Introduction and greeting
Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 6 And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The recipients of Paul’s letter are “all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” (verse 7). Although Paul has not been to Rome, as he will be informing us shortly (1:13), he does know a considerable number of people in Rome. In the closing chapter of this letter, he will be sending personal greetings to some two dozen people. The real bond between them, however, is that, like Paul, they are loved by God, who has called them to be saints. As Paul uses the term, saints are people who are holy by faith in Christ Jesus. Call them believers, if you will.
On the basis of their common faith in Christ, Paul can extend the following greeting: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 7). “Grace” was the common greeting in the Greek-speaking world. “Peace” (Shalom) was, and is, the standard greeting in the Jewish world. Since this letter was written to an ethnically mixed audience of Jews and Gentiles, both of these greetings are appropriate. Coming from Paul’s pen, however, these two terms are far more than just a commonplace secular greeting. In Paul’s Christian vocabulary, grace is the quality that makes God willing, even eager, to give good gifts to believers. And God’s gifts—such as forgiveness of sins, a good conscience, and the certainty of heaven—bring peace to those who are the objects of God’s grace. Thus grace and peace go together as cause and effect.