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SECTION b -
Greetings, Extended (16:01-23)
Balanced by SECTION B - Greetings, Brief (1:07)
Romans Sixteen – Verses 1 to 27
01. Now I am
commending to you Phoebe, our sister,
being a servant also of the ecclesia in
Cenchrea,
As he prepares to end his
letter, Paul extends greetings to various individuals and groups in Rome.
Some are his relatives, some his close friends - he shows that with all his
commitment to carrying the evangel to new fields and in spite of, or
perhaps because of, troubles that beset his mission he does remember and
appreciate their fellowship.
He is about to dispatch
this letter through Phoebe to the Roman ecclesia - so he introduces and
commends her to them.
Though she is called ‘our
sister’ it has nothing to do with blood relationship. It was a common mode of
address showing respect and honour. In the East, such modes of address are
still commonly used in this way. Here, Paul uses it to speak of a spiritual
relationship.
Mt.12:50 For anyone whoever
should be doing the will of My Father Who is in
the heavens,
he is My brother
and sister and mother!"
1Tim.5:2 the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters, in all purity.
1Cor.7:15 Yet if the unbeliever is
separating, let him separate.
A brother or a sister is not
enslaved in such a case….
1Cor.9:5 Have we no right at all to be
leading about a sister as a wife,
even as the rest of the apostles and the
brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
She is said to be a ‘servant’
of the ecclesia in Cenchrea. ‘Servant’ is from the Greek ‘dia’konos’
which is also applied to Christ – as the ‘Servant’ of the Circumcision. The
word dia’konos is rendered thus when one serves people.
1Cor.3:5 What, then, is Apollos? Now what is
Paul?
Servants [diakonoi] are
they, through whom you believe,….
2Cor.6:4 …we are commending ourselves as servants
[diakonoi] of God,…
The same word is rendered ‘dispenser’
when things are being served.
2Cor.3:6 …makes us competent dispensers
[diakonoi] of a new covenant,…
Eph.3:6,7 … the evangel of which I became the
dispenser [diakonos],…
Cenchrea: sen'-kre-e,
A seaport of Corinth on the eastern side of the isthmus. Here
according to Act.18:18, Paul had
his hair shorn before sailing for Syria, since he had a vow. A local church
must have been established there by Paul, since Phoebe, the deaconess of Cenchrea, was entrusted with the
Epistle to the Romans, and was commended to them in the highest terms by
the apostle, who charged them to "assist her in whatsoever matter she
may have need". (ISB
Encyclopaedia, adapted)
02. that you
should be receiving her in the Lord worthily of the saints, and
may stand by her in whatever matter she
may be needing you,
for she became a patroness of
many, as well as of myself.
Phoebe had been of special assistance to Paul and
others earlier, so he urges the Roman ecclesia to be positively receptive
of her and to extend to her every assistance she would need of them, in
keeping with the special out-calling that they share. Paul commends his
fellow-workers to those they were being sent to on some mission.
Phil.2:29,30 Receive
him [Epaphroditus], then, in
the Lord with all joy,
and have such in honor, …
Col.4:10 …and Mark, cousin of Barnabas
(concerning whom you obtained directions:
if he should be coming to you, receive him),
“Patroness’ comes
from the Greek ‘prostatis’ which refers to ‘one who countenances, supports and protects either a person or a
work, such as an advocate; a defender; one that specially countenances and
supports, or lends aid to advance’ (Webster’s).
Phoebe had extended such assistance to Paul and to many other
believers as well.
03. Greet
Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus
The
best manuscripts read Prisca here as in 2 Tim. 4:19. Elsewhere she
is given the fuller form Priscilla. This is common in Roman names.
She and her husband (who is usually mentioned last) were banished from Rome
a few years before (Ac.18:2). Paul met them in Corinth and joined them in
their business of tentmaking. They traveled with the apostle (Ac,18:18) and
must have returned to Rome before the writing of this epistle. Concordant
Commentary
Prisca
The diminutive form is Priscilla
Aquila
Eagle,
a native of Pontus, by occupation a tent-maker, whom Paul met on his first
visit to Corinth (Act.18:2). Along
with his wife Priscilla he had
fled from Rome in consequence of a decree (AD 50) by Claudius commanding
all Jews to leave the city. Paul sojourned with him at Corinth, and they
wrought together at their common trade, making Cilician hair-cloth for tents.
On Paul's departure from Corinth after eighteen months, Aquila and his wife
accompanied him to Ephesus, where they remained, while he proceeded to
Syria (Act.18:18,26). When they
became Christians we are not informed, but in Ephesus (1Cor.16:19) they were Paul's "helpers in Christ
Jesus." We find them afterwards at Rome (Rom.16:3), interesting themselves still in the cause of Christ.
They are referred to some years after this as being at Ephesus (2Tim.4:19). This is the last notice
we have of them. (ISB Encyclopaedia,
adapted)
Act.18:2,3 And, finding a certain
Jew named Aquila, a native of
Pontus,
having recently come from Italy, and Priscilla, his wife
(because Claudius prescribed that all the Jews
depart from Rome),
he came to them, 3 and, because of his being of a like trade,
he remained with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.
Act.18:18,19 Now Paul, remaining
still a considerable number of days with the brethren,
taking leave, sailed off to Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila;
having shorn his head in Cenchrea, for he had a
vow.
19 Now they arrive at Ephesus and he left
them there.
Act.18:24-26 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, a native Alexandrian,
a scholarly man, arrives at Ephesus, being able in
the scriptures.
25 He was instructed in the way of the
Lord, and fervent in spirit.
He spoke and taught accurately what concerns
Jesus,
being versed only in the baptism of John.
26 Besides, he begins to speak boldly in
the synagogue.
Now, hearing him, Priscilla and Aquila took him to themselves
and expounded the way of God to him more accurately.
1Cor.16:19 Greeting you are the
ecclesias of the province of Asia.
Greeting you much in the Lord are Aquila and Prisca,….
2Tim.4:19 Greet Prisca and Aquila and
the household of Onesiphorus.
04. (who, for the sake of my
soul, jeopardize their own
necks,
whom not only I am thanking,
but all the ecclesias of the nations also)
This couple seems to have
put themselves under severe personal risks to be of assistance to Paul. He,
and the other ecclesias who had come to be aware of this, were thankful for
the selflessness and daring they had shown.
Later on in his ministry,
Paul speaks of Epaphroditus, who went above the call of duty to be of service
to Paul.
Phil.2:30 …because of the work of
the Lord
he (Epaphroditus)
draws near unto death,
risking
his soul
that he should fill up your want of ministration toward me.
Through such examples we
are shown the extent to which we could go in our dedication and service to
our fellow-believers. As members of the ecclesia, we cannot be passive,
satisfied and content that we have been saved. As integral members
of the one body of Christ, we are
to participate with real concerns in the advancement of the evangel,
even if only through being aware of situations and praying for the
fulfillment of such evangelistic undertakings.
05. and the
ecclesia at their house. Greet Epanetus,
my beloved, who is the firstfruit of
the province of Asia for Christ.
'…ecclesia at their house..'
An ecclesia consists of
called-out ones, those who have been enabled to become believers of the
evangel. It matters not where they meet or from what walk of life they
come. In Paul's time, believers gathered wherever convenient for fellowship
and for worship of God. Here, we are shown that they congregated in homes
of individuals. There were no ostentatious buildings and trappings and
symbols; no wall to wall carpeting or comfortable air-conditioning; no
state-of-the-art audio visuals. It was a simple arrangement and the
objective for such gatherings was clear. Whatever support given was for the
welfare of the members and for the ministry of the evangel, rather than for
the high cost of maintenance of property and for creature comforts.
1Cor.16:19 Greeting you are the ecclesias of
the province of Asia.
Greeting you much in the Lord are Aquila and Prisca,
together with the ecclesia of their house
Col.4:15 Greet the brethren in Laodicea,
and Nympha
and the ecclesia at her house.
Pmn.2 and to sister Apphia,
and to Archippus,
our fellow soldier, and to the
ecclesia at your house:
Nowadays, the situation has
been allowed to become complex and the reason for even being an ecclesia is
lost in a labyrinth of internal politics and a distracting array of
activities designed to 'attract more members'. Growth of the 'church' is
measured by the increase in numbers of attendees, and that of the
individual in how well one fits in with this framework of activity.
