Trinity Evangel Church

One of the most frequent questions asked by God's people is, "How long?" It’s more than a question, it’s a complaint, and yet it is *a complaint of faith*. The complaint has no teeth if there is no God to answer the question. And that God must have power and be righteous and have already revealed enough for people with faith to see that how it should be isn't how it is. How long until God makes things *right*?

This question opens the burden of the prophet Habakkuk. And while the LORD gave this vision with particular people/nations in mind, and while the first level fulfillments have already taken place, the situation in Habakkuk's day bears much similarity to our own. The realities of God's sovereignty, justice, and salvation are very much still at stake.

At least four parts of this three chapter minor prophet are familiar to us. The last few verses (3:17-19) are often quoted at weddings, fitting with a “for better or worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health" vibe. We also sing about all the earth in silence (2:20). We long for the earth to be “filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (2:14). And especially because that is what we want, Habakkuk 2:4 resonates the most: “the righteous shall live by his faith.”

This was the whole theme of Romans according to Paul (Romans 1:16-17). The gospel saves believers, and saved believers keep on believing. Faith is life, from start to finish. The author of Hebrews also quotes Habakkuk 2:4 in terms of our confidence and courage and not being cowards (Hebrews 10:38).

Faith was necessary for Habakkuk and any of the righteous. Faith isn’t only the first breath, it is the blood and bones of our life.

The book has two main divisions, both of which name "Habakkuk the prophet." In 1:1 the prophet has an "oracle" and in 3:1 he has a “prayer.” The oracle includes two complaints, the second caused by the Lord's answer to the first, and the second answer includes five woes. The dialogue between Habakkuk and the Lord take up the first two chapters. The entire last chapter was Habakkuk's submission to the Lord and was intended to be sung, as shown by the final words.

This morning we'll meet the prophet and consider his problem in context. It's more than facts of history, it is food for hope.

# The Prophet’s Burden (verse 1)

There is not much of an intro or background on Habakkuk.

> The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. (Habakkuk 1:1 ESV)

Habakkuk is the name of **the prophet**, and all we get is his title. There's nothing else about this prophet in the Old Testament, though based on the content of this book he must have been a contemporary of Nahum and Zephaniah (the books before and after Habakkuk), as well as Jeremiah. This puts him in Israel when Josiah was King of Judah, near the last half of the 7th century BC.

**Oracle** is a typical word from the Lord, a message, a “prophecy” (NIV), a “pronouncement” (CSB). Sometimes translated "burden" (KJV); it’s a heavy/hard message. It came in the form of a vision because it was something Habakkuk **saw**.

These are small but vital details because it might seem as if Habakkuk's questions are personal. And they are. But the observations Habakkuk makes about Israel and Babylon and the future, as well as the responses from the Lord, are all revelation Habakkuk *received*. The prophecy is God’s Word, and so profitable for *us* as well.

# The (First) Complaint (verses 2-4)

Here is Habakkuk's complaint of faith. Two questions make up the prophets cries.

> O LORD, how long shall I cry for help,

> and you will not hear?

> Or cry to you “Violence!”

> and you will not save?

> (Habakkuk 1:2 ESV)

Habakkuk calls on the **LORD**, *Yahweh*, the name God gave to Israel when He made covenant with them. The prophet has been praying, this is not his first prayer. He’s wondering **how long shall I cry...or cry**, because it seems that the Lord is not replying.

Things are *bad*, and we’ll see more specifics in verses 3-4, but there is **Violence!** (a key word in Habakkuk, used here, the next verse, 1:9, 2:8 and twice in 2:17), such that God is needed for salvation. Why isn’t the Lord answering and stopping the damage and destruction?

> Why do you make me see iniquity,

> and why do you idly look at wrong?

> Destruction and violence are before me;

> strife and contention arise.

> (Habakkuk 1:3 ESV)

>

Three pairs of problems that are Habakkuk’s face. Can the Lord not see? Or does He see and **idly look**, doing nothing about it? **Why** is God just standing by?

**Iniquity** and **wrong**. The first word also has the idea of injustice, which, we only know about justice because of God to begin with. And so the second word relates to unjust actions, the consequences of violating the standard.

**Destruction** and **violence** are filling up his news feed, they are **before me**, all he can see. Violence is what he’s been crying out about (see verse 2), and the results are damaging beyond repair, ravaging and ruinous.

The third pair are **strife** and **contention**. Broken standards break society. It’s obvious, but sin makes stupid sinners. Ethics and morality are *relational*, before God, yes, but between one another. We can’t violate what is right toward another person and think that won’t start unraveling the whole into a mess, especially when no one stops it.

Why does the Lord “tolerate” (NIV) any of this?

> So the law is paralyzed,

> and justice never goes forth.

> For the wicked surround the righteous;

> so justice goes forth perverted.

> (Habakkuk 1:4 ESV)

Four lines of results. First, **law is paralyzed**, and this is fine translation, but the Hebrew verb carries the idea of making something cold, like one’s hand, so *numbed*, and ineffective, useless, or paralyzed. The law was supposed to *hold back* the violence and bring forth justice.

While many cultures/nations had some sort of laws, using the word Hebrew word *torah* for **law** shows that the corruption is in *Judah*. This is *internal* fraud, dishonesty, lawbreaking by judges. So “justice is never upheld” (NASB), no one seems to be getting what they deserve.

That leaves nowhere to go for the righteous, **the wicked surround** them, or “hem in” (NIV). When things are working, the righteous could appeal to the authorities and those who disobeyed would be punished, property could be restored. The process provides no protection anymore.

And **justice** is **perverted**, twisted; order becomes chaos. Justice comes out *crooked*.

# Conclusion

Though Habakkuk complains that the LORD was inattentive, He was actually already lining up world powers. Judgment was coming, which, turns out, would be even less comfortable than the injustice. God’s answer is that Judah *will be* punished. God is going to send the Babylonians (Chaldeans) per verse 6. It would be a surprise, and this helps us date Habakkuk itself.

Manasseh was king in Judah for 55 years, the most evil and idolatrous king of Judah, and then his son Amon ruled for two years following in Manasseh’s sins. But Assyria was the superpower in the Middle East during their reigns; so Habakkuk’s burden must come later. Josiah became king of Judah around 640 BC when he was only 8 years old. During Josiah’s rule righteousness was restored. He was already reforming the nation, and when workers repairing the temple found a copy of the Book of the Law, Josiah humbled himself and even more so and sought to lead for the Lord.

Josiah died in 609. Babylon rose under Nabopolassar and defeated Assyria at Nineveh, just before Josiah’s death, in 612. Then his son Nebuchadnezzar marched on Jerusalem three times: 605 - when Daniel was taken captive, again in 597 when King Jehoiakim was taken captive, and finally conquering Judah and taking even more captives.

So the cultural wickedness got bad *quickly*, shortly after 609, and Habakkuk could see the anxiety and agitation. The consequences were coming. This leads to Habakkuk’s “wait a second, though, how can an even *more* wicked people punish this (less) wicked, covenant people?”

The oracle of Habakkuk has *happened*; it’s history. Corruption for the covenant community (Judah) had catastrophic consequences. God will judge the wicked, and He will even use other wicked peoples to do it, as He determines is right.

