Watch Out For Opposition

I invite you to take your copy of God’s word and turn to Romans 16.

We will look at verses 17-23 today.

We are in the final section of the book of Romans.

This is sermon 45 of 46 through the book.

And I mentioned last week that Paul has completed the body of his letter that spanned eleven chapters of laying out what God has done to save us from our sin and His wrath through Christ.

And he has completed chapters 12-15 which lay out for us how we are called and empowered to live in light of the great mercies of God toward us in the gospel.

Then, last week, we walked through verses 1-16 of chapter 16 where we were commended to greet one another through deep relationships in the body of Christ and to grow in love and affection for others by learning their stories and honoring one another as those who are in Christ.

Yet, just as soon as Paul commends us and commands us to greet one another in the Lord, he makes an appeal to us about a kind of person we must watch out for, a kind of person that we are not to greet with love and affection should they come among us.

While the church of our Lord Jesus is to be kind, hospitable, and impartial toward those God brings to our fellowship, there is a type of person that once revealed, we are commanded to avoid and separate from.

Would you follow along as I read God’s word to us?

Romans 16:17–23 ESV

17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 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. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. 22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.

1. Watch Out For False Teachers And Avoid Them

Paul has not used the language of appealing to his audience since the beginning of chapter 12 when he appealed to them in light of the great mercies of God to offer themselves as living sacrifices to God.

He then fleshed out what that looked like in chapters 12-15.

He is now making a final appeal to the church in light of what he has just said about greeting one another with love and affection.

And when he writes, “I appeal to you, brothers,” he is appealing to the whole congregation both men and women, just like if I said “Listen up guys,” I would be addressing all of you and not just the men in the room.

And his appeal is that while we are to be kind, gentle, hospitable, growing in love and affection for one another, and passionate about pursuing unity together, there is a kind of person that we must watch out for.

And that kind of person is those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.

You see, we are tempted to believe that we must either sacrifice truth for the sake of unity or sacrifice unity for the sake of truth.

But the biblical reality is that truth is the foundation that supports our unity.

But there is a kind of person that comes into the church who causes divisions and creates obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.

It will serve us very well at this point to understand that the Bible provides for us a standard of doctrine, which simply means teaching,

And the standard of doctrine that the Bible gives us is limited.

Here’s why that is so important.

Because God is infinite in terms of time and space, and because God is the Creator of all things, and because God is so vast in his riches of grace and kindness that he will stun us with new facets and realities of his riches for eternity without end,

We are sometimes tempted to believe that the teachings about God are unlimited as well, but that is not the case.

Now, of course, you can grow in your knowledge and wisdom regarding God and his truth throughout a lifetime, but that does not mean that the teachings of God are unlimited.

Consider a few passages:

Romans 6:17 ESV

17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,

God has given us His word to provide for us a standard of teaching.

A set of doctrines that are limited and defined.

2 Timothy 1:13 ESV

13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

There is a pattern of sound words that lead to genuine faith and love for Christ Jesus, so that also means there are a lot of words that can be said about God and Christ that do not follow that true and sound pattern.

Jude 3 ESV

3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

In this passage, Jude is using the word faith in the same way as when we talk about the Christian faith.

When we refer to the Christian Faith, we are referring to the body of teachings that was once delivered to us through God’s prophets and apostles whom he carried along by His Holy Spirit to write the Holy Scriptures, and those Scriptures are limited to the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament.

And when the final apostle died, the limited teachings God chose in his providence to give to us ended as well.

So, one of the easiest ways for us to obey the command of our passage to watch out for those who cause divisions and obstacles contrary to what you have been taught is to watch out for anyone who claims they have a new revelation from God, claims that they are a modern prophet or apostle in line with those of the Old and New Testament, or claims that any word or teaching should be either added or subtracted from God’s word.

Those are the easiest types to watch out for because they are obviously going beyond the limits of the doctrine that God has given us through His word.

