then “grace” would represent God’s merciful bounty or covenantal favor revealed in Christ Jesus, and “peace” would connote the fullness of prosperity and well-being characteristic of God’s goodness to Israel of old. For all of this Paul prays: that it may come to the Christians of Rome from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ as the sum of evangelical blessings. (Fitzmyer 1993, 228) FROM THE TEXT Paul’s understanding of the gospel of God … regarding his Son (Rom 1:1, 3), and of himself as an