Introduction

As we have worked through Romans we have noted that the book is not only remarkable in its theological depth but that it is also direct in its practical application. Paul is very bold in his writing and a central area of that boldness is concerned with the church as the new people of God made up of Jews and Gentiles on an equal footing. More than that, the equality is not simply some kind of ranking but a family matter. It means that both Jews and Gentiles are God's people, His loved ones, and His children, Rom. 9:23-26:

What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory-- 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he says in Hosea: "I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one," 26 and, "It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"

Remarkably, this means that we are brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, the preeminent one (the firstborn) among many brothers (Rom. 8:29; we know 'brothers" is short for brothers and sisters from the greetings of Rom. 16). As His brothers and sisters we are loved, we are called, and we are saved sinners who belong to Jesus Christ (Rom.8:28, 30; 1:5-7; loved by God our Father).

This family love is evident in the commendations and greetings at the end of Paul's letter to which we now turn our attention. I have titled this message "Family Love Commendations and Greetings" and I will take up two main things: family love exemplified and family love rooted. Don't let the odd names and the repetitions throw you; there is more here than first meets the eye.

1A. Family love exemplified (in at least 3 ways)

1) It is exemplified in serving and working under trial at great personal risk, cost, and sacrifice.

This is seen in verse after verse and name after name throughout Romans 16. Phoebe is "a servant of the church in Cenchrea" and "has been a great help to many" (vs. 1-2). Priscilla and Aquilla are "fellow workers" who "risked their lives" for Paul and the churches of the Gentiles (v. 4). They also opened their home for regular church meetings (v. 5). He greets Mary who "worked very hard" for the Romans (v. 6). Andronicus and Junias are cited as people who endure the hardship of prison in serving with Paul (v. 7). Urbanus is called "our fellow worker" (v. 9, presumably "our" speaks of his work with Paul and the Romans). Apelles is "tested and approved" (v. 10), which suggests a vigilant endurance of trial in the work he performed. I think it is important to consider how difficult it can be at times to serve others. Probably, that is one of the main reasons that discourages serving. Much of our work is thankless. Its fruitfulness may be hard to see. So it takes strength, vigilance and determination.

Next, Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis are described as "women who work hard" and "who worked very hard" (v. 12). Finally, it is said of Gaius that he extended hospitality to such a degree that he brought joy and enjoyment to the recipients (v. 23, in other words, like our Lord, he made others feel welcomed). Here I must praise my wife for her example of hospitality. If I am learning anything about hospitality, I am learning from her. I am by nature a shy and private person and she exemplifies hospitable effort on behalf of others that calls me to it too. This is important as a qualification for office holding in the church (1 Tim. 3:2; thus office holders are first to be Christians, Christ-like in conduct).

2) Next, there is gratitude, dearness, and closeness expressed. The love bond comes out in the gratitude that flows between them for the greatness of the help given and received (v. 2). It comes out in dearness of friendship (v. 9; v. 12) and in the closeness of a family at its best (v. 1, sister; v. 14, brothers; v. 23, brother; and v. 13, mother; literal sisters, brothers, and mothers stand for spiritual sisters, brothers, and mothers; cf. his sister, v. 15 with our sister, v. 1 and his mother/my mother, v. 13).

3) This brotherly love bursts from the text in a passionate warning (17-20; note how it is sandwiched within the greetings). With a sudden and a final sense of urgency, Paul tells the Romans to be on the watch for those who deceive and divide (v. 17a). He relates what they do and what you are to do.

a) What they do is presented in verses 17-18. They cause divisions and put obstacles in your way contrary to the apostolic teaching. They do not serve Christ but their own appetites. And be alert to the fact that they use smooth talk and flattery (cf. the right versus the wrong way of pleasing of others, Rom. 15:2). Hence they deceive the naïve. We don't want to be too hard on the naïve but flattery is like a vacuum cleaner that sucks up loose dirt. The naïve are more like loose dirt than part of the carpet or furniture (they may not be part of the household).

b) What are you to do in relation to these divisive and deceptive people? You are to keep away from them (v. 17). And you are to be wise and innocent about good and evil (v. 19). This apparently means that you are to be wise in your stand against evil and innocent in your experience of evil. In other words, you should know a lot about evil and about how to deal with it in a good way without doing it yourself. O how much Christians need wisdom! We do not want to be overly judgmental of others who serve; we do not want to get burned and when we do get burned we must be on guard. We need wise love and loving wisdom. We are to be armed with a sword and use it but tenderhearted in our use of this sword. Armed we will take much on the chin. Hence, we need wisdom!

Before moving to the second major point, let's summarize and focus: We cannot read these greetings without being called to one anothering (I urge you brothers and sisters) in which we too serve one another. Thus whether men or women, whatever the personal cost and sacrifice, we are summoned here to work hard, to work very hard, and to work hard in trial and testing. There is risk, cost, and sacrifice in front of us.

