8 First of all, I give praise to my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because news of your faith has gone into all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whose servant I am in spirit in the good news of his Son, that you are at all times in my memory and in my prayers, 10 And that I am ever making prayers that God will give me a good journey to you. 11 For I have a strong desire to see you, and to give you some grace of the spirit, so that you may be made strong; 12 That is to say, that all of us may be comforted together by the faith which is in you and in me. 13 You may be certain, my brothers, that it has frequently been in my mind to come to you (but till now I was kept from it), so that I might have some fruit from you in the same way as I have had it from the other nations. 14 I have a debt to Greeks and to the nations outside; to the wise and to those who have no learning. 15 For which reason I have the desire, as far as I am able, to give the knowledge of the good news to you who are in Rome.
16 For I have no feeling of shame about the good news, because it is the power of God giving salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first, and then to the Greek. 17 For in it there is the revelation of the righteousness of God from faith to faith: as it is said in the holy Writings, The man who does righteousness will be living by his faith.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Romans 1:8-17
Commentary on Romans 1:8-15
(Read Romans 1:8-15)
We must show love for our friends, not only by praying for them, but by praising God for them. As in our purposes, so in our desires, we must remember to say, If the Lord will, James 4:15. Our journeys are made prosperous or otherwise, according to the will of God. We should readily impart to others what God has trusted to us, rejoicing to make others joyful, especially taking pleasure in communing with those who believe the same things with us. If redeemed by the blood, and converted by the grace of the Lord Jesus, we are altogether his; and for his sake we are debtors to all men, to do all the good we can. Such services are our duty.
Commentary on Romans 1:16-17
(Read Romans 1:16-17)
In these verses the apostle opens the design of the whole epistle, in which he brings forward a charge of sinfulness against all flesh; declares the only method of deliverance from condemnation, by faith in the mercy of God, through Jesus Christ; and then builds upon it purity of heart, grateful obedience, and earnest desires to improve in all those Christian graces and tempers, which nothing but a lively faith in Christ can bring forth. God is a just and holy God, and we are guilty sinners. It is necessary that we have a righteousness to appear in before him: there is such a righteousness brought in by the Messiah, and made known in the gospel; a gracious method of acceptance, notwithstanding the guilt of our sins. It is the righteousness of Christ, who is God, coming from a satisfaction of infinite value. Faith is all in all, both in the beginning and progress of Christian life. It is not from faith to works, as if faith put us into a justified state, and then works kept us in it; but it is all along from faith to faith; it is faith pressing forward, and gaining the victory over unbelief.