MESSAGES OF PAUL
Final exhortation and praise
Chapter 16: 17-27
At the end of this letter, where as "an apostle, separated to the gospel of God… concerning His Son” Paul transmitted and explained in detail some fundamental principles of Christian faith, he warned readers against those who promoted "dissensions and scandals" against the doctrine that they had learned.
Readers in Rome, largely Jewish converts, already knew the Old Testament, and heard messages and teachings from other Christian teachers and evangelists before Paul wrote this letter, some of which he mentioned in closing.
But troublemakers were already emerging who departed from the sound doctrine which was being taught, and crept into the church looking for supporters, setting traps with falsehoods before the believers to destroy the faith of the unwary.
We must always be on the alert, and take good note of those who teach different things in order to omit, change or add to the biblical teaching and so cause divisions within the church. Unlike the "ecumenism" in fashion nowadays, the commandment is "to avoid them".
Far from serving the Lord Jesus, their main purpose is to serve “their own belly". Paul uses the same Greek expression in Philippians 3:19 and it concerns the sensuality in food, drink, etc. Taking possession for this purpose, these people boast of their teaching and behaviour while disguising themselves as believers to satisfy them.
Their behaviour is:
- They provoke divisions among the believers: spreading their own ideas to create controversy and partisanship.
- They cause scandals: their views and deeds collide with those who know and obey the word of God.
- They do not serve Christ our Lord, but only their own impulses.
- They speak in a pleasing and flattering manner to win the affection of the "simple", i.e. believers who are immature in the faith.
On the other hand, Paul did not forget to applaud the Roman believers for their obedience, to the point of being known to all. Secular history tells us that they paid dearly for their faithfulness to the Gospel, being persecuted and martyred with savagery by the Roman emperors, coming to be burned alive as scapegoats for the extravagances of Nero.
Obedient to the Gospel of Christ, let us “be wise in what is good” (learning and practising what God wants), “and simple concerning evil” (not interested in knowing and practising what is not of God). In that way “the God of peace” will crush Satan “under our feet” because of our living testimony within the community in which we live.
Characteristically, the so-called "apostolic blessing" of Paul is the expression of a desire for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to be with the Romans, part of which he had already expressed in Chapter 1:7. Neither he, nor anyone else here on earth has the authority to confer spiritual blessings to people.
We find below the names of several believers who were in the church where Paul wrote this letter. Several people send greetings to the romans at the end of the letter, including Tertius who wrote down the letter, dictated by Paul (who could not see very well - Galatians 6:11).
The names given here suggest that this letter was probably written while Paul was in Corinth because Phoebe was of the nearby town, Cenchrea (v. 1); Gaius, who hosted Paul lived in Corinth (v.23, 1 Corinthians, 1:14), and Erastus had been sent by Paul, with Timothy, to Macedonia (Acts 19:22) and stayed in Corinth (2 Timothy 4:20).
The precise date on which this letter was written is not mentioned in the letter, but it must have been when the apostle was about "to go to Jerusalem to minister to the saints" (15:25); that was at the end of his second visit to Greece, during the winter before his last visit to Jerusalem (15:25; see also Acts 19:21; 20:2,3,16; 1 Corinthians 16: 1-4), at the beginning of the year a. d. 58.
The final praise is to God, the only one who is able to strengthen the members of His church to stand firm in accordance with the Gospel that Paul preached and that Paul calls "my gospel". There is only one way to obtain salvation, of course, but the message was entrusted to him, as the Apostle dedicated especially to the Gentiles.
It consists of the public proclamation of the message of Jesus Christ on the revelation of a wonderful truth kept secret since the world exists. It is therefore a "mystery", which in the New Testament consists of truth never before known, and a truth that the human intellect could not have discovered, but which was now revealed.
The mystery is the revelation that Gentiles and Jews would be made heirs together, members of the same body belonging to Christ and participate together of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel (Ephesians 3:6). It is the message of the Gospel that God ordered to be made known to all nations so that people can follow the faith and be saved.
The revelation was expressed orally and in writing by the prophets of the New Testament, because it was not given to the prophets of the Old Testament (Ephesians 2:20; 3:5).
Only God is the source and the revelation of perfect wisdom, and to Him belongs the glory through Jesus Christ, our Mediator, forever.
And so this magnificent letter of Paul ends. How much do we owe the Lord for him, and how we would be poor forever without him! Amen.
R David Jones
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17 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.
18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.
19 For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.
20 And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
21 Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, greet you. 22 I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord.
23 Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother.
24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—
27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.
Romans chapter 16, verses 17 to 27