Saved to Serve, Part Two: Meet the Ideal Christian Couple
Romans 16:3-5aP. G. Mathew | Sunday, October 14, 2012
Copyright © 2012, P. G. Mathew
We are continuing our exposition of Romans 16. In our last study, we spoke about Paul’s commendation of Phoebe, a single Christian businesswoman, who served the Lord Jesus Christ in many ways. In this study we will learn about Priscilla and Aquila, the ideal Christian couple, who lived all their lives to serve God.
In Romans 16:3–16, the apostle Paul sends Christian greetings to a number of his friends and acquaintances in the church in Rome. He sends his first and longest greeting to a Jewish Christian couple, Priscilla and Aquila, whom Paul had known for many years. The husband, Aquila, was a native of Pontus, in the north of Asia Minor. They were businesspeople, tentmakers, as was Paul.
Aquila and Priscilla were very intelligent and rich. They would move from city to city to make money with their tentmaking business. Even though James warns that it may not be right to move from city to city just to make money, he says it is all right to make money by moving from city to city if it is God’s will (Jas. 4:13-15).
It is right to make money in God’s will, for without money, we cannot live. We must have money to buy our daily bread. Jesus made money as a carpenter. It is the loveof money that is the root of all evil (1 Tim. 6:10). It is greed that is evil.
So it is important to have a profession. It is important to work and make money so that we can support our family and the Lord’s work, as well as help the truly needy in our midst. In fact, the Bible opposes all programs that promote laziness and dependency on the government. Paul exhorts, “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody” (1 Thess. 4:11–12). He also says, “For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat’” (2 Thess. 3:7–10).
It is possible that Priscilla and Aquila became Christians on the Day of Pentecost, for there were visitors from Rome in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:10–11). It is also possible that Paul led this couple to Christ when he met them in Corinth (Acts 18:1–4): “After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There 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 the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.”
Aquila and Priscilla came to Corinth because Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome around 49 AD. Paul worked with them in the tentmaking business in Corinth and they became very close friends. After two years in Corinth, they moved to Ephesus with Paul, where they helped Paul in his work for the Lord.
This couple is mentioned six times in New Testament; both are always mentioned together. They are like lovebirds. We see them always together, whether at home or at work or in the church or when they travel or when they minister. Their marriage conformed to the constitution of marriage given to us in Ephesians 5:22–33. Aquila loved his wife as Christ loved the church, and Priscilla loved her husband and submitted to him in the Lord in everything.
Four out of the six times the couple is mentioned, the name of Priscilla appears first. It appears that she was more intelligent than her husband. It is possible that she came from a higher station in life; it is also possible that she brought more money into the marriage. But there is no question they were taught thoroughly by Paul in the way of salvation. With this knowledge of the gospel, this ideal Christian couple was able to teach the learned Jewish professor Apollos, perhaps a graduate of the university of Alexandria, in the full gospel and introduce him to life in the Holy Spirit (Acts 18:26).
Aquila and Priscilla were international business travelers. We see them going from Pontus in Asia to Rome, then to Corinth, then to the great city of Ephesus, then again to Rome, and finally back to Ephesus. Yet their focus was not their business as much as in the interest of gospel, especially helping Paul in his apostolic ministry. It is possible that Aquila was a pastor and his wife Priscilla helped him. They loved one another and loved God’s people, and they used their wealth for the interests of the kingdom of God.
Unlike Demas, this peripatetic and ever-hospitable Jewish Christian couple never abandoned their friend and pastor, Paul. They were known and loved by all the Gentile churches. They were an ideal Christian couple. They were a holy couple who loved God, God’s saints, and one another.
Paul’s Greeting to Aquila and Priscilla
Paul sends Priscilla and Aquila the first and the longest greeting in this passage: “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them” (vv. 3–4).
The greetings of unbelievers are formal and empty of true meaning. But Christian greetings, like “Shalom Aleichem,” “Peace to you,” or “God bless you,” are full of heavenly meaning. They convey a blessing of peace to us. When Mary greeted Elizabeth, she was filled with the Holy Spirit and the baby, we are told, leaped for joy in the womb. It is heavenly to hear the greeting of a child of God.
So Paul greets Prisca (Priscilla is an affectionate diminutive of Prisca) and Aquila, his friends of many years. He says they are “my fellow workers (sunergoi) in Christ Jesus.” These rich people did not live delicate, luxurious, and lazy lives. They were hard workers in their tentmaking business, and especially hard workers in the work of the gospel. They worked with Paul, assisting him in every way, especially through the use of their money. They were fellow workers like Euodia and Syntyche (Phil. 4:2–3). The brilliant Priscilla worked under her husband within the limits of the Scriptures (see 1 Corinthians 11:3–16 and 1 Timothy 2:8–15). This couple was rich in good works.
