Romans 16:17–27, the final section of Romans. Paul brings several themes of the whole letter back together: sound teaching, obedience, the defeat of Satan, the gospel, the nations, and “the obedience of faith.”

There is also an important contrast with Romans 14. There Paul said, “Welcome one another” when Christians disagree over matters God has left open. Here Paul says “watch out” for people who create divisions contrary to the teaching they had received. Paul knew the difference between a matter of opinion and a matter of revealed truth.

WATCH OUT FOR THOSE WHO CAUSE DIVISIONS

Romans 16:17–27

Paul has just sent warm greetings to Christians throughout Rome.

Then his tone suddenly changes:

“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.”
— Romans 16:17

That sounds very different from:

“Welcome one another.”

Why?

Because Paul is talking about:

a different kind of problem.

NOT EVERY DISAGREEMENT IS THE SAME

Romans 14 concerned things like:

food

and

days.

Paul allowed Christians to reach different conclusions.

He said:

Don't judge.

Don't despise.

Welcome one another.

But Romans 16 concerns people creating divisions:

“Contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.”

Now Paul says:

“Avoid them.”

That distinction matters.

Christian unity does not mean:

nothing matters.

Christian love does not mean:

truth doesn't matter.

WE NEED BOTH ROMANS 14 AND ROMANS 16

If we read only Romans 14, we might conclude:

Never draw doctrinal boundaries.

If we read only Romans 16, we might conclude:

Separate from everyone who disagrees with us.

Paul teaches neither.

Some disagreements require:

patience and liberty.

Some teaching requires:

a clear boundary.

The important question is:

Has God spoken clearly about it?

That is much better than asking:

“Is this what my group has always believed?”

WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE IS PAUL WARNING ABOUT?

Paul says:

“For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites.”
— Romans 16:18

The problem is deeper than an innocent misunderstanding.

Their service isn't centered on:

Christ.

It is centered on:

themselves.

Paul continues:

“By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.”

False teaching doesn't always sound:

ugly.

Sometimes it sounds:

very attractive.

Smooth.

Convincing.

Flattering.

That is why we cannot judge teaching merely by:

how good it sounds.

We must compare it with:

the text.

“YOUR OBEDIENCE IS KNOWN TO ALL”

Paul doesn't want the Romans to think he suspects all of them.

He says:

“For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you.”
— Romans 16:19

There is that word again:

obedience.

Paul began Romans talking about:

“The obedience of faith.”

Now near the end he praises their:

obedience.

Faith and obedience have never been enemies in this letter.

WISE ABOUT GOOD—INNOCENT ABOUT EVIL

Paul continues:

“But I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.”

There is a good balance.

Christians should not be:

naive.

We should learn.

Think.

Discern.

Examine teaching.

But there is no virtue in becoming personally experienced in:

evil.

Be knowledgeable about what is good.

Remain innocent concerning:

evil.

THEN COMES A REMARKABLE PROMISE

Paul says:

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”
— Romans 16:20

That language should sound familiar.

It takes us all the way back to:

Eden.

After the serpent deceived Eve, God said:

“He shall bruise your head.”
— Genesis 3:15

The promise began with the serpent's:

head being crushed.

Now Paul tells Christians:

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”

FROM EDEN TO ROME

Think about the story.

In Eden:

the serpent deceives.

In Romans 16:

Paul warns about people who:

deceive.

In Eden:

God promises the serpent's head will be:

crushed.

In Romans:

Paul says God will crush Satan:

under the feet of His people.

The old enemy has not won.

WHO DOES THE CRUSHING?

Notice carefully:

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”

God does it.

Yet Satan is crushed:

under their feet.

God's victory is shared with:

His people.

That fits the great biblical story.

The victory belongs to God.

It comes through Christ.

And Christ's people participate in:

His victory.

THE STORY REALLY DOES GO BACK TO EDEN

Romans has dealt with:

Abraham.

Israel.

Moses.

the Law.

But Paul has also taken us farther back.

Romans 5 took us to:

Adam.

The human problem began before:

Israel existed.

Sin and death entered the world through Adam.

Christ came to deal with the problem of:

humanity.

Now, near the end of Romans, we hear language echoing the promise made after the fall.

The Bible's story is bigger than:

Israel alone.

It is God's plan to restore His relationship with:

His created people.

MORE GREETINGS

Paul then sends greetings from those with him.

“Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you.”

Also:

Lucius.

Jason.

Sosipater.

Then someone particularly interesting appears.

TERTIUS

Romans 16:22 says:

“I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.”

Wait.

We have been calling this:

Paul's letter to the Romans.

So who is Tertius?

Apparently Tertius served as Paul's:

secretary or scribe.

Paul dictated, and Tertius physically wrote the letter.

That doesn't make Romans Tertius's theology.

Paul is still the author.

But it gives us a little glimpse of how the letter was actually:

produced.

And for one verse, the man holding the pen sends his own greeting.

GAIUS AND ERASTUS

Paul continues with greetings from:

Gaius, his host.

And:

Erastus, the city treasurer.

And:

Quartus, whom Paul simply calls:

“Our brother.”

Again, Christianity brings together people from different circumstances.

Some have positions in the city.

Others are known simply as:

brothers.

In Christ they belong to:

one family.

