NOTES for Rom 1:7

The apostle Paul greets the Christians of first-century Rome in this way, but these words can be addressed to us as well. Then we, just imagine it, are those whom God loves and calls to holiness, that is, to a life based on love for God and for people. We are those to whom everything truly good is sent from the heavenly Father and His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ for nothing, freely, and to whom peace is also given. Peace not merely as the absence of war, but as a special state, originally present in God, of harmony in all relationships and connections, the state God intended for the seventh day of Creation. All this can apply to us, because it is said: "According to your faith, let it be done for you."

Commentators often call the Letter to the Romans theological, having in mind its complexity and the ambiguity of its interpretation. But the apostle himself, addressing the Roman Christians, as is clear, has theology by no means in view. He, as always, remains a preacher, a witness of the Kingdom that was opened to him when he met the Risen One on the road to Damascus (vv. 1-7). And all Paul's theological reasoning turns out to be for him only a means of such witness. In this he remains precisely an apostle in the full sense of the word, a messenger who cannot and must not say anything on his own, but must only convey what he was entrusted to convey by the One who sent him. And he must convey it in such a way that he is heard precisely as a witness, as one for whom the Kingdom is an unquestionable reality, and not simply as a herald, to whom it is often a matter of complete indifference what exactly he proclaims in the city streets and squares. That is why Paul rejoices that those to whom he addresses his letter themselves bear witness to the world about Christ and about the Kingdom (v. 8).

The apostle knows that he is not going to those to whom something must be explained and proved, but to his brothers, with whom he is united in the main thing: in the experience of the life of the Kingdom, which is in fact what is called Christianity. It would appear that those who have such experience no longer need any instruction. But Paul nevertheless wants to see the Roman Christians in order to give them a certain spiritual gift that will help them "be strengthened" (vv. 9-11). And for the apostle himself this, as is clear, serves as consolation, which he shares with his Roman brothers, rejoicing in their faithfulness to Christ and the Kingdom (v. 12).

As is clear, Paul looked at his ministry not as teaching, so characteristic of the rabbinic environment to which he himself had belonged before his conversion, but as the experience of jointly living through the reality of the Kingdom, which was known to every Christian. Paul's witness became, to use philosophical language, an actualization of this Kingdom, allowing the brothers who listened to the apostle to be strengthened in what was, of course, already known to them from their own spiritual experience. Thus preaching became witness, and witness became communion and unity in the Kingdom.

Today we read the beginning of the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans, that is, to all of us, because the Roman community consisted of Gentiles who had accepted Christianity, converted Jews, new converts, and those who had already followed Christ for many years. And the beginning of the letter immediately gives us a brief summary of what is the foundation of our faith. What matters most for us is that Jesus was born of the Spirit, died as a man, and rose again. This was promised by God through the prophets and was preserved by Scripture.

We are all called to carry the news of this, and for this grace and apostleship are given. This is needed so that everyone can hear the formula "born of the Spirit - died - rose again." It is clear that when the duty of carrying the truth is laid on you, it is very easy to make it private, accessible and understandable only to you. So, in order not to lose the way on this path, Paul simply writes to us: "...to bring all nations to the obedience of faith, among whom you also are, called by Jesus Christ." This defines the place of Christians in the world: among all nations, not off to the side, not in the center, but everywhere, like mortar between stones; they must shape the walls, they must build the house of God. By being "among."