Paul also was a hard worker. In fact, he said he worked harder than all, by God’s grace (1 Cor. 15:10). Our Christian service is an effect of Christian grace received. More grace effects more good works for God’s glory. So Paul says, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58).
Understand this: we are God’s fellow workers. Being a Christian involves being set to work. Jesus was a worker. He was the carpenter and the son of the carpenter (Mark 6:3). But his primary work was work in the kingdom of God. So he said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34); “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working” (John 5:17); “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4). And from the cross he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). His atoning work was finished.
The Bible is full of allusions to hard work. Jeremiah 49:10 pronounces “a curse on him who is lax in doing the Lord’s work.” Paul writes, “Tell Archippus, ‘See to it that you complete the work you have received from the Lord” (Col. 4:17).
The word sunergoi (“fellow workers”) in Paul’s writings always refers to gospel work. This couple helped Paul in the work of the gospel. Not only were they biblically literate and able to counsel, but they also practiced hospitality and opened their large house for regular worship. They were Spirit-baptized and so fearlessly witnessed to Christ. They were not ashamed of the gospel. They taught the learned Apollos the full gospel; later, they encouraged this professor to go to Achaia and do gospel work there, sending him with a letter of introduction. It appears that Epenetus, whom Paul mentions in Romans 16:5b as “the first fruit of Asia,” was the first result of their labor in Ephesus.
So Paul greets them saying, “They are my fellow laborers in the cause of Christ Jesus.” In this greeting, Paul is greeting all men and women who work for the Lord and conveying his love to them. The greeting of Paul is the greeting of his Lord. So the Lord himself is greeting us today because we are also fellow laborers for Jesus Christ.
Then Paul says that Aquila and Priscilla, “to save my life, laid down their own neck” (v. 4, author’s wording). This godly couple had saved Paul’s life by endangering theirs in an unnamed situation.
In 1 Chronicles 11 we read of some friends of David who went through enemy lines to get cool water for him from the well of Bethlehem. They risked their lives to bring the water to him. But he refused to drink it. He poured it out as a drink offering to God. He said, “God forbid that I should do this!” He said, “Should I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives” (1 Chron. 11:19). Because they risked their lives to bring it back, David would not drink it.
In his epistle to the Philippians, Paul speaks of his fellow worker Epaphroditus visiting him in Rome. During that time, Epaphroditus got sick and almost died. Paul writes about him, “Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me” (Phil. 2:29–30).
Priscilla and Aquila loved this apostle, who was also their pastor, so much that they shielded him from death by exposing themselves to death. Paul was constantly facing danger. In Acts we read of a riot against him in Ephesus: “When [the crowd] heard this, they were furious and began shouting: ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’ Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and rushed as one man into the theater. Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater” (Acts 19:28–31). It may be that Aquila and Priscilla hid Paul in their house at this time.
Elsewhere Paul refers to this time in Ephesus, saying that he was going to stay there a while “because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me” (1 Cor. 16:9). He later wrote to the Corinthian church, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us” (2 Cor. 1:8–10).
We are to love one another as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. John writes, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for [huper, “in place of”] us. And we ought to lay down our lives for [huper, “in place of”] our brothers” (1 John 3:16).
All the churches of the Gentiles knew about Aquila and Priscilla’s saving Paul’s life by risking their own. Because of their help in delivering him, we have the opportunity to study this letter to the Romans. So Paul, in effect, was telling the Romans, “I am living because of their love for me. Please greet them for me.” Paul was spared from death that he may complete God’s work.
In due time, Paul would be spared no longer. In his last epistle he wrote, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:6–8). And in the same chapter he finally realizes his time has now come. He writes, “At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (2 Tim. 4:16–18).
Friends, do we love one another with such sacrificial love with which Priscilla and Aquila loved Paul? Most people show love to others only to get something from them. (PGM) Christian love alone is truly sacrificial, that we give ourselves to others for their eternal benefit.
Paul Gives Thanks
How many times have we prayed for brothers or sisters who are facing difficult situations, sometimes praying for months. But when God answers the prayers of his saints, we rejoice and give thanks to God, for he is good, and his mercy endures forever.
Unbelievers are godless, worthless, hopeless, and thankless. They thank themselves, not God, whenever something goes their way. But Christians thank their God for everything. So Paul thanks this holy Christian couple for saving his life. He also conveys to them the thanks of all the Gentile Christians. Through this letter, Paul is sending Aquila and Priscilla many thanks. He says, “Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them” (v. 4b). And they are thanking them continually. The word is eucharistô. It is a present active indicative first person singular of eucharisteô, from which we have the word eucharist. The Lord’s Supper is called the Eucharist; it is thanksgiving for Jesus Christ, who laid down his life in behalf of [huper] us. Christ died for our sins. So it is a time when we thank God for his great salvation.
