Avoiding Divisions

Introduction

Background: The book of Romans is an in detail look at the Gospel. If this is the only Epistle that we had access to, we would still be able to fully understand our salvation and how we are supposed to live. The Apostle Paul systematically gives us the gospel here in Romans.

1. God’s Wrath

He begins by explaining that because of sin, God is going to pour out His wrath upon the earth…and not only that He is going to pour out His wrath on the Earth, but that the people of the world deserve His wrath. Why? Because we have tested God, we have considered God, and we have rejected His son Jesus Christ.

2. God’s Salvation

Not only does Paul tell us that, Paul tells us about faith. He says, very plainly, that salvation from the wrath of God does not come from works, it does not come from following any laws or any religion, but it comes from a faith in Jesus Christ…faith that He died for all sin, for all time, and rose from the grave by His righteousness.

3. God’s People

Not only does Paul tell us of God’s wrath and God’s salvation, he tells us of God’s plan for His people, that God is not finished with the Jews, and that He is going to restore them even though He has grafted the Gentiles into the plan. Just because He grafted the Gentiles into His plan for peace with humanity, doesn’t mean there isn’t room for His chosen people.

4. God’s Instruction

So, He teaches us about wrath, salvation, God’s plan, and now, in chapters 12-16, Paul is writing to the church at Rome and to Christianity abroad telling us how to walk in that newness of life. How to relate to each other in the church, relate to the government, and relate to the world.

Context: So now, here we are in chapter 16 in the final verses, and the Apostle Paul is giving us a sincere warning to avoid people who are coming and making divisions over Christ and Christ crucified. Paul makes it clear, all the prophets and the New Testament authors make it clear, that it is all about Christ and Christ alone, and there is no other way, there is no other emphasis but Christ.

What he has written here is simply this, “don’t let anyone preach a false doctrine to you.”

I. The Nature of Division

Romans 16:17 NKJV

Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.

These are people that are coming into the church and they are violating God’s clear teachings. These are people who have a nature that seeks to destroy.

Paul opens here and says “I urge you.” This is the Greek word parakaleo, that is, “I am begging of you” or, “I am appealing to your better senses”, or this, “I am hoping that you will find comfort by what I am about to say.”

He says, “note those who cause divisions and offenses, and avoid them.” It doesn’t say to confront them.

And why exactly does Paul say to avoid them instead of to confront them?

He writes that it is because they cause “offenses”. They cause people to stumble. They are slick with their words, and they are going to trick you and confuse you so as to make you seem unstable and for them to have sensibilities.

Not only that, they are going to prey on the weak and spiritually immature and turn them against the church and against the ways of God, because they are divisive and they seek to cause offense in the church.

And we aren’t there yet, but if you will see in v. 18 that it says they seek to serve their own bellies, which means they hunger for division, offense, and controversy. No person that hungers for these things has the Spirit of God within them, because the Spirit of God brings and promotes peace.

So, then, that is the nature of division, that there are people who look for every opportunity to cause offense and to put people under the burden of some sort of legal system or some sort of religion. In Christ we have freedom, these people either preach liberalism or legalism, but they do not preach Christ.

Q 1: What is Unity in the Church?

But I don’t want to focus so much on division here, I want to focus on unity.

The question is, what does unity in the church look like?

It is that we all together affirm that Jesus is supreme, that He is worthy of our praise, and that He is our Lord and Savior.

I think that there is some confusion of terms that may be taking place in the American church, and it’s centering around this issue of Lordship. That some are saying that we have to make Christ Lord to be saved, and some are saying that you don’t have to make Christ Lord because He is already Lord, and there is great confusion on this subject.

Romans 10:9 tells us that we must confess that He is Lord. So, it is not that we make Him Lord when we confess it, but it is that we have declared His Lordship in our heart and confessed it with our mouth…not that we have made Him Lord but we have confessed that He is the Lord.

What unites us in the church is that Jesus is the Lord, and we all, under one confession, have joined in together to say, “He is Lord and we will worship Him.”

So, Unity in the church doesn’t look like conformity…we aren’t all supposed to wear matching outfits and have the same talents…unity in the church is unanimous agreement…not every body has to be in favor of everything all the time…but Unity in the church is that we are all in confession that Christ is supreme, that He is worthy of our praise, and that He is Lord and savior.

