The Book Of ROMANS.....A Systematic Teaching

Romans 15:30............
"Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me".

We saw the doctrinal aspect of Romans and now we are seeing the "Practical" side of Christianity.
Paul is now putting doctrine into practical use.

Paul appeals to them by Christ Himself and by the love they have because of the Holy Spirit. This is not a casual request. What he asks is also weighty. Paul wants these believers to strive or wrestle with him in prayer to God on his behalf.

Paul often closes his letters by asking for prayer as seen in Eph. and Thess. and Phil. This request is different from most of those other appeals, as the following verses reveal. Paul is deeply concerned about three specific things that we will go into in the next verse.
 
Romans 15:31..........
"That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints".

First.........
Paul wants them to ask God for is that he will be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea.

Paul has learned by repeated experience that the religious Jews want to kill him. He is preparing to travel to Jerusalem, the very heart of religious Judaism. He realizes this will put him in grave danger. He is asking the Roman Christians to pray for his safety, that his life will be spared.

Paul was right to be concerned. In Acts 21:27-36 we see what happened when the Jewish religious leaders found him in the temple in Jerusalem. Furious about his teaching that salvation was available only through faith in Christ and not through following the law, they grabbed Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and tried to kill him. This prayer was answered, however, in an unexpected way. Roman soldiers intervened and took Paul into custody. He was spared but found himself in prison for the following two years. God does not always answer our prayers in the way we expect.

Paul's second request.
It was that the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem would receive the gift of financial aid he was delivering from the Gentile believers. Why would they not? Perhaps tension between Jewish and Gentile Christians was running high. Perhaps the Christian Jews would reject the gift out of fear of the unbelieving religious Jews. Maybe Paul was concerned about being robbed or imprisoned on the way.
In any case, he wanted desperately for the gift to be received.

Apparently, this prayer was also answered when Paul was, at least at first, received warmly by the Christian Jews in Jerusalem on his arrival.
 
Romans 15:32............
"That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed."
Third request.
He asked his readers to pray that, by God's will, he could come to them with joy and be refreshed in their company. This did eventually come to pass, in a sense, though Paul traveled to Rome as a prisoner and was shipwrecked along the way. That saga is found in Acts 27–28.

God always answers the prayers of His people. Sometimes He says no. Sometimes He says yes, but in entirely unexpected ways that we could never anticipate. Paul's life demonstrates that God often does not follow our idea of what He should do, even as He acts for our ultimate good.
 
Romans 15:33..............
"Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen."

"The God of peace" shows that Paul experienced peace in prison, in chains, in a storm, shipwrecked and snake bitten.

I pray that all of you will find the same kind of peace that Paul found in his.

Speaking of Paul in Jail in Rome, maybe you have heard this and if not now you will.

Philippians 1:12-13........
"Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else".
Pauls guards were rotate every four hours, 24 hours a day. WHY???? They were chained to him and he had a one on one captive audience. He led them to Christ, one by one so often that they had to let him go. However......by then he has evangelized around 4000 mean.

Now......those men then rotated into other countries because at that time Rome was busy conquering the world. So where ever the Roman army went those saved Roman soldiers went and if you do the study of where the Army went........revival took place and church were started.

I suspect that every man who visited Paul would have talked to at least ten men — more depending on how many friends he had. Every man who visited Paul would have confronted the absolute dissimilarity between Paul and Nero — not to mention what would have been most impressive, the fundamental antithesis between Paul’s Lord and theirs! For, spending time with Paul — though it would have impressed the young men with Paul himself — would mean, more than anything else, being amazed at Paul’s Lord!

Nero, the Emperor, claimed to be an artist and musical genius, but the apostle Paul truly was a genius whose spirit shined like a star in the pagan darkness. Most certainly, it was not Paul’s raw intelligence — astounding as it must have been — that would have most impressed the young elite soldiers. In fact, Paul’s sincere humility and love, inspired by the Holy Spirit, would have been most outstanding to those who met him.

So.......the gospel was spread by the agent who was in fact oppressing the Christians.
 
Major said:
Romans 15:29............
"And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ."

This is Paul's stamp of approval of his trip to Rome.

He went according to the will of God and in the fullness of his position as an Apostle.

Have you ever had someone say to you........."You are out of the will of God"????
It is very easy and often said by believers when another believer is having bad times. Trouble or bad times, or sickness does not mean that you are out of the will of God my dear friends.

