Romans 1:7, commentary and pictures

Paul wrote these words as part of his letter sent to the Christians in Rome before he arrived there, and they had eagerly looked forward to seeing him, so that when he finally came among them as a prisoner they cherished him all the more. The greeting belongs to the whole first chapter of Romans and is to be understood together with that chapter. That chapter must be read whole, weighed, grasped in its particular meaning, and presented in its full force to every family, to every minister, and to every church.

Read in that setting, the chapter calls for conversion and sanctification through belief of the truth, reproving all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men and women who hold the truth in unrighteousness and who fail in home religion. It sets forth a true experience and a solemn warning to all families who claim to be sons and daughters of God, especially to fathers and mothers, including many whose names are on the church record yet who are not laborers together with God and who fail their accountability as faithful, exemplary believers. It charges fathers and mothers to seek the Lord and to awaken to responsibilities strangely left out of religious experience in home life, a work greatly neglected in the churches that cannot be neglected without guilt.

Together with the whole chapter, the greeting is addressed to those who have failed to obey the truth in righteousness, showing that a class must become cleansed from every kind of iniquity. Mere knowledge of the truth does not cleanse, because the work to be done through sanctifying grace in the home is not understood, and to claim to believe the truth while denying it in works leaves the heart unsanctified. It shows that there are benefits to be derived from obedience, and that the right use of the physical, mental, and moral powers God has bestowed will bring an eternal reward.