“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!
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