An Ever-Present Danger

In the middle of Paul’s conclusion to the Epistle to the Romans, Paul places a warning for the Christians in Rome. We do not know who Paul was warning them against but he was very clear in what he was warning. I believe that was an appropriate way for Paul to allow this warning to become one that is timeless. His concerns are just as appropriate for our day as in the 1st century A.D.

The warning is in Romans 16:17-20. Let’s consider verses 17-18, I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. Paul encouraged Roman Christians to avoid those who promote doctrine contrary to that which they had been taught by the disciples. John Stott, He takes it for granted, even thus early in the church’s history, that there is a doctrinal and ethical norm which the Romans must follow, not contradict; it is preserved for us in the New Testament.

Paul is very forceful in this passage. His note is not only to watch out for false teachers but to avoid them. William Barclay, Often in a church or a society, a bad situation is allowed to develop because no one has the courage to deal with it; and often, when it has fully developed, it is too late to deal with it. It is easy enough to extinguish a spark if steps are taken at once, but it is almost impossible to extinguish a forest fire. Paul had the wisdom to deal with a threatening situation in time.

Paul described false teachers as those who serve their physical desires not the Lord. Grant Osborne gives an excellent description of false teachers, . . .people with a greedy, self-centered ministry that serves their own interests rather than the Lord’s. Doesn’t that sound like some ministries today? As noted earlier, Paul’s warning was general against a danger that would always be with us. The purpose of false teachers’ smooth talk and flattery is to mislead the naive.

Paul expressed his joy in their obedience and we have no knowledge of their submitting to false teaching. Yet, he did have one reservation and that is not to become complacent. John Stott, . . .there are two kinds of obedience, blind and discerning, and he longs for them to develop the latter. . . Paul warned the Romans and it should be a warning to us that we are to be vigilant.

A warning was not enough for Paul so he provided a means of being vigilant against false teachers in Romans 16:19, 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. J. B. Phillips has a wonderful paraphrase, I want to see you experts in good, and not even beginners in evil. A proper definition of wisdom is applying knowledge to life and innocence is not getting involved in doing evil. We need to be both wise and innocent in this day when lies are promoted as truth and evil is proclaimed as good.

Paul gives a solid guide for avoiding the snares of false teachers for the Romans and for us.. Thankfully, Paul doesn’t end there but provides us with Romans 16:20, The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. We need all the help we can get to be spiritually astute. Thankfully, it is not solely up to us because we are in the loving hands of our gracious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I encourage you to join me in the last section of Romans. The lesson may be found under the Books of the Bible tab. It is good to be reminded that God is looking for those who worship Him in spirit and truth.