Through my recent endeavor to tackle the book of Romans and immerse myself in Paul's most theologically dense gospel, I suppose I'll have quite a few "revelations". God is always faithful to reveal himself to us, so I know there is an infinite amount of knowledge to gain. Here's today's feeble attempt to articulate what God has revealed to me.
In Paul's introduction of his letter to the Romans he states that the readers (Gentiles and Jews alike), are "...called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints..." (v. 6-7). Called here is the greek word "klētos". Defined as follows...
1) called, invited (to a banquet)
a) invited (by God in the proclamation of the Gospel) to obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom through Christ
This word is repeated 10 times in the Greek concordance of the New Testament (Matt 22:14, Rom 1:1, 1:6, and 1:7, Rom 8:28, 1 Cor 1:1, 1:2, and 1:24, Jude 1:1, and Rev 17:14). Each time its use indicates God's invitation/calling to his servants (that's us). It is a call to the faith which produces obedience to Christ. As Paul states in Romans 1:4-5, "...Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we [the apostles] have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles [applicable to us] for His name's sake..."
My point is this. We do not have an active part in seeking out the gift of God and eternal salvation. To say that we have "found" Christ is analogous to nothing more than a game of hide and seek with a 6-month-old baby. We have but to remove the scales from our eyes and hearts to find the gift of eternal salvation. If God were to be hidden, because of his infinitude, he would never be found. Certainly no one could be better at a game of hide and seek than the Creator himself. But because of his infinite grace and mercy, He sought us out! He sent His son to pay the ultimate price for us to have continual communion with him. Praise God that he reveals himself to us! Finding Christ is simple (we make it hard). Following Christ demands your life, but is infinitely and eternally rewarding.
This is such a good reminder! Praise God that he called us even when we were enemies to Him and praise Him that he continues to call us, day by day. Sometimes, I get so hung up on the notion that it's all on me to grow deeper in my faith (which responsibility is mine, to some extent) but ultimately, He is the one who calls me, grows me, who transforms me. My heart rejoices over this truth! Thank you Father that you continually pursue and invite us into union with you.
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