Paul gives Guidance to the Believers.
And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. 18 Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people. 19 But everyone knows that you are obedient to the Lord. This makes me very happy. I want you to be wise in doing right and to stay innocent of any wrong. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus[a] be with you.
And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them: Paul nears the end of his letter with a final word of guidance for his brothers and sisters in Christ. As they love one another, they must strive for what is good for each other but also be on guard against anything that would harm one another (Romans 12:9, 13:8-10). While we are to do all we can do to live peaceably with one another (Romans 12:18), the Apostle tells us to not compromise with those who teach things that are contrary to the essentials of the Gospel they have been taught and that Paul has unpacked for them (Romans 14:14). As Paul has already explained in chapter fourteen there must be unity in the essentials and liberty in the nonessentials of the Gospel. The people that Paul tells the Romans and us to be on the look out for are those who teach things contrary to sound doctrine that lead those who believe them to an eternity apart from Jesus (Galatians 1:6; 1 Timothy 4:16).
As we carefully examine the teachings of another and find that it is not in line with the Apostles’ teaching and the Scriptures, we are to have nothing to do with that person and their works. We most also demonstrate our love for our brothers and sisters in Jesus by warning them to stay away from these false teachers preventing them from being deceived, confused, our mislead by their teachings.
8 Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people. These false teachers are not serving Christ despite what they say but are instead pedaling a false Gospel for their own interests or gains. Some promote false teachings from a sincere heart, thinking they hold the truth when in reality they have been deceived themselves. It is vital for us to know God’s truth so that we can know when something that can shipwreck our faith is being put in our path. Paul noted that these false teachers deceive people with the way that they communicate their message. Human speech can arouse emotions within us, these emotions can be used to draw us closer to our Savior and stir up passions for Him but they can also steer us away from the truth found in Him. We must always check our emotions, aroused by one claiming to proclaim God’s truth, against God’s truth itself. If what is being taught is in line with the Word then may the Spirit continue to stir but if not, may we stifle those feelings immediately for our sake and the sake of others.
19 But everyone knows that you are obedient to the Lord. This makes me very happy. I want you to be wise in doing right and to stay innocent of any wrong: The Romans anchored their lives to God’s Word. It was His Word that navigated or directed their lives. Not only did they know the truths concerning the Gospel as described by Paul in chapters 1-11 but also lived as people who had been transformed by the Gospel ought to live as explained in chapters 12-15. Their obedience was known to everyone, they were people who caused others to praise God because of their visible good deeds (Matthew 5:16; Romans 1:8). Their knowing of and adhering to God’s Word protected them from following false teachers and teachings. Paul was very happy about their desire to worship the Lord as living sacrifices and then gave two desires for them to help keep them on the right path.
Paul encouraged them to be wise in doing right. The Apostle lets us know that is more useful to know what is true and right than to know of evil (Philippians 4:8). The more we know and grow in our right understanding of the Bible the better we can spot the dangers that seek to deceive us and others from knowing, embracing, and enjoying the Good News about Jesus. Paul also tells them to be innocent of any wrong. We are not to participate in the cultural norms that lead us into sin or misrepresent Jesus as His follower. Paul tells Timothy to flee from the evil desires of his youth (2 Timothy 2:22) and Peter tells believers to live properly among our unbelieving neighbors so that they will give honor to God when He judges the world (1 Peter 2:12-17).
20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus[a] be with you: We enjoy peace with God because of Christ’s work on our behalf. The hostility between sinful people and a holy God ceases to exist for those in Jesus (Ephesians 2:14). We are at peace with God because Jesus is our Peace Maker because He died in our place as an acceptable offering for our sins. This God who makes peace with rebels through His Son (Romans 15:33) will also bring peace to all creation one glorious day! Our great adversary will be crushed by God under our feet. God does the crushing, delivering the final death blow to Satan (Genesis 3:15; Revelation 20:10). From then on, the one who relentlessly seeks to kill, steal, and destroy us (John 10:10) through his various schemes, including false teachings meant to deceive, will be vanquished for all eternity, no longer a threat to us as God’s children.