Nominal, superficial, assent to tenets of faith is acceptable as long as it
is seen that one enjoys participation in the system. Even in the study of
Scripture, when there is, things are made easy through the use of
'recommended' guidebooks and structured programs which agree with the
creeds of that particular denomination. The beliefs of that sect are
perpetuated - but these are not necessarily the truth of Scripture. Instead
of it being a base and pillar of the truths of God, that church becomes a
veritable perpetuator of error.
‘…Greet Epanetus, … the firstfruit of the province of
Asia for Christ….’
Epanetus was one of the first believers in the Roman province of Asia.
Asia
A Roman province embracing
the greater part of western Asia Minor, including the older countries of Mysia,
Lydia, Caria, and a part of Phrygia, also several of the independent coast
cities, the Troad, and apparently the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Patmos, Cos
and others near the Asia Minor coast (Act.16:6;
Act.19:10, Act.19:27). It is exceedingly difficult to determine the
exact boundaries of the several countries which later constituted the Roman
province, for they seem to have been somewhat vague to the ancients
themselves, and were constantly shifting; it is therefore impossible to
trace the exact borders of the province of Asia. (ISB Encyclopaedia)
It is used
to denote Proconsular Asia, a
Roman province which embraced the western parts of Asia Minor, and of which
Ephesus was the capital, in Act.2:9; Act.6:9; 16:6; 19:10, 19:22; 20:4,
20:16, 20:18, etc., and probably Asia Minor in Act.19:26-27; 21:27; 24:18;
27:2. Proconsular Asia contained the
seven churches of the Apocalypse (Rev.1:11).
(Eastons 1897)
06. Greet Mary, who toils much for you.
‘Mary’ is from the Greek ‘Mari’an’
(some manuscripts use ‘Mariam’ which is of Hebrew origin).
Literally, it is MIRIAM.
It is a very common name in
the four accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus. We read of His mother,
the virgin into whose womb He was placed by God. There is the Mary who was
the wife of Clopas and the mother of James. Then we have Mary Magdalene who
was the first to see the risen Lord, and also of the Mary who was the
sister of Martha and Lazarus. In the book of Acts we also read of the Mary
who was the mother of John Mark. This Mary is a believer in the Roman
ecclesia.
07. Greet
Andronicus and Junias, my relatives
and my fellow captives who are notable
among the apostles,
who also came to be in Christ
before me.
The
term "relative" is an elastic expression, used sometimes in a
broad sense of all Israelites (9:3) yet more usually in a restricted sense
of a closer blood relation (Jn.18:26). Paul mentions six of his relatives
in the course of these greetings (7, 11, 21), besides his mother. Very few
of them are ever spoken of again in the Scriptures. Some of them, notably
Andronicus and Junius, seem to have been very prominent and faithful. They
were in Christ before him and suffered imprisonment with him. Indeed, it is
not at all improbable that we are to understand them to be apostles, not
indeed of the twelve, but such as Barnabas (Ac.14:14). Concordant
Commentary
'…my relatives...notable among the
apostles…'
We notice that Paul had a
number of relatives, such as Herodion
(v11), Lucius, Jason and Sosipater (v21) who were believers.
The word apostle is
from the Greek ‘apostolos’, literally FROM-PUT-ed. It refers to one who is
appointed and sent out by those in authority to carry out some mission, a
commissioner. It is not limited in application to Paul or to the Twelve who
received their appointments directly from Christ. (Matthias had to
be specially chosen by lot to replace Judas.)
Barnabas, for example, was commissioned
together with Paul to carry relief to the ecclesias in Judea.
Act.11:29,30 Now according as any of
the disciples thrived,
each of them designate something
to send to the brethren dwelling in Judea, for
dispensing; 30 which they do
also,
dispatching to the elders through the hand of
Barnabas and Saul.
In the same way, selected
believers could be appointed by an ecclesia to carry out some undertaking,
whether of a spiritual nature or otherwise, like an ‘outreach’ of the
present day, and these were also apostles. In the early days, one of the
gifts of the spirit was that of apostleship such as this.
Andronicus and Junias, just
like Barnabas, had become believers in Christ even before Paul did and
enjoyed a good reputation with the Twelve apostles of Christ. Being in
fellowship with the ecclesia at Rome, it could be that they were now under
the Uncircumcision administration, though this is not necessarily so.
‘…and
my fellow captives…’
There were others referred
to as 'fellow-captives' too, such as Aristarchus
and Epaphras. As Paul was not in prison
at this time (he was writing from Cenchrea), his reference to this
captivity may reflect on the fact that he, as well as they, were now
committed to a ministry of service under Christ.
Col.4:10 Greeting you is Aristarchus, my fellow captive,…
Pmn.23 Greeting you are Epaphras, my fellow captive in Christ Jesus,
Later, when he wrote while
under arrest in Rome, he sees that imprisonment for what it really is - a
captivity ordained by God for a high purpose in the service of the evangel
under Christ.
Pmn.1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus…
Pmn.9 being such a one as Paul the
aged,
yet now a
prisoner also of Christ Jesus
Pmn.13 whom I intended to be
retaining for myself that,
for your sake, he may be serving me in the bonds of the evangel.
Eph.3:1 On this behalf I, Paul,
the
prisoner of Christ Jesus for you, the nations--
Eph.4:1 I am entreating you, then, I, the prisoner in the Lord,
to walk worthily of the calling with which you
were called,
2Tim.1:8 You may not be ashamed, then, of
the testimony of our Lord,
nor yet of me, His prisoner,
While in prison, set aside
from the demands of earning his living, as well as from that which the
ecclesia naturally pressed upon him, he wrote the ‘Prison Letters’ to the
Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, (as well as 2nd
Timothy). These are also called the ‘Perfection Epistles’ for they climaxed
the revelation of the evangel of the Uncircumcision. These were of such
import as to elicit a prayer for a special ability to grasp it.
Eph.1:17-23 that the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may be giving you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the realization of Him,
18 the eyes of your heart having been
enlightened,
for you to
perceive what is the expectation of His calling, and
what the
riches of the glory of the enjoyment of His allotment among the
saints,
19 and what the
transcendent greatness of His power for us who are believing,
in accord with the operation of the might of His
strength,
20 which is operative in the Christ,
rousing Him from among the dead
and seating Him at His right hand among the
celestials,
21 up over every sovereignty and authority
and power and lordship,
and every name that is named,
not only in this eon, but also in that which is
impending:
22 and subjects all under His feet,
and gives
Him, as Head over all, to the ecclesia 23 which is His body,
the
complement of the One completing the all in all.
'...in Christ before me...'
Since the conversion of the
three thousand at Pentecost there had been growing ecclesias, groups of
people out-called from the people of Israel to be believers. These
ecclesias came under the jurisdiction of the Twelve. The evangel they
believed in was the one Peter and the
other eleven were preaching.
Act.2:14-21 Now Peter, standing with the
eleven, lifts up his voice
and declaims to them: "Men! Jews! and all who are dwelling at Jerusalem!
Let this be known to you, and give ear to my
declarations,…
Act.2:22-28 Men! Israelites! Hear these words:
Jesus, the Nazarene, a Man demonstrated to be
from God for you
by powerful deeds and miracles and signs, which
God does through Him
in the midst of you, according as you yourselves
are aware--
23 This One, given up in the specific counsel
and foreknowledge of God,
you, gibbeting by the hand of the lawless,
assassinate,
24 Whom God raises, loosing the pangs of
death,
forasmuch as it was not possible for Him to be
held by it….
Act.2:29-35 Men! Brethren! Allow me to say to you with boldness…
31 …he speaks concerning the resurrection of the
Christ,
that He was neither forsaken in the unseen,
nor was His flesh acquainted with decay.
32 This Jesus God raises, of Whom we all
are witnesses….
Act.2:36 Let all the house of Israel know certainly, then,
that God makes Him Lord as well as Christ--this
Jesus Whom you crucify!
Act.2:38 Now Peter is averring to
them,
"Repent
and be baptized each of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the pardon of your sins,
and you shall be obtaining the gratuity of the
holy spirit.
It is quite some time after
this that we first hear of Paul and, then, of his ferocious persecution of
the message concerning Christ. After his conversion his impassioned
preaching concerning the Christ drew severe persecution which forced him
out of the area of Jerusalem.
Gal.1:22 I was unknown by face to the ecclesias of Judea which are in
Christ.
It was only when Paul
emerged with his commission as the apostle to bring the evangel of the Uncircumcision to the
nations, based on faith apart from works of the law, that a distinction had
to be made and the message of the Twelve came to be referred to as the
evangel of the Circumcision.
