A Reputation for Faith

With his salutation to the Roman believers complete, Paul now pens a short section (vv. 8–15) of personal comments that shed light on his reasons for writing to them in the first place. The first of these is a word of encouragement and praise.

Paul wants the Romans to know that he has been thanking God for their faith, a faith that is being noted by many people and talked about all over the Roman Empire. “Their faith was becoming widely known,” Dr. James M. Boice writes in his commentary, “no doubt because other Christians were talking about it. ‘Do you know that there is a group of believers in Rome?’ they were asking. ‘Have you heard how strong their faith is, how faithfully they are trying to serve Jesus Christ in that wicked city?’ ” Not surprisingly, given his extensive contacts with believers all over the empire, Paul is among those who have heard the glowing reports about the Roman church. He was a pioneering missionary, taking the faith to unreached areas farther and farther from its point of origin in Palestine. But the reports coming to him from Rome show that the Gospel has raced ahead of him, possibly carried there by the “visitors from Rome” who were in Jerusalem at Pentecost (Acts 2:10). And from what Paul hears, it is clear that the body of believers that has been planted there not only has taken root but has grown and is bearing abundant fruit in what must be a very hard place for Christians.

But Paul here does not congratulate the Romans for their faith. Instead, he thanks God for it. This is as it should be, for, as Boice notes, “This is a faith that God Himself brought into being and not something that welled up unaided in the heart of mere human beings.” As we saw in yesterday’s study, God Himself called the Romans into a relationship with Christ. The faith by which they believed was a gift of God’s grace, and Paul was grateful that God had given it, raising up a body of committed believers in the great capital city. We know that Paul focused much of his ministry on cities, and it is likely very meaningful to him to hear of a church giving such a good witness at such an important crossroads. By telling the Romans of their growing reputation, he no doubt intends to spur them on to even greater faithfulness.