Romans 1.7a-The Recipients of the Epistle-the Beloved of God and Called Saints
Tuesday May 22, 2007
Romans: Romans 1:7a-The Recipients of the Epistle-The Beloved of God and Called Saints
Lesson # 12
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 1:1.
This evening we will continue with our study of the salutation in the book of Romans that appears in Romans 1:1-7, which identifies the writer as Paul (verse 1) and the recipients of the letter as being believers in Rome (verses 6 and 7) and the subject as being Jesus Christ (verse 1:2-5).
In Romans 1:1, Paul identified himself to his readers by giving a three-fold description of himself.
In Romans 1:2, Paul further defines the gospel that he proclaimed as the fulfillment of prophetic expectation in the Old Testament.
In Romans 1:3-4, Paul presents the subject of the epistle, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Next, in Romans 1:5, we read where Paul states that he received the unmerited spiritual gift of apostleship at the moment of his salvation in order to bring about among the Gentiles the faith, which produces obedience to God.
On Sunday morning we studied Romans 1:6, in which Paul identifies the recipients of this epistle as the called ones who are owned by Jesus Christ.
This evening we will note Romans 1:7a, in which Paul further identifies the recipients of this epistle as the beloved of God and called saints.
Romans 1:1-7, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as 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 born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“To all” is the dative (of recipient) plural form of the adjective pas (pa$), which is pasin (pa=sin).
The adjective pasin is a dative of recipient indicating the intended recipients of this letter from Paul and refers to all individual believers residing in Rome as indicated by the prepositional phrase en Rhome (e)n ‘Rwvmh|), “in Rome.”
Pasin is a subtle reminder to the believers in Rome that they are all on the same footing with each other because of their common relationship and union with Christ.
They all have equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute the plan of God because they are all sons of God through faith alone in Christ alone (Gal. 3:26).
Pasin reminds the Roman believers that there are no distinctions among them because of their union with Christ (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11).
They are all in union with Christ through the Baptism of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:4-6) and are all individual members of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12, 27; Eph. 5:30).
This one word pasin is designed to destroy any petty divisions or factions that might be developing or festering among the Roman believers, which left unchecked, will destroy their momentum and their spiritual growth as well as their corporate witness to the unbelievers in their community.
“Who are” is the dative (of recipient) masculine plural definite article tois (toi$) plus the dative (of recipient) masculine plural present active (independent substantival) participle form of the verb eimi (ei)miv), which is ousin (ou@sin).
The articular participle tois ousin is also called by grammarians a restrictive participle expressing the fact that Paul is addressing a specific group of believers, in a specific geographical location, which is the city of Rome.
“In Rome” is composed of the preposition en (e)n), “in” and the locative (of place) feminine singular form of the proper name Rhome ( (Rwvmh), “Rome” indicating that Paul is writing to believers located in the city of Rome.
This is a descriptive present of the verb eimi used to indicate, that which is “now going on,” therefore it means that these believers are “presently” located in Rome and the active voice states that these believers in Rome are producing the action of the verb.
Therefore, we can translate this articular independent substantival participle tois ousin, “to those who are presently.”
“Beloved of God” is composed of the adjective agapetos (a)gaphtov$) (ag-ap-ay-tos), “beloved” and the genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (qeov$) (theh-os), “of God.”
The noun theos refers to all three members of the Trinity who are God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and functions grammatically as a “genitive of agency” meaning that the Trinity are the agents who accomplished the action denoted by the adjective agapetos, “beloved.”
The adjective agapetos is a reminder to the Roman believers that before salvation they were the objects of God’s “impersonal” love but now after salvation, they are the objects of God’s personal and affectionate love.
As to His nature, God is love, which is an attribute of His.
1 John 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Before salvation, the believer was the object of God’s “impersonal” love meaning that he was obnoxious and unattractive to God since he was enslaved to the cosmic system of Satan and his old Adamic sin nature and under real spiritual death.
Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Even though the believer was dead in his sins and transgressions and as a result an enemy of God who is holy, at the moment of salvation, through the baptism of the Spirit, he was raised and seated with Christ at the Father’s right hand because of the Father’s great love.
Ephesians 2:4-6, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
At salvation, the believer became the object of God’s “personal” love meaning that the believer is attractive to God since God imputed His righteousness to the believer at the moment he exercised faith alone in Christ alone and is now a child of God and a partaker of the divine nature.