The United States are not Israel/Judah. But, by way of application, our nation did know better, it’s in our books. We cannot claim ignorance of God or His standards. With Habakkuk we are allowed to cry for God’s justice. We should want the glory of the Lord to fill the earth. And as Christians we should remember that judgment begins with the household of God (1 Peter 4:17). With Habakkuk, the righteous shall live by faith.

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## Charge

When the foundations crumble, that is not the time to abandon hope, that’s when hope is potent. When the windows are broken, that’s not time to leave your trash on the floor. In other words, what should you do when so many things aren’t right? By faith YOU do what is right.

## Benediction:

> For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And

> “If the righteous is scarcely saved,

> what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

> Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (1 Peter 4:17–19 ESV)

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the greatest victory in history. The greatest enemy is not the devil but death; the devil uses death to cause fear. The greatest enemy is not sin; sin leads to death. The greatest enemy is not the world; the world system is dying and is throwing a fit about it on the way down. Jesus conquered the world, the flesh, and the devil, yes, but more than that He conquered death, and so we celebrate the stone rolled away from the tomb on that Sunday so long ago. We know what it means.

Knowing what it means does not mean that everything is easy. In fact, it is important to know what the empty tomb means because it is not easy. One reason it's not easy is because some people not only don’t celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, they hate it. The way of the world is death, and death hates life. In particular, death hates losing, and death is a loser. Jesus won.

In Christ's resurrection there is great comfort, and that comfort is necessary because there is great conflict. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead" (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). Sometimes it’s bad.

Paul faced affliction in his work, and even faced misunderstanding from the Corinthian Christians. Paul did not make a “painful visit” (2 Corinthians 2:1), but he did write them a letter “out of much affliction and anguish of heart” (2:4). He sent the letter with Titus and hoped that Titus could find out more directly how they were doing. Paul planned to meet Titus in Troas. But Titus wasn't there, and he was discouraged.

When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. (2 Corinthians 2:12-13)

This is quite a context. Paul went to Troas on purpose to preach, and he could tell that they were ready to hear him preach, and yet something was so off in his spirit that he would not go on preaching, and he left for another place. He was not at rest, so: restless. He was burdened, troubled.

I don't want to dwell on the apostle's deep discouragement except to set up the question: what consoles a depressed apostle? What does an apostle preach to himself when his spirit is upset? He remembers and rejoices in his participation in the triumph of Christ.

There are three parts to verses 14-16.

There are two related analogies that Paul applies to the resurrection.

But thanks [be] to God, [the One always triumph-leading] us in Christ, and [the One spreading] through us the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place.

What is a reasonable response to discouragement? Find something to thank God for. Track the two things God is doing.

First, God is the One always triumph-leading us in Christ. The ESV translates as “leads us in triumphal procession.” If you've read The 12 Caesars by Suetonius (which you would probably be more edified not to do), or Livy’s History of Rome or Josephus’ The Jewish War, you've read about Triumphs. Around 350 Triumphs are mentioned in various Roman writings. If you lived in Corinth, belonging to the Roman Empire in the first century, you would have known about them. Triumphs were events.

To triumph is to win, yes, but a Triumph was a special category of winning. Multiple major significant things were required in a military battle, and then multiple major significant things went into the victory parade through the streets of Rome. Among other things:

As for the parade:

God leads all believers, not just apostles and their associates, in Christ's triumph. The triumph is not the Second Coming, the triumph is that Sunday morning around 2,000 years ago. The triumph is Christ’s resurrection from the dead. The victory parade is marching through the streets of all nations (every place) and generations (always). We are not just bystanders, we're participants.

We, by application, are the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ. The parade included flowers as well as censors of incense. It's not hard to imagine how bad the smell might have been of dirty/unkempt prisoners plus animals as spoil or for sacrifice plus sweaty soldiers who hadn't changed clothes in months. The incense would have been welcome, like Axe Body Spray for the road.

While there are other illustrations about Christians as soldiers, here we are the smell good. We have the smell of Sunday, of resurrection, the fragrance from death to life.

We are not only a fragrance from death to life. Paul keeps the smelling analogy going.

For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.

Our “good smell" (εὐωδία), aroma and fragrance is of Christ, and because of verse 14, it is the aroma of His win over death, and with it over sin and demons and the world system and rebellion and hostility in all places. That aroma is to God and yet obviously not only something He smells. So in a Triumph the incense was to the General, for his glory and pleasure, but it was spread among people.

There are those who are being saved and those who are perishing. These are eternal distinctions. God has moved and is moving in the ones being saved, He has moved them from spiritual death to spiritual life, and we see that they will increase in that life unto eternal life. Those still in death, if they are not called out of death, will continue in spiritual death and increase in that life of death unto eternal death. Perishing is the final loss, the final defeat.

The phrases from death to death and from life to life are categorical. They're in the same construction as "from faith to faith" in Romans 1:17. Paired here in verse 16, we learn that:

Put yourself back in Rome during a Triumph. Think of the smells of the parade, and how different your associations would be depending on your position. If you were a soldier, you'd survived, you'd won, you were hearing the cheers, and you were headed home. If you were a captive, you'd lost, you were hearing the cheers against you, and you were headed toward prison, slavery, and/or execution. Even the "good" smells all belonged with defeat and death.

As with all rhetorical questions, the answer is obvious. But the facts are intended to encourage the feelings.

Who is sufficient for these things?

Sufficient or “adequate” means either, who can really grasp how great this triumph is, or who deserves to be part of the triumph, a part of the ongoing division between death and life?

We did not, could not, cause Christ to triumph. We did not, we could not, move ourselves from death to life. We do not, we can not, move others from death to life. We are, and will forever be, those who smell of Sunday.

When I say “the smell of Sunday” I mean that our lives are a fragrance of Christ’s triumph over death, and we follow His victory as an aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and those who smell the smell that increases their hate of conquering Christ.

To the degree we love Easter we cannot be loved by all.

And, with Paul, here is rest for our spirits. Thanks be to God! Christ is risen!

Christians, do not rely on yourselves but on God who raises the dead. He has already raised Christ, and has called you to follow in Christ’s triumph. You are the aroma of Christ. Thank God that He has put the smell of Sunday all over you.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

In order of testimonies:

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the greatest victory in history. The greatest enemy is not the devil but death; the devil uses death to cause fear. The greatest enemy is not sin; sin leads to death. The greatest enemy is not the world; the world system is dying and is throwing a fit about it on the way down. Jesus conquered the world, the flesh, and the devil, yes, but more than that He conquered death, and so we celebrate the stone rolled away from the tomb on that Sunday so long ago. We know what it means.

Knowing what it means does not mean that everything is easy. In fact, it is important to know what the empty tomb means because it is *not* easy. One reason it's not easy is because some people not only don’t celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, they *hate* it. The way of the world is death, and death *hates* life. In particular, death hates *losing*, and death is a loser. Jesus won.

In Christ's resurrection there is great comfort, and that comfort is necessary because there is great conflict. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead" (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). Sometimes it’s bad.