1Cor.1:30 Yet you, of Him, are in Christ Jesus,
Who became to us wisdom from God,
besides righteousness and holiness and
deliverance,
2Cor.5:17 … if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:
the primitive passed by. Lo! there has come new!
2Cor.5:21 For the One not knowing sin, He makes
to be sin for our sakes
that we may be becoming God's righteousness in Him.
Gal.5:6 For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision is availing anything, nor
uncircumcision,
but faith, operating through love.
Eph.2:10 For His achievement are we,
being created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God makes ready beforehand, that we should
be walking in them.
08. Greet Ampliatos, my beloved in the Lord.
Ampliatos
It is a common name and is found in inscriptions
connected with the imperial household. The name is found twice in the
cemetery of Domitilla. The earlier inscription is over a cell which belongs
to the end of the 1st century or the beginning of the 2nd century. The
bearer of this name was probably a member of her household and conspicuous
in the early Christian church in Rome. (ISB
Encyclopaedia, adapted)
09. Greet
Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved.
Urbanus
A common slave name. Gifford says that it is found
"as here, in juxtaposition with Ampliatus, in a list of imperial
freedmen, on an inscription, 115 AD."
Stachys
The name is Greek and uncommon; it has been found in
inscriptions connected with the imperial household.
(ISB
Encyclopaedia, adapted)
10. Greet
Apelles, attested in Christ. Greet those who are of Aristobulus.
"Of
Aristobulus" seems to denote those associated with his establishment.
Perhaps this is the grandson of Herod the Great who was later given the
government of Lesser Armenia. Concordant Commentary
Aristobulus
An inhabitant of Rome, certain of whose household
are saluted by Paul. He was probably a grandson of Herod and brother of
Herod Agrippa, a man of great wealth, and intimate with the emperor
Claudius. It is suggested that "the household of Aristobulus"
were his slaves, and that upon his death they had kept together and had
become the property of the emperor either by purchase or as a legacy, in
which event, however, they might, still retain the name of their former
master.
(ISB
Encyclopaedia, adapted)
11. Greet
Herodion, my relative. Greet those of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
my relative
According
to the flesh, being of the same nation, a Jew;
or
of the same tribe, the tribe of Benjamin;
or
of the same family, and nearly allied in blood to him: …
the
name is of Attic, or Parthic origin, and seems to be a derivative of Herod;
Herodion
The name seems to imply that he was a freedman of
the Herods, or a member of the household of Aristobulus, the grandson of
Herod the Great (Gill’s Exposition, adapted)
Narcissus
Is
probably one of Nero's favorites, for even Nero's household was invaded by
the power of the evangel (Phil.4:22).
Concordant Commentary
The last words may suggest that this man may not,
himself, have been a believer - for only the Christians in this household
have a greeting sent to them.
(ISB
Encyclopaedia, adapted)
12. Greet
Tryphena and Tryphosa, who are toiling in the Lord.
Greet Persis, the beloved, who toils much
in the Lord.
Tryphena
and Tryphosa
The names, which might be rendered 'Dainty' and
'Disdain', are characteristically pagan, and unlike the description. They
were probably sisters or near relatives, for "it was usual to designate
members of the same family by derivatives of the same root". Both
names are found in inscriptions connected with the imperial household,
"Tryphosa" occurring more frequently than "Tryphena."
Persis
The name is not found in inscriptions of the imperial household, but
it occurs as the name of a freedwoman.
(ISB
Encyclopaedia, adapted)
13. Greet
Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.
Rufus
Is
probably the same one whose father Simon was compelled to bear the cross
(Mt.15:21). If so, he must have been of some prominence among early
believers, for Mark is content to identify his father by referring to him
and his brother Alexander. It is touching to see the apostle especially
single out his mother, the wife of him who had the honor of bearing our
Saviour's cross. Concordant
Commentary
A disciple at Rome, whose mother also was a
Christian held in esteem by the apostle. Mark mentions him along with his
brother Alexander as persons well known to his readers (Mk.15:21). He is, probably, the son
of Simon the Cyrenian (Mk.15:21),
whom the Roman soldiers compelled to carry the cross on which our Lord was
crucified. (ISB Encyclopaedia, adapted)
'..his mother and mine..'
It is not that Rufus was
Paul's brother. This term may be used by Paul to show the close fellowship
he had with him and the respect and esteem he had for the mother. This is
how we should consider the believers we have the privilege to have with us.
1Tim.5:2 the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters, in all purity.
Mt.12:49,50 And stretching out His hand over
His disciples, He said,
"Lo! My mother and My brothers! 50 For anyone
whoever should be doing the will of My Father
Who is in the heavens,
he is My brother and sister and mother!"
Mk.3:35 For whoever should be doing the
will of God,
this one is My brother and sister and mother.
14. Greet
Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes,
Patrobas, Hermas, and the brethren with
them.
The '…and the brethren…' would indicate that this was a sort of
sub-group in the Roman ecclesia just as much as that ecclesia was a
sub-group within the whole ecclesia which is the body of Christ.
Patrobas
The name is an abbreviated form of
"Patrobius." There was a wealthy freedman of Nero of the same name
who was put to death by Galba. The Patrobas of Paul may have been a
dependent of his. (ISB Encyclopaedia,
adapted)
15. Greet
Philologos and Julia, Nereus and his sister,
and Olympas and all the saints with them.
Philologos and Julia
His name is coupled with that of Julia, who was
probably his wife or sister. Philologus and those united with him in this
salutation formed by themselves one of the "house churches" or
groups in the Christian community. The name is found in inscriptions connected
with the imperial household.
Nereus and
his sister
The name of the sister is not given, but the name
Nereis is found on an inscription of this date containing names of the
emperor's servants.
Olympas
An abbreviated form of Olympiadorus. The joining in
one salutation of the Christians mentioned suggests that they formed by
themselves a small community in the earliest Roman church.
(ISB
Encyclopaedia, adapted)
16. Greet one
another with a holy kiss.
Greeting you are all the ecclesias of
Christ.
This is the customary
greeting or farewell common among middle-eastern people. It showed honour
and respect for one another and held no hint of impropriety or sexuality.
Act.20:37,38 Now there came to be
considerable lamentation by all,
and falling on Paul's neck, they kissed him fondly,
38 being pained especially at the word
which he had declared,
that no longer are they about to behold his
face.
Yet they sent him forward into the ship.
1Cor.16:20 Greeting you are all the
brethren.
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
2Cor.13:12 Greet one another with a holy kiss.
1Thes.5:26 Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss.
1Pet.5:14 Greet one another with a kiss of love.
17. Now I am
entreating you, brethren,
to be noting those who are making
dissensions
and snares beside the teaching which you
learned, and avoid them,
How
soon dissension and division crept in among the saints! Even before they
had received the truth in its fullness, men came with smooth words to draw
them from it. Hence the necessity for some authoritative written standard,
as this epistle, to which appeal could be made when the truth was in
danger. Concordant Commentary
Believers should be alert to
and aware of what is going on about them. Though we are not to condemn one
another, judgment must always be exercised. We are expected to notice those
who are having a worthy walk in Christ as well as those who are a source of
dissension and contention.
Phil.3:17-19 Become imitators together of
me, brethren,
and be
noting those who are walking thus, according as you have us for a
model,
18 for many are walking, of whom I often
told you,
yet now am lamenting also as I tell it, who are
enemies of the cross of Christ,
19 whose consummation is destruction, whose
god is their bowels,
and whose glory is in their shame, who to the
terrestrial are disposed.
2Tim.3:14,15 Now you be remaining in what you learned and
verified,
being
aware
from whom you learned it,
15 and that from a babe you are acquainted
with the sacred scriptures
which are able to make you wise
for salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus.
Mt.18:7 Woe to the world because of snares!
For it is a
necessity for snares to be coming.
Moreover, woe to that man through whom the snare
is coming!
Lk.17:1,2 Now He said to His disciples,
"Incredible is it for snares not
to be coming.
Moreover, woe to him through whom they are
coming!
2 An advantage were it to him
if a millstone were lying about his neck and he
were pitched into the sea,
rather than that he should be snaring one of
these little ones.
Act.15:24 "Since, in fact, we hear
that some coming out from us disturb you with words,
dismantling
your souls,
whom we gave no assignment,
Col.2:8 Beware that no one shall be despoiling you
through philosophy
and empty seduction,
in accord with human tradition, in accord with the elements of the world,
and not in accord with Christ,
1Cor.3:3,4 for you are still fleshly.
For where there is jealousy and strife among
you,
are you not fleshly and walking according to man?
