The Word Is Alive Romans

1. The Word Is AliveRomans Chapter Sixteen Narrated by Tony Gillon

2. Chapter Sixteen • Romans 15:14–16:23 - The extension of God’s righteousness through the Pauline mission • (continues/concludes)

3. The Pauline mission • Summary of Chapter Sixteen • Is Chapter 16 part of Romans?

4. The Pauline mission • Summary of Chapter Sixteen • Is Chapter 16 part of Romans? • Paul introduces Phoebe.

5. The Pauline mission • Summary of Chapter Sixteen • Is Chapter 16 part of Romans? • Paul introduces Phoebe. • Paul greets the Romans by name.

6. The Pauline mission • Summary of Chapter Sixteen • Is Chapter 16 part of Romans? • Paul introduces Phoebe. • Paul greets the Romans by name. • Paul gives a warning to the Romans.

7. The Pauline mission • Summary of Chapter Sixteen • Is Chapter 16 part of Romans? • Paul introduces Phoebe. • Paul greets the Romans by name. • Paul gives a warning to the Romans. • Final doxology.

8. The Pauline mission • Romans 16:1-27 - Personal greetings

9. The Pauline mission • Romans 16:1-27 - Personal greetings • Verses 1-23 form the accepted basis of this chapter and are dealt with as a single section. • Verse 24 does not appear in the NIV translation but is included here without comment.

10. The Pauline mission • Romans 16:1-27 - Personal greetings • Verses 25-27 are a doxology, formed as a single sentence in the Greek, that many scholars accept was added by someone other than Paul at some point within the next 150 years.

11. The Pauline mission • Romans 16:1–23 – Appreciation and greetings to co-workers in the Gospel

12. The Pauline mission • Romans 16:1–23 – Appreciation and greetings to co-workers in the Gospel • Paul warmly greets those he knows, either personally or by reputation, in Rome who are involved in ministry, showing the love that existed among Christians.

13. The Pauline mission • Paul identifies 25 Roman Christians, the most extensive list in any of his letters. The only other letter with a similar listing is Colossians, the other church Paul wrote to before visiting.

14. The Pauline mission • Paul identifies 25 Roman Christians, the most extensive list in any of his letters. The only other letter with a similar listing is Colossians, the other church Paul wrote to before visiting. • By identifying at least 5 church groups, Paul has led scholars to conclude there were probably about 100 believers in Rome at that time.

15. The Pauline mission • 1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchreæ.

16. The Pauline mission • 1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchreæ. • Through Paul’s letters it is clear to see he was an intelligent man, who was both wise and discerning, but who was also a loving man, caring so much for the church and the individuals that comprise it. He had expressed his love for the Romans, many of whom he had not yet met.

17. The Pauline mission • He starts this chapter by commending Phoebe from Cenchreæ to the Roman congregations.

18. The Pauline mission • He starts this chapter by commending Phoebe from Cenchreæ to the Roman congregations. • One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message (Acts 16:14).

19. The Pauline mission • Phoebe appears to have had business that would take her to Rome, a place perhaps foreign to her, and so Paul requests the Romans, but in a way that will hardly be refused, that they greet, accommodate and care for her while she is with them. It appears that she was the bearer of the letter he was writing to them.

20. The Pauline mission • There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).

21. The Pauline mission • There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). • Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother (Mark 3:35).

22. The Pauline mission • Scholars debate whether Phoebe is a servant in a general sense, or whether she served as a deacon, since the Greek word diakonon can mean either servant.

23. The Pauline mission • Scholars debate whether Phoebe is a servant in a general sense, or whether she served as a deacon, since the Greek word diakonon can mean either servant. • For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer (Romans 13:4).

24. The Pauline mission • For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs (Romans 15:8).

25. The Pauline mission • For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs (Romans 15:8). • What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe — as the Lord has assigned to each his task (1 Corinthians 3:5).

26. The Pauline mission • If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. • (1 Timothy 4:6).

27. The Pauline mission • Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons. (Philippians 1:1).

28. The Pauline mission • Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons. (Philippians 1:1). • Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. (Continued).

29. The Pauline mission • They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well (1 Timothy 3:8-12).

30. The Pauline mission • The masculine ending in the Greek favours the translation as servant and not deaconess. • As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church (1 Corinthians 14:33-35).

31. The Pauline mission • Cenchreæ was a port town just 6.5 miles or 10.5 km east of Corinth and was Corinth’s main port to the Aegean Sea. • The Roman harbour of Cenchreæ is still visible, although largely submerged, and excavators have identified warehouses, fish tanks, and what they believe may be temples to Isis and Aphrodite.

32. The Pauline mission • 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me.

33. The Pauline mission • 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me. • Paul calls upon the church to assist Phoebe since she has helped so many. Phoebe served as a great help, benefactor or patron in some translations, probably with financial assistance and hospitality.

34. The Pauline mission • The list itself has several interesting features: • Some he knew personally.

35. The Pauline mission • The list itself has several interesting features: • Some he knew personally. • The majority were Gentiles.

36. The Pauline mission • The list itself has several interesting features: • Some he knew personally. • The majority were Gentiles. • There is a high proportion of women listed.

37. The Pauline mission • 3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus.

38. The Pauline mission • 3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. • Priscilla, referred to as Prisca in many translations, and Aquila are well known from elsewhere in the NT.

39. The Pauline mission • There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them (Acts 18:2–3).

40. The Pauline mission • Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreæ because of a vow he had taken. (Acts 18:18).

41. The Pauline mission • He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. • (Acts 18:26).

42. The Pauline mission • The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.(1 Corinthians 16:19).

43. The Pauline mission • The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.(1 Corinthians 16:19). • Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus (2 Timothy 4:19).

44. The Pauline mission • Why Priscilla is named first so frequently? • Was it her prominence? • Or social standing? • Or that she was converted first? • Or was it out of courtesy? • Or a mere stylistic variation?

45. The Pauline mission • Spurgeon on Priscilla and Aquila: “When two loving hearts pull together they accomplish wonders. What different associations cluster around the names of ‘Priscilla and Aquila’ from those which are awakened by the words ‘Ananias and Sapphira’! There we have a husband and a wife conspiring in hypocrisy, and here a wife and a husband united in sincere devotion”.

46. The Pauline mission • 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.

47. The Pauline mission • Perhaps Priscilla and Aquila risked their lives when Paul was in danger during the riots in Ephesus, see Acts 19:23–41.

48. The Pauline mission • Perhaps Priscilla and Aquila risked their lives when Paul was in danger during the riots in Ephesus, see Acts 19:23–41. • If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die (1 Corinthians 15:32).

49. The Pauline mission • We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (Continued).

50. The Pauline mission • He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favour granted us in answer to the prayers of many (2 Corinthians 1:8–11).