Romans 16

1. I COMMEND unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cen- 2 chrea: that ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in what- soever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself 3 also. Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus: who have for my life laid 4 down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the 5 Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epæne- 6 tus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ. Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour 7 on us. Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord. Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys 9 my beloved. Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus’ 10 household. Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the household of Nar- 11 cissus, which are in the Lord. Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. 12 Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord. Salute Rufus chosen in the 13 Lord, and his mother and mine. Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, 14 and the brethren which are with them. Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sis- 15 ter, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them. Salute one another with an holy 16 kiss. The churches of Christ salute you. Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which 17 cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid 18 them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by 19 good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience is come 20 abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise 21 unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace shall bruise 22 Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. 23 Timotheus my workfellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you. 24 I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord. Gaius mine host, and of the 25 whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus 26 a brother. 27 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Now to him that is of 28 power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according 29 to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is 30 made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of 31 the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: to God only 32 wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.

In this Epistle is treated in the most masterly manner everything that belongeth to the Christian life. Whatever it most concerns a Christian to know: law, gospel, sin, grace, justification, Christ, God, good works, faith, hope, charity; all wherein true Christianity consisteth; how it becometh a Christian to conduct himself toward his neighbors, whether good or bad, strong or weak, friends or enemies, and toward himself—all this is to be found here in such perfection, that it is impossible to wish anything more or better. So rich a treasure is it of spiritual wealth, that even to him who has read it a thousand times something new will be ever presenting itself. Its study, beyond every other, is found useful; and the longer and the more deeply it is pondered, its excellences grow upon you, and it appears to be constantly becoming more delightful, more valuable, and more copious than itself. Luther.

1-15. These chapters of salutations, which you perhaps have been wont to pass over at a bound as possessing no general interest, present a study as attractive as it is instructive, by enabling you to penetrate into the private life of the apostle and into his personal relations. Monod.—At the time when Paul wrote, there were many Christian laborers in the great city—men and women well known to the apostle, and beloved for the truth’s sake, and for their work’s sake. They do not seem to have been as yet organized in one church-body. So we read in this chapter of churches, or groups, in various private houses. D. F.

We see woman in the early church already in a position of trust and high usefulness: a position, let me observe, which she retains in the Roman Catholic communion to this day, in conjunction with various conditions opposed to Christian freedom and our Lord’s commands, but which, owing to those conditions having been justly repudiated by the Reformed Churches, she has very generally lost among ourselves. One of the gravest problems of our own and of the coming age will be, to bring in female help to the work of the Church, and woman into an accredited position in her service, without any admixture of the “votal” element; without any permanent obligations to poverty, to what is called “obedience,” to what is mistaken for “chastity.” Another matter of interest in this chapter is the examples which it gives us of the refined delicacy and courtesy of the great apostle. “To whom not only I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles”; “which were in Christ before me”; “Salute Rufus, the elect in the Lord, and his mother—and mine”; i. e., his mother, whom I also love as a son. Yet another point of interest is this. On the southern side of Rome, as you approach the gate now called the Porta San Sebastiano—not far from the Arch of Drusus, under which Paul passed as he entered the city with the brethren—is a garden containing the “columbarium” or “pigeon-house” of the “family” of Nero. These “columbaria” are so called from their containing a number of small recesses like pigeon-holes, in which are deposited the ashes of the dead, and that the “family” of a Roman prince or noble comprehended all who lived in his court, his relatives, freedmen, and slaves. And with thus much explanation, we may repeat the result of our own researches in the columbarium of the family of Nero. Among the names inscribed on the memorial tablets there, we found Tryphæna (v. 12), Tryphosa (v. 12), Hermes (v. 14), Hermas (v. 14), and Junias (v. 7). A.

20. The whole history of the world is interwoven with the doings of him whom Scripture calls “the serpent,” “the God of this world,” “the wicked one,” “the devil,” “the prince of the power of the air,” “the accuser of the brethren,” “the adversary.” He is a living person, originally connected with heaven, now with earth, once associated with angels, now with men, full of malice, a murderer and a liar, a deceiver. His dealings first with Eve and then with Christ are the two great specimens of his nature, his tactics, and his aims. The first promise announced a battle between him and the seed of the woman. This battle has been going on without intermission between him and Christ and between him and the members of Christ’s body. With them it is warfare, with the rest of mankind it is friendship. The warfare has been fierce as well as long, open as well as secret, outward as well as inward. In all his assaults and stratagems he has to a certain extent succeeded, but always in the end been baffled. It is to this ultimate baffling or bruising that the apostle here alludes. Bonar.—With so many hints given us in the Holy Scriptures that we wrestle not with flesh and blood alone, but with angels and principalities and powers of darkness—that there are devices of Satan of which it becomes us not to remain ignorant—that the great adversary goeth about seeking whom he may devour; with the command laid upon us, Resist the devil, and he will flee from you; with the promise given, The Lord shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly; should we not be ever acting on the conviction that our souls are the sphere of an unseen conflict, in which rival spirits of evil are struggling for mastery? W. H.

The Victory of the God of Peace.—It is as the God of peace that he wins the victory for us, and bruises Satan under our feet. It is as the bruised one that he bruises. He whom Satan smote is he who smites Satan. The God of peace has made peace; and, having made peace by the blood of his Cross, he proceeds to destroy all that had once marred the peace, all his enemies and ours, giving us complete victory and triumph. It is on the basis of the reconciling blood, the peace-giving work on the Cross, that the operations against Satan are carried on. It is under the banner of the God of peace that we fight. He is our captain, and the peace which he has made is that which secures the victory to us. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb, the blood that has made our peace. Bonar.

21. These Epistles are extraordinary productions, and it is inconceivable that any man should introduce them into the world by the fiction of addressing them to a church, and should connect such admirable sentiments with the details of their peculiar difficulties, and with salutations addressed to many persons by name. Let any man read the last chapter of the Epistle to the Romans (which is almost entirely made up of greetings and salutations), and ask himself if it is possible that any man, writing a letter for the purpose of deception, could have written it. Observe his particularity. Not only does Paul himself salute many persons, but Timotheus, his work-fellow, is joined with him, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, his kinsman, and Tertius, who wrote the Epistle, and Gaius, his host, and Erastus, the chamberlain of the city, and Quartus, a brother. M. H.

26. For the obedience of faith. Faith and reason have their limits; where reason ends faith begins; and if reason will be encroaching upon the bounds of faith, she is straight taken captive by infidelity. We are not fit to follow Christ, if we have not denied ourselves; and the chief piece

of ourselves is our reason. We must yield God able to do that which we can not comprehend; and we must comprehend that by our faith which is disclaimed by reason. Bp. H.