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Through him[a] we have received grace and our apostleship[b] to bring about the obedience[c] of faith[d] among all the Gentiles on behalf of his name.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 1:5 tn Grk “through whom.”
  2. Romans 1:5 tn Some interpreters understand the phrase “grace and apostleship” as a hendiadys, translating “grace [i.e., gift] of apostleship.” The pronoun “our” is supplied in the translation to clarify the sense of the statement.
  3. Romans 1:5 tn Grk “and apostleship for obedience.”
  4. Romans 1:5 tn The phrase ὑπακοὴν πίστεως has been variously understood as (1) an objective genitive (a reference to the Christian faith, “obedience to [the] faith”); (2) a subjective genitive (“the obedience faith produces [or requires]”); (3) an attributive genitive (“believing obedience”); or (4) as a genitive of apposition (“obedience, [namely] faith”) in which “faith” further defines “obedience.” These options are discussed by C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (ICC), 1:66. Others take the phrase as deliberately ambiguous; see D. B. Garlington, “The Obedience of Faith in the Letter to the Romans: Part I: The Meaning of ὑπακοὴ πίστεως (Rom 1:5; 16:26),” WTJ 52 (1990): 201-24.

To me—less than the least of all the saints[a]—this grace was given,[b] to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

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Footnotes

  1. Ephesians 3:8 sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.
  2. Ephesians 3:8 sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).