#7. Romans 1:8-9 – Paul’s Prayer, Part 1
Part I: Introductions
First, indeed, I am thanking my God through Jesus Christ concerning all of you, that your faith is being announced in the whole world.
Paul’s letter to the Romans is personal by nature. There is a special relationship between Paul and the Romans that we’ll be studying throughout the next article or two, and we will elaborate on it as well.
Romans 1:8-12, like 1:1-7, has its own structure, highlighting the nature of his personal concern. I will reveal the structure to you later, but for now, we will consider each aspect of the personal nature, as these verses are critical to prepare us for the evangel of God.
So! What does Paul want to cover first? He starts by thanking His God. Note that he doesn’t thank Rome, or other men at the beginning, but his thanks is to his God. This isn’t Paul ‘advancing’ any point, or beginning an argument yet. It’s a thank you to God, and we have no reason to believe that he is being disingenuous. This, here, is one of the few times that we see Paul’s feelings on full display!
Paul says that he is thanking God through Jesus Christ. Jesus, of course, says in John 14:6, that “No one is coming to the Father” except through Him. This is my second example that we are not dealing with a “trinity” thing, but two separate Beings. Just because God is wiser than all does not mean He operates in riddles and rhymes. Christ serves as a Gateway by which we are put into intimate contact with God (John 10:9.) As we still do not have a reason to read “trinity” into what Paul is saying, we won’t.
What does Paul’s “thanks” concern? Well, it’s about all of them! He is fond of all of these saints in Rome, particularly because their faith is being announced in the whole world!
This is the first time we see the term “faith” in the Romans letter. We may ask ourselves, before continuing: what is faith?
The
answer, believe it or not, is very easy. It’s a deep answer, but
it is an easy one. Moreover, it is usually the effects of the
answer that are so divisive. In Hebrews 11:1, the Hebraist writer summarizes
“faith” perfectly well:
Now faith is an assumption of what is being expected, a conviction concerning matters which are not being observed.
There are two components to faith. First, faith is an assumption. In our English language today, this word generally carries a negative context; we are, rationally, told not to assume things, lest we risk making an ass of ourselves. This is true, of course, even in Scripture, but the Greek word used here, hupostasis, has the elements “STANDING-UNDER.” It reflects less of an “assumption” as we would use the term today, and more of a confidence, or substance by which to be confident in. The confidence here is in something that is expected. There is, indeed, an expectation that will be unfolded for us throughout Romans, and we will come to realize it through the faithful declarations that Paul makes.
The second component of faith is a conviction. The Greek element of the word “conviction” here is “EXPOSING.” It is only used in this verse, and speaks of evidence of matters we do not ‘observe.’ The “evidence” on display are the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures themselves. In order to have a conviction about the text, we must consider the facts – which we are going to do in Romans.
I want to stress that last part once more – that we do not observe. So often in churches (Pentecostal churches specifically, but there are others,) we see people “speaking in tongues,” puking out demons or something, and proclaiming themselves messengers of the ‘Holy Ghost.’ Unfortunately, if these matters were true, then they would, by definition, be observed, and as a result the Hebraist writer would be a liar. So – who is telling the truth? The writer of Hebrews, after 10 chapters of foundation, or the Pentecostal church, which says “nuh uh” and makes people puke in front of you as ‘proof of God?’
(I will place my bets in the provable power of the writing, not the unprovable power of the church, but I guess that’s just my opinion, right? Also – seriously, puking is gross, but I digress; I'll stop contaminating the jury.)
We will use Heb. 11:1 as the basis of our understanding of ‘faith,’ and we will deepen our understanding of it as we progress through the evangel of God. Both of these components, the assumption and the conviction, being confidence in the facts presented, make up faith. The word ‘faith’ itself is pistis, and its Greek element is “BELIEF” (come on, you had to have seen that coming.) The belief of the Roman saints are what Paul is so giddy about!
This takes me back to my initial point: he thanks God for their faith – not them. This is beautiful because it shows the true source of their faith – not their own acceptance, but God’s decision to give them that faith! Why would Paul thank Him if He wasn't responsible, right?
God is the Author, and the Roman saints had faith written into their story – they did not add it to their story of their own volition. In this sense, God is the builder, and the saints are the home. If you build me a house, would I thank the wood? That’s right, no – hence why Paul thanks God. This is beautiful because it shows, also, a purposeful ‘thanks.’ Paul doesn’t say, “well, I don’t really know why this happened or what God is doing, but thanks, I guess.” It’s not backhanded, it’s not delusional, it’s not underhanded, and it's not confusing. Paul thanks the Subjector for the faith He gave His own subjects.
Finally, Paul concludes by pointing out that this faith is being announced to the whole world. There is a wealth of force behind this phrase. First, let’s consider this in its context – being the time it was written. In truth, the Roman saints were not in some big cathedral, or a large building with stained glass. The Roman saints were, as we studied, not even introduced as a coordinated ‘church,’ with prayer circles and get-togethers every Wednesday night. In truth, these saints were little ecclesias, or gatherings, manifest throughout Rome (Rom. 16:5, 16.)
This begs the question… if their get-togethers are little gatherings, then how on earth is their faith being announced in the whole world?
Well, let’s look at the word “world.” This word, in Greek, is kosmos, and does not mean “earth,” or “planet,” or “all groups on earth,” which is generally what we mean when we use the word “world.” In Scripture, however, the word “world” carries with it the element “SYSTEM.”
