1:5-7: through whom we received grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name’s sake; 6 among whom are ye also called (to be) Jesus Christ’s: 7 To all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called (to be) saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
      In the preceding verses Paul spoke of the gospel. Here, the subject changes to Jesus. Paul and others received “grace” and “apostleship.” This was a way of saying what Paul more fully stated in Eph. 1:3. Every spiritual blessing is in Christ. The grace and the positions enjoyed by the apostles were all a result of God’s spiritual blessings.
Paul’s usage of the word grace in this passage is somewhat uncertain. Galatians 2:9 seems to use the same word to describe Paul’s apostleship. Because of God’s grace Paul was an apostle. In 1 Cor. 3:10 and 1 Cor. 15:10, the word grace describes the Spirit’s power and inspiration. In this passage the Spirit’s power and inspiration are probably the correct explanation. More information on this term is found below.
The information in verse 5 is the key to getting spiritual blessings from God. Paul spoke of faith, and he linked it with obedience. God requires both of these things from mankind. Kittel (6:206) says Paul coined the combination of these two items. This source also says (6:205-206), “‘to believe’ is ‘to obey’” and “Paul in particular stresses the element of obedience in faith.” Paul spoke of being obedient in the first and last chapters of this book (Rom. 1:5; 16:26). Other sections of this letter such as 15:18 and 6:17 also stress the obedient nature of faith. This obedient faith is to be “among all the nations.”
Paul’s mission was to aid people in all the nations. He taught people about Christianity and encouraged men and women to obey the truth (2 Cor. 5:11). This was necessary in the first century as well as now because those who do not obey the gospel will be lost (2 Thess. 1:7-9). Romans 1:6 tells us the Romans had been obedient to the faith. Their obedience had joined them to Jesus. They had become “beloved of God.” They were saints. Because of who these people were (Christians, people of God), Paul wished grace and peace upon them from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Before continuing to study more of the text, several important facts should be noted. Verse 6 states Paul’s readers had been “called of Jesus Christ.” Verse 7 says these same people had been “called to be saints.” Today, it is not uncommon to find people who say God called them. The New Testament says God calls people through His word (the gospel, 2 Thess. 2:14). After the Word of God calls people, there is justification and glorification (Rom. 8:29-30) because those who were lost have obeyed the truth (Rom. 1:5; 2 Thess. 1:8-9).
The words grace and peace were typical greetings that describe “the source and the sum of all Christian blessings” (Expositor’s Greek Testament, 2:587). The word grace was a common greeting for Greeks and would have made an impression with the non-Jews at Rome. The word peace was a Hebrew greeting. It would have been well received by Christians from a Jewish background. The words grace and peace also describe blessings from both the Father and Jesus. The Father and Son work together in giving blessings (Jn. 10:30).
The word “saints” in verse 7 shows that these saints were alive and not dead. Also, it is clear from verse 7 that the saints were Christians and only Christians. That is, they were not special characters who had been canonized (canonization is the process whereby dead people are declared saints). The Biblical definition for a saint and the definition used by others do not always match. The only difference between saints and sinners is that saints have embraced Jesus Christ...