Romans 1: 7 “Blessed Encouragement”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁷to all ones being in Rome, beloved ones of God, called set-apart ones, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Once again, I find I can pause and ponder on almost every word in this verse and draw from it oceans of encouragement. I will try to briefly jot down the highlights as I see them.

First of all, I want to note the greeting itself. Paul writes to the Romans and says, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Just stop and ponder for a minute what a nice gesture this is – for this man to express such kindness to these people. There he is, going about his life, busy with this ministry opportunity and that, writing to these people who are just as busy with their lives, working, and shopping, and fixing their roof, or whatever else may be urgently demanding their attention. Into the middle of all of that, this one man writes to them and says, in effect, “I really wish the very best for you.”

Stop and ponder what a totally Christian expression that is. The rest of the world lives “hating and being hated.” I know from work, sometimes you wonder if anyone ever says anything nice about anyone else. It seems sometimes like people are only nice when they want to sell you something. That certainly isn’t pervasively true and I will be the first to acknowledge that I work with a LOT of very nice people. Still, one can’t read the news without being almost depressed by the constant rage of hatred that goes on. Once again, in the middle of that very world, this one man takes the time to say very specifically to this specific group of people, “I really wish the very best for you.”

Can we pause and appreciate this simple greeting? I think we tend to rush by the greetings in the Bible as if they are as cliché as (too often) human greetings tend to be. In Paul’s, there is nothing cliché about his greetings. They are genuine and heartfelt. What I want to suggest to our minds is Jesus’ words, “Go and do thou likewise.” Whether it is among fellow believers or just the humdrum of work and school and life, we as Christians should deliberately strive to be sincere greeters. There is a huge difference between shaking someone’s hand and shaking someone’s hand, yes? It can be thoughtless and routine, or one can pause long enough to actually communicate to someone else, “I value you,” or “I really am sincerely grateful to meet you.” I don’t necessarily mean verbally. I’m talking about our hearts and what everything about us communicates. We live in such a cold, uncaring world. May we believers be like Paul and extend to all others greetings that carry love, respect, and value to the people we meet and the people we know. We all know it is very encouraging (though unfortunately rare) to actually be treated like a human being. May you and I, “passing through this Valley of Bacah, leave behind springs of water.”

As I said above, the whole verse before us is full of encouragement. It is written to “ones being in Rome,” but then we know from context, it isn’t just anyone in Rome. It is written specifically to the believers. God loves all the people in Rome, but He has a special love and regard for those who have embraced His Son. They may be unimportant faces in the throngs of people who swarm the markets every day, but to the God of Heaven, they are precious.

He calls them “beloved ones of God.” That reminds me of I John 3:1: “Behold what manner of love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God!” and Eph 5:1,2: “Therefore be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us…” “Dearly loved children” – it is so important for us as believers to really understand this and embrace it. Because of Jesus, we have become children of God, and not just sort of probationary children, as if God were still deciding if He really wants to “keep us.”

I remember a family that had adopted two little boys. The father told me one of the most difficult challenges he and his wife faced was convincing those two little boys they weren’t going to “send them back.” The poor little fellows just couldn’t seem to believe that this man and his wife had made them family forever. Unfortunately, we grown up Christians often have the same problem. We need to accept from the Lord that He really has accepted us and that He calls us “dearly loved children.” We who have had children know what that means. We love our children totally and completely and forever – and not only “if they’re good.” Dearly loved children are dearly loved children – and that is what we are to our wonderful Father and Lord.

We’re also “called set-apart ones.” That usually gets translated something like “called to be saints.” The “to be” is added. What is important to you and me is that, once again, the Lord sees us differently than the rest of the world. He loves the whole world, but He has a special love for us His children. He has “set us apart” from the rest.

Then look what He wishes for us: “Grace and peace.” We all know that grace means “unmerited favor.” What the Lord wants is for us to live in that grace. He wants it to be the air we breathe. “And peace” – in the Bible “peace” is much more than just the absence of conflict (although that in itself is a nice blessing!). For Paul, his understanding of “peace” would come from the Hebrew idea expressed in their word, “Shalom!” In Hebrew, shalom or peace means the fullness of everything in its place, everything as it should be. I think the best illustration for our modern minds would be the Norman Rockwell painting of a Thanksgiving dinner – a family gathered around, with everyone present, a bountiful table of delicious food, and the warm, complete comfort of that setting of family love. That is “shalom.” That is the “peace” the Lord is wishing for each of us here in Romans 1:7.

And who exactly is it that gives such pleasant gifts? They come from “God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Once again, I hope I’m not being cynical to observe that our world is sometimes seemingly devoid of such kindness. It seems too many people simply cannot be nice. What people hear all day every day is sarcasm, belittling, and discouragement. But, for you and me, our God crashes through it all and calls us “dearly loved children” and wishes for each of us “grace and peace.” Then He would have us turn and be like Him and “live a life of love” and be the same kind of encouragers to the people all around ourselves.

What a blessed little verse! Paul hasn’t even started into the letter itself and already we’ve enjoyed seven verses of heavenly sunshine! May each of us drink deeply of our Lord’s profound love and then may it flow out of our hearts and our mouths and our hands to be a blessing to others!