Romans 16 - The Importance of Those Who Work Behind the Scenes!

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Personal Greetings

As the apostle Paul closes out his letter to the Romans, he gives them a laundry list of people who have been involved in the mission of the church in different parts of the world. One of the things you will notice is the many women who are listed here. First, Paul commends Phoebe, who was a deacon in the church at Cenchrae. 

The leadership structure of the early church called for two offices, "elders" and "deacons". The elders exercised the spiritual leadership of the church with teaching, doctrine, and discipling. Whereas the deacons were involved in the more practical matters of the church. For instance, the deacons collected money for the widows in the book of James, when it was decided the apostles needed to focus their time solely on preaching the Word. The office of "deacon" was obviously a position for which a women could occupy. 

We see the Priscilla and Aquilla were a "husband and wife" team, who not only helped Paul on his journeys but also established a "house church". 

This phrase gives us a clue to the organization of the early church. In a city with a Christian community of any size, there would be several “congregations” meeting in different houses, since there were no “church” buildings at this time. Each house church probably had its own “pastor.” - Guzik

The value of Paul’s extensive greetings to the Roman church. 

Leon Morris explains that this section demonstrates that the Letter to the Romans “was a letter to real people and, as far as we can see, ordinary people; it was not written to professional theologians.”

“They were like the most of us, commonplace individuals; but they loved the Lord, and therefore as Paul recollected their names he sent them a message of love which has become embalmed in the Holy Scriptures. Do not let us think of the distinguished Christians exclusively so as to forget the rank and file of the Lord’s army. Do not let the eye rest exclusively upon the front rank, but let us love all whom Christ loves; let us value all Christ’s servants. It is better to be God’s dog than to be the devil’s darling.” (Spurgeon)

"All the churches of Christ send greetings." 16:16

Note all of the churches were simply, "the churches of Christ". The churches were named by the cities where they were planted. I.e. Church of Corinth, Galatia, Philippi. 

You get the sense of the whole church, as each of the churches sent their greetings to the church at Rome. By bringing greetings from each church, Paul was an ambassador of encouragement! 

Another specific message Paul gave was he urged them to keep the unity they had in Christ. 

"I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 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." 

This is one of the reasons that Paul spent so much of this letter explaining the most important doctrines of the faith, such as salvation, justification, and sanctification. 

Importantly Paul reminds them of the power they have over the evil one, who is always the one who is fomenting all of this division and dissension. The devil often doesn't strike directly but works behind the scenes where he can't be easily recognized and cast out. But Paul gives them this hope. 

"The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet."

Though the devil is still at work in the world today trying to destroy the church, we know one day he will be defeated once and for all. He will be thrown into a lake of fire and tormented forever. In the meantime, we need to wise and discerning of the ways he tries to subvert the church and fight him with the weapons he has given us. See Ephesians 6

Paul concludes his epic letter to the Romans saying, 

Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.