A letter of commendation (2 Cor. 3:1) for a Christian woman of Cenchrea, the seaport of Corinth where the Apostle wrote the Epistle to the Romans, greets us at the beginning of the chapter. Phoebe was a servant of the church or assembly in Cenchrea; there is nothing to indicate that she was appointed to the position; the contrary would seem to be the case, from what is said about her. Men were appointed for service in connection with the assemblies, as in Acts 6:1-6, and in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 where they are called “deacons”, an English word made out of the Greek word diakonos elsewhere expressed in its meaning as “servant” (as here) or “minister”.
Phoebe’s place, self-chosen as we believe, was to help the saints, to minister to their needs; and the Apostle says of her.
“She hath been a succorer” (or helper) “of many, and of myself also.”
In the wisdom of God we are not told how she served, or helped; was it money she supplied? or clothing? or food and shelter? or some other form or forms of service? Eternity will reveal. Little did this lady think as she went about her work for His saints, that her name and service would be included in the Word of God; but no service for God will be forgotten in the day of reckoning now near at hand.
Phoebe is commended to the saints at Rome “that ye may receive her in the Lord worthily of saints, and that ye may assist” (literally, stand by and help) “her in whatever matter she has need of you” (N.T.). Their Christian character should be seen in their treatment of this visitor.
And should not all our ways and words, dear young Christian, be worthy of saints? The old nature within, and the enemy of our souls from without, would hinder us in every way possible, but we know to whom we belong.
In this closing chapter, the Apostle, writing by inspiration, has on his heart in a special way the few believers whom he knows at Rome. Nothing like this is seen in other epistles, because most of those to whom he wrote elsewhere were known to him; those local churches, or more correctly, assemblies, were fruits of his own work. This was not the case at Rome, for he had never been there.
Priscilla and Aquila are mentioned first. With them Paul abode during his long stay at Corinth (Acts 18:1-3) and when he left there they went with him to Ephesus (versus 18-19). They were still at that place when he wrote the First Epistle to the Corinthians (chapter 16:19); and after their being in Rome again, we learn of them last with Timothy (2 Tim. 4:19). Priscilla and Aquila—the wife perhaps mentioned before the husband here, as more actively devoted to the Lord’s service—are called “my helpers,” or more exactly “my fellow-workmen” in Christ Jesus; they had for Paul’s life risked their own necks under circumstances not given to us in the Scriptures.
To this Christian couple the Apostle is thankful, and not only he, but as he says, all the assemblies of the nations. This is true commendation, without flattery which ill-suits a Christian.
Next comes Epaenetus, “my beloved,” called “first fruits of” (not Achaia but) “Asia unto Christ.” Mary, or Maria, follows; she “labored much,” and the true reading is believed to be “for you,” not “for us.” Andronicus and Junia (Junias) kinsmen and fellow-prisoners or fellow-captives, because, like Paul, they had suffered imprisonment for Christ, “are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.” Thus the Apostle writes of two not mentioned elsewhere in the Word of God. Many far inferior to Paul would have left unsaid anything which might seem to diminish their own importance; but he had not thus learned Christ (Eph. 4:20).
The greetings or salutations that follow are brief but expressive. Amplias is “my beloved in the Lord;” Urbane (Arbanus) is “our helper,” or fellow-workman “in Christ,” and Stachys is “my beloved.” Apelles is “approved in Christ.” Two men are named without a word of greeting: Aristobulus and Narcissus; it is those who belong to them—in one case limited by “which are in the Lord”—to whom greeting is sent. Were they slaves or employees of unbelieving masters?
Tryphena and Tryphosa were women who “labor in the Lord,” and another is “Persis the beloved, who has labored much in the Lord” (N.T.). Guided by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle unerringly wrote concerning each person, commending faithfulness, love to Christ, service for Him, where he could, and in due measure. The mother of Rufus (Rom. 16:13) turns our thoughts to Mark 15:21; she had been a mother to Paul.
Evidently there was nothing to be said in commendation of those named in the 14th and 15th verses, for the Apostle is silent as to them. Compare this passage with Colossians 4:7-14, noting the brief “and Demas” of the 14th verse, which suggests a reference to 2 Timothy 4:10. However, we would not go beyond what the Scriptures reveal, in concluding that the saints named in verses 14 and 15 of our chapter were cold of heart; perhaps they only lacked opportunity for showing devotedness to Christ.
Verse 16. There are eleven references to kissing in the New Testament; three of them, Matthew 26:49; Mark 14:45, and Luke 22:48, speak of the betrayer Judas’ kisses in the garden of Gethsemane; one is of the woman that had been a sinner, kissing the feet of Jesus in the Pharisee’s house (Luke 7:38) another is the father’s action in receiving back his repentant son (Luke 15:20); the sixth is in Acts 20:36-38, where the apostle bids farewell to the elders of the Ephesian assembly; the remaining five give direction for believers, as in verse 16 of our chapter. Together with the verse before us, 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12, and 1 Thessalonians 5:26 speak of a holy kiss, using the same word, holy, as is used for God the Father in John 17:11; for the Lord, as becoming man in Luke 1:35; for the Holy Spirit in almost every reference to Him; for the angels in Mark 8:38; for the scriptures in Romans 1:2; for the Christian’s calling in 2 Timothy 1:9; for the practical daily life of believers in 1 Peter 1:15; and for our eternal place and character in Ephesians 1:4. The eleventh reference is 1 Peter 5:14, where a kiss of love is spoken of. In 16 of the Epistles, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, those to Timothy, Titus, Philemon, the Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, the three of John, and Jude, and in the Revelation, the token of family affection is not once named. In the light of these scriptures and others which join them in directing the believer’s path in a dark and difficult day, verse 16 is, we believe, with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, rightly viewed in a spiritual rather than a literal sense, between the sexes.
Verse 17: Already there was need for God’s saints at Rome to be on their guard against those who would “create divisions and occasions of falling” (stumbling blocks), contrary to the doctrine which they had learned. Alas, what proof we have had of the proneness of the human heart to do this very thing!
In Acts 20:30 the Apostle warned the people of God through the Ephesian elders that
“Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse” (perverted) “things to draw away the disciples after them.”
These men are to be considered, their true object learned, and themselves to be avoided. Obedience to the Scriptures, with wisdom from God as to that which is good, simplicity as to evil, is the way of safety (Rom. 16:19).
Thus we may become acquainted with and built up on the Word of God, and Satan with his wiles is defeated. The time for conflict to cease has not yet come, but “the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly” (Rom. 16:20). Meanwhile the Apostle’s prayer has its place: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
Romans 16:21-24. Timothy and others, with Tertius, who did the writing at the Apostle’s dictation; Gaius, whose hospitality is spoken of; Erastus, the chamberlain or steward of the city; and the brother Quartus, add their salutations, and the Apostle again speaks of his fervent desire for the saints at Rome.
Romans 16:25-27 form a post-script as inspired as the body of the epistle. They refer, in giving praise to God, to the revelation of the truth of the one body, the assembly or church, and the gathering together in one of all things under Christ. This was reserved in the main for the epistle to the Ephesians. It was outside of the scope of our epistle, in which the foundations are laid of the relations of man with God; always in Romans the Christian is looked at as in this world; justified, and having life in Christ, but not as risen in Him.
Romans 16:26, for “by the scriptures of the prophets” read, “by prophetic scriptures,” the reference being to the other epistles written by Paul to the Gentile believers.