Paul faced affliction in his work, and even faced misunderstanding from the Corinthian Christians. Paul did *not* make a “painful visit” (2 Corinthians 2:1), but he did write them a letter “out of much affliction and anguish of heart” (2:4). He sent the letter with Titus and hoped that Titus could find out more directly how they were doing. Paul planned to meet Titus in Troas. But Titus wasn't there, and he was discouraged.

> When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. (2 Corinthians 2:12-13)

This is quite a context. Paul went to Troas on purpose to preach, *and* he could tell that they were ready to hear him preach, and yet something was so off in his spirit that he would not go on preaching, and he left for another place. He was **not at rest**, so: restless. He was burdened, troubled.

I don't want to dwell on the apostle's deep discouragement except to set up the question: what consoles a depressed apostle? What does an apostle preach to himself when his spirit is upset? He remembers and rejoices in his *participation* in the triumph of Christ.

There are three parts to verses 14-16.

# The Smell of Victory (verse 14)

There are two related analogies that Paul applies to the resurrection.

> But thanks [be] to God, [the One always triumph-leading] us in Christ, and [the One spreading] through us the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place.

What is a reasonable response to discouragement? Find something to thank God for. Track the two things God is doing.

First, God is the One always triumph-leading us in Christ. The ESV translates as “**leads us in triumphal procession**.” If you've read _The 12 Caesars_ by Suetonius (which you would probably be more edified *not* to do), or Livy’s _History of Rome_ or Josephus’ _The Jewish War_, you've read about Triumphs. Around 350 Triumphs are mentioned in various Roman writings. If you lived in Corinth, belonging to the Roman Empire in the first century, you would have known about them. Triumphs were *events*.

To triumph is to win, yes, but a Triumph was a special category of winning. Multiple major significant things were required in a military battle, and then multiple major significant things went into the victory parade through the streets of Rome. Among other things:

- The general must have had supreme military command and have won a major land or sea battle.

- The general must have killed at least 5,000 enemy soldiers in a single battle.

- The general must have ended the war successfully and brought his army back to Rome.

As for the parade:

- The procession started outside Rome through the Triumphal Gate, through the Forum, and ended at the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill.

- The procession included musicians, sacrificial animals, the spoils of war (statues, treasure, weapons, captives), soldiers, and the victorious general himself.

- At the temple, the general presented his laurel and offerings to Jupiter. Captives were often executed. The ceremony concluded with a feast for the magistrates and Senate.

God leads *all believers*, not just apostles and their associates, in Christ's triumph. The triumph is not the Second Coming, the triumph is that Sunday morning around 2,000 years ago. The triumph is Christ’s resurrection from the dead. The victory parade is marching through the streets of all nations (**every place**) and generations (**always**). We are not just bystanders, we're *participants*.

We, by application, are the **fragrance of the knowledge of Christ**. The parade included flowers as well as censors of incense. It's not hard to imagine how bad the smell might have been of dirty/unkempt prisoners plus animals as spoil or for sacrifice plus sweaty soldiers who hadn't changed clothes in months. The incense would have been welcome, like Axe Body Spray for the road.

While there are other illustrations about Christians as soldiers, here we are the smell good. We have the smell of Sunday, of resurrection, the fragrance from death to life.

# The Smell of Eternity (verses 15-16a)

We are not only a fragrance from death to life. Paul keeps the smelling analogy going.

> For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.

Our “good smell" (εὐωδία), **aroma** and **fragrance** is of Christ, and because of verse 14, it is the aroma of His win over death, and with it over sin and demons and the world system and rebellion and hostility in all places. That aroma is **to God** and yet obviously not only something He smells. So in a Triumph the incense was *to* the General, for his glory and pleasure, but it was spread among people.

There are **those who are being saved** and **those who are perishing**. These are *eternal* distinctions. God has moved and is moving in the ones being saved, He has moved them from spiritual death to spiritual life, and we see that they will increase in that life unto eternal life. Those still in death, if they are not called out of death, will continue in spiritual death and increase in that life of death unto eternal death. **Perishing** is the final loss, the final defeat.

The phrases **from death to death** and **from life to life** are categorical. They're in the same construction as "from faith to faith" in Romans 1:17. Paired here in verse 16, we learn that:

- It's one or the other, life or death.

- Death and life are not static, they increase and become more of their nature.

- The same smell works both directions.

Put yourself back in Rome during a Triumph. Think of the smells of the parade, and how different your associations would be depending on your position. If you were a soldier, you'd survived, you'd won, you were hearing the cheers, and you were headed home. If you were a captive, you'd lost, you were hearing the cheers against you, and you were headed toward prison, slavery, and/or execution. Even the "good" smells all belonged with defeat and death.

# The Response to Glory (verse 16b)

As with all rhetorical questions, the answer is obvious. But the facts are intended to encourage the feelings.

> Who is sufficient for these things?

**Sufficient** or “adequate” means either, who can really grasp how great this triumph is, or who deserves to be part of the triumph, a part of the ongoing division between death and life?

We did not, could not, cause Christ to triumph. We did not, we could not, move ourselves from death to life. We do not, we can not, move others from death to life. We are, and will forever be, those who smell of Sunday.

# Conclusion

When I say “the smell of Sunday” I mean that our lives are a fragrance of Christ’s triumph over death, and we follow His victory as an aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and those who smell the smell that increases their hate of conquering Christ.

To the degree we love Easter we cannot be loved by all.

And, with Paul, here is *rest for our spirits*. Thanks be to God! Christ is risen!

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## Charge

Christians, do not rely on yourselves but on God who raises the dead. He has already raised Christ, and has called you to follow in Christ’s triumph. You are the aroma of Christ. Thank God that He has put the smell of Sunday all over you.

## Benediction:

> But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

> Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:57–58 ESV)

One test of whether or not you understand something is if you can explain it in your own words. It's not only a helpful exercise to engage with the material, it's strategic for locating the point. If we assume that what we're reading is organized in order to reveal truth — which we can assume with the epistle of Paul to the Romans — then we expect that all the parts build into a whole.

I keep being not just surprised, but disappointed when I reach the last verse of a Bible book in a commentary and the next page is: Appendix A, or Topical Index, or Acknowledgments. What about the synthesis? What about the point? We spent all the time looking at the trees on our way through the orchard, and some of the trees had great fruit. Now that we can look back, how far did we come?

To me, not just a review but a rejoicing review is in order.

There were two phrases that stood out to me as summaries of the two main divisions of the letter. Those phrases stood out to me enough that I used them as my email signature in two different years. The first captures the doctrinal (though there's truth for practice) in chapters 1-11, and the second captures the practical (though there's principles of truth) in chapters 12-16.

I get this from Romans 1:16-17, arguable Paul’s own summary of the theme of the epistle. In the gospel is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.' (NASB)

While one day we won't need faith any longer, when we see face to face, we cannot live as Christians without it for even one day in these bodies.

Faith is the instrument of justification, and this undid Rome twice, first the paganism of the Roman Empire and then again the popery of the Roman Catholic world. In the 16th century the dominant worldview, which came from the teaching and worldview of the dominant worship, was that men could only be righteous through a combination of faith plus: faith plus their own works, faith plus some saint's extra good works, faith plus money that purchased a status, faith plus visiting/touching/kissing some special artifact. To be righteous by faith alone, that led to the single greatest church split ever, and we are still blessed by that proper division 500 years later.

