is not his own.

Second, he is called (to be) an apostle . An apostolos (ἀπόστολος) is a delegated messenger. Christians know the word, and we know that the original group of Christ’s 12 disciples were named apostles (Luke 6:13). They were His students, then they became teachers about Him. Apostles were gifts from God for the saints (see Ephesians 4:11; 1 Corinthians 12:28).

That Paul was called further indicates that it wasn’t his prerogative. He was knocked to the ground (Acts 9:4) and his life redirected. He will use the same idea in verse 6 about those “called to belong to Jesus Christ” and in verse 7 about those “called to be saints.” Someone else is doing the calling.

Third, he is set apart for the gospel of God . Though his slavery was first, this is the focal point of the introduction.

Paul says he was aphorismenos (ἀφωρισμένος), or “having been set apart for the gospel of God.” The voice of the verb is passive, meaning that someone other than himself did the separating. As he was called by another, so he was set apart by another. God drew the line in the sand, so to speak, and put Paul on the other side.

Paul was a tent-maker by trade, but then he was given new boundaries. Maybe his tent-making gave him appreciation for the idea of setting aside a certain piece of leather for a particular application.

What’s more, the cognate noun, Pharisee, of which Paul was one (Philippians 3:5), comes from this idea of “being removed from other parties so as to discourage or eliminate contact” (BAGD). God set Paul apart for the gospel.

The gospel is the εὐαγγέλιον, the evangel (think Trinity Evangel Church, Evangel Classical School). The gospel is of God and about His Son.

which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, (Rom. 1:2)

The gospel itself, not Paul, is the focus of verses 2-4.

1. The Gospel is not new.

Because it is “the gospel of God ” we should acknowledge that the good news is not new with the New Testament. God promised beforehand through his prophets . The promises can be read in the holy Scriptures , which refers to the Old Testament. The gospel is not a novelty; not original to Paul nor an ornament or play-thing.

As we read the rest of Romans we’ll read numerous allusions to and quotes from those writings. We’ll read about Adam and Abraham, about Israel and the law, about justification by faith in Genesis. God didn’t reveal everything all at once in the beginning. Certainly the Gospels and Acts and the Epistles clarify for our edification. But Paul frames his responsibility to the first century Jews and Gentiles in Rome in historical terms.

The gospel was promised, the gospel is a fulfillment of many of those promises. The gospel is also:

concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh (Rom. 1:3)

God’s Son is the center-person of the gospel.

2. The Gospel focuses on the Person of Jesus

Verse 3 describes not only the Son’s humanity, but His royalty. Jesus was descended from David according to the flesh , or “made of the seed of David” (KJV). This makes Jesus the kingly-offspring promised to David (2 Samuel 7:12-16; Psalm 89; Isaiah 11:10; Jeremiah 23:5-6).

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ (Jeremiah 23:5–6)

From the genealogies in Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38 we learn that Jesus has the divine right to the throne through his adoptive father, Joseph, and the bloodline through his mother, Mary.

One of the last descriptions we saw in Revelation 22:16, which Jesus gave of Himself, is about Jesus as the root and offspring of David.

and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, (Rom 1:4)

“Descended from David” would have been enough without “according to the flesh” if His human family was the only concern. Jesus was declared to be the Son of God . Our word “horizon” derives from the Greek word for declared . Just as the horizon serves as a dividing line, so the resurrection fixed Jesus as the Son of God. It did not make Him so, but it did manifest Him so.

The Resurrection vindicated everything Jesus claimed about Himself, including His identity as Son of God. He said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11). The resurrection declared His divinity in action, while also demonstrating God’s very character as a from-the-dead sort of author.

The letter to the Romans doesn’t have any explicit teaching about the Trinity, though within the first four verses we’ve seen the Son, with His Father, and the Spirit. Paul’s lack of argument for, but ease of description, stands out, since the Jews killed Jesus for blaspheming against the “one Lord.” The Romans themselves had hundreds of gods, one or more for every occasion.

The Romans also knew lords and emperors and Caesars. Jesus is the Son’s earthly name, Christ is His royal and redeeming anointing, and Lord is His authoritative sovereignty. He is Man, Messiah, Master.

through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, (Rom. 1:5)

Verses 5-6 are more about Paul again, but only as they fall under the Lordship of Jesus. Through God’s Son Paul was given gifts: grace and apostleship . The grace here is not less than but also more than saving grace, it is empowering for his delegated assignment as an apostle. And in yet another sense, his work as a representative was to preach grace of God.

3. The Gospel changes lives (from faith to faith).

The obedience of faith may be one of the most underrated and underused inspired phrases. It’s only used twice in the Scriptures, here in the greeting of Romans and again in the benediction of Romans (Romans 16:26). This is the obedience that comes from faith.

We are forgiven by grace through faith, and then re-formed, still by grace through faith. But this re-formed obedience is a post-requisite. We are being transformed (Romans 12:1), we are being conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). This is sanctification. Our resurrection in Christ causes us to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4), and sometimes we need to have the feet of our hearts washed again (see John 13:10). The whole thing is from faith to faith (Romans 1:17), and obedience is the fruit of healthy faith.

Faith is no more an enemy of works than the sun is an enemy to flowers. Obedience is always the standard. Obedience is never the cause of our salvation, but it is the fruit of it. Obedience is the bloom, the color, the fragrance of salvation in the flesh.

Even the Great Commission is that disciples would “observe/obey all that (Jesus) commanded” (Matthew 28:19).

4. The Gospel is for all.

Paul knew he was called to reach the Gentiles, the peoples (see Romans 11:13). The focus was less on nations by geographical boundaries, and more on those who were outside of Israel. Again in verse 5, “among all the nations.” Not just to the children of Israel, but to “every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9, see also Acts 9:15)

How does this relate to the Great Commission to make disciples “of all nations” (Matthew 28:19)? Does this emphasize the persons within (with the result of a more pervasive throughout) or the corporate nature of the people (with the result that the gospel would seep down among the persons, as certain preachers hammer)?

Part of the answer is in the context, as in, the very next verse. The ones “who are called to belong to Jesus Christ” are persons in Rome, they are part of the fulfillment of Paul’s mission. The target for the gospel is individuals within a group before it is a target for the Group.

including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, (Romans 1:6)

One thing this verse confirms is that a larger portion of believers in Rome were not Jewish, though the amount of teaching in the letter confirms that many questions concerning Jews was very important.

To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 1:7)

Now Paul identifies the recipients and gives his inspired hello. He does not call them a “church,” but they are Christians, loved, called, and separated.

Conclusion

What sets this salutation apart is the gospel.

From faith to faith, the obedience of faith. We also, almost two-thousand years later, are defined by this same gospel of God, are loved by Him and called to be saints.

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Charge

Do you already know and believe the gospel? If you do, that is a gift. And if you do, don’t despise how God is able to keep using the gospel to strengthen you by it as you meditate on it and make it known to all generations and rejoice that you are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

Benediction:

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Romans 16:25–27, ESV)