Called to be Saints

Rom 1:7 "To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints"  Those of us who call Christ our Lord are called to be saints, sanctified, set apart by God and for God.  We are being made increasingly holy by the Holy Spirit.
It is sad that the Roman Catholic church has changed the meaning of so many passages in Scripture.  To understand why this happens we need to know that the Roman Catholic church puts equal authority and weight on the three pillars of its' dogma or catechism. The first, like the rest of those who call ourselves Christians is the Word of God, only it does not limit itself to the Canon of Scripture as it includes a number of apocryphal books in the New Testament.  This acceptance of the Apocrypha comes from the second pillar which is tradition and it holds as much weight as the Bible.  The third pillar is the Magisterium which is made up of the Pope and the College of Cardinals as the only ones equipped to correctly interpret the Scriptures.  That is why until recently Catholics were not allowed to read the Bible for themselves and why the Mass was in Latin. In fact, martin Luther, a Catholic monk had to obtain special dispensation in order to be allowed to read the Bible.  For centuries the Pope was considered to be in an unbroken succession from Peter and thus infallible in his pronouncements and interpretation of the Bible.
While I could go on and on about the many mistakes that have been perpetuated by the RC church I will limit myself in this discussion to their version of sainthood which is limited to a very few who conform to a set of regulations before they are canonized, or declared a saint by the RC church.  It is ironic that Paul, in this letter to the Church in Rome makes no such distinction and uses saints as a common greeting to all who confess Christ as their Savior.
I think it is of great comfort that sainthood is meant for those whom God loves and calls. 
Rom 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners , Christ died for us."
Mercifully and thankfully what separates Christianity from all other world religions is that reconciliation is initiated and facilitated by God and not by our puny and ultimately futile efforts. It is God the Father through the work of His Son on the cross who reconciles us to Himself and then through the work of the Holy Spirit progressively sanctifies us.
So, dear saints, know that He who started a good work in you is faithful to complete it.

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