Thus, “world” is not the earth, or groups of people that make up the entire world, but the order by which something operates – the system of things. The force of this word is regarded by its context. Is it only referring to a system on the earth? A system at that time? A system making up the heavens and earth? The only way we know is by studying the context.
Here, Paul says, “the whole world.” Thus it is not “just” some folk on the earth that are hearing of their faith, or even many people, for they were hardly known by any at the time (1 Cor. 2:6-7.) Paul writes in his Ephesian letter, a few years down the line, that “now may be made known to the sovereignties and the authorities among the celestials, through the ecclesia, the multifarious wisdom of God.” This is an intense revelation – so intense, that I feel the need to repeat it. Through the gathering of Christ, the multifarious wisdom of God is made known to groups of beings among the celestials. We will deal with this grand thought in full when we reach that verse. For now, however, we can see a little better what Paul is aiming at when he tells the Roman saints that their faith is being announced in the whole world; we have no reason to be limited to earth, here, but the full scope of God’s universe.
Let’s consider this, secondly, in a grammatical context. I will let Dean Hough do the summarizing here, from U.R. Vol. 93, p. 140–
“Yet
also the words, ‘the faith,’ as figure of association, are sometimes used of
that which is believed (see, for example, Rom. 10:8; Eph.4:13). And that is
certainly in Paul’s mind as well in this passage. The verb ‘announce’ is
generally used in the sense of presenting a message, and then, most always, a
message of good concerning Christ (Acts 13:38; 16:17; Cor.9:14; 11:26). The
announcing of the faith of the Roman believers included, not simply the fact of
their faith, but the message itself which composed their faith. In this sense
too, the apostle is expressing thanks to God, for in its very substance the
message believed is of God and concerns His glory and grace.”
For anyone following along for the first time, and really seeing some of the nuance of Scriptural dialect, please note that a ‘figure of association’ is, literally, a figure by which you are associated with something. The most popular examples of this include simile, metaphor, and personification – all three of which we will be considering when it arrives throughout Romans (particularly personification.) I’ll have more to say about it as we progress.
Let’s consider this in the modern context,
now: the “Bible,” in various forms, is available all over the planet, and is
currently the best-selling book of all time. It has been spread across
this entire earth, and as such, Paul’s claim, that the ‘Roman saints have had
their faith announced in the whole world,’ is completely true. Did Paul know
that this would inevitably be the case? I don’t know. I wasn’t there. But I
do know that hindsight is 20/20, and everyone who has read the Bible, regardless
of how they interpret Paul’s letter, has indeed been informed of the
faith of the Romans saints. It is a faith like no other, and we will
learn more about this faith as we proceed.
For God is my Witness, to Whom I am offering divine service in my
spirit…
This is the first time we can see the word “for,” being gar, in Greek. I have much more to say about this word as we are shown its usage, but for now, I remember it best as a forceful continuation and/or conclusion to the previous clause. If we do not keep this in mind, then we run the risk of the entire letter being thrown into upheaval, and can rip verses straight from their context.
God is Paul’s Witness. A “witness” in Greek is… well, it’s not much different than the “witness” of today’s world. God is the Witness to Paul’s words. This is, however, in contrary to our modern society’s propensity to hyperbolize this phrase. We say “As God is my Witness… this will happen!” It’s a future event, typically a promise that they will do something if some kind of condition is met. Sometimes the condition is met, and the promise lays unfulfilled. Sometimes the condition is met, and the promise is fulfilled.
Nonetheless – it is not what Paul is saying, here. He is not saying, “God now vouches for me, suckers!” This is not a statement of pride, as in, “If I do this thing, it means God has my back.” This line of reasoning indicates that there would be something that God does not have Paul’s back on if he didn’t get to do something he wanted. As we will see, shortly in this introduction, that this is simply not the case.
The Subjector of this whole system stands as the Witness to what Paul is saying, here. God is outside the “world” that is having the faith of the Roman saints announced to it, making Him the ultimate Witness. He gave Paul grace and apostleship, and announced it to the rest of that which He created. Notice that God is spoken of as a separate Being, with His own thoughts and perspective. It begs the question: what is so special about God being your Witness? And why should we accept that God is Witness (or, even wants to be Witness) to the intimate affairs of lowly Paul?
Both of these questions are necessary to grasp Paul’s words. He continues, stating that he is offering divine service to God. This also carries its own connotation to Christian theologians. To the English reader, the phrase is “I am offering divine service.” To the Greek reader, however, this phrase is all one word (and the KJV simplifies, for worse, the phrase, with “I serve.”)
The word “divine” has much to do with God. The word “God” in Greek is theos. The word “divine,” when used as an adjective, is theion, or “PLACED.” You can also consider the word “divinity,” which is in the same family, being theiotes, or “PLACERSHIP.” The word “divine” is not God Himself, but to have the quality of God, or to pertain to the quality of God. Thus we have a bold claim set apart by our apostle – he is offering divine service!
Indeed, this is not to say that Paul is ‘God,’ but that his worship honors and respects God’s divinity – the Placer’s ability to Place. This is why we see the word for “offering divine service” coming directly after Paul thanks The Placer for placing the faith of the Romans, and announcing it in the whole world. We will see this phrase again three more times in Romans (1:25, 9:4, 12:1.)
The service Paul offers is not reflective of his status as a slave, for service is not always involuntary. This service stands in contrast to the regulated rituals of the Jewish temples that were required, and thus not always voluntary. If Paul’s Lord had not given Paul grace and apostleship, Paul would not be able to offer divine service.
Paul, in his greeting between Rom. 1:8-13,
shows us three different examples of divine service:
1) Beseeching
2) Longing
3) Consoling
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