“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.” -Romans 1:6–7
Right out of the gate, in Paul’s introduction and greeting, readers are met with a pair of curious expressions: “you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ” and “all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.”
The word called is the Greek word, κλητός (kletos), and means God’s summons or appointment. Note its presence as the root word for church, ἐκκλησία (ekklesia = called out assembly).
In some limited uses κλητός can merely mean invited as when Jesus said, “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14), but of the eleven times the word is used in the New Testament, it is only used this way once, as noted here.
Paul is telling the Roman believers that their salvation (their obedience of faith for the sake of Christ’s name among all nations; vs. 5) came from the Lord who “set them apart” as saints. (Saints = ἅγιος = set apart, holy, sanctified.) In this scenario, God is the actor in salvation and the Roman believers are the receptors.
Finally, grace and peace are extended to them (all those in Rome who are loved by God). Note again that they are the objects of God’s love and God’s is the one who loves Cf. “We love because he first loved us.” -1 John 4:19.
One of the most important aspects of our walk with Christ is not so much understanding that Christianity is a relationship rather than a religion (as we so often hear), but understanding the orientation of that relationship. If we don’t get that right, we’ll miss everything else of significance.
And if we do get it right, the first thing we’re likely to become aware of is the fact that God is not democratic. As we will soon discover, he is a faithful and just monarch; and we are all his rebellious subjects.
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