The apostle Peter would also warn us in the book of 2 Peter that there are ignorant and unstable people who twist the meaning of Scriptures to make them mean what they do not mean, and they do it to their own destruction.

Consider those who teach that giving money to their ministry is like planting a seed that will come back to you one hundred fold?

This is twisting the Scriptures that teach on the principle of sowing and reaping.

Watch out for anyone who denies a key teaching of the gospel like Jesus being born of a virgin, being both fully God and fully man, Jesus’ cross being an atonement in our place for our sins taking on the wrath of God, or Jesus physically rose from the dead.

Beware of anyone who says they have reached a spiritual state of perfection in this life and you can too.

Finally, beware of any new or novel teaching.

If you have been a Christian, reading your Bible consistently, and in the church for a few years, it should become very rare for you to think, “I’ve never heard that before.”

Also, beware of any teaching that requires a certain level of spirituality to truly grasp.

Like someone saying, “I have come to a deeper knowledge of the biblical text that is not clear on the surface.”

No, the Bible is clear in saying what it means to say. There are not secret keys to unlocking hidden meanings within the text.

We are always tempted to think some kind of new and novel teaching is finally going to launch us into greater spiritual heights, when the truth is, applying the clarity of the gospel to our lives by continual confession, repentance, and faith through prayer and the clear teachings of the Scripture is what leads us to spiritual growth and obedience.

The command for us is a false teacher were to come among us is that we avoid them.

What does that look like? Once you have watched out and you are convinced they are peddling something false, do not continue to relate with them as if nothing is wrong.

Warn them, call them to repentance, do not receive them into church membership, if they are already a member, talk with the elders and make a plan to prayerfully confront them, do not go golfing like everything is okay, warn others not to follow their teaching.

Part of the pastor/elders covenant commitment to the body is to watch out for and help deal with false teachings.

Let me just note at this point, the command to watch out for false teachers and avoid them does not give anyone the right to be a theological bulldog who is ready to sniff out a wrong interpretation of any and every text at every turn.

If someone in your community group says something you disagree with regarding a doctrine or an application or implication of a certain passage that in no way indicates that they are a false teacher.

Someone who thinks differently about the tension between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility than you is in a whole different category as someone who is denying the resurrection or leading people to question if Jesus is God.

That’s why it is helpful and wise for the church to affirm a statement of faith in order to identify those teachings which must be affirmed versus many other things in Scripture that some of us might see a bit differently.

Notice what verse 18 tells us about the false teachers:

For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

A heart breaking yet necessary reality that you come to realize as a follower of Jesus in His church is that not every person who chooses to engage with God’s church is acting in good faith and love for Jesus.

False teachers are not desiring to serve our Lord Jesus Christ, they are desiring to serve their own desires for fame or money or power or influence or control.

Notice, false teachers are not going to be mean, harsh, blow hards who seem obviously destructive.

No, they are going to be kind, winsome, smooth talkers, flattering you and making you feel special and important to their cause.

Consider what Paul said in:

2 Timothy 4:3–4 ESV

3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Watch out for teachings that promise you that you will get what you truly want if you will just put your faith in Jesus.

Some of America’s largest Sunday morning gatherings gather to listen to a preacher tell them that with enough faith, Jesus will give you the idols of your heart.

The health and wealth gospel says that enough faith in Jesus will keep you from sickness and will keep the money flowing.

The Bible does not say that your greatest problem is no physical sickness or financial poverty.

And the gospel is not Jesus came to give you the life your sinful flesh has always dreamed of.

The gospel is that you were created to find all of your needs met and all of your desires satisfied in God alone.

But, we have all rebelled against our Creator God desiring to be our own God and choose right and wrong for ourselves.

And because we have been separated from the author of life, we rightly deserve God’s punishment and death due our sin.

But while we were spiritually dead in our sin, God sent His son Jesus, fully God and fully man,

To live a life of worship in love for God and others,

Then, Jesus died the death we sinners deserved in our place for our sin taking the punishment we deserved onto himself.