Thanksgiving is an important function of God’s people. Paul exhorts that we are to be “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20). He says, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:18). To the church of Colosse he wrote, “Continue to live in [Christ Jesus], rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” (Col. 2:6–7). Again, he says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil. 4:6).
We are to give thanks always. We are to give thanks for everything, including for God’s discipline of us as his children. Children, do you say “Thank you” when your parents, teachers, and pastors rebuke and correct you in love? We are to give thanks to God the Father from whom all blessings flow. We are to give thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, because all blessings flow to us only through Christ. The question is, have you trusted in Jesus Christ alone for your eternal salvation, that you may thank God as his child?
Paul is not speaking about a small measure of thanksgiving. We are to overflow with thanksgiving. My mother, who is now in heaven, used to spontaneously declare in any situation, whether good or bad, “Stothrum.”1 What are you saying when you encounter troubles and trials?
In Philippians 4:6 Paul says we are to pray and make our requests known, mixed with thanksgiving—thanksgiving for what he has already done for us and thanksgiving for what he will do for us. Finally, Paul says, “Egô eucharistô,” meaning, “I myself personally thank you.”
Greetings to the House Church
Paul concludes his greeting to this Christian couple with a message to those who would come to their house to worship: “Greet also the church that meets in their house” (v. 5a). Paul was conveying his love to the church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla. There were no church buildings for the whole church to come together to worship until the third century. So people worshiped in the larger houses of fairly well-off believers.
In Acts 12, we read about the believers at the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. Many people gathered to pray there for the deliverance of Peter from prison. From the Bible we learn that this house had both an outer and an inner gate, indicating that it was the home of a rich person. At Troas, Paul worshiped at night on the Lord’s Day with God’s people. They met in a large upstairs room, where there were many lamps burning, in the house of an unnamed believer (Acts 20). And Jesus and his disciples ate the Passover meal in Jerusalem in a friend’s house, which had a large upper room (Luke 22:12).
Because Priscilla and Aquila were wealthy, they had a big house in Rome. Thank God for rich Christian people who use their wealth for the kingdom of God. It is not wrong to be rich. Rich people have done much in building up the economy of this and other countries.
This rich Christian couple invited believers to come to their house every week to worship. They loved all God’s people, whether rich or poor, Jews or Gentiles, masters or slaves. They knew every one and loved every one. Probably Aquila himself would preach the word, and they would sing, pray, celebrate the Lord’s Supper, eat a meal together and fellowship.
Theirs was a house church. Probably there were about half a dozen house churches in Rome. Aquila and Priscilla loved to serve. They were glad to meet God’s people. They spent their money to promote the work of God’s kingdom. It was sheer joy for them to have a church in their house. Wherever they went, they would have a church in their house.
Lydia the businesswoman also had a church in her home (Acts 16). Philemon had a church in his house (Philem. 2), as did Lady Nympha (Col. 4:15). Gaius had a church in his house where Paul stayed and wrote this letter (Rom. 16:23).
What about you? Do you open your house for saints to assemble, sing, pray, study the word, eat, and have sweet fellowship? Such a life is pure joy on this side of heaven. I was introduced to this joy as a young child. Today, many people go to large churches where they can be unknown. Such “Christians” do not want others to know them because they do not want anyone to find out that they are living sinful, disorderly lives.
In house churches, everyone knew everyone else. They rejoiced with those who rejoiced and they helped those who needed help. Today’s small groups are similar to house churches. Do you belong to a small group where you are known and where you enjoy sweet fellowship with the saints in the Lord?
So Paul greets Aquila and Priscilla and every saint who met in their house. For these people, the words of the psalmist are true: “I said to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord;apart from you I have no good thing.’ As for the saints who are in the land,they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. . . . I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD’” (Ps. 16:2–3; 122:1).
Application
1. Have you trusted in Jesus Christ alone for your eternal salvation, as this couple did?
2. Do you have Christian friends who send you greetings? Or are you a loner?
3. If you are a married Christian couple, how is your marriage? Do you love God with all your heart, and do you love your spouse sacrificially?
4. Are you biblically literate and full of the Holy Spirit to lead others to Christ in terms of personal evangelism?
5. Do you open your home for saints to gather to worship and fellowship?
6. Do you use gladly your wealth for the advancement of the gospel?
7. Do you stand with your pastors when enemies of the gospel persecute them?
8. Do you work hard for the Lord that you may be called “God’s fellow workers”?
9. Do you thank parents, teachers, and pastors when they bring some correction to you in love?
May God help us to be inspired by this ideal Christian couple to express our thanks and gratitude by living to serve our Lord Jesus Christ in all that we do.
1 Stothrum means “Praise the Lord” in the Malayalam language of Kerala, India.
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