A Final Exhortation

Paul’s greetings are complete and he is ready to wrap up this magnificent letter. Or so it would seem. But suddenly, as if he has remembered yet another matter he needs to address, albeit briefly, he issues one last exhortation.

The apostle instructs the Romans to take special note of people in their midst who habitually “cause divisions and offenses.” When Paul speaks of people causing “divisions,” he seems to be thinking of the creation of factions. When he speaks of those who cause “offenses” (or “put obstacles in your way,” as the NIV says), he seems to be thinking of doctrinal error. “In the Greek text of this verse, Paul uses the words para, which means alongside of, and didache, which means teaching. So what he is thinking of is those who put some other teaching alongside of what is taught in Scripture,” Dr. James M. Boice writes. Paul’s advice for dealing with those who disrupt the church in these ways is simple—the Romans should have nothing to do with them. It is not an issue of acceptance of those with whom they are united in Christ, for people who do such things are not serving the Lord but their own desires. Their modus operandi is deception—“smooth words” and “flattering speech.” With these tools, they take advantage of those who are unable to discern their true natures.

In verse 19, the thread of Paul’s thought becomes difficult to follow. He notes that the Roman church has a reputation for obedience, and he is glad for that. But he wants his readers to be “wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.” What does he mean? In the context of the preceding verses, he seems to be thinking of discernment. We should be so steeped in the good ways of God that we can recognize the ways of the evil one, to the end that we can resist him and not follow him unwittingly. If we do this, “the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.” As God promised (Gen. 3:15), Satan bruised Jesus’ heel at the Cross, but Jesus broke his power and will completely defeat him in time to come. As we follow God’s way by His strength, Satan is dealt another defeat in the here and now.

Paul’s third benediction closes this passage. Boice says it is “a request that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ would continue to be with his readers and that they might experience even more of it.”