By the way…if He is those things then His word is the authority in our lives, and His word is right here in what we know as the Bible.

Q 2: What are acceptable disagreements?

Now, I have said that it is ok that we disagree sometimes…but that brings us to the question…what are acceptable disagreements?

In other words, what are some things that we are allowed to be divided over? Because people get frustrated in the church for all kinds of reasons except for the things that matter.

If we aren’t preaching the Word of God

If this church, or any other church, does not preach the Word of God, that means that they are denying His authority and His Lordship.

Now, just because someone isn’t your style doesn’t mean they aren’t preaching the word, it just means that they’re not your style.

The way to recognize if they are preaching the Word of God is where their emphasis lies. If, when they preach they focus on men, prosperity, or themselves, they aren’t teaching the Word. If they focus in on Christ and the scripture, then they are preaching the Word of God.

If we aren’t administrating by the Word of God.

Now, a lot of conflict comes into play over how things are administrated. This is not a reason for frustration. Too many churches get divided over some committee, some responsibility, some decoration or design, and thats not in the spirit of unity, that is in the spirit of the flesh.

Where it becomes acceptable division is if the Word of God is being ignored in how we administrate.

You have to be careful here, because I can use the Bible to make just about any point I want it to make. For there to be a valid point of disagreement in administration you have to point me to the Scripture and show me. Anythings less than that or more than that is just your opinion.

Now, we are not united by opinion’s, we are united by a person, the person of the Lord Jesus.

If we are not living by the Word of God

If, by our life, we are not reflecting Christ, then we are in disagreement.

Now, here’s the challenge. If there is someone who is our member and they are living contrary to the Word of God, it is not our job to try and condemn them, it is our job to try and restore them.

Sometimes that does come through discipline, but discipline so that we can restore them, not discipline so that we can alienate them.

Q 3: Who are these divisive people we should avoid?

This can get confusing, because not everyone who gets frustrated about something they shouldn’t be frustrated about is a “divisive person” as described here.

Sometimes, leaders get into this trap where if a person disagrees with them they call them divisive Pharisees and seek to run them out of the church. That’s not always true…can it be…sure, but here is what a divisive person is.

The book of Acts gives us blueprint of these types of people.

Acts 15:1 NKJV

And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

This is legalism. That in order to be saved you have to add something to the death of Jesus on the Cross. That’s false, you don’t have to add anything to what Jesus did on the cross, His death was sufficient for all sin, for all time, and His work is complete. He doesn’t need our addition.

So how is this handled?

Acts 15:2 NKJV

Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.

What does this mean? It means they turned to the Scripture, and they went to ask Peter and the other Apostles about this matter. Like I said, confession of Christ by the teaching of the Word of God, the Administration of the Word of God, and living by the Word of God is supreme and what unites us. Anything else is a trivial matter, so these men went to inquire of the Apostles.

Peter says this in v. 8-10

Acts 15:8–10 NKJV

So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

In short, Peter said, “Why are you trying to put these Gentiles under a law that we could not keep…they are free in Christ.

These are those divisive people that Paul is talking about here in Romans 16. People who try to add to the Word, or take away from the Word of God.

Paul says these people are teaching doctrines contrary to what we have learned and we should avoid them.

Now, this seems like P.S. by Paul saying, “It won’t be long till you come across divisive people teaching false doctrine avoid them.

How do we combat this division? By placing them emphasis on the Gospel of Christ and nothing else.

II. The Words of Division

Romans 16:18 NKJV

For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.

First, make note of their objection

The objection of the truly divisive person always centers around Jesus.

Now remember, its easy for us to label people as dividers when things don’t go our way. However, when we think of our members here, we cannot think of them with skepticism, we have to remember that we are on the same team.

When we start throwing around that label “person causing division”, we need to be sure what that is. In any context, any where you can find in the scripture, it is always talking about someone who is against Christ.

Now, there again, there are times when God is so obviously at work but someone rejects the work that God is doing….does that make them a “divisive person.”

Not necessarily…the reason for that is people can be too spiritually immature to understand what God is doing. They might be a legitimate Christian, they just are out of touch with God’s Holy Spirit.

