“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.” -Romans 1:8
The use of the word first is sort of a trademark of the Apostle’s writing. It’s possible he means that before he addresses anything else, he wants to start with thanksgiving.
But given he dictates most of his letters using a scribe, scholars suggest his letters can appear to be more in the form of “streams of consciousness” (i.e., a first without a second) than a formally outlined letter.
That said, this letter to the Romans is quite well structured, so my conclusion is the former explanation is more weighty.
I further suggest the following chiastic structure best informs us of Paul’s ultimate purpose in writing to the Romans.
- 1:1-17 Introduction
- 1:18-3:30 Chaos (Devolution of Humanity)
- 4-5 Faith Saves
- 6-7 Two Regimes
- 8 The Glory of the Gospel
- 9-11 Two Branches
- 6-7 Two Regimes
- 12-13 Faith Works
- 4-5 Faith Saves
- 14-15 Cosmos (Evolution of Humanity)
- 1:18-3:30 Chaos (Devolution of Humanity)
- 16 Farewell
Paul thanks God for all of them through Jesus Christ because without Christ, we have no access to the throne room of God (Ephesians 2:18, 3:12 Cf. Romans 5:2 and Hebrews 4:16).
He is thankful to God for them because they in Rome–at the epicenter of the known world–possess the same faith he is preaching. Additionally, their faith is not obscure, but has a good reputation throughout the known world of that day.
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