In fact, it may very well mean that you are IN the will of God and are now under attack from Satan.

You see, if you are living a perfect life, calm and relaxed with no worries or stress, then Satan has no reason to oppress you!!!

I promise all of you.....If YOU are peaceful and calm with no drama then you are not getting out the Word of God and witness for the Lord Jesus Christ!
Click to expand...
We are currently studying the book of Job, which proves what you are saying here. Keep up the good work Major! It is much appreciated.
 
Romans 16:1..........
"I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:".

Phebe is the first believer mentioned in this, another catalog of the heroes of faith. She was a Gentile. She was named for the Greek goddess Artemis or Diana who mythology says was the goddess of the moon, as her brother, Apollo, was the god of the Sun. Many believers adopted new names at their baptism, but Phebe kept her heathen name for some reason which we do know.

She was the bearer of the Epistle to the Romans. Evidently she was very prominent in the church at Rome. She may have been a woman of means engaged in some kind of business.

Now, there is in my opinion no doubt that women have better insights and sensibilities than do men. Women tend to be more inclined to "details" than are men. For example, a woman can meet a complete stranger to her and in five minutes know that persons name, their children's name and the college they attended!!! God obviously made women finer than He did men.

However, God decided that women would not be ordained as deacons and Pastors in the New Testament church. Now.....that does not mean that women can not be in positions within the church.

As a Pastor, my minister of music was a woman with a doctorate in music from Stetson University. My chairman of finances was a bank president and SHE was a woman with a Masters from FSU. We had two dozen ushers and 5 of them were women and the chairman of that group was a woman. We had Four adult Sunday School classes and TWO of them were taught by women. One of the ladies was a Catholic who I led to the Lord and she went on the be one of the best Bible teachers that I ever knew!

God may have said that women can not be ordained as deacons and Pastors, but the church needs the insight that all women bring.
 
Romans 16:2..........
"That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also."
Now he instructs his readers to welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints. In other words, they were to receive her honorably as they would welcome a sister in Christ.

You see friends, in that day......women were not well thought of. Men in those days only wanted a woman to have their child and in reality would rather have a good mule. In addition, they were to help her with whatever she needed while she was with them.

Paul reveals that Phoebe has been a "patron." This is from the Greek word prostatis, a feminine noun specifically meaning a woman in some supervisory or guardian's role, or one who aids through providing resources. It's possible that Phoebe helped support Paul's work financially or in other ways.

Now, some scholars believe that she was a deacon. The NIV and NRSV call Phoebe a “deacon” however, the NASB and ESV stick with “servant.” The Greek word is diakonos, which can be used for a range of meanings including “servant,” “messenger,” or “deacon.”

Whether or not she was, we know from later Epistles that God told Paul that women were not to be ordained as deacons.
 
Romans 16:3..........
"Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus, Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles."
The church at Rome was largely Gentile and was made up of many races of people. It was integrated for sure.

Priscilla and Aquila were a Jewish couple. Their relationship to Paul is detailed in other passages of Scripture in Acts 18:18–19; 1 Corinthians 16:19.
As a side note, they are also credited with educating a passionate-but-uninformed man, Apollos, giving him a better understanding of the gospel in Acts 18:26.
In addition to Paul's long and close relationship with these two, he describes them as having "risked their necks." The Greek phrase here serves the same symbolic role as the English translation: these two risked their lives to save Paul. We don't have a record of when this happened, but they were likely present when Paul was nearly killed during a riot in Ephesus (Acts 19:23–41).

It may also be a more general reference to their willingness to endure danger and threat of loss for the sake of Paul's mission.

Paul writes that he gives them thanks, likely not just for risking their lives for his sake but also for years of service and close friendship. In addition, he says, all the Gentile churches give thanks for this couple, as well. Perhaps Paul means that all these churches are grateful that Paul lived to finish his ministry because of Priscilla and Aquila or perhaps he is referring to their long service to many different people.
 
Romans 16:5............
"Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ."
The local church then met in private homes in the beginning. The brick and morter buildings we call church did not show up until about the 3rd century.

The church began in family homes at the start of Christianity and it is my opinion that that that is how they will end up in the last days.
Many.....many of the great churches of past days are nothing more that "Mausoleums" today where the FROZEN CHOSEN gather to talk to each other. You could hang a side of beef in them!!!

The church was never intended to be thought of or spoken of as a building. It was intended by God to the BODY of believers in Christ.