That’s why you have to pay attention to their objections.

v. 18 says, “those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ.”

That means that they are heathens, serving themselves, they have no interest in serving Christ because their master is their appetite for control and power. That is a divisive person.

Second, Make note of their Selfishness

v. 18 says, “they do not serve our Lord, but their own belly.”

We know that these are people consumed by their flesh because of how they are described here.

It says that their God is their belly. Their God is that empty cavity inside that has a hunger for chaos and for confusion.

Now the scriptures say this:

1 Corinthians 14:33 NKJV

For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

If these people were of God, if you want to be of God, you have to be a man or woman of peace.

Now, very plainly, sometimes we can get into our feelings in church. We can start taking sides, and we can go to war, and we can get to a place where we are so filled with the flesh, that by the time we are renewed in the Holy Spirit, the damage has been done and we are left thinking, “I shouldn’t have acted like that.”

What are the qualities of a peacemaker?

They are filled with God’s Holy Spirit.

1 Cor 14 says it there, “God is not the author of confusion but of peace.”

If you want to be a peace maker, then you yourself have to be in constant connection with God.

This comes from spending time in His word and spending time in prayer.

They are active in their relationships.

What this means is that a peace maker takes time to invest in people and to gets to know them on a personal level. So many of our squabbles could be fixed if we were more intentional about getting to know our brothers and sisters in a greater capactiy than just on Sunday.

**They have clear and direct communication.

Now, this is directly opposite of how the scripture describes the divisive person.

v. 18, “by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.”

One thing that ails us, one thing that has encroached itself and etched itself into our hearts and in our culture in the inability to communicate well.

Either, 1), we are afraid of conflict and we never communicate anything.

The only thing this does is expose you to a life that exhausts you. In fact, there are so many things you want to say, so many boundaries you want to draw, and you cannot find the courage to say it because you are afraid that you cannot properly articulate it.

Or, 2), we are too confrontational and have no problem speaking our minds.

Hey, there are some things you need to keep to yourself. Not everything is worth dying over. Some people live their life that way. There is not flight there is only fight.

What we need to do instead is have clear and direct communication.

This means.

1), there is no deception in our words.

We say exactly how we feel without trying to manipulate or without trying to sugar coat. We communicate clearly and directly.

2), that we do it to improve others, not to hurt them.

We say exactly how we feel confidently because we know that we are acting in the best interest of others and not ourselves. In other words, we are not trying to feed our bellies, we are trying to glorify God.

3), We do it with reconciliation in mind.

There were times when Jesus was very direct with people, and it was all for one purpose, to reconcile them back to God, which comes with its own defintion.

If you are aligned with God you will think soberly.

If you are aligned with God will think spiritually.

and if you are aligned with God you will think eternally.

It will have nothing to do with you and everything to do with putting the person you are talking to back on the correct path towards Godliness.

This is why I want you to note their words as we move on.

Paul says their words are “smooth” and “flattering”.

These are attributes of the AntiChrist:

The Bible says that in the last days people will heap up for themselves teachers that will tickle their ears…it also says that the AntiChrist will deceive the world…and that he is so cunning that he would deceive the elect of God if it were possible.

It says that he will come to a seven year peace deal with Israel, but will betray them in three and a half years.

And he is going to accomplish it all with smooth talking and flattery.

Now, figure, if that is how Satan is going to deceive the whole world, how do you think he is going to deceive the church?

He is going to deceive you by flattering words and smooth speech.

but let me tell you about the nature of his flattery.

we are talking about the divisive person...so far we have noted their objection (Christ), their selfishness (hunger), their words (flattery)

Finally, note their intentions

This is the nature of their flattery, “to deceive the hearts of the simple”.

Ok, now look at that word, “simple”.

It doesn’t mean stupid, it doesn’t mean unable to comprehend…it means innocent.”

Why do we tell our children not to take candy from strangers?

Because…a child is innocent. It’s not that we believe our children our stupid, but we recognize that our children cannot fathom the evil intentions of a child predator.

And we don’t say, “Now billy boy, if there is a man who wants to prey on you and wants to trick you, don’t go anywhere with him. He is a child predator, and we stay away from men like that.”

