The epistle of Paul to the Romans, the
first chapter, at the fifth verse, By whom
we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience
to the faith among all nations for his
name, among whom are ye also the called
of Jesus Christ.
To all that be in Rome, beloved of
God, all to be saints, grace to you
and peace from God our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ.
As we prepare for and approach to the
Lord's table, it is well for us to
ask the question, who are eligible to partake
of the symbols of Christ's body and blood?
That question becomes all the more necessary when
we bear in mind that the bread and
wine are not only symbols of the body
and blood of Christ, but they are also
seals.
And if they are seals, they seal something.
What is that which they seal?
The apostle Paul tells us in that chapter
which we read, The cup of blessing which
we bless, is it not the communion of
the blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not
the communion of the body of Christ?
And principally, the Lord's Supper symbolizes and seals
communion with Christ.
And so the question inevitably arises, who are
they who are in communion with Christ?
And in this text, we have some of
the basic characteristics of those who are in
communion with Christ.
And so we shall deal with those characteristics
which are mentioned in this text, which we
are so very liable to pass over, simply
because they are contained in Paul's salutation, rather
than in the more didactic portion of this
epistle.
And I shall deal with these four characteristics
which are mentioned in this text, and deal
with them in what might properly be considered
their logical order, rather than the order in
which they appear in the text.
And the first characteristic of those whom Paul
addresses in this particular epistle, as those who
are the saints of God, as those who
are united to Christ in the efficacy of
his death and in the power of his
resurrection, is called of Jesus Christ.
You will notice that immediately in this particular
text, by whom we have received grace and
apostleship for obedience to the faith among all
nations for his name, among whom are he
also, the called of Jesus Christ.
And we may just briefly try to analyze
that particular feature of those to whom Paul
was writing.
And in connection with it, there are two
or three things to be noted, particularly derived
from the teaching of the apostle in this
epistle, and in some of the other epistles
which immediately follow this one in our English
Bible.
And the first thing to be noted about
this feature or this characteristic, is that they
are the called of God the Father.
We might think that because Paul says here,
called of Jesus Christ, that he means by
that, that they are called by Jesus Christ.
But it would not appear that that is
Paul's meaning.
Because in this epistle elsewhere, and in other
epistles, he makes it perfectly clear that calling
is the specific action of God the Father.
In the eighth chapter, you remember, whom he
did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also
called.
And of whom is Paul speaking?
He's certainly speaking of God the Father, because
he distinguishes between the person of whom he
is speaking and the Son, whom he predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his
Son.
Clearly indicates that the person who did foreknow,
who did predestinate, and who also called, is
none other than God the Father.
And in the first epistle to the Corinthians,
the same emphasis is brought to our attention
when Paul says, ye were called into the
fellowship of his Son.
That is, the Father called you into the
fellowship of his Son.
God is faithful, by whom ye were called
into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ,
our Lord.
And consequently, the name God there is the
personal name of God the Father.
And again, in the second epistle to Timothy,
who called us with a holy calling, not
according to our works, but according to his
own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before time eternal.
And again, because there is a distinction drawn
between the Son and the person who is
the subject of the action, the action in
that particular case, again, must be regarded as
the action of God the Father.
Now that, I presume, is something that we
are not, perhaps, always ready to recognize.
Because we think of the application of redemption
as very specifically the work of the Holy
Spirit.
And that, of course, is true.
It is his particular prerogative to take of
the things of Christ and show them unto
us.
But we must never discount the action of
God the Father in the very application of
redemption.
I suppose that we have learned from our
infancy that the specific action of God the
Father in the covenant of grace is to
elect a people.
That the specific action of the Son is
to redeem their people.
And that the specific action of the Holy
Spirit is to sanctify them.
And all that is true.
But we must not allow such formulized deeds
to blind us to certain other very important
facts.
And the fact I'm trying to bring to
your attention now is this, that in this
which is the very initiation of the actual
possession of salvation, that God the Father is
the specific agent.
And I think we impoverish our faith and
impoverish greatly the comfort of our faith by
not failing to take proper account of the
way in which God the Father himself, by
very specific action, comes into relationship with men,
not only in the planning of redemption, but
also in its very application.
Now if God the Father is the specific
agent in this calling, what does it consist
in?
Well, if you examine what Paul says in
this particular chapter, you will notice at the
very beginning that he says he is called
to be an apostle.
And if you just take that as your
index to what Paul means when he says
in verse 6, the call of Jesus Christ,
you can very readily detect that the apostle
Paul is emphasizing this, that as it was
not by his own election, as it was
not by his own particular determination that he
was set apart to be an apostle, but
by the election and by the determination and
by the very action of God.
