Living by Faith - Romans

The Church in Rome

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Living by Faith

Lesson: 61-64

Genre: Talk

Track: 061

Dictation Name: RR311ZF61

Location/Venue:

Year: ?

Let us worship God. Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. The hour cometh and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

Let us pray. Oh Lord our God, we give thanks unto Thee for all Thy blessings, which are new every morning. We thank Thee that in all our adversities an our experiences, Thou art at work, to make all things work together for good, to draw us closer to Thee, to lead us into all righteousness and truth in Jesus Christ, and to make us strong by Thy grace. Bless us now by Thy word and by Thy Spirit, and grant that we may behold wonderous things out of Thy law; in Jesus name amen.

Our scripture is Romans 16:1-18. Romans 16:1-18, our subject: The Church in Rome.

“16 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:

2 That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.

3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:

4 Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.

5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.

6 Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us.

7 Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

8 Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord.

9 Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.

10 Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus' household.

11 Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord.

12 Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord.

13 Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.

14 Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them.

15 Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them.

16 Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.

17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”

Paul had not yet been in Rome, at least since his conversion; it is possible that prior to his conversion he had been in Rome. But the community in Rome had many of his converts. Paul in these verses sends greetings to very dear friends; their number alone makes up a sizeable congregation. Some churches had meetings in their homes, some of these men had turned their homes into churches. We see references to this in verses 5, 10, 11, 14, and 15. So there were possibly five congregations, all apparently a product of Paul’s ministry.

Moreover, the letter is sent to Rome by a traveler, Phebe, referred to in verses 1 and 2. She is called a “diakon tes ekklesias,” a servant or deaconess of the assembly at Cenchrea, a port of Corinth.

Now Phebe is a pagan name in origin, and she was apparently a gentile convert. She was apparently an older woman with some means, an important personage. In verse two we encounter the phrase: “A succourer of many.” The word ‘succourer’ in Greek is prostatis, usually a legal term for a public defender, for resident aliens with no civil rights.

Thus, Phebe was a person of note, she represented, legally, the Christians in court. When Paul tells them that “receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints,” and “assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you,” again the word ‘assist’ is related to the word ‘prostatis,’ it means to stand by, it is a legal term for someone in court. So Paul is telling the Christians in Rome: “Some of you have your influence, you have abilities, you have position. Phebe is there on business, assist her in court.’ This is the first time, in fact the only time perhaps in the New Testament that we have a reference to a deaconess, but the apostolic constitution has many such references. This tells us something about the early church, in fact this whole passage tells us a great deal about the church. One of the myths that enemies of the faith has propagated is that the early church was made up of slaves, of the lowest of the lower classes. We have this implication in (Plenes?) letter to the emperor, and pagan and non-Christian writers ever since have made such statements.

But we find something very different as we look at this text. Phebe is obviously a person of importance. She is a woman of education, she functioned as a lawyer; in a sense she was the first Rutherford foundation that the church ever had, because she made it her work to defend persecuted Christians.

These verses make it clear to us that the converts to the faith came from all classes. But to deal with the well to do, first of all: In verse three we encounter “Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus.” In Acts 18:2, 26 we learn that these two were banished from Rome by Claudius with other Jews when he banished all Jews from the capital. They met Paul in Corinth. In Corinth they also instructed in the faith Apollos, a Jewish disciple of John the Baptist. When Paul wrote to the 1st Corinthians from Philippi, he sent the Christians in Corinth greetings from Priscilla and Aquila, and from the congregation meeting in their home.

So we see that they had residences in Rome, in Corinth, and also in Philippi. But we find in another letter of Paul that they were apparently also at Ephesus. We find references to that in Acts 18:18, 19:24-26. They left Corinth with Paul for Ephesus, where according to 2 Timothy 4:19 they apparently had a church as well. Four congregations, meeting in the four residences of this one, well to do couple.

So, thus far, just in three verses we see first; evidence of a legal defense operation under at least one person, Phebe; second, we see home churches under the auspices of prominent Christians.

