The Romans are the saints in Rome to whom Paul wrote before he came.
To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.
I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
The church was there before the apostle arrived.
The Romans are the church in Rome, loved by God and called to be saints. Paul writes before he has seen them. He thanks God for their faith, which is proclaimed in all the world, and he wants to preach the gospel to them also. He has been hindered. He still calls them his brothers. The letter is not written to a church he planted. Aquila and Priscilla had already been in Rome. Mary of Rome is one of the workers he greets. When he finally comes, he comes in chains, and the brothers meet him on the road.
- The Colossians were another church Paul had not planted. The Romans are the capital church of that same kind.
- The early church in Rome is named person by person in the last chapter. The doctrine of the letter is written to those people.
- Jew and Gentile are both in the address. The argument of the letter is their one gospel, not a private essay.
Loved by God and called to be saints.
Their faith was proclaimed in all the world.
He was eager to preach the gospel to them also.
- The Romans are the saints in Rome, not only the name of a letter.
- Paul had not yet visited them when he wrote.
- Their faith was already being proclaimed in all the world.
- The church was there before the apostle arrived.
- Romans 16 greets workers by name, including Mary.
- He reached them later as a prisoner and preached unhindered.
- The City – Rome, the capital.
- The People – Loved by God, called to be saints.
- The Faith – Proclaimed in all the world.
- The Letter – Written before the visit.
- The Workers – Named in the greetings.
- The Arrival – A prisoner, welcomed on the Appian Way.
- Romans 1:7-8 – “To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints… I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.”
- Romans 1:11-15 – “I long to see you… I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”
- Romans 16:3-6 – “Greet Prisca and Aquila… Greet also the church in their house… Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.”
- Acts 28:14-15 – “And so we came to Rome. And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us.”
- Acts 18:2 – Aquila and Priscilla had recently come from Italy, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome.
To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.
Your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
The Romans are those saints. Paul did not plant the church. He wrote to it, greeted its workers, and later came in chains.
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