Paul thanks God for the Romans
faith and for the fact that
their faith is being reported throughout the Roman world
Paul frequently thanks God for the faith
of other Christians:
2 Thessalonians 1:3 - We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love
every one of you has for each other is increasing.
Colossians 1:3-4 - We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
when we pray for you, because
we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the
saints--
Philemon 1:4-5 - I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all
the saints.
Paul
can thank God for the faith of other Christians, because God is the one who
gives Christians their faith - faith is a gift from God!
Ephesians 2:8 - For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith-- and this [faith] not from yourselves, it [faith] is the gift of God--
Philippians 1:29 - For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him [Christ], but also to suffer for him