Romans 1:1-7 – “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Ok, so last time we covered a lot of ground.  We saw how Jesus Christ is Lord, and as Lord chooses to dispense grace according to His Will.  We saw that Jesus is completely just in however He chooses to dispense or not dispense grace because it was purchased by His blood.  We saw that Jesus does in fact dispense grace to believe to some.  To those who are given grace to believe, grace is extended as well to bring about an “obedience of the faith”.  That obedience we saw was an inward obedience of mind’s understanding of God from His Word and the heart’s affections toward Him that no one can muster or “work up” on their own, it is a gift of God by His grace.  Lastly we saw that all of the grace of God to bring about obedience of the faith is for a purpose, the lifting up the name of Jesus Christ among the nations.

Today, we are going to continue and conclude our time in Paul’s salutation.  In the last part of His salutation Paul turns his attention to his audience, the readers.  He makes a point that he is not speaking to everyone in Rome, this letter was written to the Church of Rome.  Paul is going to be careful to be specific on who that means, saying those who are “called to belong to Jesus Christ”.  Now if you remember back a few messages ago, the word here for “called” is kletos, meaning divinely appointed.  As fellow readers of this letter who have been appointed to belong to Jesus, it’s important to understand that this is not of our own choice apart from God’s purpose and grace extended to us.  Our belonging to Jesus by appointment of God is confirmed in Jesus’ own words:

John 10:27 – “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

John 17:8-10 – “For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.”

We have been given to Jesus by the will of God the Father, not according to our own will.  We all know that we made a decision to believe on Christ, but what the Word is saying is that your “free” decision only happened because God willed it to happen, and extended you grace to believe.  Now, I realize this might ruffle the feathers of some, because you might be asking the question, well if God desires everyone to be saved, why doesn’t he give EVERYONE to Jesus.  The answer is two-fold.  First we must remember that no one is owed salvation.  That’s usually where most people trip up, they believe that in order for God to be “good” in their eyes He owes them something.  They do not realize that the most just and right thing for God to do would be to send us all to hell.  When we are with Christ in Heaven, and begin to have an ounce of understanding of the weight and gravity of one sin before an infinite holy God whose air we breathe and in who has given us all things, I think instead of questioning God, we would stand in awe that He chooses to save any.  (Look at Isaiah, the prophet of God’s response in Isaiah 6 – He calls “woe” on himself that God should curse him as a sinner)  The irony of course is that you cannot make a spiritually dead person feel the weight of their sin, they’re dead.  Sufficed to say, we’re all sinners deserving of hell.  Secondly, Jesus didn’t die to help sinful people escape from hell, He died to lift up His name.  Therefore, God hates sin, sees the depravity of man, and desires that everyone would be saved to know Him, however, there was a greater purpose in salvation; the lifting up the name of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, we must leave room that God has a purpose in lifting up His name in the just punishment of unrepentant sinners, just as he has a purpose in saving some to display the riches of His grace.  I’ll leave the rest of Romans to dig into and expand on that more.

So Paul’s message to bring obedience of faith was directed towards those who had been appointed by God to belong to Jesus Christ.  What else does Paul say about this group of people He is writing to?  He says that they are loved by God and called to be saints.  That’s a funny way to say things.  Why didn’t Paul say who are called to be saints and loved by God?  Some might say, well because everyone is loved by God.  In context though, it doesn’t make sense this is a universal “love” for all people, because not everyone is called, “kletos”, divinely appointed to be saints.  We’re surrounded by people who don’t know Jesus as their savior.  No, this is a special love that God that God has for those who have been called to be reconciled and conformed into the image of His son, to be saints.  This love is not contingent upon an action from us to believe, God’s love is unconditional – preexisting even creation itself.  Ephesians 1:3-5 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will”

When God sees Christ in us as believers, He loves us with the same love that He has for His Son.  The father’s love for His Son, Jesus Christ is unimaginably great.  So God loves you… REALLY loves you, infinitely, eternally, and ever faithfully.  God’s love for us as those who are called to belong to His Son manifests itself that that we would be saints.  The greek word for saint here used is “hagios” meaning holy, separate, set apart.  A saint is one who is set apart for God to be glorified in holiness for the sake of the name of Christ.  This is the work of God from beginning to end, and He is faithful to complete it.  Put another way:

Romans 8:30 – “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” 

The ending of Paul’s message is actually telling us how our becoming obedient of faith, set apart as saints, is going to occur – through the Word of God.  When Paul is saying “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”, he is making the claim that as an apostle, God is speaking through Him to give grace and peace to the readers.  How does hearing/reading the Word of God help us become obedient of faith?  Because seeing God in His Word is the means by which we are to be transformed into the image of Christ, and that occurs not as a result of our own working, but of God in us.

2 Corinthians 3:15-18 – “Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.  But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 

Whenever Moses is read we behold the glory of the Lord.  Now Moses is credited with writing the first 5 books of the Old Testament, but the context here is simply God’s revelation of Himself to us in His Holy scripture.  In beholding, we are to be transformed into the image of God from one degree of glory to another, by God who is the Holy Spirit dwelling in us as believers.  That is the prescribed means by which we are to be transformed.  This is why careful study of God’s Word is essential, that is why we should devote a great amount of our energy to pursue knowing God in Truth from His Word.  I hope that you will stay with us, however long this journey through Romans lasts.  Know that through the blood of Christ, we are bold in asking God to come, reveal Himself in Truth and glory, that in seeing we might become.  That in becoming we might love.  That in loving, His name would be lifted high among the nations, and many more would come to know our risen savior, Jesus Christ.

Grace and Peace,
Adam