12 What I am saying is that we can encourage each other by the faith that is ours.
13 My friends, I want you to know that I have often planned to come for a visit. But something has always kept me from doing it. I want to win followers to Christ in Rome, as I have done in many other places.
14-15 It doesn't matter if people are civilized and educated, or if they are uncivilized and uneducated. I must tell the good news to everyone. That's why I am eager to visit all of you in Rome.
16 I am proud of the good news! It is God's powerful way of saving all people who have faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.
17 The good news tells how God accepts everyone who has faith, but only those who have faith. It is just as the Scriptures say, “The people God accepts because of their faith will live.”
18 From heaven God shows how angry he is with all the wicked and evil things that sinful people do to crush the truth.
19 They know everything that can be known about God, because God has shown it all to them.