September 2023

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” – Romans 16:20

Over the past two weeks, I’ve been developing a spiritual warfare perspective of this verse. (Here are the links to the first and second posts.) But this isn’t spiritual warfare as many Christians view the subject. The battle at issue concerns relationships in the church.

When believers recognize their unity in Christ, and care for each other, the plans of the devil are thwarted. Unity is the basis of victory God promises us.

But the relationships Paul focuses on weren’t generic; he was concentrating on the interactions between Jewish and Gentile Christians. Why were these parties in the Roman church at odds with each other? It wasn’t a matter of ethnicity; it concerned theology.

The book of Romans is Paul’s attempt to explain his gospel to an important church he hadn’t started and hadn’t yet visited. The good news is that through Christ’s death and resurrection, the way is now open for anyone, Jew or Gentile, to become a child of God. The way to salvation is faith in Jesus, not obedience to the Law of Moses. The Law is important, but it’s not ultimate: “Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4).

For contemporary Christians, statements like this are unremarkable. We know the ropes. We’re saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We can’t earn our salvation, but we can receive it when we yield ourselves to the Lord.

But for the early church, this message was a big deal. The church began in Jerusalem with 3,000 Jews trusting in Jesus as the Messiah (see Acts 2). And for years, it was majority Jewish. 

And why not? Regarding “the people of Israel,” Paul says that “theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen” (Romans 9:4-5).

The Jews were God’s people, Jesus was their Messiah and Redeemer, and the gospel is good news for them.

But Paul isn’t naive; he knows from personal experience that many of the Jews rejected Christ. 

“It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. ⁷Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ ⁸In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.” – Romans 9:6-8

In light of the gospel, Paul redefines the people of God. Not all Israel is Israel. Put another way, Paul treats Israel as spiritual, not physical. Biological descent doesn’t matter; what counts is faith in the God who established the covenant with His people. 

And the gospel welcomes the Gentiles into the fold.

Israel was God’s people; the Gentiles were not. But now through Christ, the Gentiles can enjoy a place at the table. 

Paul develops this idea by using the image of an olive tree which represents the people of God (see Romans 11:17-24). Out of all the nations of the world, the Lord chose Israel as His own. Salvation consists of being a loyal member of that family.

The apostle compares believers to branches, explaining that unfaithful ones (disbelieving Jews) were pruned from the tree. This enables wild branches from other trees to get grafted in. These wild branches are the Gentiles who believe in Jesus Christ.

This means that neither group is superior to the other. Jews can’t boast about their heritage or their fealty to it.

“A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. ²⁹No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.” – Romans 2:28-29

And likewise, Gentiles can’t disrespect the Jews.

“Do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. ¹⁹You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.’ ²⁰Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. ²¹For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you either.” – Romans 11:18-21

What’s crucial is being connected to the tree. Again, this olive tree symbolizes God’s people. Regardless of one’s background (Jew or Gentile), anyone who desires can be joined to the tree. Membership in the family of God is open to all who believe in Jesus Christ.

And this is what the devil opposes. He hates the offer of salvation to Gentiles. Satan tolerated God forming the nation of Israel for Himself, but he has no interest in losing any other people group to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yet that is what the gospel offers humanity–the opportunity to escape bondage to sin and evil spiritual forces and find freedom and new life in Christ.

So the devil aims to hinder the spread of the gospel. He wants as few as possible to hear the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. To frustrate the evangelization of the world, he provokes disputes and disagreements among believers about the implications of the gospel. Are Jewish Christians superior to Gentiles believers, or is it the other way around? How much of the Mosaic law must Christ’s followers observe? How do we treat brothers and sisters who have different opinions than we do about such matters? 

These look like theological arguments, but at root, they’re battlegrounds. But we’re not fighting with each other; we’re contending with principalities and powers who fear the power of the gospel. When we stand together in Jesus Christ, we trample the enemy as more and more souls break free from his grasp. 

Let’s do all we can to foster the unity of the Spirit which God’s already given us. When we love one another, we build up the church and strengthen our witness to the world. And if we encounter blowback from the devil, by God’s grace we’ll win those battles. We’re one in Christ!