That said, faith apart from works is not really our fight. We wear t-shirts and drink out of coffee mugs with sola fide printed on them. That doesn’t always mean we live from faith to faith.

Our fight is more faith vs sight, faith except for all the times we think we can fix it ourselves. We are people who get things done, who make things happen, who take responsibility. We are realists, pragmatists, “modern” men of math and material things. If there’s a problem, we’ll solve it. We’ve got bullet points, after all.

And then we see the second half of Romans 1 played out in front of us, and we thought cultural degradation should be done by now. More bullet points!

But consider the placement of Romans 1:18-32. We say that it shows the need for the gospel, and it does. Men do not meet God's standard for righteousness, in unrighteousness and ungodliness they suppress the truth, so they are guilty and need the gospel. So true.

But who did Paul write the explanation for? It wasn't an evangelistic tract for the pagans per se, it was encouragement for those who needed to live from faith to faith. He wrote about God's wrath so that the Christians in Rome would know what to tell their sinning neighbors, but also so that the Christians in Rome would not lose heart.

Our culture is schizo. Unbelievers want more and more material things, we want physical comfort and prosperity, and we figure all that is possible if we follow the right 7 Steps to Success. But when it comes to moral things, the same unbelievers think that's up for grabs, think and act and be whatever you want, and we figure any of it is possible, just follow your feelings.

What both those perspectives share is not not faith, certainly not saving faith, but an alternative faith, just that we don't call it "faith" because it seems like we have some sort of control.

If there is anything that Romans teaches us, beloved, it is that men are not in control. As Christians we cannot even control our own flesh (think the last half of Romans 7); men are slaves to sin or slaves of righteousness, but they are not their own.

It is God's will, by His eternal command, that the gospel go out, that faith would come by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. That faith confesses that Jesus is Lord. At what point in your Christian life do you not need to live in light of that reality? We do not enter the blessings by faith and then fix the rest ourselves. It's all by faith.

This is from part of a verse in Romans 12:11: Do not be slothful in zeal.

Three times Paul references zeal in Romans, and all three assume that there are ways to mess up zeal.

Paul said in Romans 10:2 about the Jews that "they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." In Romans 12:8 he exhorted those with various gifts in the body and included, "the one who leads, with zeal," like it's possible to go out first halfheartedly. And it is.

Then in Romans 12:11, Do not be slothful in zeal.

I think that the first line actually sets the tone for 11-13, because "being fervent, serving, rejoicing, persevering, being devoted, contributing, and seeking" are all participles that hang on it.

To be slothful is to be reluctant, to lag behind, to hold back. Brothers, Jesus is Lord, don't hold back.

We are individually offerings, having received mercy by gospel, so Romans 12:1.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

We've been called to altar living. You are not allowed to hold back some part of your life, some time of the day, some percent of your will. “To be freed from only one sin—that’s just our own agenda." (—John Owen, The Mortification of Sin). The mercies of God move all our bodies up onto the altar.

We are collectively an offering, being made by the gospel: Romans 15:16. Paul was

a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

The gospel is the power of God to make an offering of offerings, one made up of many, just like the singular body of Christ has a plurality of members. How then do we believe the gospel? Like offerings to God.

We are part of the fulness of the Gentiles (Romans 11:25), so that “the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy” (Romans 15:9). God has grafted us into blessings, and His blessings make us jealousable before men and pleasing to Himself.

Because of the gospel we are to be a people of faith, believing in God and confessing Jesus as Lord and being conformed to the image of God’s Son. By His will we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. By His love we have reconciliation and peace with God. By His command the gospel has been known to us to bring about the obedience of faith among all peoples. By His mercies we present our bodies as living sacrifices.

What altar blessings! What gift. What depth of riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. To Him be glory forever!

Christian, living from faith to faith is not a hobby or side-hustle, it is your life calling. It is your identity; you are "the ones believing."

Keep on believing in your heart the word of faith about the Lord of all. He bestows His riches and joy and peace on all who believe in Him.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord,

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33–36 ESV)

One test of whether or not you understand something is if you can explain it in your own words. It's not only a helpful exercise to engage with the material, it's strategic for locating the *point*. If we assume that what we're reading is organized in order to reveal truth — which we can assume with the epistle of Paul to the Romans — then we expect that all the parts build into a whole.

I keep being not just surprised, but disappointed when I reach the last verse of a Bible book in a commentary and the next page is: Appendix A, or Topical Index, or Acknowledgments. What about the *synthesis*? What about the *point*? We spent all the time looking at the trees on our way through the orchard, and some of the trees had great fruit. Now that we can look back, how far did we come?

To me, not just a review but a rejoicing review is in order.

There were two phrases that stood out to me as summaries of the two main divisions of the letter. Those phrases stood out to me enough that I used them as my email signature in two different years. The first captures the doctrinal (though there's truth for practice) in chapters 1-11, and the second captures the practical (though there's principles of truth) in chapters 12-16.

# From Faith to Faith

I get this from Romans 1:16-17, arguable Paul’s own summary of the theme of the epistle. In the gospel is revealed the righteousness of God **from faith to faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.' (NASB)**

- We cannot be saved without faith; the gospel is for all the believing ones.

- We cannot please God without faith; the gospel argues against our righteous works.

- We cannot resist sin without faith; the gospel forgives and the Spirit frees us from sin’s power and fulfills righteousness.

- We cannot endure suffering without faith; the gospel gives us hope, but hope that is seen is not hope.

While one day we won't need faith any longer, when we see face to face, we cannot live as Christians without it for even one day in these bodies.

Faith is the instrument of justification, and this undid Rome *twice*, first the paganism of the Roman Empire and then again the popery of the Roman Catholic world. In the 16th century the dominant worldview, which came from the teaching and worldview of the dominant worship, was that men could only be righteous through a combination of faith *plus*: faith plus their own works, faith plus some saint's extra good works, faith plus money that purchased a status, faith plus visiting/touching/kissing some special artifact. To be righteous by faith *alone*, that led to the single greatest church split ever, and we are still blessed by that proper division 500 years later.

That said, faith apart from works is not really our fight. We wear t-shirts and drink out of coffee mugs with *sola fide* printed on them. That doesn’t always mean we live from faith to faith.

Our fight is more faith vs sight, faith except for all the times we think we can fix it ourselves. We are people who get things done, who make things happen, who take responsibility. We are realists, pragmatists, “modern” men of math and material things. If there’s a problem, we’ll solve it. We’ve got bullet points, after all.

And then we see the second half of Romans 1 played out in front of us, and we thought cultural degradation should be done by now. More bullet points!

But consider the placement of Romans 1:18-32. We say that it shows the *need* for the gospel, and it does. Men do not meet God's standard for righteousness, in unrighteousness and ungodliness they suppress the truth, so they are guilty and need the gospel. So true.

But who did Paul write the explanation *for*? It wasn't an evangelistic tract for the pagans per se, it was encouragement for those who needed to live from faith to faith. He wrote about God's wrath so that the Christians in Rome would know what to tell their sinning neighbors, but also so that the Christians in Rome would not lose heart.

