Apostle Paul’s Friends and Final Instructions

Apostle Paul:  Greet each other in Christian love. All the churches of Christ send you their greetings. And 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. Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people. But 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. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. . . . Now 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. But 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. All glory to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, forever. Romans 16:16-20, 25-27 (NLT)

The final chapter of Romans is remarkable with a roll call of heroes – Apostle Paul’s friends. In Romans 16, the Apostle Paul greets at least twenty-six people.  The Apostle Paul does not give us the details of the stories behind each of these names listed. However, his personal greetings went to Romans, Greeks, Jews and Gentiles, men, women, prisoners and prominent citizens. These people of Romans 16 were a multicultural mixture. This list of people shows the various parts people played in Apostle Paul's efforts to spread the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus Christ. Rome was the world's political, religious, social, and economic center. From Rome, the Good News of Jesus Christ spread to the ends of the earth. Also, the Apostle Paul greeted several churches that were meeting in people’s homes (Romans 16:5, 10-11, 14-15). Apparently there was an assembly of believers meeting in various Christian homes or house synagogues (see also 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; Philemon 2).

The Apostle Paul begins Romans 16 with Phoebe (Romans 16:1). Phoebe’s name means “radiant” or “bright.” Apostle Paul calls Phoebe “our sister” (Romans 16:1).  Phoebe was the lady who carried the Apostle Paul’s important message to the saints at Rome. Some theologians believe Phoebe was a servant (the Greek word used here is often translated “deaconess”) while other theologians consider Phoebe a helper. There were women in the early church doing the work of deacons: visiting the sick, assisting the young women, and helping the poor (see also Romans 12:7; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:8. The Apostle Paul confessed that Phoebe had been a great help to the Roman church and the Apostle Paul encouraged the church to care for Phoebe. This provides evidence that women played important roles in the early church with the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 16:3, 6-7, 12-13, 15; see also John 8:1-3; John 19:25; John 20:16, 18).

Priscilla and Aquila were a married couple and the Apostle Paul's “fellow workers in Christ Jesus” (Romans 16:3). They were close friends of Apostle Paul (Acts 18:1-3, 18-19, 26). Priscilla and Aquila had “risked their lives” for Apostle Paul (Romans 16:4, NLT). Just when Priscilla and Aquila risked their own lives for Apostle Paul is not known, but their friendship with Apostle Paul was so intense that he mentions them in the salutations of two other New Testament books (cf. I Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19). At the time of this writing, Priscilla and Aquila were in Rome and a church met in their home (Romans 16:5). Priscilla and Aquila were Christians before they met the Apostle Paul. Like Apostle Paul, Priscilla and Aquila were missionaries. They helped other fellow believers in Ephesus (Acts 18:18-28), in Rome, and again at Ephesus (2 Timothy 4:19).

Four people the Apostle Paul called “beloved” or “dear friend”: Epenetus (Romans 16:5), Ampliatus (Romans 16:8), Stachys (Romans 16:9), and Persis (Romans 16:12). In particular, Epenetus was one of the first people to accept Jesus Christ in Asia (Romans 16:5). The conversion of Epenetus led to the salvation of others in Asia. Andronicus and Junias are called “kinsmen,” which may mean blood relatives of Apostle Paul, or only that they too were Jewish, possibly of the tribe of Benjamin like Apostle Paul (Romans 16:7). At one time Andronicus and Junias had been in prison with Apostle Paul. Andronicus and Junias were called “outstanding among the apostles” (Romans 16:7) and they had distinguished themselves as apostles. Mary “bestowed much labor” (Romans 16:6). These and other devoted people listed in Romans 16 fulfilled their ministries to the glory of God.

However, not everyone was working with the Apostle Paul to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. There were some who were dividing and separating the churches by teaching false and incorrect doctrine (Romans 16:17-20). Instead of preaching the truth, these selfish and false teachers spread their own religious propaganda, using deceit and lies with smooth styles (Romans 16:18). The Apostle Paul warned the Roman Christians to mark these evil workers causing division, and avoid these false people (Romans 16:17). Anyone who divides the unity or harmony of the church does not serve the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul says that these evil workers will be completely defeated (Romans 16:20; see also Genesis 3:15).

The Apostle Paul closed with greetings from nine believers who were with him in Corinth when he wrote the magnificent letter to the Roman church (Romans 16:20-24). People are prone to honor Apostle Paul but forget the many ordinary people who helped make his ministry possible. Lucius was a prophet and teacher of Antioch (Romans 16:21; cf. Acts 13:1). Jason was Apostle Paul’s host at Thessalonica (Romans 16:21; cf. Acts 17:5). Sosipater was from Berea (Romans 16:21; cf. Acts 20:4). Tertius was the scribe, who wrote the Apostle Paul’s letter to Rome (Romans 16:22). In other words, Apostle Paul was the human author of Romans, but Tertius actually wrote the letter as a scribe or secretary. With hospitality, Gaius gave Apostle Paul a place to live and work while writing the Romans letter (Romans 16:23). Erastus the chamberlain was probably the city treasurer (Romans 16:24; cf. 2 Timothy 4:20).

Romans 16 shows that the Apostle Paul loved people as well as a soul winning (see also Romans 16:16). The Apostle Paul did not live an isolated life. Instead, the Apostle Paul was friendly and kind to people as he spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. He encouraged the Roman church to “greet one another with a holy kiss” and with Christian love as they went around doing good and not evil (Romans 16:16, 19; see also 1 Corinthians 16:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:26; 1 Peter 5:14). Even more, Romans 16 reveals that no one in God’s family is unimportant and no ministry is insignificant.

The closing benediction of the Apostle Paul is the longest one he wrote (Romans 16:25-27). This benediction reflects the Apostle Paul’s special ministry of uniting believing Jews and Gentiles in the one body, the church (see Ephesians 3). This was the Apostle Paul's special message. And the result: “Now all glory to God, who is able to make you strong. . . . All glory to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, forever. AMEN” (Romans 16:25, 27, NLT).

References

King James Version Study Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1988.

KJV Bible Commentary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1994.

Life Application Study Bible. Carol Streams, IL: Tyndale House Pub., 2005.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Bible Exposition Commentary. Victor Books, 1989.

Wiersbe, Warren. With the Word Bible Commentary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1991.