Saved to Serve
Romans 16:1-2P. G. Mathew | Sunday, October 07, 2012
Copyright © 2012, P. G. Mathew
Romans 16 teaches that we are saved by Jesus Christ to worship and serve him. So Paul speaks in this chapter of the work of many people for God. He names about thirty-three individuals: twenty-four saints from the church of Rome and nine from elsewhere. Like these saints, we also have been saved to serve God and God’s people.
The first thing we notice in this chapter is the number of people Paul mentions by name. Paul was a pastor par excellence. He was not a loner. He knew and loved all sorts of people—men and women, Jew and Gentile, master and slave, rich and poor, sinners and saints. His example was Jesus Christ, the good shepherd, who said, “The good shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (John 10:3). Jesus knows each of us by name and died for each of his elect.
Paul commends many people in this last chapter of Romans. Not only did he know them, but he also knew what they had done in service to their Savior. They were true heroes of faith, similar to those we read about in Hebrews 11.
God sees all that we do, as he said to the seven churches in Asia, “I know your deeds” (Rev. 2 and 3). He knows our good works and will commend us also, saying, “Well done, good and faithful servants. . . . Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matt. 25:23, 40). True believers serve God by doing good works by the grace of God. So Paul says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10). Elsewhere he writes that he redeemed us “from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:14).
Paul says about his own work: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). And he concludes that chapter, “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).
Our service to God is not legalistic obedience; it is love-motivated. To the Thessalonians Paul wrote, “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:3). Elsewhere he said, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Gal. 5:6). Jesus Christ told his disciples, “If you love me, you will obey [my commandments]” (John 14:15).
Romans 16 speaks about all the faithful churches of today, where saints are serving God daily sacrificially. Such faithful servants shall be blessed by their Master in due time.
In this study, we want to look at the first two verses, which speak of the work of a single, wealthy Christian woman who lived all her life in service to God.
The Apostolic Commendation of Phoebe
First, we want to look at Paul’s commendation of Phoebe. This sister came to know Jesus Christ through Paul’s ministry. Paul preached the gospel to her, and she trusted in the word of God and was saved. Phoebe was a Gentile, an idol worshiper. In fact, her name was the name of a pagan deity. Phoebe means “the shining one.” When Phoebe became a Christian, she did not change her name; rather, she began to shine as a light for her Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. . . . Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:14, 16). Paul said the same thing: “You were once darkness; now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” (Eph. 5:8).
Phoebe was a member of the church of Cenchrea, a port city located about eight miles east of the city of Corinth. People took ships from Cenchrea to go east to Ephesus and beyond. Paul himself passed through Cenchrea on his way to Ephesus (Acts 18:18). He and his companions most likely stayed in Phoebe’s large house next to the port.
There was another port called Lechaeum next to the city of Corinth, from which people took ships to go west to Rome and other places. It appears that Phoebe carried Paul’s letter to the Romans in her luggage when she sailed from Lechaeum to Rome, together with her retinue of servants, to attend to some business in the capital. She would be delivering this letter to the saints in Rome—this treasure of God’s word, which we have been studying for the last five years. It was this letter that produced the Protestant Reformation. It has also produced a revival in this church that has continued now for a few years.
In this letter, Paul recommends Phoebe to the saints in Rome as “our sister.” The church in Rome did not know Phoebe before. But God knew her and Paul knew her. Friends, we have many brothers and sisters that we do not know—millions of them living throughout the world. They are members of God’s one holy catholic and apostolic church. They belong to the one family of God, the one body of Christ.
We also have millions of brothers and sisters in heaven, in paradise, whose spirits have been made perfect upon their deaths. Even now, these saints, including our believing parents and brothers and sisters, are enjoying the very presence of God. The church of Christ is in heaven and on earth. We are united to all God’s people. We have one heavenly Father, and one Lord and Savior, our older brother, Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.
So Paul recommends Phoebe, the letter carrier to the church of Rome, as “our sister.” The principle is this: the friend of your friend is my friend. In truth, this spiritual sister of Paul is also the sister of all the saints, both on earth and in heaven. She is not his blood sister, but the blood-bought sister, bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the relationship is not just temporal but eternal. So we have many such brothers and sisters in the world, though we do not know them. May God help us to know, love, and serve our brothers and sisters, beginning in this local congregation.
In the early church, when the saints traveled, it was dangerous to stay in inns or taverns. So they would carry a letter of recommendation to a church in their destination city. This was to guard against fraud. Many people could come and say, “I am a Christian,” when they were not. So Paul wrote a letter of recommendation for Phoebe. (PGM) A similar letter was written for Apollos by believers such as Aquila and Priscilla in Ephesus as Apollos was leaving to Corinth (Acts 18:27).
Who Was Phoebe?
Who was this sister Phoebe? Paul calls her a servant, a deacon (diakonon) in the church of Cenchrea. This is the first time Paul uses the word “church” (ekklêsia) in Romans; it appears five times in this chapter. Phoebe was a deacon, a servant, in the church. This does not mean that she was a church officer, such as a deaconess, in an official sense. Any servant can be called a deacon. A waiter is a deacon. Jesus himself was called a deacon (Rom. 15:8), as was Paul (Rom. 15:25, 31). Every believer is a deacon, for we are all called to serve God. Paul says in reference to spiritual gifts, “If it is serving, let him serve. . . . if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously” (Rom. 12:7a, 8b). Peter exhorts, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Pet. 4:10). Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matt. 25:40). He also admonished, “If I, your Lord and Master, washed your feet, you must also do so” (John 13:14, author’s wording).