4 For whenever anyone may be saying,
"I, indeed, am of Paul," yet another,
"I, of Apollos," will he not be fleshly?
1Cor.1:10-13 Now I am entreating you, brethren,
through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that all may be saying the same thing,
and there may be no schisms among you,
but you may be attuned to the same mind and to the
same opinion.
11 For it was made evident to me concerning
you, my brethren,
by those of Chloe, that there are strifes among
you.
12 Now I am saying this, that each of you
is saying,
"I, indeed, am of Paul," yet "I
of Apollos," yet "I of Cephas," yet "I of
Christ."
13 Christ is parted! Not Paul was crucified
for your sakes!
Or into the name of Paul are you baptized?
1Cor.11:18,19 For first, indeed, at your coming
together in the ecclesia,
I am hearing of schisms inhering among you, and some part I am believing.
19 For it
must be that there are sects also among you,
that those also who are qualified may be becoming apparent among you.
Tit.3:10,11 A
sectarian man, after one and a second admonition, refuse,
11 being aware that such a one has turned himself out, and is
sinning,
being self-condemned.
2Tim.2:15 Endeavor to present yourself to God
qualified,
an unashamed worker, correctly cutting the word of truth.
Gal.1:6-9 I am marveling that
thus, swiftly, you are transferred
from that which calls you in the grace of
Christ,
to a
different evangel, 7 which is not another,
except it be that some who are disturbing you
want also to distort
the evangel of Christ.
8 But if ever we also, or a messenger out
of heaven,
should be bringing an evangel to you beside that which we bring to you,
let him be anathema!
9 As we have declared before and at present
I am saying again,
if anyone is bringing you an evangel beside that which you accepted,
let him be anathema!
Gal.2:4,5 Yet, it was because of the false brethren who were smuggled in,
who came in by the way to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus,
that they shall be enslaving us--
5 to whom, not even for an hour do we
simulate by subjection,
that the
truth of the evangel should be continuing with you.
1Tim.6:3-5 If anyone is teaching differently
and is not approaching with sound words, even those of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the teaching in accord with devoutness,
4 he is conceited, versed in nothing,
but morbid about questionings and controversies,
out of which is coming envy, strife, calumnies,
wicked suspicions,
5 altercations of men of a decadent mind
and deprived of the truth,
inferring that devoutness is capital.
2Tim.1:13 Have a pattern of sound words, which you
hear from me,
in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
Phil.3:2,3 Beware of curs, beware of evil workers.
Beware of the maimcision, 3 for we are the circumcision
who are offering divine service in the spirit of God,
and are glorying in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in flesh.
2Pet.2:1-3 Yet there came to be false prophets also among the
people,
as among you also there will be false teachers
who will be smuggling in destructive sects,
even disowning the Owner Who buys them,
bringing on themselves swift destruction.
2 And many
will be following out their wantonness,
because of whom the glory of the truth will be
calumniated,
3 and in greed, with suave words, they will traffic
in you,
whose judgment of old is not idling, and their
destruction is not nodding.
1Cor.5:9-13 I write to you in the epistle not
to be commingling with paramours.
10 And undoubtedly it is not as to the paramours of this world,
or the greedy and extortionate, or idolaters,
else, consequently, you ought to come out of the
world.
11 Yet now I write to you not to be
commingling with anyone named a
brother,
if he
should be a paramour, or greedy, or an idolater,
or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner.
With such a one you are not even to be
eating.
12 For what is it to me to be judging those
outside?
You are not judging those within!
13 Now those outside, God is judging.
Expel the
wicked one
from among yourselves.
1Cor.5:5,6 to give up such a one to Satan for the extermination of the flesh,
that the spirit may be saved in the day of the
Lord Jesus…
6 Are you not aware that a little leaven
is leavening the whole kneading?
2Thes.3:6 Now we are charging you, brethren,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
to be putting yourselves from every brother who is walking disorderly
and not in accord with the tradition which they
accepted from us.
2Thes.3:14,15 Now if anyone is not obeying our
word through this epistle,
let it be a sign to you as to this man, not to commingle with him,
that he may be abashed;
15 and do not deem him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
2Tim.3:2-8 for men will be selfish, fond of
money, ostentatious, proud, calumniators, stubborn to parents, ungrateful,
malign,
3 without natural affection, implacable,
adversaries, uncontrollable,
fierce, averse to the good, 4 traitors, rash, conceited,
fond of
their own gratification rather than fond of God;
5 having a form of devoutness, yet denying
its power.
6 These, also, shun. For of these are
those
who are slipping into homes and are leading into
captivity little women,
heaped with sins, being led by various lusts and gratifications,
7 always learning
and yet not at any time able to come into a realization of the truth.
8 Now, by the method by which Jannes and
Jambres withstand Moses,
thus these also are withstanding the truth,
men of a depraved
mind, disqualified as to the faith.
2Jn.1:7-11 for many deceivers came out into the world,
who are not avowing Jesus Christ coming in
flesh.
This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
8 Be looking to yourselves,
that you should not be destroying that for which
you work,
but you may be getting full wages.
9 Everyone who is taking the lead
and not remaining in the teaching of Christ has
not God.
He who is remaining
in the teaching,
this one has the Father as well as the Son.
10 If anyone is coming to you and is not bringing this teaching,
be not
taking him into your home, and say not to him, "Rejoice!"
11 For he who is saying to him to be
rejoicing is participating in his wicked acts.
This is not an easy
directive to follow nowadays. Through two millenia so much error has crept
into the body of belief, so that what is God's truth for us is being
smothered in voluminous clouds of myths and traditions accepted in
orthodoxy. So now, '…the teaching which you learned…' may not be the truth
of revelation but an adulterated and contaminated masquerade of it. As
such, blind observance of pronouncements of authorities and personalities
may lead to rejection of scriptural truth that is now being recovered, and
that is being now exposed to the congregation. At the same time it may lead
to our ostracising of those who are
being faithful to their calling. It behooves each of us, therefore, to
seriously undertake our own personal study of Scripture, in faith
endeavouring to correctly cut the word of truth so that we become
acquainted with God's actual instructions and guidelines that are meant for
us.
18. for such for our Lord
Christ are not slaving,
but for
their own bowels, and through compliments and adulation
are deluding the hearts of the innocent.
Such people
introduce ideas and teachings and inject inferences, arguments and conclusions
either of their own or from sources other than the Scriptures. They feel
that their wisdom has enabled them to see much more than what has been
written - that there is cryptic knowledge in Scripture decipherable only by
the wise such as they. They seek a following of their own among people who
will acknowledge and admire their wise deductions. They cause breakaways
and set up their own organisations to which people contribute to propagate
the new theology.
Others may not be concerned
about teaching truth. They just see opportunities for gain by exploiting
their congregations through advancement of selected doctrines such as
'Tithing', and of an abundant life here and now through 'Seed Faith', etc.
We hear of a number of 'tele-evangelists' who are millionaires many times
over who bend Scripture for psychological arm-twisting to milk gullible
people for every cent they can. Mass-conversion campaigns are generated.
People are drawn to hi-tech extravaganzas organised for healing campaigns.
Rather than guiding these suffering, fearing, desperate believers to come
to God directly (a privilege Christ has earned for them), these charlatans
project themselves as mediators for their cause.
Paul
alerts the ecclesia to the danger posed by such people who should be
avoided for they serve a different
lord and seek their own advantage
and gain in leading unwary ones astray through a sweet-talking
persuasive approach and an application of secular mass psychology.
Mt.6:24 Now no one can be slaving for two lords,
for either he will be hating the one and loving
the other,
or will be upholding one and despising the
other.
You can not
be slaving for God and mammon.
Mt.7:15 Take heed of those false prophets
who are coming to you in the apparel of sheep,
yet inside they are rapacious wolves.
Mt.24:11-13 And many false prophets shall be roused,
and shall
be deceiving many.
12 And, because of the multiplication of
lawlessness,
the love of many shall be cooling.
13 Yet he who endures to the consummation,
he shall be saved.
Mt.24:24 For roused shall be false christs and false prophets,
and they shall be giving great signs and miracles,
so as to deceive, if possible, even the chosen.
2Cor.2:17 For we are not as the
majority,
who are peddling
the word of God,
but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight
of God in Christ,
are we speaking.
2Cor.4:2 But we spurn the hidden
things of shame,
not walking in craftiness, nor yet adulterating the word of God,
but, by manifestation of the truth,
commending ourselves to every man's conscience
in God's sight.
2Cor.11:1-4 Would that you had borne with any
little imprudence of mine!
