Paul concludes Romans with a series of greetings to those who have been partners with him, but in the middle of the list he warns his readers against those who cause divisions and depart from sound doctrine. Dr. Sproul discusses the divisive people and how they are described. This leads into Paul's final greetings and benediction.

God willing, today should be a watershed moment for us, because I am hoping, in the providence of God, to complete our study of Paul’s magnum opus, his letter to the church of Rome. It is my hope that when we reconvene next time, I will begin a new study. My plan is to lead us through the chief writings of the Apostle Peter in his two letters, 1 and 2 Peter, which have marvelous content for our instruction and edification.

You may think it strange that I plan to finish Romans today by looking at an entire chapter. But if you are familiar with chapter 16, it more or less includes Paul’s Christmas card list, where he is sending greetings from himself and his co-laborers to friends and co-laborers in the church at Rome. The Apostle has finished the instructional content of this epistle and is now winding it down in his customary manner by sending greetings.

Even in these greetings, I trust that we can learn something of value for our souls, as we know the promise of God that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” that we might be made complete in Christ (2 Tim. 3:16). Having said that, I will direct your attention to Romans 16, beginning at verse 1 and going through the end of the chapter. I ask you to stand for the reading of the Word of God:

I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also.

Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house.

Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ. Greet Mary, who labored much for us. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. Greet Apelles, approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my countryman. Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.

Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who have labored in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren who are with them. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.

Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you.

Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. 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. 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. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, greet you.

I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord.

Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

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 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—to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

Please be seated. Let us pray.

Again, O Lord, as we stand before this, Your Word, we ask that You may edify us not only by its hearing but by understanding those things that are contained within. Thank You, Lord, for this entire epistle and for our opportunity to spend so much time digging at the treasure that is found within it. Lord, we thank You for this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Controversies Around Paganism

This lengthy list of greetings and brief mentions of people begins by a special commendation of a woman who is known by the name of Phoebe. She is described as a servant of the church in Cenchrea, which is on the coast of Corinth. Paul writes that he commends her to the Romans that they “may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also.”

Paul begins these greetings with this special Apostolic commendation of Phoebe, who stands at the head of the list. I should note in passing that this brief commendation by the Apostle has received no small amount of attention from those trying to glean from the New Testament an understanding of the role of women in the life of the church.

First, a word about Phoebe’s name. Her name is taken from a pagan goddess. In the early church, Christians who were formerly known by common names derived from the divine pantheon of deities in paganism retained those names after their conversion because their origins no longer had any religious or theological significance.

We need to bear that in mind, as sometimes disputes arise in the church. For example, disputes have arisen over the fact that we call Easter, Easter, and it sounds close to the pagan deity Ishtar. You hear the controversy around the celebration of Christmas. People point out that in history, the church began to celebrate Christmas on December 25, which was the time of celebration in Rome for the pagan god Mithras. They had a Roman holiday for that occasion.

The Christians said, “If we’re going to have this holiday, we’re not going to worship a pagan deity, but we will spend that time celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ,”—a noble endeavor altogether. But some are still scandalized by the historical relationship to the Mithras cult. I think it is understandable that many things in the world and in our culture have their roots in paganism. But those roots have long since been overlooked, and we do not have any great scruples about them today.

Today, the day I am speaking on is Sunday. Tomorrow is the day named after the moon, “moon day.” We get Wednesday in honor of the Scandinavian Norse god, Woden. It is “Woden’s day,” followed by the celebration of another pagan deity, Thor, on “Thor’s day.” So it goes, all the way to the celebration of the Roman god Saturn on Saturday. When we use these designations, we do not attribute to the days of the week any particular religious homage to the gods of the Norsemen or the Romans or any worship of the sun or moon. That is just a point in passing.

Women in the Church

More important here is Phoebe. She is identified as “our sister”—that is, our sister in the faith, who is a servant of the church in Corinth. This descriptive term “servant of the church” comes from the Greek work diakonia and is rendered by some translations as deaconess. There are churches in our day that have elders, ministers, deacons, and deaconesses—female deacons.

