RevExp 100:1 (Winter 2003) p. 18 also uniquely qualified to share his gospel with the Roman believers in the conviction that this would strengthen their faith in the face of Jewish-Gentile tensions at work within their various house-churches. Before presenting his gospel in the body of the letter, however, Paul must first induce these readers whom he has neither converted nor even visited to accept him and the gospel that he proclaims. The epistolary framework, therefore, plays a crucial role in