Mike Domeny, actor, author, and founder of Outloud Bible (outloudbible.com), reads the Bible out loud in a conversational and approachable way so you can read the Bible like it makes a difference! This isn't simply an audiobook version of the Bible! Every episode offers helpful context so you won't get lost, and a brief takeaway to help apply that reading to your life.
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We wrap up Romans by tracing Paul’s final push for unity, peace, and hope, then we slow down enough to feel the weight of his closing names and warnings. We leave with a bigger vision of the church as the body of Christ where God brings real spiritual victory through shared life together. • unity in Romans as both doctrine and daily life • bearing with the weak and building up our neighbor • God’s purpose for Jewish and Gentile believers in one worshiping community • Paul’s mission, travel plans, and request for fervent prayer • why Romans 16 greetings are a picture of real Christian community • watching out for people who create dissension with flattery • “crush Satan under your feet” as a promise to the church together
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Hey, this is the Out Loud Bible Podcast, and this is Mike. So glad you're here. Thanks for joining me. I've really enjoyed going through this book of Romans, and today we actually get to wrap it up. The final two chapters of the letter here today. There's been a strong theme of unity here in the book of Romans. Uh, and it makes sense given the fact that he's writing to a church that's made up of Jewish believers, Gentile believers, and even among the Gentiles, you've got multiple uh different regions and nationalities represented in the Roman Empire here in Rome. So you've got quite a diverse group, and there are some different ideologies that are carried in through different people, different backgrounds. And so Paul spends a good portion of the letter just trying to really galvanize the unity in terms of doctrine and theology and say, all right, if you're calling yourself a church, if you're calling yourself a group of believers, followers of Jesus, this is what we have to agree on. And then he has spent the last third or so of the letter uh talking about unity in the sense of, like, oh, in light of that, let's now live in a way where we frankly just get along. That we should have such unity in the church that others can look at this and be like, oh wow, they're they've got something figured out there. To put aside differences and to just cover over different sins and disagreements with grace, to live at peace with people, to not think any yourself higher than anyone else, to not even argue over your different beliefs of what is holy or not holy. As Paul is now concluding this letter, he knows it's been a long one, it's been it's been a journey. Uh, but as he concludes, he's looking to just land those final words, you know, knowing that this is the final impression that this letter is going to have on the listeners. And uh so he chooses his words carefully. He gives some final exhortations here, uh, again with the motivation of unity, and he'll even explain some of his motivations for the letter here, uh, toward the the end of chapter 15. And then in chapter 16, he will conclude his letter with some final greetings, um, which I know it's not the main meat of the book. And Paul will often end his letters with greetings from various people from around the region, and and we don't necessarily know all of them. Some of them are like, oh, I heard that name before. Sometimes his companions will show up in here. A lot of these people we don't know. But let's not just glaze over, like, well, I don't know these names, whatever. The letter's basically done. Let's not glaze over it so quickly. Let's consider, wow, these are real people in a real time. That they got a a shout-out from Paul. And maybe the greetings that he gives meant something to somebody. Oh, like, oh, yes, I know them. Oh, I hadn't heard from them. Oh, I'm glad that they're saying hi. I'm I'm glad to hear from them, even through this letter that Paul wrote. All these names and the inevitable stories and backgrounds that we're never gonna know. Maybe in in heaven we get to hear some of the stories of how these people know each other and and how they met and what it means to them. Hey, we'll have all the eternity to hear everyone's perspectives about their experience here. But in the meantime, let all of these names and places and affections really build up in us the sense that God has called us to a corporate Christian life. I don't mean corporate like business, I mean corporate like the literal root word there, corp like body. We are a body. We're all together. Jesus has not called us to follow him one-on-one, like some, you know, guru in the wilderness that we follow and pursue. No, he's called us to a group activity. And it's always been that way. And we tend to try to isolate ourselves, we try to just tend to go it our own way. Let Paul's greetings here project a a bigger vision for what the church should be, and what your relationship of Christ could be, as it involves other people. I feel like I'm giving the thinking out loud thought for the day ahead of time. I haven't even gotten into it, but just something to think about as we go through this section of Romans here, uh, the conclusion of the Book of Romans, chapter 15 and 16. Let's check it out here in the New English Translation. But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves.
Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up. For even Christ didn't please himself, but just as it's written, the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the Scriptures we may have hope. Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another in accordance with Jesus Christ, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Receive one another then, just as Christ also received you to God's glory. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God's truth to confirm his promises made to the fathers, and thus the Gentiles glorify God for his mercy. As it's written, Because of this I will confess you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to your name. And again it says, Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people. And again, praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him. And again, Isaiah says, The root of Jesse will come up, and the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles, in him will the Gentiles hope. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. But I myself am fully convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. But I have written more boldly to you on some points so as to remind you, because of the grace given to me by God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I serve the gospel of God like a priest, so that the Gentiles may become an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. So I boast in Christ Jesus about the things that pertain to God. For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in order to bring about the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God. So, from Jerusalem, even as far as Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ, and in this way I desire to preach where Christ has not been named, so as to not build on another person's foundation, but it's written, those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand. And this is the reason I was often hindered from coming to you. But now there's nothing more to keep me in these regions, and I have for many years desired to come to you when I go to Spain, for I hope to visit you when I pass through, and that you'll
help me on my journey there after I've enjoyed your company for a while. But now I I go to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaea are pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem, for they were pleased to do this, and indeed they're indebted to the Jerusalem saints, for if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they're obligated also to minister to them in material things. Therefore, after I have completed this and have safely delivered this bounty to them, I will set out for Spain by way of you, and I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of Christ's blessing. Now, I urge you, brothers and sisters, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, to join fervently with me in prayer to God on my behalf. Pray that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my ministry in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. Now, may the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the Church in Centuria, so that you may welcome her in the Lord and in a way worthy of the saints, and provide her with
whatever help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many, including me. Greet Prissa and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life. Not only I, but all the churches of the Gentiles grateful for them. Also, greet the church in their house. Greet my dear friend Epineedus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. Greet Mary, who has worked very hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Juni, my compatriots, my fellow prisoners. They're well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. Greet Empliatus, my dear friend of the Lord, greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my good friend Stachus. Greet Apolles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodian, my compatriot, greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord, and greet Trifina and Triphosa, laborers in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who is also a mother to me. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobus, Hermos, and the brothers and sisters with them. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister and Olympus, and all the believers who are with them, greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. Now, I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid
them. For these are the kind who don't serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the minds of the naive. Your obedience is known to all, and thus I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you, and so do Lucius, Jason, and Sosopater, my compatriots. And check this out. This is a little personal note from Paul's stenographer here. He says, I, Tertius, who am writing this letter, greet you in the Lord. Like, oh, and hi from me too, I'm here too. Hi, guys. Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you. And now, to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that has been kept secret for long ages, but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic scriptures has been made known to all the nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith to the only wise God through Jesus Christ. Be glory forever. Amen. Pretty cool, right? It's not just a list of names. What a great community that God has built in this church in Rome. And what a great community God has built
in your church. Are you plugged into a church? Here's a fascinating thing that jumped out at me. I had never seen this before, but just reading it here, I was like, oh, that's interesting. And I I hope I hope you allow yourself to be impacted when you read or when you listen to hear something. Oh, wait, that's interesting. I hadn't thought about that. Let me go look at that again. Here's what it was for me. Maybe it was for you too, maybe it's something different. But Romans 16, 20, the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. It's fascinating because the prom the promise and the prophecy from way back in Genesis was that the offspring of Eve will crush the head of the offspring of the serpent. And yes, Jesus will crush Satan's head. But how is he doing it? With his body, us, the church. The God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet, not you individually, you as the church. You as an individual do not get to pick up your sword and put on your spiritual armor and go to battle against Satan and defeat him yourself. No, no. Satan's defeat comes under the feet of the church who is submitted to the God of peace. That's why unity is such a big deal and such a big theme in this letter. We as the body should be characterized by peace because we represent the God of peace, and the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under the feet of his body, the church. Very compelling to get into the body of Christ, to live in peace and unity within the body of Christ, and just imagine the victories that Jesus will bring about, not only in your life, not only in the body, but in the community and the world around you by living in unity in his body, the church. The church is God's plan to revitalize the world. Let's be the church. Let's have our own list of names that takes up an entire chapter at the end of a letter that we write. All these names of people who mean something to us and who we want to encourage, and they've been an encouragement to us, and they have showed us uh they've been a Christian longer than we have, even as Paul points out a couple of them. Recognize them, honor them, encourage them, greet them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Together, we will see God bring about a victory through the unity of us, the church. That's the Thinking Out Loud thought for the day. Thanks for joining me here through the book of Romans. I hope you enjoyed this. We're going to continue with Paul's letters as they're laid out here in the New Testament, more chronologically, as we're now going to get into some of
the letters that Paul wrote from Rome. Not under the exact circumstances he was hoping for, as we saw in this letter, but from Rome nonetheless, as he writes from his house arrest. That we can read about in Acts 28 and what he writes, we'll see here next time on the Out Loud Bible Podcast.
