Shammah Temple Fellowship: Sermon of February 4, 2024
By Claver Nitonde
Theme: The meaning of Believers’ calling.
Reference scriptures: Romans 1:1-17
The epistle to Romans was written by the apostle Paul to the mixed church – gentiles and Israelites. The book talks about how people, despite their sinful selves, are accepted by God. The way Believers are left with a strong assurance that God is theirs, that He loves them no matter their past.
Believers have got a point in common, no matter what their native land, their skin color, their net worth: they have been called.
What have believers been called to do?
- Believers have been called to belong to Jesus
Roma was the capital city of the Roman empire. It was a center where many people met with so many beliefs, deity specific to each tribe and region. Imagine then after they were called to be those of Jesus, they had abandoned their past selves to embrace a very new identity offered by the salvation obtained though the cross.
Why does Jesus want Believers to belong to Him?
- He died for them.
No one else is worthier to have Believers as his people than Jesus.
- They are His bride
A bride is for her groom. The world, Satan cannot compete with Jesus on His people.
- Believers were predestined to be righteous
Being the capital city, Rome had a lot of sinful practices brought from all the corners of the empire.
What is being righteous?
- It means being preserved for Jesus, to avoid sinning life even when everyone around is doing so. Believers were chosen to be kings, priests, more than conquerors.
- It means to resemble the one who called them. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:29).
Being righteous is done by God once for all, but it is a journey for Believers that can take time as they get transformed day by day. Believers should accommodate other fellow Christians as they are on the road towards total transformation, towards becoming like Jesus.
In short, Believers have been called and their calling specifically requires them to be a certain way they weren’t before. We are called to really belong to Jesus. No one else, nothing deserves our life more than the Lord who paid with His blood. We are also called to be righteous, to flee everything that keeps us in sin.