Until that day of Satan’s total defeat, Paul knows that the Romans and us today would need the grace of Jesus at work in our lives to help us remain faithful. We need the outworking of God’s grace so that we can be wise in doing good and innocent of doing evil. It’s by God’s grace we are saved and by His grace that we remain saved (Romans 8:28-39; Ephesians 1:13-14, 2:8-9; Philippians 1:6). It is also an act of grace that He empowers us to live in a way that is pleasing to Him (Romans 8:12-14).
Paul’s final instructions for the Romans is an appeal to rely on God’s grace as their source of strength for living like Christ and for spotting false teachers that would deceive them with a different gospel than the one they had been taught.
Paul Gives Greetings to the Believers from His Friends.
21 Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you his greetings, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow Jews.
22 I, Tertius, the one writing this letter for Paul, send my greetings, too, as one of the Lord’s followers.
23 Gaius says hello to you. He is my host and also serves as host to the whole church. Erastus, the city treasurer, sends you his greetings, and so does our brother Quartus.[b]
After giving some final words of instruction to the churches in Rome, Paul sends greetings to the believers from some of his friends that are present with him. Timothy is Paul’s son in the faith and one that Paul discipled and trained for the ministry of the Gospel. Lucias might have been a native of Cyrene who was one of the leaders at the church in Antioch who commissioned Paul and Barnabas at the Holy Spirit’s direction (Acts 13:1-3). Jason and Sosipater were both Jews who converted to Christianity. Jason was the same of one of the first converts in Thessalonica and this man hosted Paul in his home until he went to Berea for his safety (Acts 17:5-10). In Acts 20:4-6 we see Sopater (a shortened form of Sosipater), a man from Berea, met Paul in Troas after he left Ephesus. Sosipater was doubtless one of the Jews in Berea who examined the Scriptures to see if what Paul told them was true or not (Acts 17:10-12).
No one could blame you if you pictured Paul writing this letter with his own hand, unless you’ve read through Romans before, you are not alone! However, as we see, Tertius serves as Paul’s secretary or transcriber, writing the letter as Paul dictated to him. Just as Phoebe had the amazing responsibility of delivering the letter for Paul, Tertius had the great privilege of writing the letter for Paul. If you are a person who likes to serve behind the scenes, please know that those efforts are not wasted or unimportant!
Gaius provided a place for Paul to stay while in Corinth but also provided a place for a group of believers to meet. Gaius came to faith in Christ through Paul’s efforts in Corinth and was also only one of two people baptized by Paul himself (1 Corinthians 1:14). Some think that Gaius is the same man mentioned in Acts 18:7 making his full name, Gaius Titius Justice. Erastus was Corinth’s city treasurer and therefor a person of importance and high in politics. Finally, Quartus, a brother in Christ and friend is mentioned and finishes the ones with Paul sending greetings to Rome.
Paul Gives Glory to the God of Believers.
25 Now all glory to God, who is able to make you strong, just as my Good News says. This message about Jesus Christ has revealed his plan for you Gentiles, a plan kept secret from the beginning of time. 26 But now as the prophets[c] foretold and as the eternal God has commanded, this message is made known to all Gentiles everywhere, so that they too might believe and obey him. 27 All glory to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, forever. Amen.[d] Read full chapter
Paul ends his letter to the Romans with a beautiful doxology! A doxology is a hymn or verse used in Christian public worship for praising God. The word comes from the Greek doxologia, “praise or glory,” a combination of doxa, “glory,” and logos, “a speaking.” The Apostle praises God for what He has done through His Son, Jesus Christ. This doxology is unique from others in the Bible because it recaps three major themes from the letter. Some suggest that because of the praise containing a summary of the book’s main ideas, that Paul took the pen from Tertius and wrote these final words with his own hand. Either way, the ideas emphasized in these verses are all reasons for God to be glorified, honored, or made much of by us, His redeemed children.
God establishes us as His people through the Gospel about Jesus.
25 Now all glory to God, who is able to make you strong, just as my Good News says: Paul tells the Romans that God deserves to be honored because it is He Who makes us strong. It is God alone who establishes all who trust in Him according to the Good News as His friend, child, and justified before Him in an unshakable manner. God does not only firmly root us in Christ before Him, but He also stabilizes our minds in the Gospel. As believers, we can be certain about God and our relationship with Him, these truths provide clarity, peace, and stability for living (2 Timothy 1:12).