Paul describes "Ephesus" as the first convert to Christianity in Asia.

The literal word used here is aparchē, sometimes translated as "firstfruits." Ephesus, where Priscilla and Aquila helped to establish a church, is a major city in the Roman province of Asia. Scholars speculate that Epaenetus was led to Christ by Priscilla and Aquila and then traveled to Rome with them to help with the ministry there.
 
Romans 16:6...........
"Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us."

Next, he asks that they greet a woman named Mary, or possibly "Mariam." As seen in other passages in the New Testament, the name "Mary" was a Jewish name and was so common that it was not unusual to see several women in the same group bearing it. Her very common name indicates she may have been a Jewish woman, though "Mary" was occasionally used by Gentiles, as well.


Paul praises Mary for working very hard for the church in Rome. In fact, she "toiled greatly." We don't know what this work consisted of or how Paul would have known her, but she is praised for her diligence in serving the Christians there.

What ever the work was, she is said by Paul that she "Knocks herself out" for the sake of others because she is obedient to Christ.

She reminds me of my wife. Even though we are retired from the church, she is still active in visiting, calling and writing notes and postcards to friends and church people. Even in her failing health, she works more for others than she does for herself.
 
Romans 16:7.............
"Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me."
"Andronicus" is a Greek name and has been identified with a slave.

"Junia" is a Roman name and can be male or female.

Paul calls them his "fellow countryMEN" which may indicate that they are male and belong to the Tribe of Benjamin as did Paul.

"Fellow prisoners" would lead us to believe that Paul had met them in one of the many prisons he had been in.

Whatever the cause was, they were well known to Paul and the natural assumption would be that Paul had led them to Christ at one time or another.

Given Paul's next statement in the following verse, it seems likely Andronicus and Junia at least knew the original 12 who came to hold the official office of Apostle. Paul writes that they were in Christ before him, meaning that Andronicus and Junia may have been Christians long enough to have been part of the very birth of the church led by Peter and the others in Jerusalem.

Some scholars suggest that Paul referred to the pair as being "among" the apostles themselves, using the term in a general sense as he sometimes did to refer to other messengers of the gospel like Barnabas and Silas. Andronicus and Junia must have been vocal in proclaiming Jesus if they spent time in prison for it.
 
Romans 16:8-9................
"Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord, Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved."
“Amplias” is a common one, and in several instances found in connection with the imperial household.

Some scholars suggest that "Urbanus" may have been a slave or former slave.

Paul describes "Stachys" as beloved or "the one loved by me," as he has does with several others on this list. Perhaps Paul was especially close to these men or perhaps he is modeling a devoted love for all who are in Christ.
 
Romans 16:10........
"Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus."
Apelles, approved in Christ — A man who, on different occasions, had given the highest proofs of the sincerity and depth of his religion. Some suppose that Apelles was the same with Apollos: whoever he was, he had given every demonstration of being a genuine Christian.

"Of Aristobulus' household. It is doubted whether this person was converted, as the apostle does not salute him, but his household; or as the margin reads, his friends. He might have been a Roman of considerable distinction, who, though not converted himself, had Christians among his servants or his slaves. But, whatever he was, it is likely that he was dead at this time, and therefore those of his household only are referred to by the apostle.
 
Romans 16:11..........
"Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet those of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord."

Herodion was evidently a Jew as Paul again calls him a fellow country man.

Narcissus is the name of a well known freedman put to death by Agripina The one whose name appears here was probably a slave who formerly belonged to him and had taken his name.
 
Romans 16:12...........
"Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord."

These Tryphena and Tryphosa mean........"delicate" and "dainty". I would think that these two ladies were old maid sisters who came to know Christ.

"Labored" = workd hard for Christ.

"Persis" is the name of a freedwoman and her position may have enabled her to do more than the two sisters.
 
Romans 16:13..........
"Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine."

I used to have an uncle named "Rufus". I always thought that was a funny name.

His name means "RED". RED was the name by which he was called. That means that he may have had RED hair but that is not what made him stand out enough to be mentioned in the Word of God.

Notice that "he was chosen in the Lord".!!! Yes, they were all chosen in the Lord but Paul says that specifically about Rufus. Maybe he did some outstanding work or something that endeared himself to Paul.

Now, just to follow that train of thought.....in Mark 15:21 we see that when Jesus was falling under the weight of the cross, the Roman solders looked over the crown and saw Simon of Cyrene and they said to him...Key you, come over here and carry this cross! And he did.

