1 The Commission and Its Context Romans 1:1–15 The opening of Romans offers nothing to cheer those who would fain believe that even Paul must, on occasion, have engaged in small talk. At the outset he presents himself as a man under commission, briefly defines his assigned task, then declares that he has long desired to meet his readers in person—for the rather impersonal reason that they, too, fall within the sphere of his mandate. Toward the end of the letter Paul indicates that he is writing in
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