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” – Romans 16:20

As we pointed out last week, this verse from the book of Romans doesn’t get much attention when Christians deal with the issue of spiritual warfare. But we shouldn’t neglect such a magnificent promise of God-given victory. Why shortchange ourselves? When battling the enemy, we need all the help we can get!

But what does spiritual warfare look like from the perspective of Romans 16:20?

Paul gives us a hint by the way he refers to the Lord. As we mentioned in the previous post, the apostle uses the phrase, “God of peace,” several times in his letters (see Romans 15:33, 2 Corinthians 13:11, Philippians 4:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, and 2 Thessalonians 3:16). It’s also in Hebrews 13:20-21.

Most of these verses refer to peace in a social sense. They emphasize harmonious relationships among Christians. This suggests that many of our conflicts aren’t with demons, they’re with people. But the Lord doesn’t want us duking it out with each other. We’re supposed to be on the same team! When we’re united in Christ, we can engage our spiritual foes with effectiveness.

By directing their attention to the God of peace, Paul is motivating the Roman Christians to heal their divisions and come together. When they do that, it won’t take long for God to bless them with a resounding defeat of the devil.

So what was dividing them?

To answer that, let’s begin with a little history. As recounted in Acts 2, Jews from all over the empire went to Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Pentecost. (This took place around the year 30 AD.)

But they got more than they bargained for!

“Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome ¹¹(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs–we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” – Acts 2:9-11

These were among the 3000 souls who believed the gospel which Peter preached (Acts 2:41). We don’t know how many these folks stayed in the city, but it’s possible the majority returned to their homes. There, they would share with their Jewish families and friends the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

Most likely, this is how the church in Rome got started. Over time, these Jewish Christians would have reached out to Gentile acquaintances, but we can assume that the majority of the Christians were of a Jewish background.

However, the situation changed at some point in the next decade. Luke notes that while Paul was ministering in Corinth, “he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome” (Acts 18:2). It’s plausible that this edict included Jewish Christians, so those believers who remained in Rome would have been Gentile by birth.

Eventually, Jews, including Jewish Christians, received permission to come back to the city. When these believers regathered with the saints, they discovered that the church was now different. Once majority Jewish, it was now mostly Gentile.

This shouldn’t have been a problem, but for this first generation of Christians, it was. Gentiles didn’t honor the food laws and other principles of the Torah. Jews didn’t want to compromise their traditions that distinguished them from the world. Following the precepts of the Law identified them as God’s people. While these Jews recognized Jesus as the Messiah, the Law was still important to them. Many assumed its rules were still in effect.

Or were they?

You can see the problem the Roman Christians faced! How Jewish does one have to be to become a Christian? What role does the Law of Moses play in the life of a believer in Jesus Christ?

To this point, Paul hadn’t traveled to the capital of the empire. He had yet to put his stamp on the faith of this church. And he was concerned that they maintain a solid understanding of the gospel. That’s why he wrote this letter to them.

Throughout Romans, Paul covers many theological topics, including sin, righteousness, the Law of Moses, works, faith, salvation, baptism, the ministry of the Spirit, the place of Israel in God’s plans, love, and missions. Each of these factors into the gospel. 

It seemed that the Romans had trouble agreeing on these subjects. And of course, Satan was all too happy to fan the flames of discord. To beat back the devil would require the church to unite. Jew or Gentile–one’s background shouldn’t matter. What counts is one’s commitment to Jesus Christ. Here’s how Paul blesses this church: “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, ⁶so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (Romans 15:5-7).

But is the harmony of Jews and Gentiles in Christ a basis of spiritual warfare? We could argue that it isn’t. After all, Paul makes very little mention of spiritual forces in Romans. He refers to Satan in 16:20, but doesn’t mention the devil or demons at all. He includes principalities and powers in a list in 8:38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (NASB). But that’s it. One reference each to principalities, powers, and Satan. In a letter with 16 chapters. A document with 433 verses. That isn’t much!

It would be easy to disregard the dimension of spiritual struggle in Romans 16:20, and take the verse as a simple exhortation to Christian unity. But doing so would overlook a significant feature of the gospel Paul lays out in the letter. He’s not contending for unity because he wants believers to get along. It’s much deeper than that.

How deep?

That’s what we’ll explore next week!