Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 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, 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, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
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.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Romans 1:1-7.
While love is a powerful emotion that shapes our art and culture, it is often most palpably felt in the anticipation of a reunion, an excitement that seemingly cannot be contained. We are all familiar with the emotional resonance of viral videos showing soldiers returning from deployment or loved ones reuniting after long absences, and advertisers frequently capitalize on this sentiment during the Christmas season to suggest their products can complete these connections. However, Advent allows us to anticipate an enduring love found in Christ Jesus, a love that is not merely emotional manipulation but a transformative force that turns the world from an opponent of God into the very mission field Christ came to save. In the opening verses of Romans, the Apostle Paul offers a formal introduction and a theological handshake to a church he has never met to establish the foundation of the faith. In this opening, Paul unpacks a revolutionary love that is not fleeting or sentimental but is distinctively promised, powerful, and pervasive.
In a world captivated by fleeting trends and novel ideas, Paul begins by strategically grounding our faith in an ancient promise rather than a new philosophy. He insists that this love was not a divine afterthought but is deeply rooted in the Holy Scriptures, connecting Jesus directly to the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. Paul identifies Jesus as a descendant of David “according to the flesh” (kata sarka), a phrase that underscores Christ’s genuine human nature and validates the covenant found in 2 Samuel. This connection is theologically indispensable because it fulfills the prophecy of Micah, who foretold that a ruler would emerge from Bethlehem, a village explicitly called too little to be among the clans of Judah. By affirming Jesus as the seed of David, Paul validates His claim as the rightful Messiah and King. This doctrine of the Incarnation signifies that God’s love is not an abstract force but a tangible reality with a human lineage. Our hope is therefore not based on volatile feelings but on the unwavering faithfulness of a God who kept His word to send a King from an overlooked town, verifying that He works through humility to fulfill His historical promises.
Beyond its historical roots, this divine affection carries a transformative power that redefines human identity in radical ways. Paul introduces himself as a doulos of Christ, which translates to “bond-slave.” This term shattered the Roman ideal of the free citizen, as it was the most abject term used to denote a slave and represented the antithesis of honor, power, and significance. It signified a will completely swallowed up in the will of a master. He then further overturns the world’s hierarchy by addressing the believers in Rome as saints. Unlike the modern conception of a spiritual superstar, the Greek term hagios refers to all believers who are set apart by God, not because of heroic virtue or achievement, but simply because of God’s call. For a small, insignificant community living under the shadow of the eventual persecution of Nero, being called beloved by God was a defiant cry of hope. It declared that their true identity and security rested not in the emperor’s favor but in their unshakeable standing as God’s children. This is a truth Jesus Himself prayed for when He asked that the world would know the Father loves the disciples just as He loves the Son.
Continuing the mission, this love is inherently pervasive and intended to break down barriers to reach all of humanity. Paul’s greeting of grace and peace is a paradigm-shifting summary of the Gospel that fuses the Greek charis with the Jewish shalom. This blessing signals that the Gospel is universal and designed to dismantle the wall between Jew and Gentile. The mission is explicitly for all the nations, and Paul includes his Roman audience in this global mission by affirming that they are living proof of the Gospel’s reach. This universal offer requires a responsive hearing, or the obedience that comes from faith. It is not a demand for legalistic works to earn favor but a natural response of trust to the good news that God’s love knows no boundaries as it reaches every nation and person regardless of their background.
Ultimately, the opening greeting of Romans establishes the Gospel not merely as a set of doctrines but as the active power of God that fundamentally changes who we are, transforming those who were once enemies into beloved children and captives of sin into willing slaves for Christ. As we navigate the Advent season, we see that the baby in the manger is the fulfillment of this grand story. He is the Promised King of David’s line, the Powerful Son of God, and the source of Pervasive grace for all nations, in whom there is no longer Jew or Gentile. This reality offers us more than the temporary emotional high of a commercialized holiday; it fills the one waiting with a determination to overcome any current circumstance because we understand the love God has for us. Therefore, let us respond to this love not with mere sentiment but with the surrender of responsive hearing, becoming agents of grace and peace in a divided world that desperately needs to know there is a love strong enough to heal its deepest divisions.
Elpis and Shalom 