As we come near to the end of our study of the first seven verses of the book of Romans, we need to be mindful of what we have learned so far. We have approached these opening verses as a case study for what it means to have the identity of a Christian; to be who God says we are before we ever think about what we are called to do in obedience to Christ.

1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among the nations, 6including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7To 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.

We have attempted to repaint the image we see in the mirror or to reform the little kid in the basement of our soul, around Paul’s description of himself (vv. 1 – 2) as well as his description of the Roman believers (vv. 5 – 7) in light of the center of the text which is the image of Jesus Christ the Godman, who came in the flesh, and died in our place, and was declared to be the Risen Son of God by the resurrection itself (vv. 3 – 4).

The centrality of the person and work of Jesus Christ as it relates to our identity, should not go unnoticed. All of what Paul says about himself and all of what he says about the believers in Rome – and ultimately us too if we have trusted in Jesus – is meaningless and useless, without Christ at the center.

This is why we must begin with our identity – in light of the identity of Jesus – whenever we approach the subject of obedience. Otherwise, our works of obedience will inevitably become the center of our relationship with God, and we will get stuck in a cycle of a works-based, transactional relationship with God as we try to earn what can only be gained by grace.

Another way to say this is to say that if get obedience in front of the cart of our identity, then our performance (good or bad) will become the measurement of our relationship with God, and we will wind up treating him like an employer who gives a good paycheck and a bonus to his obedient employees. But if we keep our graciously given, new identity in Christ at the forefront, then our relationship with God will overflow with godly obedience because sons and daughters love to do what they see their Good Father doing.

Even more simply stated: Behavior never dictates identity; identity always dictates behavior. Behavior flows out of who you believe you are. If you believe you are a filthy wretch, you will live like a filthy wretch. If you believe you are doomed to be a sinner, you will live like a doomed sinner.

But if you believe that you are a bondservant of the One who saved you, called by the God of the universe, set apart to belong to the Father, marked by the ancient promise of the gospel, imprinted by grace, covered in the obedience of Christ, purchased by a mercifully adoptive Father, rescued by a perfect Savior, unconditionally loved by a prodigal loving Father… well then, if you believe this, then you will live like a son or a daughter who has nothing left to lose, and certainly nothing left to earn!

Now with that in mind, we turn our attention to the final part of verse seven where Paul says that the Roman believers are “called to be saints” as he concludes his introduction by saying, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”. Another way to say what Paul is saying here would be to flip the statement and say, “Grace and peace to you who are called to be saints, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”.

This language, referring to God’s people as “saints” and then reminding them of the extension of God’s grace and peace towards them in Christ Jesus, is very common for the Apostle Paul. Most of his letters contain this very language all throughout them. Read them in their entirety and you will see! But what is the significance? Is this just Paul’s casual way of heaping on encouraging words before he says hard things?

I do not think so. I think Paul loves to intentionally remind his friends that they are saints and that they are the beneficiaries of God’s grace and peace. Is this not the best way to cap off the repainting of our image in the mirror? What more could we say to that little kid in the basement of our souls, after all that has been said over the last eleven weeks?

Could it be, that that image in the mirror, or that little kid in the basement, would not be complete without this final reminder of what it means to be sons and daughters who are saints that have been lavished in the grace and peace of God our Father in the person and work of Christ Jesus?

The very image of God, as our Father, who waited at the end of the driveway for our safe return, through the rescuing work of Jesus, so that he could lavish us with his grace and his peace – and ultimately his love – not to mention his confrontation of the older brother who completely missed the sustaining love of his father, could probably be the very image Paul wants to imprint as an everlasting mark on his friends in Rome. Think about these three final pieces of our identity.

#1: CALLED TO BE SAINTS

The first thing we notice is that we are “called to be saints”. What does Paul have in mind when he refers to the believers in Rome as those who are “called to be saints”? Initially, once again, it is easy to hear these words “called to be saints” and immediately begin thinking about what we need to do to the heed this calling.

But we would do well to notice that Paul does not say, “to those of you who are called to do saintly things”. No, he describes the believers in Rome as those who are “called to be saints” – emphasis on the “to be” phrase. We are human beings not human doings! So, what does Paul have in mind when he describes the believers in Rome as those who are “called to be saints”?

I think this simply comes back to the vertical calling we have discussed numerous times in this study. The horizontal calling is the outward walk of obedience for the believer. The vertical calling is the upward calling in Christ Jesus to simply be sons and daughters of God the Father. This is about God inviting us to be a son or a daughter first in vertical relationship to him, which will then result in doing the things of a son or a daughter in all of our outward or horizontal works.

I also think it is important to understand what a saint actually is. The Greek word that Paul uses here for saint is the word “Hagios” which loosely means “holy” or “set apart”. I am reminded that God the Father, over and over again in the Scriptures, says “be holy as I am holy” not “do holy as I do holy” (Lev. 11:44 – 45; 19:2; 20:7, 26; 1 Pet. 1:15 – 16).