THEN PAUL ENDS WITH PRAISE

Paul begins his final doxology:

“Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ...”
— Romans 16:25

After sixteen chapters, what is at the center?

Jesus Christ.

Paul's gospel isn't ultimately about:

Paul.

It is the proclamation of:

Jesus Christ.

“THE MYSTERY”

Paul says this gospel is:

“According to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages.”

The word mystery doesn't mean something impossible to understand.

In Paul's usage, it often refers to something once hidden in God's purpose but now:

revealed.

And Paul immediately says exactly that:

“But has now been disclosed.”

So Christianity isn't based on a secret that only a spiritual elite can discover.

God has:

revealed His plan.

HOW WAS IT MADE KNOWN?

Paul says:

“Through the prophetic writings.”

Once again:

the Old Testament.

Paul's gospel did not appear out of nowhere.

The prophets had been pointing toward:

Christ.

But now, through the gospel, what they anticipated has been made:

clear.

AND WHO IS THE MESSAGE FOR?

Paul says:

“Made known to all nations.”

There is the great theme again.

Not one nation only.

All nations.

This takes us right back to God's promise to Abraham:

“In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

The gospel is the fulfillment of a plan reaching far beyond:

one ethnic people.

THEN PAUL ENDS WHERE HE BEGAN

Why has the gospel been made known to all nations?

Paul says:

“To bring about the obedience of faith.”
— Romans 16:26

We've heard those words before.

Romans 1:5:

“To bring about the obedience of faith...among all the nations.”

Romans 16:26:

“To bring about the obedience of faith.”

That is not accidental.

Paul has framed the entire letter with:

the obedience of faith.

ROMANS BEGINS AND ENDS WITH THE SAME IDEA

At the beginning:

Obedience of faith among the nations.

At the end:

Obedience of faith among the nations.

Everything between those statements helps explain:

the gospel that produces that faith.

Faith is not merely:

agreeing that certain facts are true.

Biblical faith trusts God enough to:

respond to Him.

That is why Paul can speak naturally of:

obedient faith.

GRACE DOES NOT ELIMINATE OBEDIENCE

Romans has taught us clearly:

We are not justified by:

works of Law.

We cannot earn salvation.

We cannot boast.

Salvation is by:

grace.

It is received through:

faith.

But Paul never concludes:

Therefore obedience doesn't matter.

He begins and ends Romans with:

the obedience of faith.

Grace doesn't make obedience unnecessary.

Grace puts obedience in:

the right place.

We don't obey to make God owe us salvation.

We obey because we:

trust Him.

“THE ONLY WISE GOD”

Paul ends:

“To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.”
— Romans 16:27

That's where Romans ends.

Not with:

Paul.

Not with:

Israel.

Not with:

the Gentiles.

Not with:

faith.

Not even with:

the church.

Romans ends with:

God.

“To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ.”

Amen.

LOOK BACK AT WHERE ROMANS HAS TAKEN US

Paul began with:

the gospel.

Then:

human sin.

Jew and Gentile alike:

under sin.

Then:

righteousness through faith.

Abraham.

Grace.

Adam and Christ.

Baptism into Christ.

Freedom from sin.

The Law.

Life in the Spirit.

God's faithfulness.

Israel and the Gentiles.

Mercy.

A living sacrifice.

One body.

Genuine love.

Government.

Christian freedom.

Strong and weak.

Jew and Gentile welcoming one another.

Mission.

Generosity.

Real Christians serving together.

And finally:

the obedience of faith among all nations.

WHAT IS ROMANS REALLY ABOUT?

We often reduce Romans to one particular controversy.

Sometimes:

faith versus works.

Sometimes:

predestination.

Sometimes:

Israel.

Sometimes:

baptism.

Those subjects are there.

But Romans is much bigger than any one of them.

Paul tells us his subject in the opening chapter:

“The gospel of God.”

And that gospel reveals God's righteousness and saving power through:

Jesus Christ.

It deals with the problem that began with:

Adam.

It fulfills promises made through:

Israel.

It brings salvation to:

Jew and Gentile.

It creates:

one people.

And it calls people from all nations to:

the obedience of faith.

READ PAUL BEFORE READING A SYSTEM INTO PAUL

That has been our goal through this entire study.

When Paul says:

Law,

ask what he means in that context.

When he says:

works,

don't automatically supply someone else's definition.

When he talks about:

election,

keep reading until Paul explains Israel's unbelief.

When he talks about:

faith,

don't separate it from the obedience with which he begins and ends the letter.

When he quotes the Old Testament:

watch how he uses it.

When he answers his own question:

let Paul answer Paul.

And when Paul doesn't answer a question:

don't pretend that he did.

Read the text.

Read the context.

Follow the argument.

Then:

draw the conclusion.

That is exactly what we mean by:

TEXT B4 TRADITION

Read First. Conclude Later.

BEFORE YOU LEAVE ROMANS

Perhaps the best question isn't:

“Did Romans prove what I already believed?”

A better question is:

“Did I allow Romans to correct what I believed?”

Did I discover something I had overlooked?

Did I have to rethink an assumption?

Did I see a verse differently after reading its context?

Did I allow Paul to finish his argument before deciding what he meant?

If so, then we have done more than:

study Romans.

We have practiced:

how to study the Bible.

And that may be the most important lesson of all.

TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.

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