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.
7. To all of you who are at Rome, etc. By this happy arrangement he sets forth what there is in us worthy of commendation; he says, that first the Lord through his own kindness made us the objects of his favor and love; and then that he has called us; and thirdly, that he has called us to holiness: but this high honor only...
Paul titles himself a servant of Christ, his glory, not his shame. He was called to apostleship, not self-appointed like the false teachers. He was separated to the Gospel by God's counsel itself, set apart from birth to be entirely devoted to it, the Gospel of God Himself, divine in origin and extraction.
AI summary
Commenting on Romans 1:1-7
To all that be in Rome,.... These words contain both the inscription of the epistle, and the apostle's usual salutation, as in all his epistles, The inscription of it is not to the Roman emperor; nor to the Roman senate, nor to all the inhabitants in Rome; but to all the saints there, whether rich or poor, bond or free, male or female, Jew or...