I grew up in the Presbyterian Church USA in the north, and in that denomination, we had an ordained office of deaconess. When I transferred my membership to the Presbyterian Church of America, I discovered there was no office of deaconess, following the tradition of the old Southern Presbyterian Church out of which the PCA was formed. There have been disputes over the years, even within Reformed communities, about whether the office of deaconess should be an ordained office.

In the founding years of the denomination in which I now hold my credentials, the Presbyterian Church in America, I was asked to write a theological paper on the role of women in the church. This paper specifically referenced the meaning of a church office. In that paper, which I submitted to the General Assembly, I pointed out that there is no connotative description of the term church office found anywhere in the New Testament. Rather, the concept of a church office is extrapolated from the biblical examples given to us.

The basic, most generic term for a church worker in the New Testament is that term diakonia, which describes a position of service that all of us in ministry are called to perform. I pointed out in the paper that the New Testament is replete with examples of women being deeply involved in the life of the church, as well as in the Apostolic ministry of the expansion of the church—although no woman was selected for the office of Apostle, and there are restrictions that Paul gives to women in his letters to Timothy and to Titus. But at the same time, in the biblical narrative, women were profoundly involved in the life of the church. It has been said that the women were the last ones to remain at the cross when the men fled, and the first ones to greet the risen Savior at the tomb in the garden.

In these greetings, we see Paul’s profound appreciation for the assistance that he received from women, who were serving the cause of Christ and the church in a significant way. What the church does today in terms of ordination is a different matter that is not addressed here. Nevertheless, we must not underestimate the important role that women have in the life of the church of Christ.

Paul directs the Christians in Rome to receive Phoebe in the Lord, in a manner worthy of the saints. She is to be aided and assisted in whatever she needs, because she has been bestowed a high honor, being called a “helper of many” and of Paul himself.

This term “helper” is a weak translation of the Greek. The Greek indicates one who holds a more specific office of important assistance to the Apostolic ministry. Because of Phoebe’s role as an assistant to Paul and a part of his Apostolic ministry, he directs the people in Rome to receive her with all honor and assistance in a way that would be worthy of the saints.

Priscilla and Aquila

Then Paul adds his greetings for “Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house.” We hear of Priscilla and Aquila in the book of Acts because of their ministry with the Apostle in Ephesus. Apparently, they had been in Rome and had to flee when the Christians were banished by the emperor Claudius. They went from Rome to Ephesus, where they met the Apostle Paul and assisted him in his ministry.

We do not have any specific record of their risking their necks for the Apostle’s. But if you recall the record of Paul’s sojourn in Ephesus in the book of Acts, you know that it was a tumultuous time, in which his life was in danger more than once. On those occasions in Ephesus where Paul barely escaped with his life, where he later said he had “fought with wild beasts” (1 Cor. 15:32), his escape was probably due in some measure to the heroic courage and assistance of Priscilla and Aquila, fellow workers in Christ Jesus.

“Likewise,” Paul says, “greet the church that is in their house.” In the first-century community, there were not only the ekklēsia, the churches, but the ecclesiolae, which were little churches that met in homes. They did not represent the same home church movement that we encounter today. The movement today generally, though not always, tends to indicate a disenchantment with the organized visible church, where a handful of people withdraw from the larger body of Christ and meet in a small group in their homes.

The reason for home churches in the first century was that there were no other places to meet. Those who had larger homes would open their homes as places where the people could assemble together for worship and instruction in the Apostle’s word. One such family that did that was the family of Priscilla and Aquila.