No, we don’t say that…a child cannot understand that. Instead, what we do is we teach a child to recognize the signs and to trust their instincts.

For instance, “Sweetheart, if a person come to you that you don’t know, and they try to bring you somewhere, don’t go with them it’s dangerous, come find me right away.”

Or we say, “Hey, dear, no one has the right to make you do or say anything you don’t want to do or say. It’s ok for you to tell people, no.”

What are we doing? We are teaching them to recognize the signs. We are not telling them mainly of every intention, we are mainly telling them all the signs that they need to recognize.

Here, Paul is doing the same thing…that is, deception comes in many forms.

Think of all the Christian teenagers who have left the safety of mom and dads house, just to be indoctrinated by some left-wing college professor.

Think of all the Christian adults who idolize hollyweird stars.

Think of all the Christians out there that are bound in legalism or liberalism. Think about it..

There is no way that Paul could have described every deceiver and every tactic, but he is instructing us to recognize the signs.

What are their signs?

v. 17, “they teach a different doctrine than what we know.”

v. 18, “they are persuasive, flattering, and make evil seem good, and good seem evil.

v. 17, “they seek to divide us from Christ.”

This means they either add something to the gospel, or they take away something from the gospel.

What is the gospel?

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 NKJV

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

What does Paul say of this gospel truth?

1 Corinthians 15:1–2 NKJV

I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved.

Now, we are saved by no other way than by believing that Christ died according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

Anything else added to a belief in that gospel is a false doctrine and is marked as division.

If you say, “you have to believe Christ died, that He was buried, and that He rose…then” you’ve lost me. Why? Because they are adding to the gospel.

If you believe the gospel you’ll be saved…Here’s another:

Romans 10:8–10 NKJV

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Anything beyond this, whether its baptism, whether its circumcision, and whether its public confession, is adding to the gospel.

Anything less than this, whether its no repentance, no confession of Jesus as Lord, is taking away from the gospel.

Now, I do believe that there are many, well meaning people who love the Jesus and have come under the false doctrines, I get that. The Bible describes them as “simple.” “Innocent”, led astray by false teachers. I think that His grace is sufficient for such a one who genuinely believes that Christ died for their sins and rose from the grave.

It is impossible for me to lump them all together…some may do it, I won’t.

So, their objection is the Lordship of Christ, their selfishness is their desire for gluttonous gain, their words are words of flattery, and their intention is deception.

III. How Christ Conquers Division

Romans 16:19–20 NKJV

For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

First, Christ conquers through wisdom

When you become a child of God, you inherit Godly wisdom, and it’s important you use it and develop it. Paul says in v. 19, “Be Wise”

Here’s how Paul instructs us to do that:

1 Corinthians 14:20 NKJV

Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.

Paul says to strengthen your understanding…your understanding of the Scriptures.

Now, knowledge is not understanding. Pure knowledge will leave you puffed up and arrogant.

1 Corinthians 8:1 NKJV

We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.

Therefore, what Paul says, is that true understanding is love…agape love. What does agape love mean?

John 15:13 NKJV

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his philos. - his beloved.

the pinnacle of understanding - Surrender

You see, the pinnacle of understanding is agape (love), a love so intense that you are willing to lay down your life for the beloved, the church, for your neighbor the lost and afraid. That is true understanding. To be totally surrendered to God.

Second, Christ Conquers Through Innocence

He also says in v. 19, “be innocent concerning evil”.

That is, that we blush at what is evil. Now, I’ll say this…there was a time when I would watch things, say things, think things that wouldn’t bother me. In fact, I thought it was bringing me joy. Now as God is maturing me, those very same things bring me shock and disgust. Why? Because God is taking my filthy and perverse mind and restoring my innocence concerning evil.

Third, Christ Conquers through Peace

v. 20 says, “and the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.”

That is, Jesus has atoned for my sin, He has purchased me back, and He will crush evil and He will bring peace to a sin cursed world.

If you are a believer, then He has done that in your heart.

Finally, Christ Conquers by His Amazing Grace

v. 20 says, “the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”

Satan seeks to divide us from Christ even after we are saved, but he can’t because the Scripture tells us,

2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.