Called to Be Saints

From inside the Vatican, in Rome. 

Scripture:

Rom. 1:7   To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:

 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Observation:

The Roman Christians are beloved by God. This is an incredible designation, for Paul is saying that they are God’s chosen people. This phrase has much in common with the Old Testament designation of Israel as God’s people, and is really an introduction to the theme which will encompass the first eight chapters of this letter. 

Not only are the people of Rome, both Jew and Gentile, God’s beloved, but they are also “called to be saints.” There is a duty for Christians to be holy, just as God is holy, and therefore they are called by God to be saints. This is a desire placed upon the heart of Paul that all the believers in Rome will walk in grace and be sanctified. Sanctification is not optional for Paul, but is the desire. Throughout his writings he uses the term “saints” at least 38 times. The focus is not on behavior, but upon the status as God’s people. For Paul Christian and saint are synonymous. 

Finally, his greeting concludes with a phrase that has become common to Paul. The combination of “grace and peace” also echoes the Aaronic blessing: “The LORD bless you and keep you” (NBBC). Therefore, we see this tie from the Old Testament, now, straight into this new era and grace extended to all people, welcomed through adoption into God’s people. 

Application:

The little phrase “called to be saints” is really loaded, for within society in Rome you would find people of all economic classes and ethnic races. Paul makes no division as to who may be called. He is breaking down all barriers, for this calling is no longer for just the children of Israel, but it is for all. Inclusive in that all is slave and free, Jew and Greek, male and female. The fact that there is no longer any distinction as to who is called to be holy is simply astounding. The divine nature of God, holy love, is now available for all of humankind, and this has implications for all of us. 

Our eyes should be opened to the fact that everyone around us is called to be a saint. Paul seemed to understand that and therefore, he ended his greeting with “grace and peace.” In other words, he became a participant in the sharing of the grace and peace that is extended to all of humankind through the work of Jesus Christ. His letter was an instrument of prevenient grace, not only in the first century but in centuries to come. This letter had a life-changing impact on Martin Luther and John Wesley. Paul had a radically optimistic belief in the call to holiness, and it was to be experienced through grace. 

John Chrysostom puts it this way: 

Grace and peace!” Christ told his apostles to make peace their first word when entering into houses. So it is from this that Paul always starts also, for it was no small war which Christ put an end to, but a many-sided and enduring conflict. And it was not because of anything we had done, but by his grace. Since then love presented us with grace and grace with peace . . . he prays over them that they may abide constant and unmoved, so that no other war may ever break out, and he beseeches the God who gave this peace to keep it firmly settled (HOMILIES ON ROMANS 1).

Therefore, we are left with a blessing of “grace and peace.” For all who are called to be saints (which is all of us), we are to become participants in sharing the grace and peace of Christ with this world. Every ordinary person is called to be a saint. 

Prayer:

Lord, help me to be a channel of your grace and peace today. Amen.