Ver. 5. Through Christ Paul received χάριν κ. ἀποστολήν. The plural, ἐλά- βομεν, may mean no more than the
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κ, ΠΡΟΣ ΡΩΜΛΙΟΥΣ 587
πίστεως maou τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος "αὐτοῦ, 6. ἐν οἷς d Ch. xvi 26; Acts
ἐστε καὶ ὑμεῖς, κλητοὶ ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ”) 7. πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσιν ἐν Ῥώμῃ; yi & me i ‘3 é ~€ Acts ν. 41, ἀγαπητοῖς Oeod,! κλητοῖς ἁγίοις, Χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ Θεού ix. 16, xv. η x 20. πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ Κυρίου ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ. 8. Πρῶτον μὲν εὐχαριστῶ τῷ Θεῷ µου διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ὑπὲρ 3 | εδ ae ε , ea Shale ik Oe) ΕΙ Thess. |. πάντων ὑμῶν, ὅτι ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν καταγγέλλεται ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ ‘Kdopw ε
1 For πασιν τοις ονυσιν εν Βωμῃ αγαπητοις θεου G reads πασι τοις ουσιν εν αγαπῃ θεου. The same MS. also omits τοις εν Ρωμῃ in νετ. 17. This is part οί the evidence on which Lightfoot relied to show that Paul had issued chaps. i.-xiv. of this Epistle as a circular letter with all local allusions (such as these, and the many in chaps. xv. and xvi.) omitted. See Introduction, p. 578. ~
? For υπερ read περι with SBACD’, etc.
singular, or may proceed from the latent consciousness that the writer is not the only person entitled to say this ; it is not expressly meant to include others. χάρις, grace, is common to all Christians; ἀποστολὴ rests upon a specialised χάρις and implies competence as well as voca- tion. But in the N.T. these are hardly distinguished; it is a man’s χάρισμα which constitutes his ‘call’? to any particular service in the Church. eis ὑπακοὴν πίστεως: the object of the apostleship received through Christ is obedience of faith, z.e., the obedience which consists in faith (but ¢f. Acts vi. 7) among all the Gentiles. Cf. chap. x. 16, 2 Thess. i. 8. The meaning of ἔθνεσιν (Gentiles, not nations) is fixed by ver. 13 and by Paul’s conception of his own vocation, Gal. i. 16, ii. 8, Eph. iii. 1 ff. ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ: the final purpose of his vocation is that Christ’s name may be above every|name.
Ver. 6. The Romans, as well as others, are included among the Gentiles, and described as Jesus Christ’s called. They belong to Him, because they have heard and obeyed the Gospel. ‘ Call- ing” in Paul always includes obedience as well as hearing. It is effectual call- ing, the κλητοὶ being those who have accepted the Divine invitation.
Ver. 7. The salutation proper. It is addressed to all who are in Rome, etc., to include Christians of Jewish as well as Gentile origin. They are ἀγαπητοὶ θεοῦ, God’s beloved, because they have had experience of His redeeming love in Jesus Christ; and they are κλητοὶ ἅγιοι, saints, in virtue of His calling. See on κλητὸς ἀπόστολος above. The word ἅγιος did not originally describe char- acter, but only a certain relation to God; the ἅγιοι are God’s people. What this means depends of course on what God
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is; it is assumed in scripture that the character of God’s people will answer to their relation to Him. It is worth mentioning that, as a synonym for Christian, it is never applied in the N.T. to an individual: no person is called ἅγιος. Phil. iv. 21 (ἀσπάσασθε πάντα ἅγιον ἐν Χ. Ἰ.) is not an exception. The ideal of God’s people cannot be ade- quately realised in, and ought not to be presumptuously claimed by, any single person. (Hort’s Christian Ecclesia, 56.) Paul wishes the Romans grace and peace (the source and the sum of all Christian
-blessings) from God our Father, and
from the Lord Jesus Christ. The greet- ing is followed by a thanksgiving, which passes over insensibly into Απ intro- duction of a more personal character, in which Paul explains his desire to visit the Romans and to work among them (vers. 8-15).