We have this certainty because we are certain of Paul’s Good News. Paul is not referring to a personal view of the Gospel. The Good News that the Apostle spread was the same as Peter’s, John’s, and the many others who proclaimed the opportunity to have new life in Christ (Romans 1:16). Through the Gospel that Paul preached, that Paul received from Jesus Himself (Galatians 1:11-12, 2:2), God is able and willing to firmly establish all in relationship with Him (an the surety of that relationship with Him) who place their faith in Jesus alone.
God has made His Gospel known to all through Jesus.
25b This message about Jesus Christ has revealed his plan for you Gentiles, a plan kept secret from the beginning of time. 26 But now as the prophets[c] foretold and as the eternal God has commanded, this message is made known to all Gentiles everywhere: This Good News that establishes people in right relationship with God is about Jesus Christ. Jesus willingly came to offer Himself an acceptable sacrifice on our behalf because of His love for the Father and for us (Hebrews 10:5-7). In the second section of Romans (3:21-8:39), we see that it is through Jesus and because of Jesus that we receive every blessing given to us as people established by God through the Good News about Jesus. What have we received from God because of Jesus? See the partial list below.
- Our righteousness comes by faith in Christ (3:22).
- We are justified as an act of God’s grace through our redemption at the expense of Jesus (3:24).
- We have peace with a Holy God through Jesus (5:1).
- In Christ we have the promise of living with Him for eternity (6:8).
- Because of Christ, we can receive God’s free gift of eternal life (6:23).
- Because of Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit residing in us (8:9). His Spirit gives us life (8:11), guidance (8:14), and assurance of us being God’s children (8:23).
- Because we are in Jesus, we are loved by the Father in the same way He loves the Son, faithfully. Thus we have the promise of never having to fear being separated from the love of God (8:39).
This plan of making people right with God through faith in Christ is for all people and was God’s plan from the very beginning (Romans 1:16, 9-11). This plan was foretold in the past by the prophets (Hebrews 1:1-2), yet not with the complete clarity as it had been through Jesus (Hebrew 1:3). The NLT writes that the Good News of being made right through Christ was a plan kept secret from the beginning of time. Other translations save on words and talk about this revelation of life in Christ as a mystery. When Paul uses the word for mystery, he is always referring to something that was hidden in the past but now made known. Specifically, Paul uses this word to refer to a part of God’s truth that was not made known or partially revealed in the Old Testament.
God has made the Gospel Known so we may Know Him.
so that they too might believe and obey him. 27 All glory to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, forever. Amen: Why has God made this Good News about Jesus available to all people, Jew and Gentile alike? So that they might know Him fully and clearly. While on earth, Jesus said that anyone who would listen to His message and believe in the God who sent Him would never be condemned for their sins for they have already passed from death to life (John 5:24). True belief in God always manifests itself through obedience to God (John 14:15). Paul has spent the final chapters (12:1-15:33) explaining how we are to live as people in Christ inside and outside the church. When we obey God we honor the only wise God with the entirety of our lives. The infinitely wise God is the only one Who could have planned in eternity past a way to redeem a people for Himself, and this plan is possible through Jesus Christ! May we also not forget that unless God willingly revealed Himself to us, we would not have a chance at knowing Him (Matthew 11:25-27, 16:13-17); we owe all to Him for without Him, we are hopeless.
What other way could Paul have closed this monumental letter that explains the power and promises of the Good News about Christ for those who believe than a song of praise? My mind can’t think of a better way for Paul to have ended this letter than worshipping our Redeeming God. May we follow his example.
Footnotes
- 16:20 Some manuscripts read Lord Jesus Christ.
- 16:23 Some manuscripts add verse 24, May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Still others add this sentence after verse 27.
- 16:26 Greek the prophetic writings.
- 16:25-27 Various manuscripts place the doxology (shown here as 16:25-27) after 14:23 or after 15:33 or after 16:23.
Additional Resources
- Related Sermons
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