Fellow Laborers and Prisoners

“Greet my beloved Epaenetus.” Here is a little bit of controversy. Epaenetus is identified as “the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ.” Elsewhere, Paul sends his greetings to Stephanus, who is also called the firstfruits of Paul’s ministry in Achaia. There is a textual variant here that could explain the tension by saying that one was the firstfruits of Paul’s ministry in Asia rather than Achaia. Even if it was Achaia, presumably the firstfruits would not include just one person but members of his family or group. In any case, greetings are to be given to Epaenetus.

“Greet Mary, who labored much for us. Greet Andronicus and Junia”—Junia could be a man or a woman, depending on how you render the Greek there—“my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.” Apparently these believers, who had been part of Paul’s entourage, suffered imprisonment with the Apostle at some point. Paul gives tribute to them for their fidelity and points out that they were Christians before he was. They were “older in the Lord” than he.

“Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. Greet Apelles, approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my countryman. Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.” Again, this is a list of people who are mentioned in passing.

“Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who have labored in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord.” All three of these people were women. Again, we see Paul’s concern to give his Apostolic good wishes to women who labored with him in the Lord.

Rufus and His Mother

Verse 13: “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.” “Greet Rufus.” Where have you heard his name before? If you recall the narrative of the crucifixion of Jesus in Mark’s gospel, you may recall the passage wherein Jesus’ cross was carried by Simon of Cyrene. He is identified as the father of Alexander and Rufus. I have mentioned that it was unusual for Mark to insert that kind of detail in his narrative, and we might wonder why he did it.

We recall that Mark’s gospel was sent to the church at Rome, and he was probably aware that Rufus, and likely his brother Alexander, were members of the church at Rome. So, Mark, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, honored these local church members who were the sons of the man who carried the cross of Jesus.

Paul describes Rufus as “chosen in the Lord.” In this context, it is unlikely that Paul simply means he is one of the elect, because all of them were elect. Rather, it would indicate that Rufus had a particular role and influence with the Apostle and the Apostolic community in Rome.

Paul says to greet his mother, presumably the wife of Simon of Cyrene, who Paul also calls his own mother. Not that Paul was literally saying that Rufus’ mother was his mother or that Rufus was his brother, but rather that she was a mother in the faith to Paul. Being a minister, one of the few things I have in common with the Apostle Paul is that when you are a minister in the church, every woman older than you—and many younger than you—believe that they are divinely appointed to be your mother. I am sure it was not much different for the Apostle Paul in his day. That is a good thing, not a bad thing.

Greet One Another

Then Paul says, “Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes,” and many other people. I am not going to get into them and will just mention that they are numbered among the saints.

Then, Paul says, after they greet these other people, “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” That was the custom, particularly in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Upon the completion of the Lord’s Supper meal, the people would greet each other, and the customary way to do that was to kiss each other on the cheek.

You can see that form of greeting present in the Middle East in our day. We do not know when or why that custom passed out of the practice of the church, but it is a custom, not a principle. It is not binding upon the church in every location and in every age, but that was the customary practice in the Middle East in that day. Then he says, “The churches of Christ greet you.”

Avoid Those Who Sow Dissension

Now Paul turns his attention to some serious Apostolic admonition. He says, “Now I urge you, brethren.” This is perhaps the last Apostolic entreaty that we find in the book of Romans.

Paul urges them to “note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.” He tells them to notice the people who are the troublemakers in the church and to watch out for those who sow seeds of dissension, particularly those who disrupt the body of Christ with false doctrine.

It is said in the church today that doctrine divides, and because of the power of doctrine to divide, we ought not to give it too much concern, but rather focus our attention on loving, peaceful relationships—forgetting that we do not know what a loving relationship is supposed to look like except as it is described by the truth of biblical doctrine. Paul does not say to avoid doctrine. What he is saying is, in essence: “Avoid heretics. Avoid those who come into the church teaching false doctrine, doctrine other than that which has been delivered by Apostolic authority. Note them and avoid them. Stay away from them.”

Smooth Words

Paul continues, “For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly”—that is, they are not in it for the building of the kingdom of God but for their own gratification, wealth, pleasure, or status in the community. Paul is quite critical of them. He says that they “by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.”

