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The Good News is Revealed

Romans 16

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Reasons Paul May Have Written His Letter To The Churches In Rome:

• Paul was seeking
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  in his desire to go further west in his missionary activities, hoping to ultimately reach what we today call Spain.
• Paul had not visited Rome or started the churches there, so he wanted them to understand he was an
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  and the authority that went with that, and he chose to do this by writing them a full account of the Gospel he was preaching.
• Paul seems to have been aware of some
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  existing among the churches in Rome that largely had to do with Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians over the role of the Jewish Law in Christianity.
  

Paul’s letter focuses on two primary themes that both point to reconciliation:

• The “justification of guilty
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  by God’s grace alone in Christ alone through faith alone, irrespective of either status or works.” (John R. W. Stott)
• A complete redefinition of what it means to be the
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  of God.
  

¹I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in Cenchrea. ²Welcome her in the Lord as one who is worthy of honor among God’s people. Help her in whatever she needs, for she has been helpful to many, and especially to me.—Romans 16:1-2 (NLT)

It appears Phoebe

this letter from Paul in Cenchrea, the eastern port of Corinth in Greece.

³Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus. ⁴In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches. ⁵Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home. Greet my dear friend Epenetus. He was the first person from the province of Asia to become a follower of Christ. ⁶Give my greetings to Mary, who has worked so hard for your benefit. ⁷Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews, who were in prison with me. They are highly respected among the apostles and became followers of Christ before I did. ⁸Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. ⁹Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys. ¹⁰Greet Apelles, a good man whom Christ approves. And give my greetings to the believers from the household of Aristobulus. ¹¹Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew. Greet the Lord’s people from the household of Narcissus. ¹²Give my greetings to Tryphena and Tryphosa, the Lord’s workers, and to dear Persis, who has worked so hard for the Lord. ¹³Greet Rufus, whom the Lord picked out to be his very own; and also his dear mother, who has been a mother to me. ¹⁴Give my greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters who meet with them. ¹⁵Give my greetings to Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and to Olympas and all the believers who meet with them. ¹⁶Greet each other with a sacred kiss. All the churches of Christ send you their greetings.—Romans 16:3-16 (NLT)

In Paul’s greetings, alongside this

in race, social standing and sex, we also see significant

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that transcended differences, a unity Paul expected to see in followers of Jesus.

There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.—Galatians 3:28 (NLT)

The house

in Rome were each made up of pretty diverse persons, yet in Christ they found true unity that overcame all the cultural differences that usually were so divisive.

Where possible, the most authentic Christian experiences are made up of diverse folks who’ve found that what they have in Christ is

than all their differences.

17And 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. 18Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people. 19But 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. 20The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.—Romans 16:17-20 (NLT)

This “Appeal” Paul Is Making Is Actually A Threefold Warning:

1. Be

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   about false teachings and teachers (vs. 17)
   

2. Reveal Answer
   from these false teachers. (vss. 17-18)
   
   
   It’s very clear from vs. 18 that the people Paul’s talking about are those who are “serving their own
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   interests.”
   
   Putting one’s faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and striving to live that way each day through the power of the Holy Spirit is what it means to be a
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   .
   

3. Grow in

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   in order to become experts in good and not even consider evil. (vs. 19)
   

Jesus: I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.—Matthew 10:16 (NIV11)

Paul wants the Roman Christians to be “wise in doing right” and “stay innocent of any wrong,” which requires

.

John Stott Offers Us Three Questions That Help Us Be Discerning:
• Does it

with Scripture?
• Does it

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the Lord Jesus Christ?
• Does it

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goodness?

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. (Genesis 3:15)—Romans 16:20 (NLT)

Paul is implying that “Satan” is behind the

teachers, whether those teachers realize it or not, for Satan is a deceiver and a liar.

²¹Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you his greetings, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow Jews. 22I, Tertius, the one writing this letter for Paul, send my greetings, too, as one of the Lord’s followers. 23Gaius 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.—Romans 16:21-23 (NLT)
²⁵Now 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. ²⁶But now as the prophets 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. ²⁷All glory to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, forever. Amen.—Romans 16:25-27 (NLT)

This plan, the gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, is now being made known to Gentiles, and it falls upon on all believers to continue to

this Good News, so that everyone “might believe and obey him.”

Romans is intended to bring God’s truth to all people and assure everyone who hears these words that God has always had a plan to offer salvation to

people, and those who accept it will never be disappointed or find themselves lost.

³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.—Romans 8:31-39 (ESV)

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