Romans 16

Romans 16 (ESV)✞: Personal Greetings, Final Instructions and Greetings, Doxology

Passage

I’m grouping together all three of the ESV’s section headings for this chapter, in which Paul closes out his letter to the Romans. And we’re reminded that this is a letter because he ends it the way anyone would end a letter: “Tell so-and-so I said hi, don’t forget to do such-and-such, …” Paul’s letter to the Romans is filled with high Christian doctrine but it’s also a letter, written to a set of people in the city of Rome – some of whom were the author’s close and personal friends.

Greetings

Verses 1–16✞ begin with a series of personal greetings to various people in Rome. (Verses 21–24✞ have¹ some additional greetings.) This is the kind of section we usually just skip over, but someone with a lot more knowledge might pull out some nuggets of wisdom. I, however, don’t have that kind of knowledge, so I can’t do much with this section.

One thing I am reminded of, though, is that there isn’t a single church in Rome, there are a number of them. (Verse 5 even mentions a particular church that met in the house of Prisca and Aquila, with instructions to have the letter read there.) So Paul seems to have expected that this letter would be taken around to all of them. Given how much of this letter is devoted to admonitions to the Romans to be unified, that seems fitting! (Perhaps someone in the modern day should make a journey to all of the churches in a particular city to read the letter of Romans to them; they could start with Toronto, where I live…)

Instructions

In verses 17–20✞ Paul gives some final instructions:

¹⁷ I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. ¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. ¹⁹ For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. ²⁰ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

I don’t think Paul is trying to raise any new points, just reiterating things he’s already said throughout the letter.

Interestingly, though, we see the same tension that Christians have always faced (and continue to face): we are to hold fast to the doctrines that Paul has taught, but we are also not to be divided. So… how do we know what doctrines are the ones we are to hold to, and what doctrines are ones that we are going to disagree on, but not in a way that divides us?

Of course we have some specific examples, because Paul gave them to us:

• Is someone worried about what they’re allowed to eat or drink? Paul says we’re allowed to eat or drink whatever we want—speaking from the point of view of doctrine it’s valid to eat and drink whatever you want—but that we can disagree on this point (as long as we’re not doing it in ways that cause divisions).
• Is someone worried about special days and celebrations from their previous way of life before becoming Christian? Paul says there is no right or wrong answer, so we can do whatever we want (as long as we’re not doing it in ways that cause divisions).

So if someone raises either of these two questions we can point directly to Romans and have an answer. But there are a lot of other things upon which Christians disagree, and I’d wager that people believe, in most cases, that what they’re disagreeing on is a matter of doctrine, not a matter that we’re allowed to disagree on. And I’m not going to weigh in on those arguments in this blog post; the general point is that we need to be very careful before labeling something as blasphemy when it could just be a difference of opinion, while, at the very same time (and just as importantly), also paying close attention to the Scriptures and trying to determine what is the will of God. Romans 16 doesn’t let us off the hook on either of these points; Paul is saying they’re both important. So we’ll need the Spirit – both for divining “core” issues from non-core issues, but also for knowing how to communicate our disagreements with each other.

And then there’s the point about God “soon” crushing Satan under the Romans’ feet. What are we to make of that? The ESV Study Bible reminded me that this is an allusion to Genesis 3:15✞, and that point alone leads me to believe that Paul means “soon” in a relative sense, not in an immediate one. He’s reminding them of Christ’s final victory over Satan. We should never give in to the world’s notion of God and Satan being equally-matched adversaries, each hoping to win a final battle between good and evil. Satan isn’t even close to being a match for God, and the end result is not in question: God has won. Jesus has already defeated Satan, it’s just a question of time as to when we see the final result. That would have been of comfort to the Romans as they wrestled with all of the issues Paul raised in his letter, and should be of comfort to us as well.

Doxology

Paul ends this letter with one of the most famous doxologies we know in the Christian church. (A doxology is, from best I can tell, a form of short hymn of praise to God; in essence, there are a few short passages in the Bible that we often use in church services to, for example, close the service, or that kind of thing. If it’s a short passage in the Bible and we use it to close a church service we call it a doxology.)