Elsewhere the Bible warns that not many should become teachers, for with teaching comes the greatest judgment. I can remember when I first started my teaching career. This vocation was acknowledged by the church and was the office to which I was originally ordained—not to the pastoral ministry, but to university teaching in theology.

One of the things I had to struggle with in my own conscience in my classroom was when a student would raise a difficult, troublesome question. I knew that they were novices in the field in which they were asking questions. I knew that I had the opportunity to give them an answer that would satisfy them. I also knew those answers were not sound.

I realized I could appear knowledgable and gain their respect and admiration by giving them incorrect teaching. I knew that. Sometimes, when they had me backed up to the wall on a tough question that was difficult to answer, it was tempting to engage in that kind of tomfoolery. Even though they were college students, they were simple in terms of their education, and they could have been easily seduced by flattering speech.

We have to watch out for that every minute. It would haunt me. If I do that, I am setting myself up for judgment at the hands of Christ. So I had to—and still have to—keep examining myself and ask, “Is what I am teaching the unvarnished truth of the Word of God, or is it my favorite hobbyhorse?”

That is the question that every minister of the gospel has to continually face and examine himself in light of, lest we be guilty of deceiving the simple. Most people in the congregation, even if they have PhDs in unrelated fields, are still simple with respect to the things of God. Jesus warned that it would be better to have a millstone tied around our neck and be thrown into the abyss than to cause one of the little ones to stumble.

Spiritual Infancy

Paul’s last admonition here to the church is, essentially: “Watch out. Don’t be seduced by smooth words and flattering speech. I want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil.” I have mentioned before that those who do not want to engage in laborious study of the Word of God or be held accountable to disciplined study of the truths of God say that they want to keep their faith simple. They want to have a childlike faith.

I remind you that there is a difference between a childlike faith and a childish faith. We are to be childlike in our acquiescence to the authority of God. But Paul says elsewhere: “In evil, be babes. Do not be pros in wickedness; be amateurs in your sin. But in your understanding, be men.”

The Christians of the New Testament were rebuked again and again for being satisfied with spiritual infancy. They were satisfied with milk when they were enjoined to seek after the deeper things of God, the meat of the Word. What we have been examining in the book of Romans is not pabulum. We have been looking at the weightier things of the Word of God, that we may not be simple in our understanding of them.

Peace and Grace

“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. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.”

We do not know what that prophetic statement is referring to. The statement may reference the destruction of Jerusalem, which would take place shortly after this letter was received. The great threat of the Judaizing heresy would be removed from the church as the temple was destroyed and those who were persecuting the early church dispersed throughout the nations. That could be an example of Satan being crushed under their feet. Or it could refer to something different that Paul does not tell us here.

In any case, Paul gives a brief preliminary benediction, saying, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” This was the most common summary of his benediction, or “good saying.” What he hoped the most was that the people would continue to have the grace of God in their presence.

Paul told us earlier that we move from faith to faith, from life to life, from grace to grace. Our Christian pilgrimage begins in grace, it is sustained by grace, and it is finished by grace. So, in this preliminary benediction, Paul wishes the presence of grace for the Christians at Rome.

Final Greetings

Then Paul continues with his final greetings. Verse 21: “Timothy, my fellow worker”—you know a lot about him—“Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, greet you.” Then we find out who really wrote Romans. It was not Paul after all. In verse 22, we read, “I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord.” After these greetings from the Apostle Paul and his coworkers in Corinth are communicated to his friends in Rome, Tertius adds his personal greetings, identifying himself as the one who wrote this epistle.

We know that in the vast majority of Paul’s writings, he did not write with his own hand. We know that he had significant problems with his vision. On one occasion, when he did write his own letter, he said, “See with what large hand I write.” It was normal, in Paul’s case as well as others, to have a private secretary called an amanuensis. That role dates back to Old Testament prophets such as Jeremiah, who had an amanuensis to take down the words he dictated to be sent to the people of God.

