The passage
      v1. Paul begins by describing himself as a "slave" of Christ, called to be an "apostle" of Christ, one of those officially sent out by Christ. The "sent ones" were originally those who could claim to be "a witness of the resurrection" and who had been with Christ from the beginning. This narrow definition widened as time passed. Paul was "called" to this task in the sense of directly authorized by Christ to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles.
      v2. Paul here defines the gospel as the fulfillment of God's promises revealed through the Old Testament prophets.
      v3-4. He now gives a summary of the gospel. Jesus is of the Davidic line and is fully human; he came "as a man", "so far as his human nature is concerned", 9:5. Through the resurrection event Jesus was appointed Son-of-God-in-power, in contrast to Son-of-God-in-humility. Jesus' resurrection was expedited through the Holy Spirit whose sanctification of believers is imaged in the resurrection event ("Spirit of holiness" = the Holy Spirit who sanctifies, makes holy).
      v5. Paul and the other apostles, were shown mercy and kindness ("grace") when God gave them the ministry of apostleship. For Paul and his team, this "grace" consisted of a special authority to preach to the Gentiles. His task was to call the Gentiles to the obedience of God, the obedience which consists of faith. From such obedience comes righteousness, a right-standing in the sight of God as a gift of grace through the instrument of faith, rather than effort applied to the law.
      v6. His Roman readers are among those so "called". The call is probably not an effectual predestining of individuals to salvation, but rather an invitation to join the chosen people of God, to join those who have found salvation in Christ, through faith.
      v7. Paul therefore, addresses the Roman Christians as "loved by God" and "called to be saints" (children of God).

The obedience of faith
      When I was a young assistant minister in my first parish appointment, I got to know a most amazing old believer. He was affectionately called Pop. In his younger days he worked as a street evangelist. There is nothing more difficult than preaching the gospel to people on a busy sidewalk. I have spent my life hiding in a pulpit, but to stand on a milk crate at the corner of a busy city street is something else. Of course, his passion for the gospel never waned. When we first met he took me aside and explained the way of salvation, just in case I had missed it at theological college. What passion for the gospel! They all knew him around the district. Even the most mundane remark about the weather or something else, gave Pop an evangelistic opportunity. The gospel came into every conversation.
      Paul the apostle had the same passion. By the second sentence of his letter to the Romans he is into a short outline of the gospel. It's the classic two part presentation, properly adjusted for his Gentile readers. He begins with the "time is fulfilled" statement, but only makes a passing reference to Jesus' fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. The events of Jesus' life proclaim him "Son of God", or even better for Gentile ears, "Lord". As is typical of the New Testament, the stress falls on Jesus' resurrection rather than his crucifixion; a point often missed in evangelistic sermons today.
      Paul then goes on to declare that through Jesus the "kingdom is at hand." Of course, he doesn't use this exact phrase, a phrase so commonly used in the gospels. The blessings of the kingdom must be contextualized for Gentile ears and Paul does this in the phrase "the obedience that comes from faith". This statement goes to the center of the gospel.
      There is of course, a problem. The phrase "obedience of faith" is hotly debated. There are many who would argue that Paul is speaking about the doing of obedience, ie. the godliness that flows from faith. Yet, it is more likely he is speaking about Christ's obedience which is imputed to a believer through faith. Perfect obedience to the Law will justify a person, but other than Christ, no person has ever obeyed perfectly. The gospel proclaims the good news that obedience can be credited to a believer through faith - an imputed obedience rather than a done obedience. The good news is that a person who through faith is obedient, will live.
      So, in a nutshell, Paul tells us that the kingdom is at hand, but does so in a summary of the doctrine of justification, namely that righteousness, right-standing in the sight of God, is ours as a gift of grace through faith. We would do well to emulate Paul's gospel message and his gospel passion.

v1
      douloV (oV) "servant" - slave, bond servant. Paul is Christ's man.
      klhtoV adj. "called to be" - a called [apostle]. Rendered verbally
      apostoloV (oV) "apostle" - Used in the technical sense of an authorized representative of Christ.
      afwrismenoV (aforizw) perf. pas. part. "set apart" - having been set apart, marked off, separated by a boundary. An adjectival participle modifying "apostle", Paul is a "set apart apostle." Perfect implies that Paul is habitually so. Used of the setting apart of Israel in the sense of their chosen / appointed role.
      eiV "for" - to, for. "For the sake of the gospel", or "to preach the gospel." "Called as a messenger and appointed for the service of" the gospel, Phillips.
      euaggelion (oV) "gospel" - important message.

