Romans 1:8-10
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. [ESV]
The introductions complete, Paul now begins the letter proper. Another common technique Paul uses, especially when he is getting ready to admonish his audience (e.g., Philemon), is to begin with praise. Here he commends the faith of the Roman church, telling them that their faith has become widely-known. Have they survived persecution? Or is it the fact that the church managed to continue despite Claudius’ decree? We can only guess. What is clear is that, while Paul is about to chastise them for their pride and in-fighting, he does not consider them to be weak-minded. He respects the strength of their faith, and approaches them as strong believers who need to be reminded of gospel truths. Even today, mature believers need to be reminded of gospel truths–even simple things like love for the brethren, putting the Lord first in all things, and always being ready to share the hope that we have.
Paul then makes clear his fervent desire to visit the church in Rome. He has undoubtedly wanted to visit the church in Rome for some time. More than likely this is not a church Paul himself planted, which, given the strength of the congregation there, would only make his desire to visit stronger. He now has the opportunity to visit and has made plans to do so (Acts 19:21); all he needs now is the Lord’s will for his plan to come to pass. As we know, it was God’s will, and, indeed, this trip to Rome was the last documented journey Paul made.
The “first” that starts this section seems to me from the Greek construction to be the first item in a list of things he wanted to address (Greek: prôton men). You will search in vain, however, for the “second” or “third” items. It appears that Paul’s intention to make a list was soon forgotten in the flow of the letter. Remember, the New Testament letters were not written by some kind of divine dictation. God inspired Paul to write, but He used the agency of the human Paul, with all his limitations and frailties, to communicate His truth precisely as He intended. And God still operates this way today, using frail human instruments to accomplish His good and perfect intentions.
In verse 9, Paul says that he serves God with his spirit in the gospel of His Son. Some interpret the use of “spirit” here to refer to the Holy Spirit, but I side with those that think Paul is referring here to his spirit. That is, Paul serves God in the gospel–proclaiming the message of repentance and forgiveness of sin through Christ’s death and resurrection–from the very core of his being. The gospel proclamation is what Paul’s life is about. He is a living witness to the grace of God in Christ.
Finally, notice this little glimpse into Paul’s prayer life in verses 9 and 10. He prays continually for the church in Rome (as he did, no doubt, for the other churches), and he prays that God will make it possible for him to visit. Paul’s position as an apostle did not give him infallible access to the mind of God. He didn’t know whether the Lord’s plans for him included a trip to Rome. Notice the uncertainty in his statement: “somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.” Literally, the Greek translates this way: “if perhaps at some time [or “ever”] I shall succeed in the will of God to come to you” (ei pôs êdê pote euodôthêsomai en tô thelêmati tou theou elthein pros humas). The greatness of Paul’s faith was not that he knew God’s will, but that he was willing to trust God’s will for him whatever it might be.
