Romans 1:6–7

Such was his passport: what was theirs? "Among whom are you also, called of Jesus Christ." They were among the nations. His commission was toward all the nations. Was he a called apostle? So were they saints, not by birth nor by ordinance, but by the call of Jesus Christ who had called him as apostle.

God calls on man to obey Himself by receiving Jesus as the Lord. The name of Jesus is the revelation of God. But verse 6 presents Jesus as Himself acting in calling and giving life at His will. They were "the called of Jesus Christ." The Apostle knew well what this meant. Christ Himself had chosen him and called him, a vessel of divine mercy.

Just as a soldier is called to be an efficient soldier. But he must be, and is, a soldier by calling or enlistment first… Let us take the apostleship of Paul to explain this. "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God." Do you notice the words "to be" are in italics? They are not in the original. The literal translation is this: "an apostle by calling," just like the soldier, "a soldier by enlistment, or calling." The Lord did not enlist Paul to reach apostleship at some future time. He made him an apostle there and then.

The believers at Rome were among these Gentiles. They were saints — not by birth, not by ceremonial institutions, but by divine call. The Jews were born a holy nation in comparison with the Gentiles. The Roman Christians were saints by the calling of Jesus Christ, and beloved of God.

No church authority can confer the status of saint after death; still less can anyone acquire it by self-effort in life. Copying the manners of the Prince of Wales will never make you Prince of Wales. Striving after holiness will never make you a saint. People become saints by divine call. They hear the voice of God speaking to them in the gospel. It tells them of their sins and of the Saviour's atoning blood, and they bow to the message in faith… In a moment they are transformed from sinners into saints. It is God's doing; and it is a marvel of infinite grace. The robber of Calvary and the religious zealot of Tarsus, Mary Magdalene and the excellent Sarah, came from very different backgrounds. Yet all alike were saints. Each one had experienced the same gracious work of God in their souls.

Paul writes to these saints at Rome. They had believed the gospel he declared to them. He assures them that they were now "the called of Jesus Christ." As such they were attached to Him in heaven above, with His name resting on them. Not only were they blessed through Him, but they were to be His representatives in this world.

A saint is a sanctified or separated person… No doubt we ought to be holy in our ways, our walk, and our whole manner of life. But we must know our place and calling first, before we can live up to it. A person must be my child to behave as my child. Another has well said Christian duties flow from Christian relationships.

"Called to be an apostle" is just as wrong as "called to be saints" in Romans 1:7. He was an apostle at that moment, and they were saints in the same way. There is no need to add any words in either case. In both, adding "to be" weakens the sense and makes it false, instead of defining it properly. For the saints in their call, as for the apostle in his, it was a fact. It was not a birthright, and it was not something they achieved. They became what they were — apostles or saints — by God's call.

And then we are saints. We are not called to be saints, or to become saints, by living a separated life. God has made us saints in Christ, sanctified — that is, set apart for Himself. Nothing we do could ever make us the beloved of God. No effort of ours to live consistently and away from evil could make us saints of God. God has done it for us in Christ. And because we are saints, we can live holy lives.

This is not the side of God's love we find in John 3:16, where it is at work in a world of sinners and shown to everyone. This is the personal link kept for true believers alone. It is not just that the sun shines on all people. The light and warmth of that sunshine have broken into their old frozen state, and have stirred a love in return — a love that delights to find itself taken hold of and blessed according to God's love.

He does not write to them as a church, as he normally did when writing to a church he had founded. He addresses his letter to all in Rome who are loved by God, called saints. As the apostle sent to the nations, he could write to them all with the authority of Christ.

The Bible gives us no details about how the church in Rome was formed. But we do know that on the day of Pentecost there were Jews from Rome in Jerusalem for the Jewish Feast of Pentecost. Acts 2:10 speaks of visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to the Jewish faith. If some of them came to believe in the Lord Jesus, the first Christians could have been living in Rome around the year 30 AD.

The greeting is the same as in his other letters: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Grace is the active favour of God, supplied in abundance. Peace is the calm that comes from submitting to Him and sharing close fellowship with Him.

We need grace every day. We also need peace of heart all the time, or the circumstances we pass through will overwhelm us. It is peace of heart the apostle mentions here, not peace of conscience. What a privilege to be a Christian! A slave in Rome, if he was a believer, had a portion from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ that the Emperor, with all his wealth and all his power, knew nothing of.

This is the apostle's opening wish or prayer, here as in Romans 1:7 — from God in His relation as Father to us, and from Jesus Christ as Lord (compare 1 Corinthians 8:6). Joining the two names like this would be impossible in an inspired writing, and an insult anywhere, if they were not one in the unity of the divine nature. True and sovereign favour was the spring; grace was the result, proving and magnifying its source. Let us enjoy the gift and adore the Giver.