And three days later, God rose Jesus from the grave defeating sin, Satan, hell, and the grave for us.

And all who will repent of their life of sin and rebellion and trust in what God has done through Jesus’ death and resurrection will be saved from God’s wrath,

forgiven by God, and reconciled to a right and perfect relationship with God,

In order that we may proclaim that Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord,

And to live the rest of our days learning to obey him as we worship and find our needs met and desires satisfied in him.

The gospel is never come to Jesus and he will give you what your flesh desires.

The gospel is come to Jesus and you will be forgiven, reconciled to God, and filled with the Holy Spirit to desire Go more than anything else.

So, watch out for those who would seek to divide God’s people or create barriers with false teachings that are contrary to sound doctrine.

Do not be naive to their charm and flattery but avoid them.

2. Be Wise As To What Is Good And Innocent As To What Is Evil

Verse 19: 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.

Would you be encouraged that the same Roman church that Paul commands not to judge or despise one another is the same church that he tells that he rejoices over them for their obedience to Christ?

In light of God’s great grace, we do not have to be perfect in order to be commended for our love for God, our faith in Jesus, and our obedience to His word.

This church wasn’t perfect by any means.

For any of you who know the kinds of craziness that went down in the Corinthian church, consider the fact that Paul began his letter to this this way:

1 Corinthians 1:4–8 ESV

4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Wow! God’s grace is a lot more gracious than we oftentimes imagine it to be.

You see, sometimes we will struggle and question our salvation because of the remaining sin we see in our lives.

But, even when these churches had many sins and flaws, Paul was able to commend them for their obedience and rejoice over them because God’s grace does not wait for you to be perfect before He commends you.

God’s grace commends you by the perfection of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice in your place,

Then you walk out your Christian faith daily in the commendation of God’s grace.

Listen, Satan will use your remaining fight with sin to try to keep you from rejoicing in God’s grace and commendation of you, and rejoicing in the small steps of obedience God has empowered you in, when the gospel that has broken all your guilt and all your shame is what gives you to power to continue to walk forward with Jesus even though you still struggle.

Paul doesn’t want the church to think that because he is warning them about false teachers that they themselves have already been deceived.

No, instead, he is encouraging them that he rejoicing in their clinging to the truth that has led them to obedience.

But, what he does want to make sure they do is to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.

Jesus used a very similar phrase in the gospel of Matthew as he warned his followers to watch out for wolves

Matthew 10:16 ESV

16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Jesus called false teachers wolves in sheep’s clothing.

So, Paul is picking up on Jesus’ teaching and saying in the midst being a church that is seeking to love and follow Jesus, you must watch out for and avoid false teachers so that you can be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Being wise enough as to what is good and true in order to spot the fake.

Being innocent enough toward evil because when you spot it, you don’t welcome evil, you don’t make the person a member, you don’t allow the evil to stay within Christ’s body, you avoid it and if necessary weed it out through church discipline in order to protect and maintain the church’s innocence through the pure teaching of the truth of God’s word and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Do you consistently keep yourself acquainted with the teaching of Scripture and sound doctrine?

Do you daily read God’s word in order to continue to discern what is good and what is evil?

Are you ready by God’s grace to stand up for the gospel of Christ when an opponent comes brining a new teaching, false doctrine, or twisting Scripture in order to deceive the hearts of the naive?

And do not be tempted to believe things like that could never happen in our church.

I promise that are many apostate churches who for the sake of unity and the desire to be accepted by the world have denied doctrines that their founding members would have been shocked if they had learned.

Be wise as to what is good, so that you can be innocent as to what is evil.

Now, you may be reading along in Romans, and get to this point and think, right after we just had that wonderful message in verses 1-16 where the gospel grants us unity and the ability to greet one another with love and affection and care deeply for one another,

We are right back to the warning of having to watch out for evil and deception as if it is around every corner.

When will the threat of evil and destruction finally end?

3. Live In Light Of The God Of Peace Crushing Satan Under Your Feet

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