Nay, and be bearing with me,
2 for I am jealous over you with a
jealousy of God.
For I betroth you to one Man, to present a
chaste virgin to Christ.
3 Yet I fear lest somehow, as the serpent
deludes Eve by its craftiness,
your apprehensions should be corrupted
from the singleness and pureness which is in
Christ.
4 For if, indeed, he who is coming
is heralding another
Jesus whom we do not herald,
or you are obtaining a different spirit, which you did not obtain,
or a
different evangel, which you do not receive,
you are bearing with him ideally.
2Cor.11:10-15 The truth of Christ is in me,
for this boasting shall not be barred from me in
the regions of Achaia.
11 Wherefore? Seeing that I am not loving
you? God is aware!
12 Now what I am doing and will be doing
is that I should strike off the incentive from
those wanting an incentive,
that in what they are boasting they may be found
according as we also.
13 For such are false apostles, fraudulent
workers,
being transfigured
into apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel, for Satan himself is
being transfigured into a messenger
of light.
15 It is no great thing, then, if his
servants also
are being transfigured as dispensers of righteousness--
whose consummation shall be according to their
acts.
Gal.1:10 For, at present, am I persuading
men or God?
Or am I seeking to please men?
If I still pleased men, I were not a slave of Christ.
Gal.1:11,12 For I am making known to you,
brethren,
as to the evangel which is being brought by me,
that it is not
in accord with man.
12 For neither did I accept it from a man,
nor was I taught it,
but it came through
a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Eph.4:14 that we may by no means
still be minors,
surging hither and thither and being carried about by every wind of
teaching,
by human caprice,
by craftiness
with a view to the systematizing of the deception.
Phil.2:21 for all are seeking that which is their own,
not that which is Christ Jesus'.
Phil.3:17-19 Become imitators together of
me, brethren,
and be noting those who are walking thus,
according as you have us for a model,
18 for many
are walking, of whom I often told you,
yet now am lamenting also as I tell it,
who are enemies
of the cross of Christ,
19 whose consummation is destruction, whose god is their bowels,
and whose glory is in their shame, who to the terrestrial are disposed.
Col.2:4 Now I am saying this,
that no one may be beguiling you with persuasive
words.
2Thes.2:9-11 whose presence is in accord with
the operation of Satan,
with all
power and signs and false miracles
10 and with every seduction of injustice
among those who are perishing,
because they do not receive the love of the
truth for their salvation.
11 And therefore God will be sending them an operation of deception,
for them to
believe the falsehood,
12 that all may be judged who do not
believe the truth, but delight in injustice.
1Tim.6:3-5
If
anyone is teaching differently
and is not approaching with sound words,
even those of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the teaching in accord with devoutness,
4 he is conceited, versed in nothing,
but morbid about questionings and controversies,
out of which is coming envy, strife, calumnies,
wicked suspicions,
5 altercations of men of a decadent mind and deprived of the truth,
inferring that devoutness is capital.
1Tim.6:8-12 Now, having sustenance and shelter,
with these we shall be sufficed.
9 Now, those intending to be rich are falling
into a
trial and a trap and the many foolish and harmful desires
which are swamping
men in extermination and destruction.
10 For a root of all of the evils is the fondness for money,
which some, craving, were led astray from the
faith
and try themselves on all sides with much
pain.
11 Now you, O man of God, flee from these things:
yet pursue righteousness, devoutness, faith,
love,
with endurance, suffering, and meekness.
12 Contend the ideal contest of the faith.
Get hold of eonian life, for which you were
called,…
2Tim.2:16-18 Yet from profane prattlings stand
aloof,
for they will be progressing to more
irreverence,
17 and their word will spread as gangrene,
of whom are Hymeneus and Philetus,
18 who swerve
as to truth,
saying that the resurrection has already
occurred,
and are subverting
the faith of some.
2Tim.3:1-5 Now this know,
that in
the last days perilous periods will be present,
2 for men will be selfish, fond of money, ostentatious, proud,
calumniators,
stubborn to parents, ungrateful, malign,
3 without natural affection, implacable,
adversaries,
uncontrollable, fierce, averse to the good,
4 traitors, rash, conceited,
fond of
their own gratification rather than fond of God;
5 having a form of devoutness, yet denying its power.
Tit.1:10,11 For many are insubordinate, vain
praters and imposters,
especially those of the Circumcision,
11 who must be gagged,
who are subverting whole households,
teaching what they must not, on behalf of sordid gain.
2Pet.2:1-3 Yet there came to be false prophets also among
the people,
as among you also there will be false teachers
who will be smuggling
in destructive sects,
even disowning the Owner Who buys them,
bringing on themselves swift destruction.
2 And many will be following out their wantonness,
because of whom the glory of the truth will be
calumniated,
3 and in
greed, with suave words, they
will traffic in you,…
2Pet.2:13-15 …Deeming gratification by day a
luxury,
they are spots
and flaws, luxuriating in their love feasts,
carousing
together with you,
14 having the distended eyes of an adulteress,
and that do not stop from sin, luring unstable souls,
having a
heart exercised by greed, children of a curse.
15 Leaving the straight path, they were led
astray,…
Jude1:12,13 These are the reefs in your love feasts,
carousing
with you fearlessly,
shepherding
themselves;
waterless clouds carried aside by winds;
trees that are sear, unfruitful, twice dying,
uprooted;
13 wild billows of the sea, frothing forth their own shame;…
2Pet.2:18 For, uttering pompous vanity,
they are luring
by the lusts of the flesh, in wantonness,
those who are scarcely fleeing from those who
are behaving with deception;
Jude1:16 These are murmurers, complainers,
going according
to their desires,
and their mouth is speaking pompous things,
marveling at the aspect of things, on behalf of benefit.
1Jn.4:1-3 Beloved, do not believe every spirit,
but test
the spirits to see if they are of God,
for many
false prophets have come out into the world.
2 In this you know the spirit of God:
every spirit which is avowing Jesus Christ,
having come in flesh, is of God,
3 and every spirit which is not avowing
Jesus the Lord having come in flesh
is not of God. And this is that of the
antichrist,
of which you have heard that it is coming, and is now already in the world.
So much is written on this subject because it is a
serious matter. These are scriptural directives and instructions and we
ignore them at our peril, retarding our spiritual growth.
19. For your
obedience reached out to all. Over you, then, am I rejoicing.
Now I am wanting you to be wise, indeed,
for good,
yet artless for evil.
The obedience of the Roman
ecclesia to what they had come to know to that point was widely known and was
a cause of joy to Paul and believers elsewhere. He wanted them to be aware
of and knowledgeable about that which was truly good, for example, using
all their faculties to correctly cut the word of truth. At the same time,
they were to be 'artless' (akeraious,
UN-BLENDED) where evil was concerned,
not scheming and cunning, not employing subterfuge and hypocrisy.
Mt.10:16 Lo! I am dispatching you as a sheep in the midst of wolves.
Become, then, prudent as serpents and artless
as doves.
1Cor.14:20 Brethren, do not become little children in disposition.
But in evil be minors, yet in disposition become mature.
Eph.1:17-20 that the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may be giving you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the realization of Him,
18 the eyes of your heart having been enlightened,
or you to
perceive what is the
expectation of His calling, and
what the riches of the glory
of the enjoyment of His allotment among the saints,
19 and what
the transcendent greatness of His power for us who are believing,
in accord with the operation of the might of His strength,
20 which is operative in the Christ, rousing Him from among the dead
and seating
Him at His right hand among the celestials,
Eph.5:17 Therefore do not become imprudent,
but understand
what the will of the Lord is.
Phil.1:9,10 And this I am praying,
that your love may be superabounding still more
and more
in realization
and all sensibility,
10 for you to be testing what things are of consequence,
that you may be sincere and no stumbling block
for the day of Christ,
Col.1:9,10 Therefore we also, from the day on
which we hear,
do not cease praying for you
and requesting that you may be filled full with
the realization of His will,
in all wisdom
and spiritual understanding,
10 you to walk worthily of the Lord for all
pleasing,
bearing fruit in every good work, and growing in the realization of God;
Phil.2:14-16 All be doing without murmurings and
reasonings,
15 that you may become blameless and
artless, children of God,
flawless, in the midst of a generation crooked and perverse
among whom you are appearing as luminaries in the world,
16 having on the
word of life,…
20. Now the
God of peace will be crushing Satan under your feet swiftly.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you!
Gen.3:15 And enmity am I setting
between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.
He shall
hurt your head and you shall hurt his heel.