Likewise, Paul has been dictating the letter of Romans to the church at Rome, and Tertius— whose name means “the third”—has been dutifully recording it under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and the deliberation of the Apostle Paul. He says, “I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord.”

“Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you.” Not many people in the early Christian community were in positions of honor and authority in the culture, but there were some. In this case, we hear of one who was the treasurer of the city giving his greetings along with “Quartus, a brother.” Then Paul again says, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”

Established in the Gospel

Now comes the final benediction of the epistle: “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel”—let me stop there. Throughout his writings, Paul frequently uses the term edification, a term borrowed from the building industry where edifices are erected. We see the teaching of our Lord at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, where He warns against building your house upon the sand. Those who build upon the sand will find that when the floods come, their house will be swept away, because the edifice they have built was not established. Jesus, by the same token, said the wise man is one who builds his house upon a rock, so that when the storms come and beat against it, the house stands. Why? Because it is established.

We are warned not to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. Rather, as we grow in grace, as our sanctification proceeds, we are to be edified, built up to that point at which our faith, character, and devotion are established. In this benediction, the Apostle reminds the people at Rome who it is who is able to make that happen.

“Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ.” That is the first thing: We are to be established according to Paul’s gospel. Do you realize how many essays, articles and books about the gospel have been written in our culture in recent years? Do you realize how severely the biblical gospel is under attack in the church today? The doctrine of justification by faith alone, which we have examined in such much detail in Paul’s letter, is being attacked in the church. These attacks come not only from the so-called liberal wing of the church, but from the evangelicals and even the so-called Reformed.

The heart of the dispute is whether or not our salvation rests upon the imputation of the righteousness of Jesus. Beloved, without the righteousness of Christ, you and I are doomed. Without imputation there is no justification, and without justification by faith alone there is no gospel. The only gospel is Paul’s gospel—that is, the one he was authorized and set apart to proclaim. To be established in the Christian life is to be established according to that gospel, the gospel that the Apostle proclaimed to the Romans. Just the other day, I was in a teaching environment where this question came up. I said, for the thousandth time: “Learning the doctrine of justification by faith alone intellectually is easy as can be. But to get it in the bloodstream takes a lifetime.”

Paul is giving his final benediction. He is asking that God would establish them in the gospel and in the preaching of Jesus Christ, “according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest.” This divine revelation of the full measure of the gospel, which was hidden throughout the ages from the day of creation, has now been made plain, “and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith.”

To God Alone Be Glory

The final portion of the benediction in the final line of Paul’s epistle repeats the quintessence of the message he has labored to communicate throughout this epistle: the principle of Sola Deo Gloria. To God—and to God alone—is the glory: “To God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.”

In that final benediction, Paul gives his good saying. He expresses his heart’s desire that the people be established according to the gospel, the preaching of Christ, and the revelation of God, which has been kept secret but is now made manifest. This God who spoke through the Old Testament prophets has now made known to all nations the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is saying, “To God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever.”

In every generation, in every part of the world, the gospel that Paul lovingly, jealously, and passionately set forth in his magnum opus, the letter to Rome, is obscured, attacked and brought almost to ruin. But Paul’s prayer that people would be established in that gospel forever is borne witness to by the history of the church. Despite all heresies, despite persecutions and distortions, the gospel that was revealed here in Romans keeps manifesting itself by the wisdom, power, and establishment of God, who alone receives the glory.

We look at the final word of the Apostle’s letter, coming from the Hebrew emeth, which is translated “truth.” The word is amen. So, all the people said, “Amen.” Let us pray.

Father, thank You for this pilgrimage that we have taken through this magnificent epistle, offered first to the converts in Rome and by extension to the church of all ages, and even in these days to us. O God, we pray that in Your singular wisdom, transcendent power, and for Your ultimate glory, You would establish us in the gospel we have been studying. For we ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.