Exclusively His

DEVOTION

ROMANS

EXCLUSIVELY HIS

Rom 1:7

7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

NIV

This letter was intended to be read by the Christians who were living in Rome, however, because it has also been included in the canon, the Bible, it is intended for all who are loved by God and  have been called to be saints. This would include us. We could not ever think first, that God did not love us, and second, that he does not call us to be saints. What does it mean to be called a saint by God? What does he mean when he called us to be saints? On the surface the word implies someone who is saintly, or holy. But looking into the Greek word Hagios, it carries the meaning reverend, worthy of respect. It also means to be set apart for God, to be, as it were, exclusively his. In a moral sense it implies pure, blameless, sinless, upright and holy.[1] All of which seem to apply to  God would view someone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. So do we live as a saint of God? Do we live in accordance with how God views us as saints? Do we even consider ourselves a saint? If we accept the fact this letter was not only written for the 1^st century church in Rome, but also for all who believe, then we have to conclude we all have been called to be saints. That would mean in the first sense of the word, God respects us, he loves us. This we are assured of because of all the rest of scripture and that he loves us and in that love, respects us, his creation enough to die for us, in order to by us back, redeem us. We were once his, but were carried off by sin, torn from him, so he bought us back with his blood, redeemed us from that sin, and once again we are his and called to be his saint, pure, sinless, upright and holy, set apart exclusively for him. We will have to leave the grace and peace for our next thoughts, as just considering what it means to be called to be a saint is more than enough to ponder for one day. Because of the meaning of saint, we have to wonder if we have become too distracted by the world that we are not really, totally set apart. The fact is we are set apart exclusively to be his, but then should we not be more involved with him? Sometimes we become too involved in our daily lives to spend even a few moments exclusively with him. There is so much in the world that draws our attention. But then he has placed us in this world and we do have to work for our sustenance, as descendants of Adam, it is a result of his sin. That law has not ended in the sense that once we become born again, we don’t have to work the ground all the days of our lives, by the sweat of our brow. That is foolishness to think we should be able to just sit back and God would send us a paycheck. But at the same time, even in our busy daily lives, we have to recognize we are set apart, exclusively for him. What does that look like in the context of our lives? The one thing we can do, is as we are doing, spending time each morning in consideration of his word and how it applies to our life. Each morning the quite time with God and his word starts our day in the right direction. Do we stay in that direction, do we remain focused in that direction? Maybe not all the time, but we are making that effort to live as though we are set apart exclusively for him. Sometimes, we might think we are our own, but the fact remains, we are exclusively his.

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NT:40

NT:40 hagios, hagia, hagion

1.             properly reverend, worthy of veneration: Luke 1:49

a.             used of things which on account of some connection with God possess a certain distinction and claim to reverence, as places sacred to God which are not to be profaned, Acts 7:33;

b.             of persons whose services God employs

2.             set apart for God, to be, as it were, exclusively his; followed by a genitive or a dative: Luke 2:23

3.             of sacrifices and offerings; prepared for God with solemn rite, pure, clean

4.             in a moral sense, pure, sinless, upright, holy: 1 Peter 1:16

(from Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2000, 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)