5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations,

6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

— Romans 1:5-7, 16

18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

— 2 Corinthians 5:18-20

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

From Romans we can clearly see as Christ’s servant, Paul extended God’s peace to both Jews and Gentiles/Greeks. He preached the gospel in Rome to those who did not know God as well as those who loved God. Paul remained steadfastly committed to champion the gospel of Christ to all. God called Paul to invite all Gentiles to believe and obey Christ. While obedience to Christ cannot create or replace faith, saving faith in Christ produces obedience that pleases God.

The Christian faith centers on Jesus Christ – almighty Lord and Prince of Peace – who is worthy of all praise and worship. God invites all people to rightly turn from rebellion and worship Him. The good news of the gospel requires a committed response. For this reason, Paul stressed his role as an apostle, a sent one by God. God had commissioned him as Christ’s ambassador. Paul pled for people to be reconciled to God, turn from sin, believe in Jesus Christ as Savior, and follow Him as Lord. God calls all believers to follow Paul’s example to plead for people to be reconciled to God.