Then Mark, writing to Rome identified Simon for them by adding......"the father of Alexander and RUFUS". All the saints at Rome would know Rufus because he was outstanding in the church at Rome.

Paul also includes the mother of Rufus. This lady was not Paul's biological mother! She was the woman who took Paul in. She treated him like a mother would treat her child.

Want it be wonderful to get to heaven and meet and talk with these great early saints of God!!!!
 
Romans 16:14................
"Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers with them."


Does this sound like......"All in the Family"?????

Here is a kind of male commune, all with Greek names, suggesting that these were young businessmen who had come to Rome and formed a group. They had all become Christians and had another house church going in their bachelors' quarters there. Paul sends his greetings to them and all the brothers with them.
 
Romans 16:15...........
"Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings."

"Philippiansologus" means "a lover of the word," and this was probably a nickname given to him, just as Barnabas was called "the son of consolation," even though that was not his name. Here was a man who loved the Word of God, and gathered with him these men and women -- Julia, Nereus and his sister.

Nereus is another fascinating name. IN his comments, Dr. Barclay suggests that he may have been the housekeeper of a prominent Roman citizen named Flavius Clemens, later to become Consul of Rome, the highest political office in the city, who, in 95 A.D., was condemned to death by the Emperor Domitian because he was a Christian.

His wife, Domatilla, also a Christian, was banished by the emperor. Here is a hint that in the household of Flavius Clemens was a Christian slave, Nereus, who was undoubtedly a great influence in leading this prominent Roman citizen to Christ, and who would later give his life as a martyr for the cause of Christ.

We can see from these names that Roman society had already been infiltrated by the gospel before Paul ever arrived in the city. That is why, at the beginning of this letter, he says, their "faith is being reported all over the world,".
These prominent Christians had already penetrated society from top to bottom.

That is the way Christianity should work. I do not think it makes its best progress by massive campaigns. I think it makes its best progress when it infiltrates all levels of society and brings them all together in the church of Christ.
 
Romans 16:17-20

Now we have this warning paragraph. Paul is evidently thinking of his own trip to Jerusalem and the threat that awaits him from the Judaizers there, Verses 17-20:

"I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way, contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

Verse #20......
"The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you."

There is a very helpful passage here on what to do about problems within the church.

Here is a group of people who are professing Christians, but, who, to judge by the apostle's language, are not truly believers. They appear to be the "religious lost".

The danger, as Paul outlines it, is that they create factions within a church -- that is, little dissident groups that gather about and emphasize one particular point of doctrine or teaching, to the exclusion of everything else. That is always a problem within the church when people think one particular thing is most important. THEIR POINT OF VIEW!

We have people today who emphasize tongues, or prophecy, or some phase of teaching that they think is the mark of a true believer, to the exclusion of everything else. Paul warns about this.

The second thing they do is introduce practices or ceremonies that Paul calls "obstacles to faith," certain rituals or practices that these groups insist are the marks of true Christianity. They build a sense of superiority.

They say, "If you have this mark, then you really are a Christian." Their motives, Paul says, are not to serve Christ, even though they say they do. These factions are really out to advance themselves, to get a following, to gain prestige. You can tell by the way they act that is what they want.

Their methods are to come on with smooth and plausible talk. They always use scriptural language. They always appear to be the most dedicated and devoted of believers. Have you noticed how many of the cults today are trying to go back to the Scriptures, arguing from them a groundwork for their faith?

Aloow me to give you a hint about cults. Cults do not take away from the Word of God. Instead, they ADD TO THE BIBLE THEIR OWN IDEAS OF WHAT THEY BELIEVE GOD SHOULD HAVE SAID!

Another method is flattery. They make Christians feel important. They lift them up above the rest and give them a peculiar mark of distinction, and flatter their egos as being members of the true church. These factions always cause division. When some group like this appears, many of us tend to want to rush in and excommunicate them, read them out from the pulpit, or violently attack them. Paul does not say to do any of those things. His advice is to keep away from them. Ignore them.

"You Christians in Rome have a reputation for obedience. You have a spirit of wanting to obey what the Lord says. Now here is your word from the Lord: Do not follow them; do not get involved with these separatist groups. When you obey this, God will work. The God of peace, who will preserve the peace of the church, will also crush Satan under your feet."

Something will happen to open the eyes of people to the unscriptural position of these groups, and they will lose their following eventually.
 
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