²⁵ Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages ²⁶ but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— ²⁷ to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

This doesn’t feel to me like Paul is repeating points he’s made earlier in the letter, but it does feel like a natural conclusion to all that Paul has said. After studying the fact that we are sinners—all of us, every single human who has ever lived (except for one)—but that God, in His Grace, has saved us anyway – that Jesus, the only human who ever was sinless, died on our behalf and took our punishment, so that we could have His righteousness; then talking about how God’s Grace has extended beyond His chosen people the Jews to all people; and then talking about the fact that we can have unity with one another even when we disagree with one another on doctrine (i.e. what “Christianity” actually is)… after all that, how do you sum up such a letter? By praising God.

None of what Paul has written in Romans—or any other of his letters, or any other book in the Bible—should lead to squabbling, it should lead to praise. This is the God we worship!

But we do squabble, and even here, in this doxology, he continues to hold onto the complexity of unity vs. doctrine we just thought about: How does God strengthen us? According to the Gospel. Wait… any old “gospel?” No, specifically the Gospel of Paul, and that Jesus preached. Which means two things:

• Paul clearly believes that the Gospel he teaches is the same as the Gospel Jesus taught, and
• There are false “gospels”

I’ve mentioned the “‘health and wealth’ or ‘prosperity’ gospel” many times on this blog; it’s an example of a perversion of Christian teaching. I don’t believe Paul would have said it was something we could validly disagree on—I just finished calling it a “perversion of Christian teaching”—but those who preach it would say I’m wrong, we can disagree on it. How do we treat such situations? I believe people who are promoting the “prosperity gospel” are perverting Christianity and leading people away from Christ, so how should I respond to that?

With love. With the strength given to me by God through the Gospel and Jesus’ preaching (verses 25–26), in light of the fact that the mystery of God’s salvation has been revealed to me but is still secret from many (verses 25–26), as I do my best to be faithful to Him (verse 26), and in praise to Him (verse 27) instead of just trying to win an argument.

Thoughts

In a way, I think it’s highly appropriate that I find so much complexity in the final sections of Paul’s letter, because there is a lot of complex theology in Romans and complex theology leads to disagreements among Christians. (Frankly, I’m guessing Paul already knew that; this isn’t something the Church started arguing about hundreds of years after Romans was written – I’m sure Paul had conversed and argued and discussed many of these points with his fellow believers in the years leading up to the writing of this letter.) And there are definitely parts of Christianity that are essential; we can’t hold to a religion that denies Christ’s divinity—or His humanity, for that matter—and still call it “Christianity,” for example. That’s a core part of what makes Christianity Christianity.

As I said earlier, though, there can be genuine disagreement between genuine Christians about some things – and in many cases those disagreements will be seen (on one or both sides) as “fundamental.” An example I often cite is that of baptism: Who can be baptised? And when can we baptise them? And how are we supposed to do it when we do baptise them? I think it’s safe to say there are disagreements between genuine believers as to how fundamental these things are; I’m sure there are Christians who believe, in light of the Scriptures, that this is an issue we can disagree on and still call ourselves Christians, and there are other Christians who believe, in light of the Scriptures, that this is a fundamental issue and those who baptise “wrong” are not true Christians.

But as I leave Romans, my parting thought is not the urgency of getting these things right or holding fast to our core beliefs—as important as that is—but of doing our best to get along with one another, even when we disagree – and even when those disagreements are about fundamental things.

Suppose I come across someone who doesn’t hold to some of these fundamental beliefs; someone who calls himself a Christian but, for example, doesn’t believe Christ was really God, He was just a good man who had some important things to say. What should I do? I should approach them in love and humility. Maybe this person isn’t a genuine Christian (just as I wasn’t, at one point); maybe this person is a genuine Christian but is so new to the faith that he still has things to learn (just as I was, at one point); maybe this person is a genuine Christian but has been attending a local church with bad preaching from the pulpit (which I’ve experienced from time to time, though I’ve never attended a church full time with this problem). It doesn’t actually matter to me why he believes what he believes, and, in a sense, it’s not even my job to convince him of “the error of his ways.” I mean… it is, in a sense, but it also isn’t – because I view this very much the same as evangelising to a non-Christian. It’s my job to try and explain the Gospel; it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to have the message (as well or as badly as it might have been delivered) to penetrate the heart.

If I approach a situation like this as an argument to be won, I’m not following Christ. If I approach a situation like this in love and humility, wanting this person to have the same love of God that I have, and to fully experience the “revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed through the prophetic writings” and “has been made known to all nations,” so that he’ll praise God for who He truly is, then at least I’m starting off from a good place.

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Footnotes

• Some versions have a verse 24 and some don’t. The ones that do will say something like, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” ↩