Heb.2:14,15 Since, then,
the little children have participated in blood
and flesh,
He also was very nigh by partaking of the same, that, through death,
He should be discarding him who has the might of
death, that is, the Adversary,
15 and should be clearing those whoever, in
fear of death,
were through
their entire life liable to slavery.
1Jn.3:8 Yet he who is doing sin is of the
Adversary,
for from the beginning is the Adversary sinning.
For this was the Son of God manifested,
that He should be annulling the acts of the Adversary.
Note that it is God
Who will be doing the 'crushing', not we. Under our evangel, ours is not to
punish or to exact vengeance on anyone over anything. That is the Lord's
exclusive executive privilege. Ours is to intercede and to plead for those who
do not really know what they are doing. As we have received God's grace, we
should extend it to others. We operate under, by, and in
the grace of our Lord. It is quite a different situation, however, for
those under the evangel of the Circumcision.
Mal.4:3 And you shall tread down the wicked,
for they are becoming ashes under the soles of
your feet
in the day which I am making, says Yahweh of
hosts.
Rev.2:26,27 to the one who is conquering
and keeping My acts until the consummation,
to him will I be giving authority over the
nations;
27 and he shall be shepherding them with an iron club,
as vessels
of pottery are being crushed,
as I also have obtained from My Father.
Rev.19:13-16 and He is clothed in a
cloak dipped in blood,
and His name is called "The Word of
God."
14 And the armies in heaven,
dressed in cambric, white and clean, followed
Him on white horses.
15 And out of His mouth a sharp blade is
issuing,
that with it He should be smiting the nations.
And He will be shepherding them with an iron club.
And He is
treading the wine trough of the fury of the indignation of God, the
Almighty.
16 And on His cloak and on His thigh He has
a name written:
"King of kings and Lord of lords."
21. Greeting
you is Timothy, my fellow worker,
and Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my
relatives.
Lucius
Was
probably a different person from the Lucius of Cyrene in Ac.13:1.
(That one was a Christian teacher at
Antioch, and Paul's kinsman. His name is Latin, but his birthplace seems to
indicate that he was one of the Jews of Cyrene, in North Africa.)
Jason
Was
prominent in Corinth. He was the host of Paul and Silas in Thessalonica.
The Jews assaulted his house in order to seize Paul, but failing to find him,
they dragged Jason before the ruler of the city (Act.17:5-9). He was apparently one of the kinsmen of Paul, and
accompanied him from Thessalonica to Corinth.
Sosipater
Is probably the same one who is called Sopater
(Ac.20:4-6), a kinsman of Paul, a Christian of the city of
Berea who accompanied Paul into Asia and who, together with Gaius,
left Corinth with Paul.
(Adapted from the Concordant Commentary and the ISB Encyclopaedia)
Timothy
A young disciple who was Paul's companion in many of
his journeyings. His mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, are
mentioned as eminent for their piety (2Tim.1:5).
We know nothing of his father but that he was a Greek (Act.16:1). He is first brought into notice at the time of
Paul's second visit to Lystra (Act.16:2),
where he probably resided, and where it seems he was converted during
Paul's first visit to that place (1Tim.1:2;
2Tim.3:11). The apostle having formed a high opinion of his "own
son in the faith," arranged that he should become his companion (Act.16:3), and took and circumcised
him, so that he might conciliate the Jews. He was designated to the office
of an evangelist (1Tim.4:14), and
went with Paul in his journey through Phrygia, Galatia, and Mysia; also to
Troas and Philippi and Berea (Act.17:14).
Thence he followed Paul to Athens, and was sent by him with Silas on a
mission to Thessalonica (Act.17:15;
1Thes.3:2). We next find him at Corinth (1Thes.1:1; 2Thes.1:1) with Paul. He passes now out of sight for
a few years, and is again noticed as with the apostle at Ephesus (Act.19:22), whence he is sent on a
mission into Macedonia. He accompanied Paul afterwards into Asia (Act.20:4), where he was with him for
some time. When the apostle was a prisoner at Rome, Timothy joined him (Phil.1:1), where it appears he also
suffered imprisonment (Heb.13:23).
During the apostle's second imprisonment he wrote to Timothy, asking him to
rejoin him as soon as possible, and to bring with him certain things which
he had left at Troas, his cloak and parchments (2Tim.4:13). According to tradition, after the apostle's death
he settled in Ephesus as his sphere of labour, and there found a martyr's
grave. (ISB Encyclopaedia,
adapted)
Col.1:1,2 Paul, an apostle of Christ
Jesus,
through the will of God, and brother Timothy,
2 to the saints and believing brethren in
Christ in Colosse
2Tim.1:1,2 Paul, an apostle of Christ
Jesus, through the will of God,
in accord with the promise of life which is in
Christ Jesus,
2 to Timothy,
a child beloved:
2Tim.1:4-7 longing to see you, remembering
your tears,
that I may be filled full of joy,
5 getting a reminder of the unfeigned
faith which is in you,
which first makes its home in your grandmother
Lois,
and in your mother Eunice.
Now, I am persuaded that it is in you also.
6 For which cause I am reminding you
to be rekindling the gracious gift of God which
is in you
through the imposition of my hands,
7 for God gives us, not a spirit of
timidity,
but of power and of love and of sanity.
Here, again, we see the power of God’s hand in
graciously granting knowledge and growth to those involved in the service
of the ecclesia. Timothy displayed an affinity for the truth that led Paul
to entrust him with the work of an evangelist, even to the appointing of
elders (for which he gave guidelines) in the ecclesias he was sent to. His
focus was to serve Christ and this made him sensitive to the needs of
fellow-believers.
Act.18:5 Now, as both Silas and Timothy came down from
Macedonia,
Paul was pressed in the word, certifying to the
Jews that Jesus is the Christ.
2Cor.1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ
Jesus, through the will of God,
and
brother Timothy, to the ecclesia of God which is in Corinth,
together with all the saints who are in the
whole of Achaia:
2Cor.1:19 for the Son of God, Jesus
Christ,
Who is being heralded among you through us—
through me and Silvanus and Timothy…
1Thes.3:6 Yet at present, because of Timothy's coming to us from you,
and bringing us the evangel of your faith
and your love,
Phil.2:19-23 Now I am expecting, in the Lord
Jesus,
to send Timothy
to you quickly,
that I also may be of good cheer when I know of
your concerns.
20 For I have no one equally sensitive,
who will
be so genuinely solicitous of your concerns,
21 for all are seeking that which is their own,
not that which is Christ Jesus'.
22 Now you know his testedness,
that, as a
child with a father, he slaves with me for the evangel.
23 This one, indeed, then, I am expecting
to send--
as ever I may be perceiving my course from the
things about me--forthwith.
2Tim.2:2 And what things you hear from me
through many witnesses,
these commit to faithful men, who shall be
competent to teach others also.
There are many distractions that face young men such
as Timothy. Paul directs and encourages him to focus on the work at hand
and to refrain from involvement in unproductive discussions and arguments
no matter how learned and ‘scientific’ these may appear to be.
1Tim.1:18,19 This charge I am committing to you,
child Timothy,
according to the preceding prophecies over you,
that in them you may be warring the ideal
warfare,
19 having faith and a good conscience,
which some, thrusting away, have made shipwreck
as to the faith;
1Tim.3:14,15 These things I am writing to you,
though expecting to come to you more
quickly, 15 yet, if I should be
tardy,
that you may be perceiving how one must
behave in God's house,
which is the ecclesia of the living God,
the pillar and base of the truth.
1Tim.6:11-14 Now you, O man of God, flee from these things:
yet pursue righteousness, devoutness, faith,
love,
with endurance, suffering, and meekness.
12 Contend the ideal contest of the
faith.
Get hold of eonian life, for which you
were called,
and you avow the ideal avowal in the sight of
many witnesses.
13 I am charging you in the sight of God,
Who is vivifying all,
and of Jesus Christ, Who testifies in the ideal
avowal before Pontius Pilate,
14 that you keep this precept unspotted,
irreprehensible,
unto the advent of our Lord, Christ Jesus,
1Tim.6:20,21 O Timothy, that which is committed to you, guard,
turning aside from the profane prattlings
and antipathies of falsely named
"knowledge,"
21 which some are professing. As to the
faith, they swerve.
22. I,
Tertius, the writer of the epistle, am greeting you in the Lord.
Tertius
Was
probably a professional scribe, such as to this day are employed to write letters
in the East. Paul, however, usually penned the concluding words of his
epistles. (Concordant Commentary)
Paul's amanuensis in writing his epistle to the
Romans. Paul's 'splinter in the
flesh' seems to have affected his eyes and, thus, his eyesight - thus
making it necessary that someone else write his words through dictation.
