Prayer: Oh, Lord, give us Your Wisdom, as we close out this study on the book of Romans. Help us to internalize the lessons we have learned about You and Your plans for our lives. Give us the motivation to continue in our spiritual growth journey and the courage and determination to live out the lessons we have learned. Amen.
Main Scripture: Read Romans 16:1-27
Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him—to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen (vss. 25-27).
Associated Scriptures:
You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:22-24).
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:38-42).
Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous" (Luke 14:12-14).
Correlative Quotes:
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers” – Hebrews 13:2 (NIV). We have all heard the old axiom, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” And that is absolutely true. How many restaurants, churches, or businesses do you have filed in your “I’ll never go back there.” file? For many of us most of those places failed to impress us on our first experience. Even if you are blessed enough to get a second chance, a continual lack of hospitality will be the death knell of your organization.[1] – Rick Warren
Simply put, God does not need you or me. He is altogether self-sufficient, dependent on no one. He is, in fact, the one who is responsible for the existence and preservation of all life, yours and mine. Therefore, he cannot be “served” as if he were needy or exhausted or weak or lacking something that only you and I and the people of your church can supply. To arrive on a Sunday morning and declare to God, “We are here for you,” in the sense that you believe there is something you can give to God that he doesn’t already have, or that you can shore up a weakness, or fill a gap or overcome a deficiency, is to insult God to the very core of his being.[2] – John Piper
What does God want out of a believer? He wants acceptable, spiritual worship. And it begins with the presentation of the body as a living sacrifice. Now, it's not just the physical body, because then it wouldn't be an act of spiritual worship. The body referred to in verse 1 is the whole person, the true self. So, because of God's great mercy to us, He calls on us to present ourselves to Him in an act of spiritual worship. Simply put, “God saved us so that we might truly and acceptably worship Him.”[3] – John MacArthur
Study:
This great book of the Bible written to the church at Rome, by Paul, the Apostle a bondservant of Christ is now coming to its conclusion. He is wrapping up the incredible truths that have been taught. The journey of life in Christ that we have enjoyed through Paul’s message from God’s Spirit is about to finish. It is interesting that this message which began with such a Spiritual “bang” ends with the quietness that can only be found in a deep and abiding relationship with Christ and an undying love for His people. It is as if Paul has walked the journey with us step by step, word by word.
Now together we have reached a destination that should find us ready and equipped to reach out to the whole world for Christ with the expectation that God is going to be with us every step of the way. This chapter speaks of the confidence that Paul has that the Church is ready and that we also should be ready. The task at hand is monumental, but we have been prepared to take on its challenge.
Chapter 16 is like the keynote address at a graduation ceremony. In the previous chapters, Paul has described the hopelessness and deprived nature of the unbeliever, the process by which the sinner can be saved based on the grace of God through faith alone and the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross. It also, in the final chapters, stressed the relationship we need to have with God and others through the power and direction of the Holy Spirit.
Along the way, Paul has defined the many difficult relational terms and put them in a language that we can all understand and he has shown us the application for our lives. Terms that convict us, change us, mold us, and make us into what God wants us to be. Terms such as sin, condemnation, universality, impartiality, faith, salvation, redemption, justification, sanctification and freedom.
We learned, first, that these are words that apply to our position before we accepted Christ as our savior, during the transition to redemption, and at the point of our salvation. In addition, they represent the language that describes the journey we must take once we have been rescued from a life of sin.
Finally, they describe the means of continuing our relationship with God and His Spirit through continual forgiveness provided by our advocate through the blood sacrifice of Jesus.
Now at the end of his letter to the Roman church, just as the completion of a graduation speech would pronounce, Paul challenges us to put into practice what we have learned. He discusses how the grace that God’s has given us as a gift should engender worship both individual and corporate. We worship God not only in a group setting during a church service, but also in our actions toward others every minute of every day. It is this form of worship that Paul describes as He closes his letter. God is a God of love. We worship by demonstrating that love to others.
These people are described in verses 16 and 17 as those who cause dissension and hindrances by arguing with or teaching things that are in opposition to the truth of the scriptures. They would use their own interpretations to confuse and hinder the work of the Holy Spirit.
In addition, they are described as those who would beguile believers for their own personal gain. The word appetite is interesting in its us here. It would indicate, in its general sense, all the desires of the flesh. The Greek word that is used for appetite is koilia (koy-lee'-ah) (New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary, 1994), would mean stomach or belly. This would indicate that the desires come from deep inside the body. These are cravings that cannot be filled because they are not of the Spirit but of the flesh.
The church is commanded to show wisdom with regards to those who through their own self-centeredness would destroy your testimony. This is God’s wisdom and not the world’s wisdom. When dealing with those who would restrict the growth of the body of Christ, we are to use Spirit and Biblical means to solve the problems. Otherwise, we are trying to put out the fire with gasoline.
This letter to the Romans is Paul's longest and most complete statement of the message he proclaimed, what he here called my gospel and the proclamation of (i.e., concerning) Jesus Christ. The truth of this message is the means of spiritual life and stability, as Paul expressed his praise to God who is able to establish you.
Paul says that aspects of this message and in a sense the total message are the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known. The message of the gospel of Christ was "hidden" in the Old Testament, but is revealed in the New Testament, in the prophetic writings), given by the command of the eternal God Christ was referred to, but even the prophets themselves were not fully aware of all they wrote. But now in the Church Age their writings are understood.
The goal of this "revelation of the mystery" is that people of all nations might believe and obey Christ. Paul's concern for the geographical spread of the gospel is evident here, appropriate in view of his writing to the believers at the empire's capital city.
Paul then identified specifically the object of his benediction: To the only wise God. In the Greek, this phrase is followed immediately by the words through Jesus Christ. This indicates that the wisdom of God is displayed supremely through Christ. According to the Greek text, the benediction then ends: “to whom be glory forever! Amen.” God the Father ultimately is the One to be praised and to whom glory belongs.[6]
Summary Statement:
In his final words to the Church at Rome, Paul greets the people and gives instructions as to the love they should show to one another. He gives them three last instructions. The first is to show hospitality to those who love God and serve him outside and inside of their local fellowship. Secondly, Paul instructs them to show wisdom in dealing with those within the church who would, through their self-centeredness, cause division within the body. Finally, Paul asks that the continue to give honor and glory to God through Christ for what He has done for them.
All these instructions to the church at Rome are also meant for us. We must put these words into action in our own lives if we are to please and glorify God.
Lessons within the Lesson:
What does the Bible mean by hospitality? See Luke 10:38-42.
How is Biblical hospitality different than the way we view it? Read Leviticus 19:33-34; Luke 14:13-14; Rom 12:13.
Why do people cause division in the church? Read Romans 16:17-19.
How are we supposed to handle those who cause division? Read 1 Corinthians 5:1-5)
[1] Rick Warren, 3 Keys to Great Hospitality, ,© pastors.com 2015, pastors.com/3-keys-to-great-hospitality/
[2] John Piper, Are You Insulting God in Worship, , used with permission By John Piper. ©2015 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org
[3] John MacArthur, True Worship, © Grace to You, All Rights Reserved, gty.org/resources/study-guides/40-0583/true-worship
[4] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
[5] The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (c) 1988.
[6] Bible Knowledge Commentary/Old Testament (c) 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries; Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament (c) 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries. p. 502.
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