So in connection with the calling of which
he speaks in verse 6, we are advised
of this, that calling is a sovereign and
an efficacious summons on the part of God
the Father, bringing men, ushering men, into the
fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Again we must remember that it is God
the Father who is the effective agent in
ushering men into the fellowship of His own
Son.
Just as God is the agent in justification,
and just as God is the agent in
glorification, so He is the agent in calling.
It is an efficacious summons, and it is
an efficacious summons simply because God in His
sovereign grace comes and lays His hand upon
them.
He lays hold upon them, and He draws
them not simply by irresistible grace, but by
an irresistible summons into the fellowship of Jesus
Christ.
And that is the very beginning of the
actual possession of salvation, just as we think
of God the Father as the one who
initiated the whole process of redemptive grace by
electing a people in Christ before the foundation
of the world.
So our conception of the grace of God
is rarely incurred if we do not understand
that the very initiation of salvation in actual
possession is by an efficacious action on the
part of Him who is the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now you will notice that Paul says they
are the called of Jesus Christ.
And the third thing I want to note
about this calling is this, that they are
called to be the possession of Christ.
They are Jesus Christ's called ones, not so
much because He was the one who called
them.
That is the specific action of God the
Father through the operation of the Holy Spirit,
but they are called to be the possession
of Christ.
They are the called of Jesus Christ.
They are called into His fellowship, into His
communion, and therefore into the intimacy of that
relationship with Him as His own property, as
His own possession.
Now the second characteristic that is mentioned in
this text, of those who are really in
communion with Christ, and therefore eligible to partake
of the seals of His body and blood,
is that they are called to be saints.
That word saints has been very seriously misunderstood
and misapplied, as if sainthood belonged only to
those who were particularly pious, or who were
particularly well advanced in the practice or attainment
of holiness.
Roman Catholic conception of sainthood has, I fear,
cast its spell over the thinking even of
Protestants.
And we are very liable to think of
a person as a saint only when that
person has attained to a very high and
notable degree of godliness.
That's a fatal error, and it's a complete
travesty of the teaching of Scripture on this
particular matter.
Everyone who is united to Christ in the
bonds of faith is a saint.
And there are two things in particular which
are denoted by that title, or by that
characteristic, and the first is this, that they
are consecrated to God, set apart to Him,
and the second is that they are pure
in the sense of having been freed from
the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eye, and the pride of life.
The lust of the flesh and the lust
of the eye and the pride of life
is not of the Father, but is of
the world.
And the person who is still under the
dominion of sin, under the dominion of the
lust of the flesh, is not a saint,
because that person, in the first case, is
not consecrated to God, and in the second
place, he does not have that purity of
character which is consonant with, and is the
necessary expression of, his consecration to God.
Now these two thoughts are complementary.
When we say that a person is consecrated
to God, set apart to God, we cannot
think of that consecration apart from the character
which belongs to that particular person.
If a person is consecrated to God, then
that person must reflect the character of the
God to whom he is consecrated, or to
whom she is consecrated.
God is holy.
God is just.
God is good.
These characteristics which belong to God must be
reflected in the person who is consecrated to
Him, who is brought into a unique relationship
with Him.
Be holy, for I am holy, is a
principle that must be applied in our interpretation
of this particular matter of sainthood.
Now you will bear in mind that Paul
says, in this particular case, called to be
saints.
And that means that all that we have
found already, with reference to the character of
God's calling, comes to bear also upon the
very fact of sainthood.
They are effectually summoned to become the saints
of God.
That is to say, consecrated to Him, dedicated
to Him, and therefore endowed with that moral,
ethical, spiritual character which reflects the very image
of God Himself.
Now there we are confronted with something which
is very searching, because it is a criterion
which is exceedingly practical.
What are our own affections?
What are our alignments?
What are our ambitions?
What are our controlling passions and desires in
reference to this whole matter of holiness?
And it is there that we shall discover,
perhaps with a more conclusive and practical determination,
whether we ourselves are among those who are
eligible to sit down at the Lord's table
and eat what are the symbols of His
body and blood.
It is the pure in heart who will
see God.
Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.
No man shall see even the Lord Jesus
Christ, and therefore have with Him that intelligent
and affectionate communion.
It is only the person who has that
basic fundamental breach with the lust of the
flesh and the lust of the eye and
the pride of life, who is competent according
to the appointments of God Himself to sit
down with the Lord of glory and have
communion with Him, have fellowship with Him who
is Himself, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from
sinners.
There shall not enter into the heavenly Jerusalem
anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, but
they who are written in the Lamb's book
of life.
And if that is true to absolute perfection
and attainment in the new Jerusalem, in the
heavenly Jerusalem, it must have its foretaste, it
must have its anticipation, it must have its
promise in the life that now is in
the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom
of righteousness and peace and joy in the
Holy Ghost.
