Romans 16 Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part, verse-by-verse approach, to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Rom 16:1-7

1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.

3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.

5 Greet also the church that meets at their house.

Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.

6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.

7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.

A. Find Out:

1. What threefold way is Phoebe described? v.1,2
2. What sort of people are Priscilla and Aquilla seen to be? v.3,4
3. What twofold description does Epenetus get? v.5
4. How is Mary commended? v.6
5. What four things are we told about Andronicus and Junius?

B. Think:

1. What sort of people are Paul’s friends shown to be?
2. Who apparently was coming with this letter?
3. If Paul was sending greetings to these people what does it say about the church in Rome?

C. Comment:

First of all, Paul introduces to the Roman Christians a lady by the name of Phoebe who, presumably, was coming with this long letter to them. She has been a real servant to the church and to Paul and so he commends her strongly. Next he greets a number of people he knows in Rome. (The alternative idea that these are people in a team who are going to Rome, is probably precluded on the basis that the team would have been very large and would have included the whole church that met with Aquilla and Priscilla.) If we assume, as most commentators do that these are people in Rome, it indicates that the church of that day was very mobile, there being a number Paul knew very well, even though he had not yet been to Rome.

Those in the list we have read today are clearly zealous Christians who were workers with whom Paul happily associated. That says a lot for them! The calibre of Christians here was, therefore, very high, people who put themselves out for their Lord and for their fellow Christians, in an age when it was frequently very dangerous to proclaim your faith!

D. Application?

1. Are we very parochial as Christians, never looking outside our own small church group?
2. How do we match up against the descriptions of these first century Christians?

Passage: Rom 16:8-16

8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.

9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.

10 Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test.

Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.

11 Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew.

Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.

12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.

Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.

13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.

14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them.

15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord’s people who are with them.

16 Greet one another with a holy kiss.

All the churches of Christ send greetings.

A. Find Out:

1. Why is Ampliatus mentioned? v.8
2. How did Urbanus stand out? v.9
3. How had Apelles stood out? v.10
4. How were Aristobulus & Narcissus mentioned? v.10,11
5. How did Tryphena, Tryphosa & Persis stand out? v.12
6. Why was Rufus’s mother a blessing? v.13

B. Think:

1. How many homes are mentioned here?
2. How many workers are mentioned?
3. How many women are picked out?

C. Comment:

 Today we continue to examine this list of people in Rome to whom Paul sends greetings, people that he clearly knows very well. They each stand out for different reasons.

One man stands out for the special place he holds in Paul’s heart, another because he is a fellow worker with Paul, others because they are just very good friends of Paul, and even one who is a relative. Several “households” are mentioned and we can assume that Paul had stayed with each of them at particular times and therefore the whole family had been a blessing to him. A number of women get special mention and therefore it is clear that the early church had women fully functioning in them (this is not to say they were in positions of authority for that was spoken against by Paul elsewhere). One lady in particular has obviously been almost as a mother to Paul in the past.

What stands out from this list? The sense of the fellowship there evidently was in the early church, the comradeship between these “co-workers with Christ”. Also the mobility of these early Christians in an age where travel was not as convenient as it is today. Here we have a list of saints whose descriptions take up no more than a line or two of Scripture – but they ARE there, these saints who have blessed Paul!

D. Application?

1. Would my home be a blessing to Paul?
2. Would I merit Paul’s friendship as a co-worker?

Passage: Rom 16:17-24

17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naïve people. 19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

21 Timothy, my co-worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my fellow Jews.

22 I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.

23 Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings.

Erastus, who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.

A. Find Out:

1. Against whom were they to watch? v.17
2. What were such people doing? v.18
3. How were they doing it? v.19
4. What did Paul want for the Romans? v.19
5. What did he strongly declare? v.20
6. Who were the various people sending greetings? v.21-24

B. Think:

1. What was this last concern that Paul had for the church in Rome?
2. How did Paul think they could fall prey to others?
3. How does this happen today?

C. Comment:

Having just greeted all his friends in Rome, before he finally closes, Paul has one more matter of concern that is in his mind which he shares. His concern is to watch out for people who first of all cause divisions in the church and then through their unbelief and false teaching put blockages in people’s lives that prevent them going on with God. Divisions come when people gather into cliques or when different viewpoints on minor issues are allowed to become major issues. We always need to be on our guard against this happening.

Obstacles are matters of unbelief that hinder the believer’s progress, e.g. God doesn’t do miracles today, e.g. the gifts of the Spirit are not for today, i.e. Jesus isn’t the same today as he was 2000 years ago! Such teachings quench the faith and expectancy of believers and are obstacles to growth. Paul’s desire is that these believers know and experience all that is good and be completely innocent of evil, and by that means they will overcome Satan.

Finally some of Paul’s comrades also join in his greeting to the Romans and again we get a glimpse of the fellowship of the believers with Paul.

D. Application?

1. Are we constantly working to bring about unity in the body of Christ, the church?
2. Have we allowed “unbelief obstacles” in?

Passage: Rom 16:25-27

25 Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith – 27 to the only wise God be glory for ever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

A. Find Out:

1. How is God able to establish us? v.25a
2. What had that been? v.25b
3. What has happened to it now? v.26a
4. Why has it happened? v.26b
5. How does Paul therefore describe God? v.27
6. What does he want for Him? v.27

B. Think:

1. In the light of all the wonders of the Gospel in this letter, how does Paul view God?
2. What does he believe God deserves?
3. How has he described the Gospel in these few verses?

C. Comment:

Concluding this wonderful letter Paul’s closing desire is to glorify God. He does this in the way he describes the Lord.

First, we should note, he describes the Lord as “wise”. Not only that He is the ONLY God, there is no other like Him.

Second, he gives his reasoning for describing God like this: because of the wonderful Gospel, a Gospel that was hidden throughout the ages of Israel’s history but which has now been made known, a Gospel that had been proclaimed through the prophets but which has only become understood or revealed now.

Third, the results of this Gospel are twofold: that people from all nations might believe in Jesus and submit to Him as Lord, and then as a result of that they may be established or stabilized in life by Him.

Throughout this letter Paul showed the various elements of the Gospel: the fact that every man was lost, the fact that Jesus had died to take our sins and justify all who would believe, and the fact that having been justified we enter into a new resurrected life based on the love of God within us. No wonder he describes God as wise, if He can produce a means of salvation like this!

D. Application?

1. The Gospel came from God. It is perfect!
2. The Gospel is the only hope for lost mankind