Paul's Solemn Plea To Rome (Lesson 2) Series

INTRODUCTION

Outline.

2. Serves not the Lord Jesus Christ

Introductory Remarks.

1. This is lesson two in this sermon series: “Paul’s Solemn Plea To Rome.” This was an urgent and solemn plea from the beloved apostle Paul to the saints at Rome. His message began with a sincere plea to the brethren faithful to the Lord and part of the body of believers in the church in Rome. This solemn plea is given to the faithful saints: to mark and turn away from those causing divisions and offenses in the body of Christ. These are those who serve not the Lord Jesus Christ but their (own) bellies and are making merchandise of babes, the unlearned, unsuspecting, and innocent. Nothing is more important to the church of Christ than to warn her of this solemn message of Paul and all the other apostles.

2. We will discuss that those who now trouble the church serve not the Lord Jesus Christ but their bellies. They were troubling the church with divisions and offenses. We will learn that Paul speaks of the Jewish fathers and those of the circumcision. They were teaching the Gentiles that they could not be part of the church family without first obeying the Law and being circumcised to become proselytes of Judaism. They were messengers of the evil one and were not the servants of the Lord but “greedy for filthy lucre,” Titus 1:11-12. Finally, he asked the church to pray that the saints of Jerusalem and Judaea might accept his work in delivering the money from the Gentile churches and that he could be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men. Let’s consider lesson 2.

BODY OF LESSON

II THAT SERVES NOT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

A. Paul continued: The word “such” in Romans 16:18a refers to the word “them” in Romans 16:17b. It is the “such” and the “them” that we should “turn away from.” They do not abide by sound doctrine nor seek true fellowship with the saints in Rome and elsewhere. They are those who make and sow divisions and offenses that destroy the work of Christ. Some, however, may not even know that they are not walking in concert with the will of God. This begs an interesting question: Who are the “such” who serve not the Lord Jesus Christ but their (own) belly, or the “them” that we must turn away from? [Please underline these three words in your bible]. This is an essential mandate given to us by the beloved apostle Paul. How can we make “heads and tails” of these words? Who do these words refer to in our text of discussion? I sought an answer, and it involved a little work. So, I began my research by attempting,

1. To connect the word: “them,” a pronoun in Romans 16:17b, to its corresponding noun within our text. There was no noun in verse 17. That the word “them” is correlated. However, I did observe,

a. First, the word “them” in Gr., is autos a pronoun, or P-GPM.

b. Next, generally, a pronoun follows a noun mentioned earlier within the same context of scriptures.

c. Finally, I could not find the noun this pronoun “them” is modifying in Romans 16:17.

NOTE: GPM means Genitive Plural Masculine, in case, number, and gender. If you are familiar with some of our other lessons, you have been exposed to Greek Parsing. This work is necessary to identify the “such,” the “them,” and the “their own” in Romans 16:17-18. Continuing,

2. Pronouns usually follow a noun mentioned earlier. However, I did identify another pronoun, definite article, and an adjective that agrees in case, number, and gender in verse 18. Observe,

a. The phrase “their own” in Gr., is heautou, a Reflexive pronoun, or F-3GPM. Then,

b. The phrase “of the” in Gr., is ho and is a definite article, or T-GPM. And finally,

c. The word “simple” in Gr., is akakos and is an adjective, or A-GPM.

d. This discovery implies that the pronouns F-3GPM and P-GPM, the definite article T-GPM, and the adjectives A-GPM are likewise linked to the noun, which has not yet been discovered in our research. I could not locate their corresponding definite article and noun within verses 17 and 18 of Romans chapter 16. In this case,

e. I looked within the proceeding chapters to discover the noun of Paul’s instruction “to turn away from them.” The noun or nouns being modified by these pronouns, an article, and one adjective, have not yet been identified. This happens quite often during Greek Parsing. So,

3. I sought the noun with its definite article in chapter 15. Happily, I located them embedded (included) in verse 8. The discovery text reads: “Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers,” Romans 15:8. Considering this sentence, “the promises made unto the fathers.” I then connected,