Romans 1:6-7

Paul’s Audience

Paul’s audience is marked by the term “called.”

Romans 1:6-7 “Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ: To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

They have been called of Jesus and “called to be saints.” The origin and source of their calling was Jesus (6)!

Called to obedience of the faith

First, these Roman believers were called unto the “obedience of the faith.” Salvation requires obedience to a supernatural system of living called faith that comes from God. Obedience is not the cause of our salvation but the fruit of our salvation. John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Obedience comes from a heart that has been transformed by God’s love that causes that heart to love God. From beginning to end salvation is a love affair between God and the converted sinner. 1 John 4:19 “We love him, because he first loved us.”

Paul wrote about a change that occurs for those in Christ Jesus. He wrote: 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” The basis or foundation of this tectonic change is a transference of love. We transferred our love from darkness to light. John 3:19-21 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

Called to be saints

Second, these Roman Christians were “called to be saints.” By God’s amazing grace they were appointed sacred, special and holy. The same word is used earlier describing the kind of scriptures that belong to God - the holy scriptures. Positionally, we are special and sacred in God's eyes. May this truth help us to live our lives manifesting our positional standing with God. God help us to treat our lives as having a sacred purpose.

Regardless of our occupation we have been called saints. It does not matter if we are doctors, soldiers, contractors, laborers, accountants, first-responders, or unemployed, our vocation (RC 8) is being a “saint of God.”

Conclusion

Romans 1:5 “By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:”

I want to close Paul’s introduction to this amazing book with verse 5. Verse five speaks of the Great Commission given by Jesus. At the end of verse five, Paul wrote: “for his name.” All that is encapsulated in the Gospel is for His name or another way of saying the same thing, for His glory. Romans radiates the glory of God from beginning to the end.

What is glory?

“Glory is a very hard thing to define. It is like the word ‘Beauty.’ We all can use it and communicate with it but to try to reduce it to words is very frustrating. It is easier to point to examples. A sunset seen from the top of the IDS Tower — that’s glory. Or the IDS Tower itself almost invisible, like crystal against a grey-blue sky — that’s glory. A perfect performance on the balance beam by Nadia Comaneci — that’s glory. A perfectly executed thirty-foot jump shot with one second to go — that’s glory, too.

“The glory of God is the beauty and excellence of his manifold perfections. It is an attempt to put into words what God is like in his magnificence and purity. It refers to his infinite and overflowing fullness of all that is good.”

May our joy be fulfilled with God’s glory. God, help us to be amazed at the beauty of your glory.