Our culture is schizo. Unbelievers want more and more material things, we want physical comfort and prosperity, and we figure all that is possible if we follow the right 7 Steps to Success. But when it comes to moral things, the same unbelievers think that's up for grabs, think and act and be whatever you want, and we figure any of it is possible, just follow your feelings.

What both those perspectives share is not *not* faith, certainly not saving faith, but an alternative faith, just that we don't call it "faith" because it seems like we have some sort of control.

If there is anything that Romans teaches us, beloved, it is that men are not in control. As Christians we cannot even control our own flesh (think the last half of Romans 7); men are slaves to sin or slaves of righteousness, but they are not their own.

It is God's will, by His eternal command, that the gospel go out, that faith would come by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. That faith confesses that *Jesus is Lord*. At what point in your Christian life do you not need to live in light of that reality? We do not enter the blessings by faith and then fix the rest ourselves. It's all by faith.

# Don't Hold Back

This is from part of a verse in Romans 12:11: **Do not be slothful in zeal**.

Three times Paul references zeal in Romans, and all three assume that there are ways to mess up zeal.

Paul said in Romans 10:2 about the Jews that "they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." In Romans 12:8 he exhorted those with various gifts in the body and included, "the one who leads, with zeal," like it's possible to go out first halfheartedly. And it is.

Then in Romans 12:11, **Do not be slothful in zeal**.

I think that the first line actually sets the tone for 11-13, because "being fervent, serving, rejoicing, persevering, being devoted, contributing, and seeking" are all participles that hang on it.

To be **slothful** is to be reluctant, to lag behind, to hold back. Brothers, Jesus is Lord, don't hold back.

# Conclusion

*We are individually offerings*, having received mercy by gospel, so Romans 12:1.

> I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

We've been called to altar living. You are not allowed to hold back some part of your life, some time of the day, some percent of your will. “To be freed from only one sin—that’s just our own agenda." (—John Owen, _The Mortification of Sin_). The mercies of God move all our bodies up onto the altar.

*We are collectively an offering*, being made by the gospel: Romans 15:16. Paul was

> a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

The gospel is the power of God to make an offering of offerings, one made up of many, just like the singular body of Christ has a plurality of members. How then do we believe the gospel? Like offerings to God.

We are part of the fulness of the Gentiles (Romans 11:25), so that “the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy” (Romans 15:9). God has grafted us into blessings, and His blessings make us jealousable before men and pleasing to Himself.

Because of the gospel we are to be a people of faith, believing in God and confessing Jesus as Lord and being conformed to the image of God’s Son. By His will we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. By His love we have reconciliation and peace with God. By His command the gospel has been known to us to bring about the obedience of faith among all peoples. By His mercies we present our bodies as living sacrifices.

What altar blessings! What gift. What depth of riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. To Him be glory forever!

----------

## Charge

Christian, living from faith to faith is not a hobby or side-hustle, it is your life calling. It is your identity; you are "the ones believing."

Keep on believing in your heart the word of faith about the Lord of all. He bestows His riches and joy and peace on all who believe in Him.

## Benediction:

> Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

>

> “For who has known the mind of the Lord,

> or who has been his counselor?”

> “Or who has given a gift to him

> that he might be repaid?”

>

> For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33–36 ESV)

This is it, the last of the letter. Unlike our salutations there’s no “Sincerely,” but Paul sincerely commits the Roman Christians to the care of the only wise God.

We'll see a few more greetings in verses 21-23, then a send-off doxology in verses 25-27. Next week, Lord willing, we'll take one more run at a Romans recap, then we'll rejoice together on Resurrection Sunday.

Chapter 16 started with 13 expressions of greeting to those in Rome, verses 21-23 include four more greetings from those with Paul.

Timothy was one of Paul's with-workers, and we know more about him than any other named person in the chapter. He even received two letters from Paul himself, extending the ministry to churches.

Lucius and Jason and Sosipater were more of Paul's with-borns, called my kinsmen. There's no reason to think they weren't part of his extended family.

Verse 22 comes from Paul's with-writer, though that is not actually a word; I made it up. I, Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. Have you heard of the job: amanuensis? It's the academic name for a writing assistant, for one who takes dictation. Tertius wasn't just a professional secretary, he himself cared about the believers in the Lord.

Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. If Pheobe hosted a church in the port city of Cenchrae, just south of Corinth, Gaius was hosting an assembly in Corinth itself and at least Paul as a guest.

Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you. Just for sake of observation, while Paul told the Corinthians in his first letter to them that having a rank in the world didn't guarantee having wisdom to know God, Erastus, who was a Corinthian, did have some recognizable rank, and had become a Christian. He likely had enough of a network to have known some who now lived in Rome.

You might not have noticed that, at least in the ESV, there is no verse 24 (NAS has it in brackets, KJV includes it). The more likely to be original manuscripts don’t have it, and if we read verse 20, we don’t miss anything.

There is a difference between a Benediction and a Doxology. I think about it when I choose the final Scripture for our Lord's Day worship. Paul ends different letters both ways, both are good, all are yours.

A benediction is a good word (from Latin bene and dico, good-speaking), a favor-blessing usually directed to/over the recipients. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you" (16:20) is a benediction, as were 15:6 and 15:13.

A doxology is a praise word (from Greek doxa is glory and logos, praise-speaking), an honor-blessing usually directed to God. Romans 11:33-36 is a previous doxology.

But both — praying to the Lord for His favor (benediction) and praising the Lord for His glory (doxology) — bless the hearers. It is good for us that this is our God, and so we lose nothing by finishing with doxology instead of benediction. It is a different kind of literary protein, both build the muscles of our faith.

Verses 25-27 make the longest doxology in the NT, one sentence stretched out (11:33-36 is like three within one, or even just verse 36 alone is the doxology proper).

Now to him who is able to strengthen you, and immediately we see how an attribute of God blesses the people who worship this God. We could pause here for a moment, because, are you allowed to be encouraged that God has abilities to enable your abilities? Or is that man-centered? Are you just coming to God because of what you can get from Him?

There is a kind of exaggerated pietism that is too good to ask God for help, as if helping "me" is below God. But God doesn't want our strength, He wants us to thank Him and honor Him for all His power (see Romans 1:20-21, see also 2 Corinthians 4:7 and 12:9, see also Psalm 50:12-15).

The establishing/stabilizing/reinforcing comes according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, which, is Paul allowed to say "my" gospel (which he already did in Romans 2:16, too)? Again with the so afraid of being man-centered that we focus on how a man is doing it wrong. The gospel is the theme of the whole letter according to Romans 1:16, and note that the gospel converts only as the start, then it transforms (Romans 12:2) and fortifies.

This message is according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages. What is the mystery? The OT prophets knew a lot, including knowing that they didn't know it all. We're told some of them studied their own writings to know the time and person of the Christ (1 Peter 1:10-12). The identity of the Messiah was a secret, but so also that “a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25).

Then light! There were shadows, but now there is substance. There had been questions but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations (ta ethne). Have all the Gentiles heard the gospel? Had Spain heard the gospel? The point here is that the gospel is good for all the peoples, that there is to be no narrowed for the Jews only even if “to the Jew first” (Romans 1:16).

