These circumstances help to explain and synthesize some of the details we have noted above. They suggest three observations that have bearing on our reading of the letter. First, Paul addresses the Roman church as Gentiles in light of its de facto Gentile identity until the few years prior to the letter’s composition (Rom. 1:13; 11:13). For Paul, those Gentile Christians whose residency in the Roman church was uninterrupted by Claudius’s edict bear particular responsibilities toward their returning