v2
      oJ proephggeilato (proepaggellw) aor. "the gospel he promised beforehand" - which he promised before, previously, in advance. "God" is obviously the primary agent, "this gospel God announced beforehand", NEB. The relative clause expresses the idea that the gospel (ie. the content of the message) is the fulfilment of the promises of the prophets in the Old Testament.

v3
      peri + gen. "regarding" - concerning, about. Defining the content of the gospel, "this news is about the son of God", JB.
      tou genomenou (ginomai) aor. mid. part. "who ..." - the one having come. Making the point that Jesus became a man. "He was born", RSV.
      kata sarka (sarx sarkoV) "as to his human nature" - according to flesh. As to his humanity. "On the human level", NEB.
      ek spermatoV (a atoV) "a descendant [of David]" - from the seed. "He was born of David's stock", NEB.

v4
      kata + acc. "and who through" - according to [spirit of holiness]. Either: i] "as far as his being divine is concerned", or possibly "his divine holiness"; ii] Christ's resurrection was expedited though the Holy Spirit who is the one who makes (us, not Christ) holy / sanctifies.
      oJrisqentoV (oJrizw) aor. pas. part. "was declared" - having been designated, decreed, appointed. Lit. set limits or boundaries. Jesus was "installed to the position of."
      en dunamei (iV ewV) "with power" - in power. Either: i] treated adverbially modifying the verb "declared", eg. "powerfully declared"; ii] qualifying "son of God", "Son of God in all his power", JB; iii] as an independent statement, "by a mighty act", NEB, so NIV, NRSV.
      ex + gen. "by" - of, out of, from. introducing either: i] a causal clause as in NIV, or ii] a temporal clause, "from the time of the resurrection", TH.
      anastasewV (iV ewV) "resurrection" - Referring to Christ's resurrection, or to the general resurrection in the last day. The sense may be active, as in NIV, or passive, "he was raised from the dead", Moffatt. The reference is surely to Christ's resurrection.

v5
      di ouJ "through him" - through whom. "We apostles received our authorization from God, commissioned in Christ's name, to ..."
      elabomen (lambanw) "we received" - "God gave me the privilege" TEV, reads well, but misses the point that the ministry of the gospel is, at this time, administered by the apostles, with whom Paul identifies himself. Sometimes "we" means "we Jews", but not so here, rather "we apostles received."
      apostolhn (h) "apostleship" - The office of apostle.
      eiV uJpokohn pistewV "to the obedience that comes from faith" - to obedience of faith. Note the many ways to handle this phrase: i] "obedience to the faith", Moffatt, Phillips; ii] rendered verbally, "to believe and obey", TEV; "to lead to faith and obedience", NEB; iii] of the obedience that is prompted by faith, as in NIV, "which is the product of faith", Barclay. This view, reading the genitive as a genitive of origin, has much in its favor and is the view held by new perspective commentators, eg. Davies (possibly an objective genitive, "obedience is the object at which faith aims", Dumbrell); iv] where "faith" is taken as an epexegetic genitive, "the obedience of faith / which is faith / consists of faith", Murray, Godet, Haldane, .... This is the sense addopted by these notes. See Cranfield for a full discussion on his seven possible meanings, but note the printing error in the 1975 edition, 1st printing, "the obedience which consists in faith", not "the faith which consists in obedience." From God's point of view, faith in Christ is counted as obedience and is rewarded accordingly. The reader will understand that much rests on the interpretation of this phrase. "To promote among all the Gentiles a yielding in faith", Berkeley.

v6
      Note, punctuation is a problem, best resolved by placing a comma after "you". "Among whom are you also, you who are called ..." Cranfield.
      klhtoi adj. "those who are called" - the called ones. As is usually the case in the New Testament, God is the one who does the calling. The sense of "call" (summoned) is better translated with a word like "invited" where free grace is emphasized rather than an effectual predestining. For the opposite view see Cranfield who argues that "call" in the Pauline letters always means "effectual call."
      Ihsou Cristou "to belong to Jesus Christ" - of Jesus Christ. Genitive of possession.