While not revealed in its entirety, the revelation is not a change of course. The gospel has gone out according to the command of the eternal God. God is internationally known, eternally governing.

The gospel of salvation to all who believe was to bring about the obedience of faith. The only other place the phrase “the obedience of faith” is used is in Romans 1:5. In it is root and fruit, faith that leads to obedience. It is impossible to be justified by works/obedience, and those who have peace with God have been raised to walk in newness of life/obedience. So we keep living from faith to faith.

This is the second bookend, more about the "Him" of abilities in verse 25. God is also the God of wisdom: --to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. I appreciate that the ESV translates with an exclamation point.

There’s room to recap the whole epistle and some of the emphasis we've considered, but what can we take-away from the final praise?

God has wisdom and strength. Every moment God's wisdom and strength works all things for good for the called, for those who love God. Do you love God? He is the God of all glory; none compare to Him. Do you love God? He is the God of all wisdom; He neither seeks nor needs counsel. Do you love God? He is the God of all power, who has sent His Son for the eternal blessing of all who believe.

From this doxology we are blessed to know that God is powerful, eternal, wise; those three attributes are stated explicitly. Also we see that God reveals His will. God has global intentions. God expects worship and obedience. God is personal, He has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ and the gospel. God deserves all glory. And He delights in glorifying Himself by giving us strength to worship Him as our Rock. You’ve been called to believe, to live from faith to faith. This is the God in whom you believe.

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,

All the alternatives are smoke. They are superstitions and ignorance rather than revelation, deaf and mute and mortal and worthless idols rather than true.

What are your temptations? What are your doubts? What are your sufferings? What are your weaknesses? Christian, do you need strength? There will be strength.

God not only has the power to strengthen you if He wants to, HE WANTS TO. The eternal and wise God saves you by faith and STRENGTHENS your faith to persevere in praise. He wills strength for you because He wills glory for Him. There will be strength! Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20–21 ESV)

This is it, the last of the letter. Unlike our salutations there’s no “Sincerely,” but Paul sincerely commits the Roman Christians to the care of the only wise God.

We'll see a few more greetings in verses 21-23, then a send-off doxology in verses 25-27. Next week, Lord willing, we'll take one more run at a Romans recap, then we'll rejoice together on Resurrection Sunday.

# Other Withs (verses 21-23)

Chapter 16 started with 13 expressions of greeting to those *in* Rome, verses 21-23 include four more greetings from those *with* Paul.

**Timothy** was one of Paul's with-workers, and we know more about him than any other named person in the chapter. He even received two letters from Paul himself, extending the ministry to churches.

**Lucius and Jason and Sosipater** were more of Paul's with-borns, called **my kinsmen**. There's no reason to think they weren't part of his extended family.

Verse 22 comes from Paul's with-writer, though that is not actually a word; I made it up. **I, Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.** Have you heard of the job: amanuensis? It's the academic name for a writing assistant, for one who takes dictation. Tertius wasn't just a professional secretary, he himself cared about the believers **in the Lord**.

**Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you.** If Pheobe hosted a church in the port city of Cenchrae, just south of Corinth, Gaius was hosting an assembly in Corinth itself *and* at least Paul as a guest.

**Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.** Just for sake of observation, while Paul told the Corinthians in his first letter to them that having a rank in the world didn't guarantee having wisdom to know God, Erastus, who was a Corinthian, did have some recognizable rank, and had become a Christian. He likely had enough of a network to have known some who now lived in Rome.

You might not have noticed that, at least in the ESV, there is no verse 24 (NAS has it in brackets, KJV includes it). The more likely to be original manuscripts don’t have it, and if we read verse 20, we don’t miss anything.

# Strengthening Worship (verses 25-27)

There is a difference between a Benediction and a Doxology. I think about it when I choose the final Scripture for our Lord's Day worship. Paul ends different letters *both* ways, both are good, all are yours.

A *benediction* is a good word (from Latin *bene* and *dico*, good-speaking), a favor-blessing usually directed to/over the recipients. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you" (16:20) is a benediction, as were 15:6 and 15:13.

A *doxology* is a praise word (from Greek *doxa* is glory and *logos*, praise-speaking), an honor-blessing usually directed to God. Romans 11:33-36 is a previous doxology.

But both — praying to the Lord for His favor (benediction) and praising the Lord for His glory (doxology) — *bless* the hearers. It is good for us that this is our God, and so we lose nothing by finishing with doxology instead of benediction. It is a different kind of literary protein, both build the muscles of our faith.

Verses 25-27 make the longest doxology in the NT, one sentence stretched out (11:33-36 is like three within one, or even just verse 36 alone is the doxology proper).

**Now to him who is able to strengthen you**, and immediately we see how an attribute of God blesses the people who worship this God. We could pause here for a moment, because, are you allowed to be encouraged that God has abilities to enable your abilities? Or is that man-centered? Are you just coming to God because of what you can get from Him?

There is a kind of exaggerated pietism that is too good to ask God for help, as if helping "*me*" is below God. But God doesn't want our strength, He wants us to thank Him and honor Him for all His power (see Romans 1:20-21, see also 2 Corinthians 4:7 and 12:9, see also Psalm 50:12-15).

The establishing/stabilizing/reinforcing comes **according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ**, which, is Paul allowed to say "*my*" gospel (which he already did in Romans 2:16, too)? Again with the so afraid of being man-centered that we focus on how a man is doing it wrong. The gospel is the theme of the whole letter according to Romans 1:16, and note that the gospel converts only as the start, then it transforms (Romans 12:2) and fortifies.

This message is **according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages**. What is the **mystery**? The OT prophets knew a lot, including knowing that they didn't know it all. We're told some of them studied their own writings to know the time and person of the Christ (1 Peter 1:10-12). The identity of the Messiah was a secret, but so also that “a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25).

Then light! There were shadows, but now there is substance. There had been questions **but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations** (*ta ethne*). Have all the Gentiles heard the gospel? Had *Spain* heard the gospel? The point here is that the gospel is *good for* all the peoples, that there is to be no narrowed for the Jews *only* even if “to the Jew *first*” (Romans 1:16).

While not revealed in its entirety, the revelation is not a change of course. The gospel has gone out **according to the command of the eternal God**. God is internationally known, eternally governing.

The gospel of salvation to all who believe was **to bring about the obedience of faith**. The only other place the phrase “the obedience of faith” is used is in Romans 1:5. In it is root and fruit, faith that leads to obedience. It is impossible to be justified by works/obedience, and those who have peace with God have been raised to walk in newness of life/obedience. So we keep living from faith to faith.

This is the second bookend, more about the "Him" of abilities in verse 25. God is also the God of wisdom: **--to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.** I appreciate that the ESV translates with an exclamation point.

# Conclusion

There’s room to recap the whole epistle and some of the emphasis we've considered, but what can we take-away from the final praise?

God has wisdom and strength. Every moment God's wisdom and strength works all things for good for the called, for those who love God. Do you love God? He is the God of all glory; none compare to Him. Do you love God? He is the God of all wisdom; He neither seeks nor needs counsel. Do you love God? He is the God of all power, who has sent His Son for the eternal blessing of all who believe.

