“But I urge you, brethren, to watch out for those who cause dissensions and snares apart from the teaching you have learned; avoid them. For such do not serve our Lord Christ, but are enslaved to their own bodies; and by kind words and blessings they completely deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.”
Rom 16:17-18 (CNT)

You might think that simply saying hello is enough. However, the well-being of people is important to Paul. That’s why he adds something he hasn’t talked about yet. His focus for most of the letter was on the foundation and sound doctrine. Then, from chapter 12 onwards, he spoke about the way of life in general. Here, however, he is talking about something new that can take place within the community.

A warning against strife

The apostle warns against people who cause strife. He talks about pitfalls because unsuspecting people are easily seduced. Guileless (Greek akakon or “un-evil”) is only used twice in the New Testament: Once here and once in the context of the high priest (Heb 7:26). He who is guileless is not evil-minded, or pure of heart. It shows a certain naivety towards malicious contemporaries. So Paul testifies in the next verse:

“The news of your obedience of faith has reached everyone, so I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise for good but without malicious inclination to evil.”
Rom 16:19

On the one hand, Paul wants the Romans to be “wise for good” and “without malicious inclination to evil”. On the other hand, however, he does take the reality of human community into account when he warns against avoiding certain people who cause strife and become a trap for unsuspecting people.

It’s worth thinking about this for a moment.

In an evangelical environment, such verses are often misused to silence anyone who does not follow the teachings of the church. I can certainly understand that people want to protect the community against outside influences. I even think that this is the task of church leadership. But beware: not everyone who thinks differently causes strife or tries to bind people to them.

Two features should be noted. These are things that can trigger people in the community:

1. Cause strife
2. Cause pitfalls.

According to Galatians 5:20, quarrels belong to the “works of the flesh”. It is tempting to “want to be right”, to want to push through “thematic hobbyhorses” or to put yourself in the limelight in other ways. There are also contemporaries like this in the community. How to deal with it?

In communities where a doctrinal culture prevails and the truth is dictated from above by the church leadership, it is not immediately noticeable when other people rebel against this and try to maneuver themselves into a position of power. It feels similar. You can just feel the power struggle and people are quick to try to keep or gain the upper hand. Some people fall unsuspectingly into the power games and take this or that side of the power struggle. That makes little sense. Paul warns against this.

What could an alternative look like? Imagine a community in which a power struggle is discovered more quickly and dealt with differently. It should be a community in which strife has little place. Imagine a community in which a learning culture prevails. It is never about a power struggle, but about the growth of the community and the well-being of all participants. In a learning culture, people also contribute different ideas, but then fade into the background again. They do not have to “win” with their thoughts, but see it as a contribution to a differentiated understanding.

Paul warns against people who laugh in a friendly manner but only pursue their own goals. They cause disputes as power games and often seduce other believers. This leads to fractures in communities. So that we do not get there, Paul emphasizes that we should be “wise for good” and completely “without guileful inclination to evil”. In the next verse he says this again in different words:

“But the God of peace will swiftly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”
Rom 16:20

Peace in the community

Paul has peace in mind. He wishes the community peace. Because they stand in faith, he points out that God is a “God of peace” (Romans 15:13; Romans 15:33), who will “crush Satan under your feet with swiftness”. He who stands in God’s peace will not quarrel. There is no reason for this. He writes to the Philippians:

“Whatever you have learned and received from me, heard and observed in me, put into practice; then the God of peace will be with you.”
Phil 4:9

To achieve peace, there is the good news of God’s grace. In order for us to remain at peace, we need to make courageous decisions every day. In it, Paul does not say that we have to rebuke, ostracize or convince others of our opinion, but that we should merely “avoid” people who cause discord. It is by no means a question of everyone having to think the same. They don’t have to. Behavior in the congregation should not, however, be geared towards personal gain, but should have the peace of God in mind.

Peace and grace

Paul usually begins his letters with a blessing. He speaks of “grace and peace”. In this section, however, it goes in reverse order. He starts by talking about peace, which is important. Then comes the reference to grace:

“The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”
Rom 16:20

This wish belongs to the aforementioned “God of peace”. Grace and peace belong together. Those who experience grace and live out grace will stand in God’s peace. He has come to rest in Him. Paul says: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ”. At the beginning of the letter to the Romans, Paul pronounced the benediction “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”. Both grace and peace are important. Both come from God and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a single package, so to speak. This belongs together. If in Romans 16 he first emphasizes the “God of peace”, this is now supplemented with the “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ”. The point of this section is not to emphasize anything as being different. The same things are always mentioned together.

The “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” is something like the summary of the gospel of grace. Paul often uses this formula. You can think of this verse, for example:

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that when he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
2Cor 8,9

Grace makes a difference. Grace is always active. That is why Paul’s blessing fits in a passage in which he urgently recommends actively avoiding certain people. We need His grace to see clearly what is at stake, what is important. Experiencing grace and actively living out grace is the key to peace in the community. Be gracious with yourself and with others because you have experienced grace. Be courageous in decisions and bring clarity to the community, also out of the experience of grace.