Charles Ellicott Commentary Romans 1:9

"For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers" — Romans 1:9 (ASV)

Proof that the Apostle takes this lively interest in the Roman Church is conveyed through a solemn adjuration.

Whom I serve.—The word for “serve” is strictly used for voluntary service paid to God, especially in the way of sacrifice and outward worship. Here it is somewhat metaphorical: “Whom I serve, not so much with outward acts as with the ritual of the spirit.”

With my spirit.—For St. Paul, “spirit” is the highest part or faculty in the nature of man. It is the seat of his higher consciousness—the organ by which he communicates with God. “Certainly man is akin to the beasts by his body; and if he is not akin to God by his spirit, he is a base and ignoble creature” (Bacon, Essay on Atheism).

The “spirit” of man, in itself, is neutral. When brought into contact with the Spirit of God, it is capable of a truly religious life. However, apart from this influence, it is apt to fall under the dominion of the “flesh”—that is, of those evil appetites and desires to which man is exposed by his physical constitution.

In the gospel of his Son.—The sphere to which the Apostle feels himself called, and in which his heart-worship finds its field of operation, is the defence and preaching, etc., of the gospel.

The Apostle constantly prays that he may succeed in making his way to Rome, for he is so anxious to open his heart to that Church in personal apostolic intercourse.