Romans 1:6-7 | "Loved by God and Called to be Saints" | 01/26/25 (Sermon Only)

It has been an admittedly slow pace to start to our study of Romans. We’ve taken our time to try and understand the background, occasion and meaning of Paul’s greeting in detailed fashion. That is because so much of what Paul says at the outset of this letter will be unpacked in the chapters that follow. As just one example, Paul says in verse 7 that he is writing to those who are “loved by God.” Many of you are familiar with the fact that Paul goes into great detail about the love of God in glorious detail in chapter 8.
This Sunday, as we come to the end of Paul’s greeting in chapter 1, we get a glimpse at the way Paul sees the Christians in Rome: as those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, loved by God, and called to be saints. We’ll take a careful look at each of those three concepts - God’s calling, God’s love, and God’s saints. These are not mere intellectual exercises because the same three things are in fact true of all Christians! We are also called to belong to Jesus Christ, loved by God, and called to be saints.