Rom
1:1-7 (ESV) Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart
for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in
the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David
according to the flesh 4 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, 5 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, 6
including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
7 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.
NOTE: Paul's
greeting seems to hint at his purpose. He mentions the concept of an apostle
and its purpose. He mentions God and his gospel, its Jewish roots. He mentions
Jesus, his death and resurrection. He mentions the Holy Spirit and his role. He
mentions the results of the gospel and the application to our lives. He
mentions faith, the great commission (the nations), and the call to belong to
Jesus (the church). Every one of these concepts will be addressed in his
letter. They will be addressed fully, because as we find out later, he has
never visited them. So instead of reminding them of truths that he previously
taught, he must go through his complete development of the gospel doctrinally.
So, sometimes God uses our absence to produce something that couldn't be done
with our presence. And the result is that many more people are blessed by what
we couldn't do, than by what we did do (travel to Rome and preach the gospel).
Interestingly, is that after writing this letter, he will have opportunity (forced)
to go to Rome.
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