It is incredibly amazing that, in Jesus, there are no “less than” or “greater than” believers, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23, 24).  In fact, to our human reasoning everything is upside down!  “He who is the greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:11, 12).

And the apostle Paul, writing about spiritual gifts in his letters to the Corinthian church wrote, “…those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.  And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor….But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another” (1 Corinthians 12:22, 24-25).

As important as it is to accept that we have a kingdom destiny and purpose within the body of Christ, that is not our only “calling”.  As I was searching for these verses for my last post, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2 Timothy 1: 8, 9), I discovered that our gifting and calling to ministry is one of a number of callings, and very possibly not the most important one!

We are called Jesus’ friends:

“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit…” (John 15:15, 16).

Although Paul addresses the book of Romans to a specific church, this message is for all Christians—called of Jesus Christ, called to be saints:

“Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints” (Romans 1:6,  7).

We are called His people, beloved, and sons of the living God:

“I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved.  And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God” (Romans 9:25, 26).

We are called into fellowship with Jesus:

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).

We are called to liberty!

“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.  For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Galatians 5:13, 14).

The gospel calls us to salvation, sanctification by the Spirit, and belief:

“Because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14).

We are called to eternal life:

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called…” (1 Timothy 6:12).

We are called to live exceptional lives:

“Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another, love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.  For

‘He who would love life

And see good days,

Let him refrain his tongue from evil,

And his lips from speaking deceit.

Let him turn away from evil and do good;

Let him seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

And His ears are open to their prayers;

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.’”

(1 Peter 3:8-12)

May we all walk in the knowledge, the grace, and every calling of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!