The thoughtful reader will recognize a difference between someone who is “called a saint” and one who is “called to be a saint.” The first indicates an external title; the second has to do with a state of being. Those in Christ belong in the second category. We are called to be saints.
The verb “called” demands a caller. Who calls us?
Paul’s introduction to his Roman letter helps us understand.
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and 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, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
7 To 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.
The first calling in this passage is Paul’s call to apostleship. He was not just “called an apostle” but “called to be an apostle.” The caller demonstrates a specific purpose in the calling. Of course, we well know that Jesus Christ called Paul to be an apostle. We know from Galatians 1.15 that God had set Paul apart for this special purpose from his mother’s womb! Paul was literally chosen by God (cf. Acts 9.15) from before birth and then later called by God to be the apostle God had planned for him to be.
The second calling in Romans 1.6-7 is mentioned twice: “called to belong to Jesus Christ” and “called to be saints.” This mirrors Paul’s calling to be an apostle in that God does the calling. We understand from passages such as 1 Thessalonians 1.4 and Colossians 3.12 that God chooses those who are His, and we see from this passage in Romans (and many others) that God calls us out of the world and to Himself.
We hear often that we must choose God, and that is true. But do you know, dear one, that God chooses you? Search the scriptures for the idea of choosing and chosen and see whether the Bible speaks of man choosing God or God choosing man. You will find precious few verses which speak of man choosing God but many of God choosing man. Why is that? Perhaps it’s because by the time man searches for God, God has already found the man and has begun to draw the man to Himself through the Gospel. We love Him because He first loved us.
It’s a wonderful truth to understand we are truly chosen and called by God. He adopted us in the true sense of the word, because while we were fatherless and floundering in the darkness of sin He wrapped us in His love and transported us into the light of the kingdom of His beloved Son. He redeemed us in the true sense of the word, because while we stood on the auction block, slaves being sold from one cruel master to another, He paid the full price for our lives and brought us into His own house, into His family. He raised us from the dead in the full sense of the phrase, because while we were dead in our trespasses and sins He demonstrated His awesome love and mercy towards us, making us alive together with Christ and raising us up to sit with His Son Jesus Christ in the heavenly places.
Praise God, for He has chosen and called us! God didn’t call us to try our hardest to make ourselves holy for Him. No, He called us to be His holy ones, which means we are His holy ones because of His calling—He makes us holy through the cleansing blood of His Son.
Romans 8.28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
Awesome reality!