“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 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.”
Romans 1:1-7
Paul’s greeting starts with identifying his apostolic authority and his role as a servant of Christ in bringing about the obedience of faith. Although our spiritual journey begins with believing that Jesus is the Son of God, it is also to bring about transformed lives. Paul’s ultimate goal in preaching to the Gentiles was that they would come to know the “love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that they may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19)
Obedience of faith, or the obedience which springs from faith, is also the act of surrender to the Lordship of Christ. Suppose our obedience of faith is for the sake of His name among all the nations. In that case, our ultimate goal is to: “Let our light shine before others, so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16). That is, by seeing your good works they may both praise God for sending Christ into the world, and also, may be moved to love and serve God as you do, and thereby glorify him. As a Christian, this is to be our high calling in life.