To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:7, Modern English Version (MEV)
To all those who are God’s beloved saints in Rome:
May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, surround you.
Romans 1:7, The Voice (VOICE)
In Coffman’s Commentary on Romans 1:7, we find this explanation of the term “saints,” or as some translations have it, “called to be saints”:
“It is the invariable New Testament teaching that Christians are not merely called to be saints, but they are so. They are called "saints," "holy," and "holy ones." But, of course, the word "saint" has been so abused by the historical church as to have almost totally lost its true meaning. The restriction of the term as a title for dead Christians who have been canonized is a contradiction of the New Testament meaning of the word. … Another word with reference to "saints" is in order. There is no apostolic assertion of moral perfection in the apostolic application of the term to the Christians in Rome. They were thus designated out of respect to the ideals they had accepted and were striving to attain, rather than from any certainty that those sacred ideals had actually been achieved. Yet they were very properly addressed as "holy," because that was a means of inspiring them to greater purity and of keeping them in constant remembrance of their sacred duties as Christians. This divine acceptance of the Christian for what he is trying to become, rather than merely for what he is, appears as a dispensation of God’s grace, and is frequently emphasized in Paul’s letters.”
Coffman goes on to speak of the phrase “Grace to you and peace”:
“Paul uses a similar word [@charis] (grace), which means the free, undeserved favor of God, and adds [@eirene] (peace), the inner sense of serenity and well-being men enjoy through God’s grace. Since "peace" ([Hebrew: shalom]) was the common Jewish salutation. Paul’s "Grace … and peace," the salutation of all his letters, combines the Greek and Hebrew forms of greeting.”
In speaking of “grace and peace” there is so much more involved than simply a lack of conflict. We are speaking of the God given gift of wholeness and completeness that cannot be known apart from God.