Then third, Paul has also been attacked by many unbelievers, and sometimes by believers, as giving a subordinate place to women, downgrading them unnecessarily, and so on. What Paul says is that in the family and in the church, women are to have a subordinate place, but he does not downgrade women. His view of women is very sound, we see his affection for them in his appreciation of their work in the church in these verses, as well as elsewhere; not only Phebe, but Mary, Tryphena and Tryphosa, Julia, Priscilla, he refers to Rufus mother as “My mother also” because of his appreciation for what she had done for him.

Rufus, incidentally, is the son of Simon the Cyrenian, whom we find referred to in Mark 15:21, the man who in Jerusalem on a pilgrimage was made to carry Christ’s cross by the Romans, drafted for it. Then fourth, we encounter a number of names that were very common as slave names. This does not mean that all of them were necessarily slaves, but they may have been freed men, ex-slaves. Rufus for example was commonly a slave name, Ampliatus, also, Persis; Phlegon, was not only a slave name, a very disrespectful one, but it was commonly used apparently as a name for dogs. But here he is spoken of very respectfully by Paul. Hermas, Hermes, Stachys, Urbane, all of these were common slave names. So we have very prominent people, and we have slaves and/or free men.

Then fifth these names can be classified as both Jewish and Gentile, indicating the unity there under the Pauline influence.

Then there is another factor, sixth we must say, Paul speaks very highly and favorably, most appreciatively of these people; beginning with Priscilla and Aquila: “My helpers in Christ.” Andronicus and Junia “are of note among the apostles.” Paul gives credit where credit is due. He calls a number of them fellow workers, important in the faith. At the same time, Paul knew his authority; he only used his authority, and then without a moments hesitation, when an issue of the faith was at stake. At that point Paul laid down the authority and said: ‘This is it’ and brooked no opposition. But apart from critical issues, Paul was normally open to all.

Then, seventh, we find that Paul apparently had relatives in Rome who were Christians. Now some have raised the question, when he says: ‘my kinsmen’ does he not mean fellow Israelites or Jews? And the answer to that is, obviously not. Because he does not so refer to everyone here who is a Jew as ‘my kinsmen.’ Priscilla and Aquila were Jewish, but Paul does not call them kinsmen; he speaks often of them, most glowingly, but here he says: “my helpers in Christ Jesus.”

So that, those whom he terms kinsmen are his relatives by blood, and are believers. Andronicus, Junia, in Christ before me, he says of the two of them. Herodian, Lucius, Jason, Sosipater, and so on. These are relatives by blood, some converted before himself. This indicates a common fact at that time, the division created by the faith in family.

Then 8th, in vereses 17 and 18, Paul speaks about heretics. “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”

Now Paul does not say: ‘You have heretics among you,’ he is warning them that heretics are to be avoided when they appear. He is preparing them for them. He says, first, that they are men who cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrines which ye have learned; then second, they are men who do not serve Christ but their own belly, that is their advancement and their advantage.

Then third, Paul makes a very important point, and makes it strongly; a point made elsewhere also. He says they are very appealing because of their good works and fair speeches, which deceive the simple.

Paul says that men who are not concerned about the faith and the Lord, are ready therefore to please men rather than to please God. Honest men are more concerned with pleasing God than man. And this is why Paul makes the distinction. He makes clear in writing to the Corinthians for example that: ‘I don’t come out looking like the pleasant character here.’ Why? ‘Because I feel I have a duty to lay down the law to you, to discipline you, to order you to excommunicate someone, to tell you where you are wrong. So I look badly compared to others, and some of you are ready to be very hostile to me as a result.’ And so Paul makes clear, the heretic is more interested in pleasing men, than pleasing God. And so by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Now Paul has a simple solution, finally. He says avoid them, literally, turn away from them. No argument, that is the implication; no discussion. Just separate yourself from them. Men are not converted by arguments.