1 John 3:1, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.”
The expression agapetois theou, “beloved by God” serves as a reminder to the Roman believers that they are the beneficiaries and objects of the Father’s love, the Son’s and the Spirit’s.
The divine-love of God the Father expressed itself in eternity past when He designed the Incarnation Plan for the Son to execute in order to provide salvation for all mankind (John 3:16-18; Ephesians 1:3-14).
The divine-love of God the Son expressed itself in eternity past when He volunteered His services to execute the Incarnation Plan of God the Father (Hebrews 10:5-9).
The divine-love of the Lord Jesus expressed itself when He voluntarily denied Himself the independent function of His divine attributes in order to die a spiritual death on the cross as a substitute for all mankind (Philippians 2:5-11).
The divine-love of the Holy Spirit expressed itself when He made the gospel understandable at the point of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:1-2) and when He performed seven ministries for the believer at the moment of salvation and after salvation through His various post-salvation functions to reproduce the character of Christ in the believer.
The divine-love of the Trinity expressed itself in providing for the believer three categories of grace provision: (1) “Antecedent” grace: Election, Predestination, and Eternal inheritance (2) “Living” grace: The spiritual life of the believer. (3) “Eschatological” grace: Resurrection body and rewards for faithfulness.
The Father expressed His love through: (1) Election: He elected the believer to the privilege of an eternal relationship and fellowship with the Trinity (Ephesians 1:3-14). (2) Predestination: He predestinated the believer to be conformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:5). (3) Eternal inheritance and rewards: He will bestow an eternal inheritance and rewards if the believer does His will (1 Corinthians 9:25; Ephesians 1:11; James 1:12; Revelation 2:10).
God the Son expressed His love through: (1) Redemption: He redeemed the believer through His spiritual death on the Cross (Ephesians 1:7). (2) Propitiation: He propitiated or satisfied the Father’s holiness, which demanded that sin be judged (1 John 2:2; 4:10). (3) Reconciliation: He reconciled the believer to the Father through His death (Colossians 1:22).
The Holy Spirit expressed His love through: (1) Efficacious grace: He made the believer’s faith in Christ effective for salvation (2 Cor. 6:1-2). (2) Regeneration: He regenerated the believer by giving him a spirit and eternal life (John 3:1-7; Titus 3:5). (3) Baptism: He placed the believer in union with Christ and identified him with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection and session (1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 4:5). (4) Indwelling: He permanently indwells the believer (Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 3:16). (5) Filling: He influences the believer who is obedient to the Word of God (Ephesians 5:18). (6) Sealing: He puts His stamp on the believer guaranteeing his salvation (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13). (7) Spiritual gifts: He gives the believer a spiritual gift to serve God (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). (8) Mentorship: He functions as the believer’s mentor and teacher (John 14:26; 1 John 2:20). (9) Fruit bearing: He reproduces the character of Christ in the believer who is obedient to the Word of God (Galatians 5:21-22). (10) Convicts of sin: He convicts the believer of sin (Romans 8:4-11; Ephesians 4:30).
The adjective agapetos would serve to remind the Roman believers that they are beneficiaries of God’s divine-love before salvation and objects of His personal love after salvation.
It would also serve to encourage them in the midst of the undeserved suffering and persecution and would challenge them to advance to maturity and execute the plan of God.
Romans 1:7, “to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Called” is the nominative masculine plural form of the adjective kletos (klhtov$), which means, “called ones.”
This word describes the Christian as one who is “elected” to the privilege, responsibilities and blessings of obtaining salvation as well as an eternal relationship and fellowship with the Trinity and service to the Father through faith in Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:3, “Worthy of praise and glorification is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One who has blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in the Person of Christ.”
Ephesians 1:4, “When He elected us to privilege in Him before the foundation of the world for the purpose of being holy and blameless before Him.”
God elected the believer before the foundation of the world in the sense that God, in His foreknowledge, which is based upon His omniscience, knew before anything was ever created, that we would believe in His Son in time.
God elected the believer before the foundation of the world since He knew beforehand that the believer would accept Jesus Christ as Savior in time and therefore elected the believer to privilege.
Election means that God has a plan for your life, which is to be conformed to the image of Christ.
Romans 8:28-30, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
Election is related to believers only and unbelievers are not elected to condemnation since God desires all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).
Romans 1:7, “to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Saints” is the dative (of recipient) plural form of the adjective hagios (a^gio$), which is hagiois (a(givoi$) and refers to “a person or thing that has been set apart as sacred or consecrated or dedicated to God.”