Paul wrote with his own hand only the closing salutation, his signature, to
confirm that the contents of these letters were actually his. (ISB Encyclopaedia, adapted)
2Cor.12:7-10 ….lest I should be lifted up
by the transcendence of the revelations,
there was given to me a splinter in the flesh, a messenger of Satan,
that he
may be buffeting me, lest I may be lifted up.
8 For this I entreat the Lord thrice, that it
should withdraw from me.
9 And He has protested to me,
"Sufficient for you is My grace, for My
power in infirmity is being perfected."
With the greatest relish, then, will I rather be
glorying in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ should be tabernacling
over me.
10 Wherefore I delight in infirmities, in
outrages, in necessities,
in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's
sake,
for, whenever I may be weak, then I am
powerful.
Gal.4:13-15 Now you are aware that
during an infirmity of the flesh I bring the evangel to
you formerly.
14 And your trial, in my flesh, you
do not scorn, neither do you loathe it,
but as a messenger of God you receive me, as
Christ Jesus.
15 Where, then, is your happiness? For I am
testifying to you,
that, if possible, gouging out your eyes,
you would give them to me.
Gal.6:11 Lo! with what size letters I write to you with my own hand!
1Cor.16:21 The salutation is by my hand--Paul's.
Col.4:18 The salutation is by my hand--Paul's….
2
Thes.3:17 The salutation is by my hand--Paul's--
which is a sign in every epistle: thus am I writing.
23. Greeting
you is Gaius, my host, and of the whole ecclesia.
Greeting you is Erastus, the administrator
of the city,
and Quartus, the brother.
Gaius
A Macedonian, Paul's fellow-traveller, and his host
at Corinth when he wrote his Epistle to the Romans. He with his household
were baptized by Paul (1Cor.1:14).
During a heathen outbreak against Paul at Ephesus the mob seized Gaius and
Aristarchus because they could not find Paul, and rushed with them into the
theatre. Some have identified this Gaius as the man of Derbe who
accompanied Paul into Asia on his last journey to Jerusalem.
Erastus
The "chamberlain" of the city of Corinth,
his usual place of abode (2Tim.4:20).
He was one of Paul's disciples. As treasurer of such a city he was a public
officer of great dignity, and his conversion to the gospel was accordingly
a proof of the wonderful success of the apostle's labours. A companion of
Paul at Ephesus, he was sent along with Timothy into Macedonia (Act.19:22). (ISB Encyclopaedia, adapted)
No verse 24
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECTION a -
Evangel: Hushed Up, Conciliation (16:25-27)
Balanced by SECTION A - Evangel: Made Known, Justification
(1:01-06)
25. Now to Him Who is able
to establish you in accord with my evangel,
and the heralding of Christ Jesus
in accord with the revelation of a secret
hushed in times eonian,
The
importance of this closing benediction is apparent from the fact that it
was written by the apostle with his own hand after Tertius had finished the
epistle. Paul characterizes the great themes of his epistle, my gospel and
the proclamation of Jesus Christ in accord with the revelation of a secret
hushed in times eonian (conciliation), in contrast with the gospel of God
(1:1) which He promised before. The conciliation was not made known through
the ancient prophets, but through prophetic writings, such as this epistle
and 2 Corinthians. It is of principal importance that we see the point the
apostle makes here, for otherwise we shall not appreciate the unique,
distinctive character of the conciliation, which is first set forth in this
epistle. The teaching of the fifth to the eighth chapters and especially
the eleventh chapter is absolutely unknown in the prophets. In the latter
all blessing comes to the nations through Israel as the channel. The
conciliation comes because Israel is thrust aside. The prophets would lead
us to infer that Israel's apostasy would bar all possibility of blessing to
the nations. The conciliation was a secret likely knew nothing of, for it
makes Israel's defection the ground of worldwide, unbounded blessing to the
nations until Israel is again in God's reckoning. Concordant
Commentary
'..able to establish you..'
No matter what our
contribution to the cause of propagating the evangel may be, no matter how
well it is received, effective establishment and growth of the individual
and of the ecclesia along the lines of the evangel that Paul was
commissioned to preach is dependent on God alone. This is God's Own claim.
Phil.1:6 having this same confidence,
that He Who undertakes a good work among you,
will be performing it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Act.20:32 And now I am committing you to God
and to the word of His grace,
which is able
to edify and give the enjoyment of an allotment
among all who have been hallowed.
Eph.3:20,21 Now to Him Who is able to do superexcessively
above all that we are
requesting or apprehending,
according to the power that is operating in
us,
21 to Him be the glory in the ecclesia and
in Christ Jesus
for all the generations of the eon of the eons!
Amen!
1Thes.3:13 to establish your hearts unblamable
in holiness
in front of our God and Father,
in the presence of our Lord Jesus with all His
saints.
2Thes.2:16,17 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ
Himself,
and God, our Father, Who loves us,
and is giving us an eonian consolation and a good
expectation in grace,
17 be consoling your hearts and establish you in every good work and word.
2Thes.3:3 Yet faithful is the Lord,
Who will be establishing
you and guarding you from the
wicked one.
1Cor.3:6,7 I plant, Apollos
irrigates, but God makes it grow up.
7 So that, neither is he who is planting
anything, nor he who is irrigating,
but God
Who makes it grow up.
Phil.2:12,13 … with fear and trembling,
be carrying your own salvation into effect,
13 for
it is God Who is operating in you
to will as well as to work for the sake of His delight.
Heb.7:25 … He is able to save to the uttermost those coming to God
through Him,
always being alive to be pleading for their
sake.
1Pet.5:10 Now the God of all grace,
Who calls you into His eonian glory in Christ,
while briefly suffering, He will be adjusting, establishing, firming,
founding you.
Jude
1:24,25 Now to Him Who is able to guard
you from tripping,
and to
stand you flawless in sight of His glory, in exultation,
25 to the only God, our Saviour,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
be glory, majesty, might and authority before
the entire eon,
now, as well as for all the eons. Amen!
'…in accord with my evangel..'
This is a somewhat
different phrasing from '…according
to my evangel…' found elsewhere. This speaks of a founding and
development of the believers along the lines of the evangel, in accord with
it, whereas the latter lays down some part of what the evangel consists of.
Paul was commissioned by
God to carry the evangel of the Uncircumcision to those of the
nations who are being called in this administration. To distinguish this
message from that of the Circumcision given through Peter and the
other apostles of Christ (appointed at the start of Christ’s ministry among
the lost sheep of the house of Israel), Paul calls it his evangel.
Rom.2:16 in the day when God will be judging
the hidden things of humanity,
according
to my evangel, through Jesus Christ.
2Tim.2:8,9 Remember Jesus Christ, Who
has been roused from among the dead,
is of the seed of David, according to my evangel,
9 in which I am suffering evil unto bonds as a
malefactor--
but the word of God is not bound.
'…and the heralding of Christ Jesus in
accord with the revelation…'
This heralding of Christ Jesus is different from that
preached before Paul received his
message for transmission. In this evangel there is no difference in status
and privilege between those being called, whether they are Jews or of the
nations. It is a message that does not accord with human wisdom and, hence,
those being called have need of a special gift from God to accept it and obey it. An
application of principles that accord with human wisdom can only inject
error and confusion, and give rise to a distorted and garbled concoction
that is neither the evangel of the Uncircumcision nor that of the
Circumcision. The result of such a corruption will not be God's message to
anyone but a masquerade and caricature of His truth, in short, an
abomination!
2Cor.4:5 For we are not
heralding ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord,
yet ourselves your slaves because of Jesus,
2Cor.1:19 …the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
Who is being heralded among you …
1Cor.1:23,24 yet we are heralding Christ
crucified,
to Jews, indeed, a snare, yet to the nations stupidity,
24 yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of
God,
2Cor.11:4 For if, indeed, he who
is coming
is heralding
another Jesus whom we do not herald,
or you are obtaining a different spirit, which
you did not obtain,
or a
different evangel, which you do not receive,
you are bearing with him ideally.
Gal.1:6-9 I am marveling that
thus, swiftly,
you are transferred
from that which calls you in the grace of Christ,
to a
different evangel, 7 which is not another, except it be
that some who are disturbing you want also to distort the evangel of Christ.
8 But if ever we also, or a messenger out
of heaven,
should be bringing an evangel to you beside that which we bring to you,
let him be
anathema!
