Jan
25
Written by:
Spence Hackney
1/25/2006 7:12 AM
I was cooking through the intro of Romans this morning looking forward
to getting to the "meat" that follows and I was stopped in my tracks by
verse 7:
To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints"
- Romans 1:7 NIV
Think about this...Paul uses this verse to address his message to all
Christians, not some particular group. He makes no distinction at
all in the Christians he talks to. Considering this, he makes two
points about all Christians 1) they are loved by God and 2) they care
called to be "saints." What? I am just a normal guy living
in Wilmington, NC, I am no saint. Mother Theresa is a saint,
maybe Billy Graham, all those guys on the walls of the
cathedrals qualify. What is Paul saying?
I think in a very real way we are all called to become saints, to
become "perfect" in our faith. God wants us to set our eyes no
lower than pure truth, perfect sinlessness, and absolute
obedience. Of course he knows us, so he is ready to forgive us
when we falter, but perfection is the target. Did you catch the key thought in that last sentence....that he
forgives us? This forgiveness is what makes us saints. Once
God has forgiven us we are perfectly sinless, we have achieved
sainthood.
Doesn't this sort of negate the idea that one can be a "nominal
Christian." Can one simply float along as a Christian without
striving and reaching sainthood? I doubt it, at least it doesn't
seem to jive with what this passage says.
I hope to do some more research into how "saint" is used in the
scriptures. Hopefully I will write a follow up to this soon.
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