Or, Saints Their Watch Are Keeping
Scripture: Romans 16:17-20
Date: March 10, 2024
Speaker: Sean Higgins
There are only so many more verses left in this letter, only a couple more sermons from Romans after today. What a mountain of material we’ve traveled over, and yet the final 5% is still important. They say most accidents happen closest to home, Paul doesn’t want us to crash before we get there. He puts up a big warning sign as he gets ready to sign off.
In verses 17-19 he urges the believers not to be naive because they’re in a battle, and in verse 20 he encourages them with a good word about winning that battle.
There is a kind of selfish person that sounds as if he’s “in-the-know” and who gets kicks out of kindling strife. With only a few strokes left in his pen, Paul gets in this crucial instruction, how to identify offense-mongers (AKA offense dealers, offense traffickers), what drives them and how to respond to them.
Before considering the exhortation, observe the problem people: those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught. Divisions is “dissensions” (NASB)(one of the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:20), a break between people. We also call these factions, schisms, splinter groups. The divisions belong with the obstacles, which is from * σκάνδαλα*, so stumbling blocks, hindrances, offenses. And the structure identifies a group with shared characteristics. They are “the — factions and offenses - making ones.”
This is the way of man, to “help” someone to see how BAD it really is, and form a Ring of the Ones Who Are Right (ROWAR) against those who are the cause of the BAD or even against those who can’t see how BAD it is. Show a person how upset, how offended he should be, the dam of love is broken, the floods of offense flow and now there are two sides. In marriage, two become one flesh; in the flesh, one becomes two, or more. These persons are creating a perverted koinonia as they teach how grieved some should be (at others).
That divide-by-offense strategy is contrary to the doctrine. It’s false teaching making false offenses, teaching that is outside the “standard of to which you were committed” (Romans 6:17). What was the contrary teaching? It’s not specified here, and it’s not even obvious that such faction-makers had arrived in Rome. Paul addressed some arguers throughout the letter, but he had also just said that the Roman believers were doing great (Romans 15:14). That said, he’d been around “all the churches” (Romans 16:16), and of course he was writing from Corinth, known for their divisive quarreling.
The problem and the problem people, are not those who have questions, who have exegetical disagreements, or those who have different convictions in disputable matters. Think back to Romans 14 and the need to sacrifice for and welcome whose who choose differently.
Yet there is a kind of teaching that is opposed to salvation by faith alone; they teach there must be more than faith. There is a kind of teaching that is opposed to grace that frees us form sin and makes us slaves of righteousness; they claim that adds more to faith. Both of those angles have been addressed earlier in Romans. The gospel is the power of God to save and to cause us to walk in newness of ever-transforming altar-sacrifices. It’s not hard to see Pharisees, Judaizers, legalists, church ladies offended by free grace, and it’s not hard to see law-hating, obedience-oppressed, flesh-lovers. That kind of division is no good and works against the witness of harmony in the body as just seen in verses 1-16.
Paul is also NOT calling sin confrontations “divisive.” Here’s an example. Person A is sinning, Person B goes to them (per Matthew 18:15-17) and Person A pushes it off. Person B takes Person C, maybe eventually Persons D and E, too, and Person A still won’t listen to the appeals. Especially if Person A is a leader (and see 1 Timothy 5:19-20), he may be tempted to use his position of authority to claim that that Persons C-E are causing division, but he would be wrong. Not liking that someone else (or multiple someones) can see your sin does not make them the object of this paragraph.
When there is an offense-monger faction-maker, Paul urges the brothers to watch out, to keep their eyes open, and to avoid them. The KJV has “mark…and avoid,” which is punchy enough for a lot of social media, but is nonetheless a call to divide from the divisive (applicable to pulpits, podcasts, and parking lots).
Verse 18 exposes the motivation: they want power. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. They “serve their stomachs,” their bellies. It could be a figure of speech, not just that they want food, but appetite represents the esteem and support they get from others. It’s the idol of ego, without the resources of Nebuchadnezzar to make a 90’ tall statue. They are dining out on the grievances they triggered. This is how most fundraising works, show how your opposition is the devil that’s ruining lives and the wallets open. Most outrage-raisers eat well.
They also manipulate, by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. This doesn’t only happen with soft verbal pats on your cheek, “you’re so pretty.” Smooth talk can seduce you to anger not just adultery, and flattery leads to war not just personal vanity, hence offenses that cause divisions.
It’s like our politicians use verses 17-18 as a playbook. Why should they care if we’re too dumb, naive or unsuspecting, to destroy ourselves. The same happens in local churches (the immediate context of Paul’s warning) and denominations and extended families.
In verse 19 Paul makes clear that he’s giving preventative medicine to the Romans. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.
Naivety is a sliding scale. The Roman Christians had knowledge as evidenced in their living. It still didn’t change the charge.
Without saying her name, a number of terms seem to reference Eve: wise, good and evil, flatter and deceit, as well as Satan and feet in verse 20. Have all kinds of wisdom doing all the ways of good, but be unmixed, be pure, when it comes to evil. Jesus taught His disciples to be serpents of good and doves of evil (Matthew 10:16), which goes against the usual animal archetypes.
Peace and grace, both are typical expressions by Paul, here in powerful promises.
Satan loves schism. Our adversary loves making adversaries among WITHS. The devil works to conquer by division. He loves destroying faith, he loves destroying fellowship.
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The juxtaposition of peace crushing is obvious, but how does it work?
Peace is more than absence of conflict, just as fellowship is more than two people in a room not choking each other. We battle as worshippers of the God of peace, we have peace so we engage, and we know His aim is peace, not eternal wars. But we don’t become pacifists because of our God, we are not naive. We may be tired, but we’re not blind.
Satan will be crushed by God who uses our feet. This seems eschatological, the final win, though it will be soon depending on how you see the timeline. As the Seed of the woman crushed the serpent’s head, fulfilling Genesis 3:15, so by extension God uses those who confess the Son as the Seed. Don’t hold back.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is also not throw away. The anointed Christ, the master Lord, the God-man Jesus, who is and was and is to come, from through and to Whom are all things, risen from the dead, the Lion who defeats the prowling lion, the Son of the God of all grace. Such personal grace is blessed to you who serve the Lord Christ.
“The Church’s One Foundation” is a great song.
though with a scornful wonder men see her sore oppressed, by schisms rent a-sundered by heresies distressed; yet saints their watch are keeping, their cry goes up,“how long?”
Saints, keep watch, it won’t be long.
Christian, mark and avoid your OWN false offenses, mark and avoid your own selfish appetites. Be wise in the ways of truth and true fellowship. Be innocent in envy and grumbling. Let your obedience be known to all. Victory is promised, and the Lord’s grace given to keep watch.
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20–21 ESV)