Now the third feature of those who are
in communion with Christ mentioned in this particular
text, you will find in that expression which
Paul uses in verse 5, obedience to the
faith.
Now the literal interpretation of that or translation
of that is for obedience of the faith.
There is a very close connection.
That is the purpose for which Paul was
given grace and apostleship, that he might promote
the obedience of faith among all nations on
behalf of Jesus' name.
And it is in connection with that definition
of the purpose for which he was given
grace and apostleship that he introduces the Romans,
the believers at Rome, as an example of
the realization of that very purpose for which
he received grace and apostleship.
You read the text again and you see
the close connection.
By whom we have received grace and apostleship
for obedience of faith among all nations, for
his name, among whom are ye also, the
called of Jesus Christ.
What does that expression mean, the obedience of
faith?
You might interpret it as meaning that it
is the obedience which consists in faith.
And so in that case what Paul would
be saying is this, that he was given
grace and apostleship for the promotion simply of
faith among all nations on behalf of Jesus'
name.
And of course it is perfectly true that
faith, after all, is an act of obedience.
There is an element of obedience in all
faith, even in the primary act of faith,
as it is exercised towards Christ.
But it is the commandment of God that
we should believe on the name of his
Son, Jesus Christ, and have eternal life.
That is the will of God.
When we exercise faith, there is compliance with
the commandment of God.
And so you can never separate faith and
obedience because faith itself is really an act
of obedience to the revealed will of God.
But I don't think that's what Paul means
in this particular case.
Or you might take it to mean that
it is the obedience which is of faith.
That is to say, which is the fruit
of faith.
And that again is perfectly true.
And this, I think, is certainly involved in
the expression, the obedience of faith.
Faith works itself out through love.
And love is the fulfilling of the commandments
of God.
And the fulfilling of the commandments of God
is simply obedience.
Faith without obedience, therefore, is dead.
Consequently we might say that it is obedience
which is the fruit of faith.
But personally I'm inclined to think that there
is an emphasis here which I'm going to
try to bring up.
And it is this.
That faith, after all, is faith in Christ.
And you cannot think of the faith of
which Paul speaks here apart from the object
of faith.
And so the obedience of faith is practically
equivalent to saying the obedience of Christ.
Faith is faith in Christ.
And that faith in Christ is not a
momentary or evanescent act.
It is an act of commitment to Him.
And since it is an act of commitment
to Him, it isn't something that can pass
away.
It is something that begins certainly at a
certain specific point.
But it isn't something that passes away.
It is something that continues and it continues
in the form of commitment, of devotion.
And I think that's the particular thought, not
necessarily the thought to the exclusion of these
other things I have mentioned, but nevertheless the
central thought in this brief expression of the
Apostle, the obedience of faith.
Because faith is not simply trust in Christ
for salvation, but it is commitment to Him
as moral.
And that requires whole soul devotion to Him,
so that every thought is brought into captivity
to the obedience of Christ.
That is the expression of the Apostle in
one of the Corinthian epistles, bringing every thought
into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
And I think it's the same thought here,
the obedience of Christ, namely that obedience of
devotion, of commitment to Christ as Lord, as
King, as Sovereign.
But what we have to recognize, my friends,
and we have to recognize it with all
the greater urgency in these days of widespread
declension, oh, we have to learn it, the
great lesson of the totality of Jesus' Lordship.
We know a great deal today about the
conception of totalitarian government.
Every one of us is very familiar with
that particular word, totalitarian.
It has been ringing in our ears for
the last, oh, the last fifteen years with
such significance, such political and international significance, that
every one of us has got to know
what it means very well.
Well, after all, what we need to learn
is the totalitarian government of Christ, bringing every
thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
And that is the implicate of faith, because
faith is commitment, and commitment is a permanent
relationship.
And it's the permanent relationship of recognizing His
unyielding and absolute Lordship.
My friends, if we are going to hold
communion with Christ, and if our communion is
going to be full of meaning, if it
is going to be full of intelligent devotion,
and if it is to bear the fruit
of edification, it is because we recognize the
totality of the Lordship of Christ, and we
are not ashamed of Him, and we are
not ashamed of any of His institutions, and
we sit down at His table in simple
obedience to His commandment, this doom in remembrance
of Him.
All the course characteristic that I notice in
this particular text, that there upon our question
is that brief expression which you will find
in the seventh verse of this particular chapter,
Beloved of God.
Beloved, what does that mean?
Well, of course, Beloved of God means Beloved
of God the Father, because here again, as
so frequently in the epistles of Paul, that
name God is the personal name of the
person.
Beloved of God the Father.
Now God loved His people from the foundation
of the world.
That's made perfectly clear in Romans 8.29,
whom He foreknew, that is, whom He foreloved,
He also did predestinate.
