Romans 1:5

Through whom we received grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake.

The use of "we" may be viewed either as the editorial plural applied to Paul, or as an inclusion with himself of all the other apostles, all of them having been shareholders in the apostolic commission and beneficiaries of the grace of God.

Obedience of faith ... This is the first mention of faith in the Roman letter, and its being mentioned along with obedience is extremely significant. Paul was about to write the most important document on the subject of faith that the world would ever have, in which, of necessity, there would be written some of those things which even an apostle would consider "hard to be understood" (2 Peter 3:16); therefore, it was a matter of gracious discernment upon his part that, in the very beginning of the letter, he made it clear that, throughout Romans, "faith" should be read "obedient faith." Evidence is totally lacking that Paul ever considered "faith only" as efficacious in the procurement of salvation; because, as noted here, the apostolic commission was designed to produce the obedience of faith, and not merely faith alone. These same words, conjoined by apostolic authority, stand at the beginning of Romans and at the end, where they are mentioned in the final doxology (Romans 16:26), thus forming the archway through which one enters the portal and by which one departs this magnificent cathedral of sacred literature.

Among all the nations ... anticipates what Paul was about to say of the forthcoming visit to Rome; because, much as he personally wished to visit there, a much higher priority belonged to his heavenly commission to "all the nations," which, to be sure, included Rome also; but the gospel was already known there. For such reasons as these, therefore, he had refrained from gratifying his personal desire to visit the great capital until it could be fitted into the larger strategy of preaching the gospel wherever it had not previously been proclaimed. The word "nations" here means "Gentiles," and it is so translated by Locke and many others. "For his name's sake" applies to the entire apostolic commission, with special emphasis upon the purpose of it, namely, to glorify and honor the Lord Jesus Christ. This is evident from the literal meaning of the phrase, which, according to Barrett, is "on behalf of his name."[10]