By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
By whom we have received, х elabomen (G2983)] - 'we received;' that is, at the period of his conversion. In the plural "we" there is no reference to any other than himself. In epistolary compositions (as Tholuck remarks) the plural is largely used, and the New Testament writers, as Cicero sometimes does, alternate between the plural and the singular in the same breath (see 2 Corinthians 5:11; Colossians 4:3; 2 Peter 1:15-16).
Grace and apostleship - not exactly 'the grace of apostleship' (by what grammarians call hendiadys, as Chrysostom, Beza, Philippi, etc., take it). The "grace" is what he had in common with all believers; the "apostleship" was special to the selected few. But since grace made him at one and the same time a believer and an apostle, we can hardly doubt that the former is here referred to only as his divine preparation for the latter: cf. Ephesians 3:8, "To me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given that I should preach." etc.; and 1 Timothy 1:12-14, "I thank Christ Jesus, who hath enabled me ... putting me into the ministry, who was before a blasphemer ... And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant," etc.
For obedience to the faith, х eis (G1519) hupakoeen (G5218) pisteoos (G4102)] - rather, 'for the obedience of faith;' or in order that men might yield to the Gospel the highest of all homage, which is to believe it (John 6:28-29; 1 John 3:23). Hence, the phrase to "obey the Gospel" (Romans 10:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:8: cf. Romans 16:26; Acts 6:7).
Among all nations, for (or 'in behalf of') his name - that is, for spreading abroad the savour of it, manifesting His work, character, and glory (Philippians 2:10). "The name of the Lord" is a phrase of such frequent occurrence in the Old Testament, that it became a household word for all that is most precious in His revealed character. Yet that very phrase, and in exactly the same sense, is appropriated to Christ by all the New Testament writers. And so studiously is this done, that no impartial reader can doubt that they regarded Jesus of Nazareth as having rightfully served Himself heir both to all the perfections of the God of Israel and to all the relations in which He stood to His people. (See the notes at Matthew 22:1-2, and Remark 1 at the close of that section, p. 107.)