Made perfectly clear in the Ephesian epistle.
Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with all
spiritual blessing in the heavenly tomb of Christ,
according as He hath chosen of Him before
the foundation of the world.
And He chose His people from eternity, not
because they were lovely, not because they, as
it were, constrained His affection by the excellent
qualities which they exhibited, not at all.
His love to them from eternity was an
absolutely free and sovereign love, because it is
a love that had respect to their affection.
Love of complacency.
Not simply the love of sovereign good pleasure,
but the love of complacency, which God has
to His own people.
Jesus said to His disciples, you remember, on
one occasion, He that hath my commandments and
keepeth them, he it is that loveth me,
and he that loveth me shall be loved
of my Father, and my Father will love
him, and we will come unto him and
make our abode with him.
What's the meaning?
He that hath my commandments and keepeth them,
he it is that loveth me, and he
that loveth me shall be loved of my
Father.
And the logic of that is simply this,
that the love of the Father is constrained
by the love which the people of God
feel.
And that's the love of complacency, the love
of delight, the love that God has to
everything that reflects His own perfection.
God cannot but love Himself.
He cannot but love Himself supremely.
And that is what is basically meant when
it is said that God is love.
He loves Himself supremely, and absolutely, and infinitely.
And because He loves Himself, He cannot but
love that which is the reflection of His
own perfection since He communicates something of His
own character, something of His own holiness.
That is to say, something that reflects His
own character and something that reflects His own
holiness to His people.
He cannot but love them for that very
reason.
God loves with the love of complacency.
He called them to be saved.
And to the obedience of faith.
And because they are called to be saved,
and to the obedience of faith, His own
holiness and His own perfection becomes reflected in
them.
And then they become the object of His
holy delight and complacency.
You will find, I think, that very same
thought in 1 Thessalonians 1, 4.
Knowing Paul says, Beloved of God, you are
election.
Paul doesn't seem to be talking there so
much of the electing love of God because
he speaks of that in connection with election.
He speaks of something else when he says,
Knowing, brethren, beloved by God.
I'm giving a different translation from your version.
Knowing, brethren, beloved by God, you're election.
And I think Paul is there reflecting upon
the love which is, as it were, constrained
by the character which God communicates to His
own people.
Oh, how marvelous it is, how marvelous it
is that the love of God should be
called out by something which the people of
God have come to be.
There is nothing in them that is naturally
good.
They are utterly miserable and wretched and poor
and blind and naked, utterly reprehensible.
And God, out of His own power and
good pleasure, sets His love upon them.
Then He placed upon them the impress of
His own character, of His own holiness.
And because He impressed upon them the impress
of His own character and holiness, there is,
as it were, the reaction of God to
that which is the reproduction or the reflection
of His own perfection.
Created as to the image of God in
knowledge, righteousness and holiness, they are beloved of
God.
That is the love of complacency.
Oh, you say, how could God love me?
Well, it's all together within the circle of
His own pure and sovereign grace.
It was by an efficacious and sovereign summons
that He called you into the fellowship of
His Son.
It was by a sovereign and efficacious summons
that He called you to be saved.
It was by the inscrutable and irresistible operation
of His Spirit within you that He worked
in you the obedience of faith.
And just because that is God's own work,
God's own handiwork, and because He will not
forsake the work of His hands, because He
will perfect that which He began, He loves
with even the love of complacency.
Now, my friends, do we bear the mark
of those who are in communion with Christ?
This is a very, a very practical matter,
and it is a matter in connection with
which God Himself has provided the criteria.
And I know very well, I know very
well how liable we are to try to
get some consolation that is below the level
of God's word, because we know ourselves to
be so miserably below the standard which God
requires of us that we have an inherent
tendency to drag down the standard to a
level that is more approximate to the particular
condition in which we find ourselves.
We must not do it, my friends.
The only way whereby we can give any
abiding comfort, the only way whereby we can
derive any abiding comfort for ourselves, and the
only way whereby we can give any abiding
comfort to others, is to leave the criteria
at that level where God has placed them.
These are the criteria of the faith whom
Paul addressed at Rome, and those were the
people who were in communion with Christ.
And let us leave these standards where God
has placed them, and let us take to
ourselves the corresponding lessons, the corresponding rebukes, and
by God's grace, the corresponding counseling.
O Lord, our God, do Thou grant Thy
blessing unto us, that Thy word, which is
ever so living and powerful and sharper than
a twedged sword, may take hold of us
and bring us down in that before Thy
throne of grace.
And blessed be Thy great and holy name,
that it is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners, and that there
is a throne of grace to which we
may come with confidence that we may obtain
mercy and find grace to us in every
time of need.
Do Thou bless us, O Lord, this night
and dismiss us when we close with Thy
benediction.
For Jesus' sake.
Amen.