As Calvin said of this passage, “Heretics ingratiate themselves by a bland address.” And Calvin faced the same problem with certain heretics that he had to deal with, including the Libertines, in that they were bland and pleasing, and he seemed to come out by contrast very harsh. They substituted courtesy and manners for the truth, and pleasing men instead of pleasing God. Again and again in the New Testament we have this admonition, that we are to separate ourselves from heretics. At the same time Paul tells the churches, when some raise the question: ‘What about our association with unbelievers?’ and he says: ‘No, this is a different thing. You are not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, as in marriage; but you are not to separate from them, else must we needs go out of this world,’ he says. ‘And we have a mission to them, and a witness to make by every facet, every aspect of our lives.’ But at the same time where heretics are concerned, the demand is, over and over again in the New Testament, separation. Paul puts it very simply: “Avoid them.” Avoid them, and the word, literally, ‘turn away.’ Don’t discuss things with them. The faith is not for disputation, as Calvin said, and disputation accomplishes none of God’s purposes.

Thus in these few verses, Paul tells us a great deal about the nature of the church, how from the earliest days these people had a defense fund. The church in recent years has fallen short on this aspect, and is reviving. We saw last week that they had a fund for the relief of needy believers; again the church in this century departed from this, it is just beginning to return to it. Then we see again the high responsibility taken by the laity, in that, when there was no apostle, no pastor, the church began and it spread in the early generations, under the influence of lay-leaders, Priscilla and Aquila, an outstanding example of that, a couple that were responsible for four congregations, meeting in four different cities; and since we know this, that Paul went to the urban centers and there began congregations, these congregations then were expected to reach out to the villages and rural areas surrounding them. How many congregations went out from Priscilla and Aquila’s work we don’t know, but no doubt a great many. Their faith must have communicated the same zeal to others, and so the church had prospered, not only under their immediate roof, but unto others as well.

We see here also the unity of these peoples, Gentiles and Jews under Paul’s influence, slaves and freedmen, and very wealthy people, meeting together.

The church thus has a responsibility, to restore itself again to the kind of character that the New Testament church began, to see its responsibility to all the world and to its own fellowship, to see its responsibility to reorder all of life in terms of the whole word of God. Let us pray.

Oh Lord our God, we thank Thee for Thy word, and we pray that we may be instructed by Thy word and by Thy Spirit, and that the church in our day may be revived to its mission, to its calling, and that it might again reorder all of life in terms of Thy governing word. Bless us to this end, in His name, amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? Yes?

[Otto Scott] Well, I thought about our discussion last week on Paul, and I thought that part of the reason that there is a difference of opinion on Paul is that he speaks in the abstract most of the time. Jesus spoke in terms of parables and people, metaphors, illustrations, and so on. Paul does not illustrate, he speaks impersonally, according to (?) and there is less appeal.

[Rushdoony] Yes, God uses all of us in terms of what we are, and Paul was precisely the kind of man for the task God commissioned him to do. And it is significant that so much of the New Testament comes from the hand of Paul; Paul says that people were not impressed by him when they saw him: ‘So this is the great Paul from so prominent a family and so prominent a scholar.’ Well, as Paul said, he was not impressive, he was apparently short, he had been stoned, he had been shipwrecked, he had been thrown to the lions, so he was a battered person in appearance, and apparently his delivery was not the best. And yet, he was the man that God used to bring the faith to Europe, to give us a large portion of the New Testament, and to set the framework of Christianity.

Now it is understandable why he is so much hated, because Paul is at the same time a very uncompromising man, and perhaps the Lord is saying this is what is required, that it is men like Paul that are needed. In our day we tend to prefer, and we elect bland men, precisely the kind that Calvin said were the dangerous men, bland men. Think of the presidential candidates that we have seen in recent years from both parties, bland men; but Paul gives us a different kind of person. Any other questions or comments?

Well, if not let us bow our heads now in prayer.

Oh Lord our God, we thank Thee that Thou hast made us so rich, that all the heritage of the saints of the Old Testament, of the New Testament, and of centuries since then, who have spoken for Thee, and fought for Thee, and made possible those things, those riches, which are ours in Christ. Grant oh Lord that we who were born rich because of them may not leave the world poor because we have been here; but that we may add to the growth of Thy kingdom and the riches of Thy realm.

And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, amen.