It was one of five words used by the Greeks to describe their concept of holiness and is the only word used in the Bible to describe the biblical concept of holiness.
Hagios functions here in Romans 1:7 as a technical term describing all the members of the royal family of God in Rome who have been set apart through the Baptism of the Spirit at the moment of salvation in order to order serve God.
The church age believer has been “set apart” for God’s purpose and plan through the baptism of the Spirit and has acquired the principle of God’s integrity through the imputation of divine righteousness at the moment of salvation (See Romans 4).
The “baptism of the Spirit” takes place exclusively during the dispensation of the church age and is accomplished at the moment of salvation when the omnipotence of the Spirit places the believer in a eternal union with Christ, thus identifying the believer positionally with Christ in His death, resurrection and session.
1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”
“Baptized” is the verb baptizo (baptivzw), “to cause the believer to be identified with the Lord Jesus Christ.”
At the moment of salvation, the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit causes the believer to become identical and united with the Lord Jesus Christ and also ascribes to the believer the qualities and characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hagios, “saints” is a reference to the doctrine of “sanctification,” which is a technical theological term for the believer who has been set apart through the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of salvation in order to serve God exclusively.
“Sanctification” is accomplished by God in three stages: (1) Positional (2) Experiential (3) Ultimate.
“Positional sanctification” is the believer’s “entrance” into the plan of God for the church age resulting in eternal security as well as two categories of positional truth (1 Cor. 1:2, 30; 1 Pet. 1:2; 1 Thess. 5:23; Eph. 5:26-27; Heb. 2:11; 10:10; Acts 20:32; 26:18; Rom. 6:3, 8; 2 Thess. 2:13).
“Retroactive” positional truth is the church age believer’s identification with Christ in His death and burial (Romans 6:3-11; Colossians 2:12).
Romans 6:4, “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
“Current” positional truth is the church age believer’s identification with Christ in His resurrection, ascension and session (See Ephesians 2:4-6; Colossians 3:1-4).
Colossians 3:1, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”
“Positional sanctification”: (1) What God has done for the church age believer. (2) His viewpoint of the church age believer. (3) Sets up the potential to experience sanctification in time. (4) Provides the believer with the guarantee of receiving a resurrection body.
“Experiential sanctification” is the function of the church age believer’s spiritual life in time through obedience to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the communication of the Word of God (John 17:17; Rom. 6:19, 22; 2 Tim. 2:21; 1 Pet. 3:15; 1 Thess. 4:3-4, 7; 1 Tim. 2:15).
2 Thessalonians 2:13, “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.”
“Experiential sanctification” is the post-salvation experience of the church age believer who is in fellowship with God by confessing any known sin to the Father when necessary followed by obedience to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the Word of God.
1 John 1:9, “If any of us does at any time confess our sins, then, He (God the Father) is faithful and just with the result that He forgives us our sins and purifies us from each and every wrongdoing.”
1 John 2:5, “But, whoever, at any time does observe conscientiously His Word, indeed, in this one, the love for the one and only God is accomplished. By means of this we can confirm that we are at this particular moment in fellowship with Him.”
This obedience constitutes obeying the commands to be filled with the Spirit and letting the Word of Christ richly dwell in your soul.
Ephesians 5:18: “And do not permit yourselves to get into the habit of being drunk with wine because that is non-sensical behavior, but rather permit yourselves on a habitual basis to be influenced by means of the Spirit.”
Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
This obedience enables the Spirit to reproduce the character of Christ in the believer.
Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Experiential sanctification is only a potential since it is contingent upon the church age believer responding to what God has done for him at the moment of salvation, therefore, only believers who are obedient to the Word of God will experience sanctification in time.
The believer who experiences sanctification is walking in “newness of life” and he does this by obeying the teaching of the Word of God, which states that the believer has been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ and which teaching is inspired by the Holy Spirit (See Romans 6).
“Ultimate sanctification” is the perfection of the church age believer’s spiritual life at the Rapture, i.e. resurrection of the church, which is the completion of the plan of God for the church age believer (1 Cor. 15:53-54; Gal. 6:8; 1 Pet. 5:10; John 6:40).
It is the guarantee of a resurrection body and will be experienced by every believer regardless of their response in time to what God has done for them at salvation.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52, “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”
Sanctification is experiencing the holiness or in other words manifesting the character of God through one’s thoughts, words and actions.
1 Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.’”