We have to ask ourselves questions in this connection. Do I hear what resonates from this page in Scripture? Do I see what is written here for my instruction, rebuke, correction, and training in righteousness (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16)? These people are placed before our eyes as examples and models of Christians who are industrious in the service of one another, of service to the church, and of service to the apostolic gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We should each say to ourselves, "I hear a call from these greetings. I read about everyday Christians that exemplify family love. I have before my eyes a model to follow." Then we ought to turn this to prayer: "O Lord, grant me the grace to walk in this way, to love with this kind of practical, everyday and hard working love. Help me to do my part in gospel serving."

We are directed back to the collage of mutual love that is family love and brotherly love oriented (12:9-13). This is gospel oriented (helping Paul and housing the church).

2A. Family love rooted

We have a remarkably practical summons to Christian service in these greetings that show Christians uniting for strength in hard work like one piece of fiber added to another until what would be very fragile individually becomes an extremely strong rope. Together we are strong and individually we are truly weak. To switch analogies, let's think of this hard working love in the gospel as the fruit on a tree. What is the root of the tree? How is this one anothering love rooted?

The answer should simply leap off the page at us. As you look over the chapter, to what rooting do you think I refer? The love, the work, the self-sacrifice that is put before us in Romans 16 is rooted firmly in Christ.

1) They are united to Christ. These people have been converted "to Christ" (v. 5), they were "in Christ" (v. 7), they were "in the Lord" (v. 11), and "chosen in the Lord" (v. 13). They are baptized believers. Romans 6 tells us that it is by baptism that we are joined to Christ. We stand in a very real sense outside the body of Christ until we have been baptized because faith in Romans is obedient faith and the first or elementary act of obedience is the obedience of baptism. If you have not been baptized you have to ask yourself if you can make any real claim to faith. You should ask yourself, "Can I make any real claim to faith? Where is my obedience of faith?" This is where Christian love is rooted; it is in Christ by the obedience of faith.

2) Their love for one another is "in the Lord" (v. 8), which means it is rooted in His person and work. It is based on His authority and love. It is grounded in the righteousness that He has provided as the Son of David and Son of God who lived to give us righteousness and who died to take away our unrighteousness (Rom. 1:1-4; 5:10). So in love to Him these people served one another in the gospel. The love bond comes out in the gratitude that flows between them (v. 3) for the greatness of the help given and received. It comes out in dearness of friendship (v. 9; v. 12) and in family ties (v. 1, sister; v. 14, brothers; v. 23, brother; and v. 13, mother). The family love fruit flows from love for Christ as the ultimate root.

Conclusion

Surprising in a way (to me at least), this repetitive passage filled with mundane greetings and commendations makes a very strong claim on us. It nails down our duty before the gospel of God that centers on Christ.

1) We cannot read this without saying, "this is what we ought to be like in the service of Christ." 2) We are to love one another and have a flow of gratitude between us for the down to earth helping that goes on among us (cf. "no you first" and "thank you, thank you"). 3) We ought to think of one another as brothers and sisters in the Lord with the awesome fact embedded deep within our hearts that we belong to Jesus Christ the Lord of glory. We are His by divine election. He is our Lord and our God. And He is our Elder brother who is not ashamed to call us His brothers and sisters though we do many things of which He could very well be ashamed. Nonetheless, He declares God's name among us calling us His brothers and sisters. He goes so far as to sing along with us when we gather together as a congregation in His presence (Rom. 15:9-11).

4) Therefore, we are called to the collage of chapter 12:9-13. Remember the emphasis there on compounding love that is one anothering, family, and brotherly love (12:10) in a context of sharing, practicing hospitality, and mutual serving (12:13) as members of one body who belong to each other (12:5). So we are to seek to please our brothers and sisters rather than ourselves (15:1-2) based on the fact that our brother, the Lord Jesus, did not seek to please Himself (15:3).

5) There is a major lesson here regarding family love. This is a final expression of passionate love from Paul to the Romans and to us by implication. It shows us that mutual love means that we will look out for the well being of one another, especially with regard to the teachings of the apostles. There are many ways we are to work for and with each other and many things on the list but learning Scripture tops the list. We are brought back in this burst of closing energy to the great need we all have to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4). We are a family and body that is to be ever conscious of this need and always at work, working hard to see that it is met to the honor of Christ our Lord.

Learning brings change. We should always be learning for living (we submit our lives to His will). But the relation of learning to living is not always direct or immediate. Much is like the food we eat in a good and balanced diet: the value of a good diet is not seen one for one such that x vegetable equals x muscle to my left arm. We are to look at Christ as He is revealed in the gospel of the OT and NT. As we learn of Christ in the Scriptures we are transformed into that same image (2 Cor. 3:18, the better way to read this is "behold" rather than "reflect," cf. 2 Corinthians by Hodge, 76-77 and Hughes, 117-18). We behold Christ by contemplating the gospel and in this way we are given the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Christ" (2 Cor. 4:3-6).

Jesus is the root of oak-tree-like family love. He is the one to whom we commit ourselves in faith and obedience and this spills over to love for one another.