From this doxology we are blessed to know that God is powerful, eternal, wise; those three attributes are stated explicitly. Also we see that God reveals His will. God has global intentions. God expects worship and obedience. God is personal, He has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ and the gospel. God deserves all glory. And He delights in glorifying Himself by giving us strength to worship Him as our Rock. You’ve been called to believe, to live from faith to faith. This is the God in whom you believe.

> For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,

> for my hope is from him.

> He only is my rock and my salvation,

> my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

> On God rests my salvation and my glory;

> my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

> (Psalm 62:5–7 ESV)

All the alternatives are smoke. They are superstitions and ignorance rather than revelation, deaf and mute and mortal and worthless idols rather than true.

What are your temptations? What are your doubts? What are your sufferings? What are your weaknesses? Christian, do you need strength? *There will be strength.*

----------

## Charge

God not only has the power to strengthen you if He wants to, HE WANTS TO. The eternal and wise God saves you by faith and STRENGTHENS your faith to persevere in praise. He wills strength for you because He wills glory for Him. There will be strength! Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

## Benediction:

> Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20–21 ESV)

There are only so many more verses left in this letter, only a couple more sermons from Romans after today. What a mountain of material we’ve traveled over, and yet the final 5% is still important. They say most accidents happen closest to home, Paul doesn’t want us to crash before we get there. He puts up a big warning sign as he gets ready to sign off.

In verses 17-19 he urges the believers not to be naive because they’re in a battle, and in verse 20 he encourages them with a good word about winning that battle.

There is a kind of selfish person that sounds as if he’s “in-the-know” and who gets kicks out of kindling strife. With only a few strokes left in his pen, Paul gets in this crucial instruction, how to identify offense-mongers (AKA offense dealers, offense traffickers), what drives them and how to respond to them.

Before considering the exhortation, observe the problem people: those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught. Divisions is “dissensions” (NASB)(one of the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:20), a break between people. We also call these factions, schisms, splinter groups. The divisions belong with the obstacles, which is from * σκάνδαλα*, so stumbling blocks, hindrances, offenses. And the structure identifies a group with shared characteristics. They are “the — factions and offenses - making ones.”

This is the way of man, to “help” someone to see how BAD it really is, and form a Ring of the Ones Who Are Right (ROWAR) against those who are the cause of the BAD or even against those who can’t see how BAD it is. Show a person how upset, how offended he should be, the dam of love is broken, the floods of offense flow and now there are two sides. In marriage, two become one flesh; in the flesh, one becomes two, or more. These persons are creating a perverted koinonia as they teach how grieved some should be (at others).

That divide-by-offense strategy is contrary to the doctrine. It’s false teaching making false offenses, teaching that is outside the “standard of to which you were committed” (Romans 6:17). What was the contrary teaching? It’s not specified here, and it’s not even obvious that such faction-makers had arrived in Rome. Paul addressed some arguers throughout the letter, but he had also just said that the Roman believers were doing great (Romans 15:14). That said, he’d been around “all the churches” (Romans 16:16), and of course he was writing from Corinth, known for their divisive quarreling.

The problem and the problem people, are not those who have questions, who have exegetical disagreements, or those who have different convictions in disputable matters. Think back to Romans 14 and the need to sacrifice for and welcome whose who choose differently.

Yet there is a kind of teaching that is opposed to salvation by faith alone; they teach there must be more than faith. There is a kind of teaching that is opposed to grace that frees us form sin and makes us slaves of righteousness; they claim that adds more to faith. Both of those angles have been addressed earlier in Romans. The gospel is the power of God to save and to cause us to walk in newness of ever-transforming altar-sacrifices. It’s not hard to see Pharisees, Judaizers, legalists, church ladies offended by free grace, and it’s not hard to see law-hating, obedience-oppressed, flesh-lovers. That kind of division is no good and works against the witness of harmony in the body as just seen in verses 1-16.

Paul is also NOT calling sin confrontations “divisive.” Here’s an example. Person A is sinning, Person B goes to them (per Matthew 18:15-17) and Person A pushes it off. Person B takes Person C, maybe eventually Persons D and E, too, and Person A still won’t listen to the appeals. Especially if Person A is a leader (and see 1 Timothy 5:19-20), he may be tempted to use his position of authority to claim that that Persons C-E are causing division, but he would be wrong. Not liking that someone else (or multiple someones) can see your sin does not make them the object of this paragraph.

When there is an offense-monger faction-maker, Paul urges the brothers to watch out, to keep their eyes open, and to avoid them. The KJV has “mark…and avoid,” which is punchy enough for a lot of social media, but is nonetheless a call to divide from the divisive (applicable to pulpits, podcasts, and parking lots).

Verse 18 exposes the motivation: they want power. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. They “serve their stomachs,” their bellies. It could be a figure of speech, not just that they want food, but appetite represents the esteem and support they get from others. It’s the idol of ego, without the resources of Nebuchadnezzar to make a 90’ tall statue. They are dining out on the grievances they triggered. This is how most fundraising works, show how your opposition is the devil that’s ruining lives and the wallets open. Most outrage-raisers eat well.

They also manipulate, by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. This doesn’t only happen with soft verbal pats on your cheek, “you’re so pretty.” Smooth talk can seduce you to anger not just adultery, and flattery leads to war not just personal vanity, hence offenses that cause divisions.

It’s like our politicians use verses 17-18 as a playbook. Why should they care if we’re too dumb, naive or unsuspecting, to destroy ourselves. The same happens in local churches (the immediate context of Paul’s warning) and denominations and extended families.

In verse 19 Paul makes clear that he’s giving preventative medicine to the Romans. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.

Naivety is a sliding scale. The Roman Christians had knowledge as evidenced in their living. It still didn’t change the charge.

Without saying her name, a number of terms seem to reference Eve: wise, good and evil, flatter and deceit, as well as Satan and feet in verse 20. Have all kinds of wisdom doing all the ways of good, but be unmixed, be pure, when it comes to evil. Jesus taught His disciples to be serpents of good and doves of evil (Matthew 10:16), which goes against the usual animal archetypes.

Peace and grace, both are typical expressions by Paul, here in powerful promises.

Satan loves schism. Our adversary loves making adversaries among WITHS. The devil works to conquer by division. He loves destroying faith, he loves destroying fellowship.

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The juxtaposition of peace crushing is obvious, but how does it work?

Peace is more than absence of conflict, just as fellowship is more than two people in a room not choking each other. We battle as worshippers of the God of peace, we have peace so we engage, and we know His aim is peace, not eternal wars. But we don’t become pacifists because of our God, we are not naive. We may be tired, but we’re not blind.

Satan will be crushed by God who uses our feet. This seems eschatological, the final win, though it will be soon depending on how you see the timeline. As the Seed of the woman crushed the serpent’s head, fulfilling Genesis 3:15, so by extension God uses those who confess the Son as the Seed. Don’t hold back.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is also not throw away. The anointed Christ, the master Lord, the God-man Jesus, who is and was and is to come, from through and to Whom are all things, risen from the dead, the Lion who defeats the prowling lion, the Son of the God of all grace. Such personal grace is blessed to you who serve the Lord Christ.

“The Church’s One Foundation” is a great song.

though with a scornful wonder

Saints, keep watch, it won’t be long.

