Romans 16.17-Paul Warns Romans To Watch For And Avoid Those Causing Divisions And Temptations Contrary To Doctrine They've Been Taught
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday August 18, 2010
Romans: Romans 16:17-Paul Warns Romans To Watch For And Avoid Those Causing Divisions And Temptations Contrary To Doctrine They’ve Been Taught
Lesson # 547
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 16:17.
This evening we will study Romans 16:17 and in this passage Paul warns the Roman believers to watch out for those who cause divisions and temptations contrary to the doctrine they’ve been taught and that they were to avoid them.
Romans 16:17, “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. 18 For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.”
Romans 16:17 marks a transition from the previous paragraph in Romans 16:3-16 to the paragraph that follows it in Romans 16:17-20.
“I urge” is the first person singular present active indicative form of the verb parakaleo (παρακαλέω) (para-kah-leh-owe), which means “to warn” since Paul is giving admonishing advice to the Romans of the danger of false teachers coming into their midst and causing divisions and temptations contrary to the teaching they have received.
“You” is the accusative second person plural form of the personal pronoun su (σύ) (see), which is a reference to Paul’s Gentile and Jewish Christian readers in Rome and is used in a distributive sense.
“Brethren” is the vocative masculine plural form of the noun adelphos (ἀδελφός)) (ah-thel-foce), which means “fellow-believer, fellow-Christian, spiritual brother or sister.”
“To keep your eye on” is the present active infinitive form of the verb skopeo (σκοπέω) (sko-peh-owe), which means “to keep a watchful eye on” those individuals who cause divisions and temptations contrary to the teaching that the Roman believers received from their pastors and Paul in this epistle.
“Dissensions” is the articular accusative feminine plural form of the noun dichostasia (διχοστασία) (thee-ho-stah-see-ah), which means “divisions” referring to that which is caused in the Christian community by false teachers.
Though Paul does not explicitly identify these individuals, his teaching in Romans chapters 2-4 does strongly suggest that he is referring to the Judaizers since these chapters are designed specifically to refute their legalistic teaching.
Further suggesting that Paul is referring to that which is caused by the Judaizers’ teaching is that Paul’s epistles and the book of Acts reveal that the Judaizers’ caused divisions in the churches that Paul established from Jerusalem to Illyricum.
In particular, their teaching caused divisions in Galatia, which Paul addressed in the Galatian epistle.
The fact that Paul would use three chapters in this epistle to refute their teaching, which his other epistles and the book of Acts reveal caused divisions in the churches, strongly suggests that this noun dichostasia in Romans 16:17 is a reference to the divisions caused by the Judaizers’ legalistic teaching.
The Judaizers originated with the Pharisees and adhered to their teaching and were composed of both believing and unbelieving Jews who taught strict adherence to the 613 mandates found in the Mosaic Law as well as the oral traditions of the Rabbis, which are now, documented in the Mishna and the Talmud.
The NT Scriptures described the Judaizers with the following phrases: (1) “dogs, evil workers, the false circumcision” (Phil. 3:2). (2) “Drifting off course from grace” (Gal. 5:4). (3) “Enemies of the cross” (Phlp. 3:18). (4) “Coming short of the grace of God” (Heb. 12:15).
They are referred to in the following NT passages: (1) Acts 13:45 (2) Acts 15:5 (3) Acts 17:5 (4) Acts 21:20 (5) Galatians 1:6-7 (6) Philippians 1:12-18 (7) Philippians 3:1-3.
The Judaizers taught that one had to observe and practice the Mosaic Law in order to get saved whereas Paul taught salvation by grace through faith in Christ and not through the works of the Mosaic Law (Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 2:16).
They followed Paul throughout his missionary journey’s seeking to discredit and destroy his ministry (Acts 13:45; 17:5) and he denounces their teaching in the book of Galatians since they taught a “different gospel” according to Gal. 1:6 and “distorted the gospel of Christ” (Gal. 1:7).
There is another factor that strongly suggests that Paul is speaking of the Judaizers, namely that Paul uses the noun koilia, “appetites” in Romans 16:17 to describe these individuals who cause divisions, which is the same word he uses in Philippians 3:19 to describe the Judaizers.
“Hindrances” is the articular accusative neuter plural form of the noun skandalon (σκάνδαλον) (skan-dah-loan), which means, “temptations to sin and apostatize” in the sense of leading one to act contrary to a set of beliefs.
It would cause the Romans to sin and go into apostasy since if they do adhere to the Judaizers’ teaching they would no longer be living their lives according to the Lord’s teaching and that of the apostles and would no longer be living according to God’s grace and no longer living by faith.
“Contrary to the teaching” is composed of the preposition para (παρά) (pah-rah), “contrary to” and the articular accusative feminine singular form of the noun didache (διδαχή) (thee-thah-hee), “the teaching.”
The noun didache refers to the content of the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles that was passed down to the pastors in Rome and communicated to the Roman believers.
It refers to instruction concerning Jesus Christ and His teaching, i.e. Christian doctrine or in other words a set of truths or practices to be learned and obeyed that originate with Jesus Christ.
Didache would also include information regarding the meaning and significance of the spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ as well as the meaning and significance of His burial, His resurrection, His ascension and session and how these facts apply to the Roman believers.
The word is the object of the preposition para, which functions as a marker of that which is contrary to what should be indicating that Paul is warning the Romans to avoid the Judaizers legalistic teaching because it is “contrary to” the teaching of the Lord and the apostles.
The Scriptures also emphasize the importance of avoiding false doctrine (Matthew 16:12, 17; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; Hebrews 13:9; 2 John 9-10).
Paul warned his students to hold fast to the doctrinal instruction that they had received from him (2 Thessalonians 2:15; 2 Timothy 1:13-14).
Romans 16:17, “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.”
“Learned” is the second person plural aorist active indicative form of the verb manthano (μανθάνω) (mahn-thano), which refers to acquiring information as the result of instruction, whether in an information or formal context.
This indicates that they were to reject the teaching of the Judaizers which is contrary to the information they received about the Christian faith through instruction from their pastor-teachers in both formal and informal settings.
“Turn away” is the second person plural present active imperative form of the verb ekklino (ἐκκλίνω) (ek-klee-no), which means that the Romans were to purposely avoid association with the Judaizers and those who adhere to their teaching.
This avoidance and having no contact with false teachers was taught and practiced by the apostles and their disciples (Matthew 7:15-29; Mark 8:15; Luke 20:46; Acts 20:29-30; Philippians 3:2; 2 Peter 2; 2 John 9-10).