Chapter 16 – One God Translation

Romans

   16 I recommend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant[987] of the church at Cenchrea. 2 I want you to welcome her in the lord in a way worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever she needs from you, because she has been a helper of many, and of myself.
    3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Messiah Jesus, 4 who risked their lives for me. I am thankful for them, as are all the churches of the Gentiles. 5 And greet the church in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my dear friend, who is the first convert to Messiah from the province of Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia,[988] my relatives and fellow prisoners. They are noteworthy in the eyes of the apostles, and were in Messiah before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Messiah, and Stachys, my dear friend. 10 Greet Apelles, approved in Messiah. Greet those in the household of Aristobulus. 11 Greet Herodion, my countryman, and those of the household of Narcissus who are in the lord. 12 Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, workers in the lord, and my dear friend Persis, who labored hard in the lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the lord, and his mother who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Messiah greet you.
    17 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, watch out for those who are causing divisions and obstacles contrary to the teachings which you learned. Turn away from these people, 18 because they are not serving our lord Messiah[989] but their own desires, and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the minds of unsuspecting people. 19 Your obedience has become known to all, so I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. 20 The God of peace will quickly crush Satan[990] under your feet. The grace of our lord[991] Jesus be with you.
    21 Timothy, my fellow worker, sends greetings, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen. 22 I, Tertius, who am writing this letter, greet you in the lord. 23 Gaius, my host and host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, greets you, as does our brother Quartus. [992]
    25 Now to the One who is able to establish you according to my Gospel[993] and the preaching of Jesus Messiah, according to the revealing of the secret which has been hidden from past ages, 26 but now is manifested, and through the Scriptures of the prophets, following the command of the God of the ages, has been made known to all the nations, to bring about the obedience of faith[994] — 27 to the only wise God,[995] through Jesus Messiah, be the glory to the ages! Amen.

Romans

[987]

She was most probably a financial supporter and thus a patroness of the church there. Paul did not ordain women as elders/pastors (1 Tim. 3:1). But women spoke, educated, and encouraged in the church setting (1 Cor. 11:4-5).

[988]

Junia is apparently the name of a woman and since women “prayed and prophesied” in the church (1 Cor. 14:5), Junia may have been traveling and teaching.

[989]

Our lord Messiah is of course Paul’s abbreviated form of “our lord Jesus Messiah.” The phrase is exactly that of Luke in 2:11, where “the lord Messiah” was born in Bethlehem. No one in NT times imagined that God was born! The lord Messiah is the second lord of Ps. 110:1, and the lord (adoni in Heb.) is certainly not a second GOD. He is “the man Messiah Jesus” of Paul’s constant creed (1 Tim. 2:5), the human Messiah whom Paul discusses in Phil. 2:5ff where he is not talking about a pre-human (i.e. non-human) person, but the historical lord Messiah who took the status of a servant, as a model for us. Cp. Isa. 53:12: “poured out himself,” as did Paul in Phil. 2:17.

[990]

The Satan is a fallen angel who “fell into condemnation” (1 Tim. 3:6). God permits this morally responsible angel who by choice became evil. The Christadelphian idea that the “serpent” was not morally responsible, just a snake, implies a terrible indictment of God, making God the author of the lie! Founder of Christadelphianism, John Thomas, said that “the serpent lied but did not intend to lie.” This very cleverly traces the lie to God, making God the author of the lie. However, the serpent, the Satan, was deliberately punished by God for his transgression. God did not punish the innocent.

[991]

“Our lord” is the Messianic title for Jesus based on Ps. 110:1, “my lord,” adoni. It is a plain fact that no one in the Hebrew Bible wrote “my YHVH, or “our YHVH.” Calling Jesus lord means that he is the Messiah, the adoni of Ps. 110:1, and adoni in all of its 195 occurrences is never a reference to Deity. Thus the critical difference between God and not God can be inspected 645 times — Adonai 450 and adoni 195 times.

[992]

Early manuscripts do not contain v. 24: “The grace of our lord Jesus Messiah be with you all. Amen.”

[993]

There was no special Gospel revealed only to Paul. The same Gospel was revealed to all the Apostles (Eph. 3:5), and of course was initially preached by Jesus (Heb. 2:3: Mk. 1:1, 14, 15).

[994]

This is the key phrase with which Paul opens the book in 1:5 and so it frames the book of Romans. Faith without obedience is not faith, agreeing with James of course that salvation, being made right with God, is not by faith alone (James 2:24). Obedience is to be defined according to the New Covenant and not in the letter of the Torah. Those Jewish identity markers like circumcision in the flesh, sabbath and other calendar observances (cp. Col. 2:16-17, which is definitive) and food laws are of no consequence for Paul. Obedience properly defined is the basis of NT salvation, as Heb. 5:9 says echoing the words of Jesus in John 3:36. See also 1 Tim. 6:3, 2 John 7-9. All the complex and unnecessary arguments about faith and works are resolved once “obedience of faith” is taken as the key.

[995]

This is a typical Jewish and NT Christian statement of unitary, non-Trinitarian monotheism. Cp. James 2:19: “God is one Person” (cp. Gal. 3:20, “God is only one Person,” Amplified Version). Jesus fully endorsed the creed of his Hebrew heritage in Mark 12:29, agreeing with a scribe (cp. Jn. 17:3). Trinitarianism is a post-biblical creation of Greek philosophically minded Gentiles, and should never be read back into Scripture. The word God (often “the God”) refers to the Father over 1300 times. No verse with “GOD” anywhere in the Bible (about 11,000 times: YHWH, Adonai, Elohim, Theos) means a triune God. Evangelicals have become confused by tradition which they imagine to be in the Bible. While claiming sola scriptura, they inadvertently read their tradition back into the Scripture and make it describe a triune God when it does not. Jesus was not a Trinitarian (Mk. 12:29; Jn. 17:3), so why are his followers? The essence of deception is failure to follow the teachings of Jesus (1 Tim. 6:3; Heb. 5:9).