Do not hear me wrong here. Our lives are meant to reflect the holiness of the God who makes us holy in Christ Jesus as we walk in obedience to God. But if we have issues of holiness in our lifestyles, then the problem is not merely with our behavior. The problem begins with our identity. This is why Paul refers to the Roman believers as those who are called to be or invited to be saints by the God who is a good and holy and gracious Father.

#2: GRACE AND PEACE TO YOU

That explanation of what it means to be saints, naturally overflows into Paul’s reminder that “God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” have extended and are extending “grace”and “peace” to those who are “called to be saints”. What significance do you suppose is here for the careful observer of God’s Word?

We have an inkling of what Paul means when he says that we are “called to be saints” as those who have been invited to belong to God as sons and daughters. But what significance does the mention of God’s extension of grace and peace have here? Why does Paul mention grace and peace after referring to the Roman believers as saints?

The first thing to note here is that “grace to you” was a formal greeting for Gentiles and “peace to you” was a formal greeting for Jews. Commentators would agree that when Paul joins the two together, along with the phrase “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” he is simply indicating that God is the one who gives the gifts of grace and peace to everyone alike, no matter what your social, economic, or ethnic status is. God saves sinners from every walk of life through the work of Jesus at the cross and the empty tomb.

I also think that Paul simply wants to solidify to his friends that their saintliness, their holiness, their being set apart as children of God – regardless of their walk of life – is something that has happened entirely as a result of God’s extension of his grace through Christ Jesus, which results in complete peace between us and our Heavenly Father.

Our obedience does not bring peace between God and us. His grace in the finished work of Jesus at that bloody cross is what establishes peace between God and man. We are justified – made right with God, set at peace with God – by grace, through faith. Our obedience will never bring about the peace-filled relationship we need with God our Father; only grace can accomplish this.

As soon as Paul calls his friends “saints” he wants to immediately direct them away from their works of obedience as proof of their saintliness as he directs them to the grace of God which brings peace and destroys the need to earn his approval. Simply stated, believers in Christ are saints because they are holy as their gracious Father is holy, because grace in the cross of Christ has purchased the peace that makes us into saints.

APPLICATION…

The question now is: why does this matter? How should we apply this to our identity? What difference does all of this make for our image in the mirror? How does this teaching about what it means to be a saint who has been transformed by grace and is living in peace with the Father, affect that little kid in the basement of our souls?

I think the application is simple. Every time you and I look in that mirror, or every time we are tempted to think that we are unworthy, insignificant, unlovable, unwanted, too broken or too filthy for God, we need to be reminded that in Christ Jesus, we are called to be saints – we are saints – because of the grace extended towards us in the bloody cross of Christ, which brought peace between us and God our Father – whom we once were at war with when we were living apart from him in our sin and our rebellion. Do not let go of the following things:

#1: God is a good Father, who according to Zechariah 2:9 will destroy your enemies because as he says, “he who touches you touches the apple of my eye”. Have you ever stopped to let your heart be affected by this truth that God is a good Father and that you are the apple of his eye? You need to sit with this truth more often to really let it sink into the depths of your soul where that little kid lives!

#2: God’s grace is the means of your salvation, as Ephesians 2:8 – 9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast”. Your salvation did not begin with you surrendering to Jesus; it began with God graciously gifting you the ability to respond to him in faith.

Understanding this truth and constantly applying it to your identity, is radically life altering, because it moves you from a transactional relationship where God owes you something, to a transformational relationship where you now just want to be like your Heavenly Father who extended His salvation to you by his unmerited favor – unearned grace!

#3: God established peace between him and you, when he sent his Son Jesus to the cross to destroy the barrier that separated you from him. This is why Ephesians 2:12 – 14 says, “remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility”.

Do you see? God, in Christ Jesus, established complete peace between him and us through the work of Christ Jesus. Complete peace! No need to be anxious or fearful about who you are or whose you are in Christ Jesus, because your identity and your relationship with God is not dependent on you trying to keep the peace.

#4: God made you into a saint, just as 1 Peter 2:9 confirms when it says that “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation [or a nation of saints], a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”.

Your identity as a saint in Christ Jesus, is founded – not on your behavior – but on the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary. Believing that God has made you into a saint for his own holy and righteous pleasure, is the foundation that is meant to motivate and sustain your life-long pursuit of holiness as you seek to be just like your Dad in Heaven.

CONCLUSION…

In conclusion, your sins, past, present, and future, and likewise, your obedience past, present, and future, do not define who or whose you are. Your Father – making you a son or a daughter in the work of Christ at that cross – has lavished you in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and there is complete peace between you and your Father.

There is no fear or anxiety between you and your Heavenly Father, only peace. Peace that surpasses understanding. Fear and anxiety and depression are from the enemy. You are the apple of your Heavenly Father’s eye. The bloody cross and the empty tomb and the promise of Heaven invites you into a life of complete peaceful union with the Father who gave everything to make you his son or his daughter – to make you into a saint.

That is where you and I need to rest our identity. No matter what comes our way – we are called saints, because of the grace of God our Father which brought us peace through the shed blood and the broken body of Jesus. – Amen!

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).