Final Greetings and a Warning



Romans 16
1I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae,
2that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.
3Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,
4who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well.
5Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.
6Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.
7Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.
8Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.
9Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys.
10Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus.
11Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus.
12Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.
13Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.
14Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them.
15Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.
16Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
17I 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.
18For 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.
19For 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.
20The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
21Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.
22I Tertius, who wrote this letter [Because he was Paul’s scribe – this book is Paul’s writing], greet you in the Lord.
23Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.
25Now 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
26but 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—
27to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Paul, who signed this letter at the beginning, is now mentioning by name those in Rome who he holds dear and to whom this letter was originally written. What we learn from this list is that Paul was a man who dearly loved his brothers and sisters in the faith. They are close to his heart.

Of special note for us as a community of believers are verses 17-20.

17I 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.
18For 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.
19For 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.
20The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

If you’ve been part of a church for more than a few minutes you will have experienced those people inside of the faith who are dangerous. Now I want to be careful here. For the most part, those people who cause problems inside of a Christian community rarely do so maliciously although it certainly feels malicious if you are on the receiving end. What we run into in the church is the brokenness of all of us. Church life is a mess sometimes because we are a mess. When my sinfulness bumps into your sinfulness it can get ugly. Divisions arise and disagreements become deal breakers. It’s not always sweetness and light.

Paul warns us to stay away from those who would cause dissension and division. No one should be allowed to work out their issues on the group and it takes strong, spirit-led leadership to see that this doesn’t happen. For reasons that shall remain a mystery to me, those who want to bring strife often seem to rise to positions of leadership. I have theories as to why that happens but perhaps those are best kept to myself. Suffice it to say, we must stay strong in the Word and allow our opinions and decisions to be based on what God has to say rather than someone who is acting out of their individual pain. It is also the responsibility of those who have been in the faith for a long time to responsibly shepherd the new believer, protecting their young faith until such a time as they are discerning enough to see the dangers on their own. Even as I say these things I know that verse 20 brings it all home. Satan will not win, for he has already had his head crushed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, just as was promised in Genesis 3:15.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring;  he shall bruise your head,and you shall bruise his heel.”


As I read back over the last paragraph I realize I am speaking as someone who has been in the church for a long time and has seen a lot of things. It is crucial to bear in mind that while these words are given to us by Paul as a stern warning, they are embedded in his expressions of great love for the Church. He holds these people dear because Jesus died for them. They are connected to him. Life in the Church is ultimately beautiful despite our propensity to sin. Christ has overcome all of that and this life in Christ is the only true life.

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