Christian, mark and avoid your OWN false offenses, mark and avoid your own selfish appetites. Be wise in the ways of truth and true fellowship. Be innocent in envy and grumbling. Let your obedience be known to all. Victory is promised, and the Lord's grace given to keep watch.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20–21 ESV)

There are only so many more verses left in this letter, only a couple more sermons from Romans after today. What a mountain of material we’ve traveled over, and yet the final 5% is still important. They say most accidents happen closest to home, Paul doesn’t want us to crash before we get there. He puts up a big warning sign as he gets ready to sign off.

In verses 17-19 he urges the believers not to be naive because they’re in a battle, and in verse 20 he encourages them with a good word about winning that battle.

# Divisions and Scandals (verses 17-19)

There is a kind of selfish person that sounds as if he’s “in-the-know” and who gets kicks out of kindling strife. With only a few strokes left in his pen, Paul gets in this crucial instruction, how to identify offense-mongers (AKA offense dealers, offense traffickers), what drives them and how to respond to them.

Before considering the exhortation, observe the problem people: **those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.** **Divisions** is “dissensions” (NASB)(one of the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:20), a break between people. We also call these factions, schisms, splinter groups. The divisions belong with the **obstacles**, which is from * σκάνδαλα*, so stumbling blocks, hindrances, *offenses*. And the structure identifies a group with shared characteristics. They are “the — factions and offenses - making ones.”

This is the way of man, to “help” someone to see how BAD it really is, and form a Ring of the Ones Who Are Right (ROWAR) against those who are the cause of the BAD or even against those who can’t see how BAD it is. Show a person how upset, how offended he should be, the dam of love is broken, the floods of offense flow and now there are two sides. In marriage, two become one flesh; in the flesh, one becomes two, or more. These persons are creating a perverted koinonia as they teach how grieved some should be (at others).

That divide-by-offense strategy is **contrary to the doctrine**. It’s false teaching making false offenses, teaching that is outside the “standard of to which you were committed” (Romans 6:17). What was the contrary teaching? It’s not specified here, and it’s not even obvious that such faction-makers had arrived in Rome. Paul addressed some arguers throughout the letter, but he had also just said that the Roman believers were doing great (Romans 15:14). That said, he’d been around “all the churches” (Romans 16:16), and of course he was writing from Corinth, known for their divisive quarreling.

The problem and the problem people, are not those who have questions, who have exegetical disagreements, or those who have different convictions in disputable matters. Think back to Romans 14 and the need to sacrifice for and welcome whose who choose differently.

Yet there is a kind of teaching that is opposed to salvation by faith alone; they teach there must be *more* than faith. There is a kind of teaching that is opposed to grace that frees us form sin and makes us slaves of righteousness; they claim that adds *more* to faith. Both of those angles have been addressed earlier in Romans. The gospel is the power of God to save and to cause us to walk in newness of ever-transforming altar-sacrifices. It’s not hard to see Pharisees, Judaizers, legalists, church ladies offended by free grace, and it’s not hard to see law-hating, obedience-oppressed, flesh-lovers. That kind of division is no good and works against the witness of harmony in the body as just seen in verses 1-16.

Paul is also NOT calling sin confrontations “divisive.” Here’s an example. Person A is sinning, Person B goes to them (per Matthew 18:15-17) and Person A pushes it off. Person B takes Person C, maybe eventually Persons D and E, too, and Person A still won’t listen to the appeals. Especially if Person A is a leader (and see 1 Timothy 5:19-20), he may be tempted to use his position of authority to claim that that Persons C-E are causing division, but he would be *wrong*. Not liking that someone else (or multiple someones) can see your sin does not make them the object of this paragraph.

When there is an offense-monger faction-maker, Paul urges the brothers **to watch out**, to keep their eyes open, and to **avoid them**. The KJV has “mark…and avoid,” which is punchy enough for a lot of social media, but is nonetheless a call to divide from the divisive (applicable to pulpits, podcasts, and parking lots).

Verse 18 exposes the motivation: they want power. **For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites**. They “serve their stomachs,” their bellies. It could be a figure of speech, not just that they want food, but appetite represents the esteem and support they get from others. It’s the idol of ego, without the resources of Nebuchadnezzar to make a 90’ tall statue. They are dining out on the grievances they triggered. This is how most fundraising works, show how your opposition is the devil that’s ruining lives and the wallets open. Most outrage-raisers eat well.

They also manipulate, **by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive**. This doesn’t only happen with soft verbal pats on your cheek, “you’re so pretty.” Smooth talk can seduce you to anger not just adultery, and flattery leads to war not just personal vanity, hence offenses that cause divisions.

It’s like our politicians use verses 17-18 as a playbook. Why should they care if we’re too dumb, **naive** or unsuspecting, to destroy ourselves. The same happens in local churches (the immediate context of Paul’s warning) and denominations and extended families.

In verse 19 Paul makes clear that he’s giving preventative medicine to the Romans. **For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.**

Naivety is a sliding scale. The Roman Christians had knowledge as evidenced in their living. It still didn’t change the charge.

Without saying her name, a number of terms seem to reference Eve: wise, good and evil, flatter and deceit, as well as Satan and feet in verse 20. Have all kinds of wisdom doing all the ways of good, but be unmixed, be pure, when it comes to evil. Jesus taught His disciples to be serpents of good and doves of evil (Matthew 10:16), which goes against the usual animal archetypes.

# Grace and Peace (verse 20)

Peace and grace, both are typical expressions by Paul, here in powerful promises.

Satan loves schism. Our adversary loves making adversaries among WITHS. The devil works to conquer by division. He loves destroying faith, he loves destroying fellowship.

**The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.** The juxtaposition of peace crushing is obvious, but how does it work?

Peace is more than absence of conflict, just as fellowship is more than two people in a room not choking each other. We battle as worshippers of the God of peace, we have peace so we engage, and we know His aim is peace, not eternal wars. But we don’t become pacifists because of our God, we are not naive. We may be tired, but we’re not blind.

Satan will be crushed by God who uses **our feet**. This seems eschatological, the final win, though it will be **soon** depending on how you see the timeline. As the Seed of the woman crushed the serpent’s head, fulfilling Genesis 3:15, so by extension God uses those who confess the Son as the Seed. Don’t hold back.

The **grace of our Lord Jesus Christ** is also not throw away. The anointed Christ, the master Lord, the God-man Jesus, who is and was and is to come, from through and to Whom are all things, risen from the dead, the Lion who defeats the prowling lion, the Son of the God of all grace. Such personal grace is blessed to you who serve the Lord Christ.

# Conclusion

“The Church’s One Foundation” is a great song.

> though with a scornful wonder

> men see her sore oppressed,

> by schisms rent a-sundered

> by heresies distressed;

> yet saints their watch are keeping,

> their cry goes up,“how long?”

Saints, keep watch, it won’t be long.

----------

## Charge

Christian, mark and avoid your OWN false offenses, mark and avoid your own selfish appetites. Be wise in the ways of truth and true fellowship. Be innocent in envy and grumbling. Let your obedience be known to all. Victory is promised, and the Lord's grace given to keep watch.

## Benediction:

> Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20–21 ESV)