9 As we have declared before and at
present I am saying again,
if anyone is bringing you an evangel beside that which you accepted,
let him be
anathema!
'..a secret hushed..'
It is based on a secret unrevealed before then.
There was not even a trace of its
grandeur before. It is so different in essence and scope that Paul, and
Barnabas at that time, had to be severed
from the other Jewish believers at Antioch - whose evangel concerned the
advent of the kingdom of God - for its special, different, ministry and
administration.
1Cor.2:7-13 but we are speaking
God's wisdom in a secret,
wisdom which
has been concealed,
which God designates before--before the eons, for our glory,
8 which not one of the chief men of this eon knows,
for if they know, they would not crucify
the Lord of glory.
9 But, according as it is written,
That which the
eye did not perceive,
and the
ear did not hear,
and to which the
heart of man did not ascend--
whatever God makes ready for those who are
loving Him.
10 Yet to us God reveals them
through His spirit,
for the spirit is searching all, even the depths
of God.
11 For is any of humanity acquainted with
that which is human
except the spirit of humanity which is in it?
Thus also, that which is of God no one knows,
except the spirit of God.
12 Now we obtained, not the spirit of the
world, but the spirit which is of God,
that we may be perceiving that which is
being graciously given to us by God,
13 which we are speaking also, not with
words taught by human wisdom,
but with those taught by the spirit,
matching spiritual blessings with
spiritual words.
Other secrets are made known later, culminating in the
revelation through the Perfection Epistles.
Eph.1:9-12 making known to us the secret of His will
(in accord with His delight, which He purposed
in Him)
10 to have an administration of the complement of the eras,
to head up
all in the Christ--both that in the heavens
and that on the earth--
11 in Him in Whom our lot was cast also,
being designated
beforehand according to the purpose of the One
Who is operating all in accord with the counsel
of His will,
12 that we
should be for the laud of His glory,
who are pre-expectant in the Christ.
Eph.3:3-7 for by revelation the secret is made known to me
(according as I write before, in brief, 4 by which you who are reading
are able to apprehend my understanding in the
secret of the Christ,
5 which, in other generations, is not
made known to the sons of humanity
as it was now
revealed to His holy apostles and prophets):
in spirit
6 the nations are to be joint
enjoyers of an allotment,
and a joint
body, and joint partakers of
the promise in Christ Jesus,
through the evangel 7 of which I became the dispenser,
in accord with the gratuity of the grace of God,
which is granted to me in accord with His
powerful operation.
Eph.3:8-12 To me, less than the least of all
saints, was granted this grace:
to bring the evangel of the untraceable riches of Christ to the nations,
9 and to enlighten all as to what is the administration of the secret,
which has been concealed from the eons in God, Who creates all,
10 that now
may be made known to the sovereignties
and the authorities among the celestials, through the ecclesia,
the multifarious wisdom of God,
11 in accord with the purpose of the eons,
which He makes in Christ Jesus, our Lord;
12 in Whom we have boldness and access with
confidence, through His faith.--
Col.1:26-29 the secret which has
been concealed from the eons and
from the generations,
yet now
was made manifest to His saints,
27 to whom God wills to make known
what are the glorious riches of this secret among the nations,
which is: Christ
among you, the expectation of glory--
28 Whom we are announcing,
admonishing every man and teaching every man in
all wisdom,
that we should be presenting every man mature in
Christ Jesus;
29 for which I am toiling also, struggling in
accord with His operation,
which is operating in me with power.
Phil.3:20,21 For our realm is inherent
in the heavens,
out of which we are awaiting a Saviour also, the
Lord, Jesus Christ,
21 Who will transfigure the body of our
humiliation,
to conform it to the body of His glory,
in accord with the operation which enables Him
even to subject all to Himself
26. yet
manifested now and through prophetic scriptures,
according to the injunction of the eonian God
being made known to all nations for
faith-obedience--
According to the directive
of God, Who controls all operations during each of the eons, what had been
a secret, hitherto, is now disclosed to all the nations so that they can
come to faith-obedience.
Tit.1:1-3 Paul, a slave of God,
yet an apostle of Jesus Christ,
in accord with the faith of God's chosen,
and a
realization of the truth, which accords with devoutness,
2 in expectation of life eonian, which
God, Who does not lie,
promises
before times eonian, 3 yet manifests His word in its own eras
by heralding, with which I was entrusted,
according to the injunction of God, our
Saviour,
2Tim.1:9-11 Who saves us and calls us with a
holy calling,
not in accord with our acts,
but in
accord with His own purpose and the grace
which is given
to us in Christ Jesus before times
eonian,
10 yet now
is being manifested through the advent of our Saviour, Christ Jesus,
Who, indeed, abolishes death,
yet illuminates life and incorruption through
the evangel
11 of which I was appointed a herald and an
apostle
and a teacher of the nations.
Act.26:16-18 for I was seen by you for
this,
to fix upon you before for a deputy and a
witness
both of what you have perceived
and that in which I will be seen by you,
17 extricating you from the people
and from the
nations, to whom I am commissioning you,
18 to open their eyes,
to turn them
about from darkness to light and
from the authority of Satan to God, for them to get a pardon of sins
and an allotment among those who have been
hallowed by faith that is in Me.'
Rom.1:5-7 Jesus Christ, our Lord,
through Whom we obtained grace and apostleship for faith-obedience among all the nations, for His name's
sake,
6 among whom are you also, the called of
Jesus Christ:
7 to all who are in Rome, beloved by God,
called saints:
Rom.15:18-20 For I am not daring to speak
any of what Christ does not effect through me for the obedience of the nations,
in word and work, 19 in the power of signs and miracles,
in the power of God's spirit, so that, from
Jerusalem and around unto Illyricum,
I have completed the evangel of the Christ.
20 Yet thus I am ambitious to be bringing
the evangel where Christ is not named
lest I may be building on another's foundation,
There is no trace of this
faith-obedience among the nations prior to Paul's ministry to them. So, the
phrase '…through prophetic scriptures…'
may refer to prophecy given during
his tenure.
Act.13:46-48 Being bold, both Paul
and Barnabas, say,
"To you first was it necessary that the
word of God be spoken.
Yet, since, in fact, you are thrusting it away,
and are judging yourselves not worthy of eonian
life,
lo! we are turning to the nations.
47 For thus the Lord has directed us:
I have appointed Thee for `a light of the
nations;
for Thee to be for salvation as far as the
limits of the earth.'"
48 Now on hearing this, the nations
rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord,
and they believe, whoever were set for life
eonian.
Act.18:6-8 Now at their resisting and
blaspheming,
shaking out his garments, he said to them,
"Your blood be on your head!
Clear am I! From now on I shall go to the
nations."..…
And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed
and were baptized.
Act.28:28 Let it be known to you,
then,
that to the nations was dispatched this
salvation of God, and they will hear.
Death is being abolished -
which results in all being vivified, and God will be the All of
every one (1Cor.15:22-28). The body of Christ will be 'snatched away' into
the air to be with the Lord (1Thes.4:13-18) and rescued out of the path of
God's indignation on the sons of stubbornness (1Thes.1:10; 5:9). These are
just some of the prophecies
concerning the body of Christ, never ever given before in God's revelation.
It is that:
Eph.3:10,11 that now may be made known
to the sovereignties and the authorities among
the celestials,
through
the ecclesia,
the
multifarious wisdom of God,
11 in accord with the purpose of the eons,
which He makes in Christ Jesus, our Lord;
Col.2:2,3 that their hearts may be consoled, being united in love,
and to all
the riches of the assurance of understanding,
unto a
realization of the secret of the God and Father, of Christ,
3 in Whom all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge are concealed.
27. to the only, and wise God, through Christ Jesus,
be glory for the eons of the eons. Amen!
Paul ends his letter with reverent reference to the
God Who is able to establish, and to strengthen and confirm those being
called, in the evangel which he was preaching concerning the revelation of
the secret which had been hidden hitherto but was now being revealed to all
nations for faith-obedience.
What else can there be said
when faced with such wonderful revelation, with such a glorious expectation
concerning the whole of creation, with such a wise, just, and loving God -
except to join whole-heartedly with Paul in his doxology.
Rom.11:33-36
O, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and
the knowledge of God!
How inscrutable are His judgments, and
untraceable His ways!
34 For, who
knew the mind of the Lord? or, who
became His adviser?
35 or, who
gives to Him first, and it will be repaid him?
36 seeing that out of Him and through
Him and for Him is all:
to Him be the glory for the eons! Amen!
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