1:2 which he promised before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
1:3 concerning his Son,

who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,
1:4 who was declared to be the Son of God with power,
according to the Spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

1:5 through whom we received grace and apostleship,
for obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake;
1:6 among whom you are also called to belong to Jesus Christ;

1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son,
how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers,
1:10 requesting, if by any means now at last
I may be prospered by the will of God to come to you.

1:11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift,
to the end that you may be established;
1:12 that is, that I with you may be encouraged in you,
each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.

1:14 I am debtor both to Greeks and to foreigners, both to the wise and to the foolish.
1:15 So, as much as is in me, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes;
for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.

1:17 For in it is revealed God's righteousness from faith to faith.
As it is written, "But the righteous shall live by faith." (Hab 2:4)

vs 2 He reveals the continuity of his gospel with that revealed in the scriptures, implying his words should be taken as scripture.

vs 3 The gospel is not simply a message from Christ, but it is Christ himself. Christ is central to the message. But it is not a "Christ" that people might imagine in their own minds according to their own image, but rather the Christ who is described in the Bible both by the prophets and apostles.

vs 4 Miracles are central to the affirmation of the gospel. This is different than the propositions of other religions, like Islam, in which one places a blind faith in the speaker. Jesus was affirmed to be the Son of God through miracles, and in particular his resurrection from the dead. You will also notice that almost always when the gospel is preached in the New Testament, the resurrection is mentioned. Therefore without the miracles being mentioned, the gospel message is incomplete. Let's apply this to our preaching of the gospel.

vs 5 This verse again affirms Paul's responsibility to call the Gentiles to faith in Christ. But even more generally. For before he used the singular speaking of himself, but "we" extends that idea. But to whom? He could be referring to the apostles. But I think he may have in view the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19,20 for the body of Christ as a whole to make disciples of all nations.

"Obedience to the faith". Faith is revealed by obedience. One cannot accept Jesus as Savior only, but must also accept him as Lord, else one's faith has no salvific value.

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

2Thess 1:8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.(NIV)

vs 8 He often evaluates the quality of faith of those he writes to, encouraging Christians to make a correlation between what they say they believe and their behavior. Their faith being spoken of is probably not simply the gospel message, but the manner in which they receive the gospel and applied it to their lives in the face of opposition. But he also says this to indicate that he is not simply writing to transfer information, but has genuine concern for them and is keeping informed of them, communicating his love for them.

vs 9-13 In his practice of loving these brethren he prays for them without ceasing. Meaning, of course, simply that he made praying for them a part of his lifestyle and not that every single moment he was praying for them.

When we serve God, we need not to simply serve in letter. It is easy as a teacher to simply communicate information and think the job is done. We all need to serve in spirit. We need to get into the spirit of the message and take it to heart, serving whole-heartedly.

Paul had these people in his heart and had a practical plan to meet their needs. That is Christian love. Not simply liking people, but actually meeting their real needs. And those who are spiritually minded recognize that the greatest need people have is spiritual. The "spiritual gift" he was referring to was not some charismatic gift of the Spirit, but simply the gospel itself as he revealed it in Romans, which has been a blessing for thousands of years.

His desire is that they would be established in their faith, meaning that their faith would not be mere opinion or a passing fad, but born of conviction, taking root in their heart, mind and spirit and body, deriving applications for their life and future hopes from it.

But Paul himself was also a beneficiary of their faith, in that their obedience of faith was an affirmation of his own and an encouraging sign of the fruitfulness of his ministry. A minister of the gospel in Paul's position was not an easy job. It was discouraging. Just try and start a ministry among those who never heard the gospel and you will see that it's not a bed of roses. It's hard work calling for intense perseverance and many drop out. In such a case, a sign of fruitfulness and response such as the Romans reveal was a great encouragement.

vs 14 His obligations to preach the gospel went beyond those of other Christians in that he was given a specific commission to bring the gospel to the Gentile world. Although it is regrettable that the other apostles did not appear to such a sense of responsibility though they were commanded to preach to and makes disciples of all nations. (Perhaps that's why he had to chose someone like Paul to do the job others were reluctant to do)

I perceive that even among the apostles racism was a struggle and a hinderance to preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. (May explain why Mark left him when Paul began to preach to the Gentiles in Galatia). But Paul was a humble man, not taking race into account. This was just the opposite of his Pharisaical background and a rebuke to those Jews who tried to limit the gospel to the Jews only. In him ministry, Paul had run into many conflicts with the Jews, even in the church of Jerusalem, over this issue.

But the gospel was also not only to cross racial boundaries, but also boundaries of social status and the wise/foolish boundary. The demographics of the Christian community even today simply tend to be a reflection of that of the society. For the gospel was for all to hear. And not simply an "elect" few.

vs 15 Rome might be viewed as the final barrier to cross. For the gospel started with the Jews - an oriental and spiritual culture. It spread to the Hellenists - greekish Jews and then to the Galatians - more superstituous greeks. But crossing the Aegean Sea transitioned a philosophical boundary between eastern oriental culture and western culture of greek logic and cynicism. Rome was the ultimate barrier. Romans ruled the world. What Roman would stoop to joining a religion from a primitive country known for its rebelliousness and religious fanaticism? And even to believe in a poor man from that country as being the Son of God? The progress of the gospel to penetrate these cultures affirms its truth.

vs 16 The message of the gospel itself is both essential to salvation and produces the necessary faith to believe. Faith comes from hearing this message. If you question the quality or content of your faith, listen to the message. There is power here. In his parables, Jesus likens the Word of God, such as is given in Paul's gospel message of Romans, to be a seed which when planted in appropriate soil will inevitably produce fruit - even as Isaiah also affirms saying,

"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."Isaiah 55:10,11 (NIV)

vs 17 There is a different and unique kind of righteousness revealed in the gospel, which Paul finally discloses in Romans 3:21, contrasting it with what the righteousness which is of the Law. The righteousness he is going to reveal is one which comes from faith (as opposed to one's performance), but which leads to applications of faith, as it is written in Hab 2:4 "the just shall live by faith" What he means by this is that while those under that law have the mentality of "I am trying to become righteous by doing righteous things", those who have the righteousness of faith have the mentality, "I do righteous things because I am reckoned righteous by God".