The Recipients Of The Letter (1:7).
After the long but important description of the purpose of the letter, we now learn who are to be its recipients. It is addressed to the church in Rome.
‘To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.'
Having established what the Gospel of God was, and what its effectiveness was expected to be, Paul now makes clear to whom he is writing. It is to all who are in Rome who are ‘beloved of God' and ‘called to be saints (holy ones)'. Note how ‘being beloved by God' results in ‘being called to be holy ones'. Those whom He foreknew, setting His love upon them, He destined to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29)
‘Beloved of God.' Compare Deuteronomy 33:12; Colossians 3:12 What a privilege was theirs (and is ours). They are those on whom God has set His love. There in the midst of that great city, with its emphasis on the worship of Roma, and on the divine honours due to the emperor, and on the many pagan religions which were practised there, were the small pockets of believers who kept themselves unspotted from the world and were ‘beloved of God', and were ‘chosen and precious' (1 Peter 2:4). As he will say later, ‘God commended His own love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us' (Romans 5:8). They were thus those who were sinners who had been redeemed by the blood of Christ.
‘Called to be saints.' And as a consequence of God setting His love on them, and their being called to be Jesus Christ's, they were called on to be separated totally to Him. They were called on to ‘be holy like God is holy in all manner of living' (1 Peter 1:15-16). The word ‘saints' means those who are set apart to God, ‘sanctified ones'. This was something that was expected of all believers. That was why God had set His love on them, in order to make them His sanctified ones. It is why in Colossians 3:12 the Christians are called ‘holy (sanctified) and beloved'.
So having been ‘called to be Jesus Christ's' (Romans 1:6) they are now ‘called to be sanctified ones' of God. To belong to Jesus Christ is to belong to God.
Note On Sanctification.
The basic idea behind ‘sanctification' is that of ‘setting apart as holy to God'. The Bible speaks of a ‘sanctification' which is positional, (the initial setting apart which makes the object ‘holy' from then on), and a ‘sanctification' which is life-changing, transforming the one so set apart so that he becomes truly God-like. To sanctify means ‘to set apart for a holy purpose, to make holy' and from the Christian point of view that means to "make God-like in purity, goodness and love". This is clearly something that only God can do for us. First He sets us apart as His own (2 Timothy 2:19). Then He works in us to make us pleasing to Him (Philippians 2:13). Thus the Bible tells us that once He has made us His Own, once we truly believe in Jesus Christ, we are put in the position of ‘having been sanctified' (aorist tense, once for all - 1 Corinthians 1:30; 1 Corinthians 6:11), and therefore as having been ‘set apart' for God once for all by the birth of the Spirit (John 1:12-13; John 3:1-6; 2Co 5:17; 1 Peter 1:23; James 1:18; 1 John 2:27). This is because we are made holy ‘in Christ' with Christ's holiness, by being made one with Him and thus covered with His purity (1 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 5:25-27; Colossians 3:3). He is our sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30). This is why we can approach God so confidently. It has put us in a state whereby we ‘are sanctified' and accepted as holy in His presence (Acts 20:32; Acts 26:18; Romans 15:16; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Hebrews 10:10 which are all in the perfect tense - ‘having been sanctified and therefore now are sanctified' - past happening which continues to the present).
But the result of being put in this position is that we will now be ‘in process of being sanctified' (set apart by being made holy) by Christ Jesus and the Spirit. The purity of Christ, which has been set to our account, must now become an actuality. We must therefore go through the process of ‘being set apart for God' by being constantly changed by the Spirit (present tense - Hebrews 2:11; Hebrews 10:14; compare Romans 6:19; Rom 6:22; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:13, and see 2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 2:13). If we are His He will carry out this work in us. This is the same process as ‘salvation' although from a slightly different point of view. We are saved through God's work of sanctification, which like salvation is ours by faith. And this will finally be brought to completion when we are finally ‘sanctified' at the coming of Jesus Christ, when we will be presented perfect before Him (Ephesians 5:25-27).
End of note.
‘Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.' Having defined to whom he is writing Paul now gives them his usual greeting wishing them ‘grace and peace' from ‘GOD our Father and the LORD Jesus Christ'. ‘Grace' (charis) was very similar to the normal Gentile greeting (chairein). ‘Peace' (shalom - peace, well-being) was the usual Jewish greeting. He wants both sections of the church to be aware of his love and concern for them. But these initial words have here been taken up and given a full Christian meaning. They cease to be mundane. ‘Grace' is an indication of God's positive undeserved favour, offered in Christ and bringing rest to the soul. ‘Peace' is a reminder of the availability of peace with God (Romans 5:1) and peace from God, available in Christ.
Note the close association of ‘GOD our Father', and ‘the LORD Jesus Christ'. They are ‘one GOD and one LORD' (1 Corinthians 8:6), the combined divine source of grace and peace, an idea already previously expressed in his earliest letter (1 Thessalonians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:3). Note also how ‘our Father' echoes the teaching of Jesus about ‘your Father', a phrase found in Matthew's Gospel twenty times.