All Christians, therefore, are deacons in the general sense. But we do not see in the Scripture the term diakonos given to a woman as an official title, as an officer of the church. Philippians 1 and 1 Timothy 3 speak only of male bishops and deacons. There is no mention in the Bible of women apostles, women pastors, women evangelists, or women deacons. When the church in Acts 6 discriminated against the poor Hellenistic Jewish widows, they chose seven men, full of faith, wisdom, and the Holy Spirit to take care of them.
Yet without the ministry of women, the church cannot exist. In Luke 8, we see women ministering to Jesus Christ: “After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means” (Luke 8:1–3).
The Bible says women can prophesy, pray, and sing in the church. They can also teach and train younger women: “Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God” (Tit. 2:3–5).
Women can teach Sunday School and serve poor and sick women. They can help women candidates get ready for baptism. They can serve dying women and prepare their bodies for burial after they have died. They can feed the church, assist in the delivery of children, and so on. They can witness to sinners and they can even participate in ministering to professors, learned people, to lead them to a more correct understanding of the way of salvation. This is exactly what Priscilla, along with her husband Aquila, did in helping Professor Apollos in their house.
So Phoebe was a servant of church of Cenchrea. She used her wealth to help needy people in her church as well as poor people in the church of Corinth. She was rich, not only in material things, but also good works.
The Purposes of Paul’s Recommendation
Paul recommends Phoebe as “our sister” and “a servant of the church of Cenchrea” for two purposes. The first purpose is that they “receive her.”
Though she was a sister in the Lord, Phoebe was also a Gentile. There should not have been any discrimination in God’s church but there was, even in the apostolic church. In Acts 6:1 we read that the poor Jewish widows who spoke Greek were not given food because they were not Hebraic Jewish widows. This was discrimination, and the apostles corrected this sin. There was also discrimination in the church in Antioch (see Gal. 2:11–14). When some ultra-conservative Jewish believers from Jerusalem came to the mostly Gentile church of Antioch, Peter and Barnabas stopped eating with the Gentile believers. Paul rebuked Peter publicly for this serious discrimination, which was a sin against God and his church. In the church of Corinth, this problem manifested during the agape feast on the Lord’s Day. The term “agape feast” means love feast. Yet the rich believers were eating with other rich believers and neglecting the poor, who had nothing to eat. Paul rebuked this church for this sin (1 Cor. 11:17–22).
Friends, we must strive to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace because there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all (Eph. 4:3–6). We are all fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household (Eph. 2:19). “The Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 3:6).
So we love one another. Weak vegetarians love the strong meat-eating ones. Gentile saints love Jewish saints. We are to receive one another as Christ received us in order to bring praise to God (Rom. 15:7). We are to welcome each other into our hearts, into our homes, and to our tables. In Luke 15:1–2 we read, “Now the tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were all gathering around to hear [Jesus]. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” Thank God, he did!
So the saints in Rome were to receive Phoebe, this Gentile believer, their sister, because of two reasons. First, Paul says, they are to receive her “in the Lord.” The phrase “in the Lord” appears seven times in this chapter, along with “in Christ” four times. They were to receive Phoebe, for whom Christ died, for the Lord’s sake because she, like them, was united with Christ. She was a member of Christ, a member of the body of Christ, a member of the family of God. John Calvin says, “Embrace in love all the members of Christ [and his church].”1
Then Paul says they are to receive her in a way “worthy of the saints.” Phoebe was a sister and a servant, but she was also a saint. The letter of Romans was written to the saints in Rome (Rom. 1:7). The word “saints” appears eight times in this letter. Mary the mother of Christ was a saint, and so are all of us. We were once powerless, sinners, ungodly, enemies of God, under God’s wrath. But God made us all saints by a divine miracle. So Paul exhorts the saints in Rome to give Phoebe a welcome “worthy of the saints,” a welcome worthy to give to a saint who had traveled eight hundred miles to visit them to deliver the precious gospel contained in the letter.
The second purpose for which Paul was recommending Phoebe was that these Roman Christians may “give her any help she may need from you.” There should be no limit. Phoebe was their sister. A family takes care of its own.
This is the only place in Paul’s writings where he asks a church to help a believer in a private matter. It may be that Phoebe needed some assistance in a legal matter or some help related to her business interests. “Whatever her needs, please take care of her,” Paul was saying.
I myself have been the beneficiary of such a request. Once when I was in the city of Madras in South India, I needed a new passport because I discovered my passport had expired. The church in Madras took care of me. A relative of a believer in the church was the presidency magistrate who had the authority to issue me a passport right away, without having to wait for weeks.
The church is to take care of God’s saints in any need. Paul says, “Stand by her side to help her” (in the Greek). We are not independent beings. Only God is independent. We are dependent on God and on each other. We need each other, for we are members of one body. The eyes need the feet and the feet need the eyes. We need to help one another.
So if one member suffers, everyone suffers. If one member rejoices, everyone rejoices (1 Cor. 12:26). Paul exhorts, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). Elsewhere he says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited” (Rom. 12:15–16). John explains, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” (1 John 3:16–17). He later writes, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11). Again, Paul tells us, “Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more” (1 Thess. 4:9–10).
So Paul tells these Roman Christians, “Parastête autê” (“Stand by her and help her”). We are to love one another, stand by one another, and help one another when there is a need. And we come to know who has a need when we fellowship with one another. Do you interact with others when you come to worship God? Do you know how your brothers and sisters are doing? Do you stand by them to help them in any way?
The disciples of Jesus did not stand by him. They all forsook him. This also happened to Paul. He wrote to Timothy, “Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica” (2 Tim. 4:9-10). Demas had been a fellow minister, but eventually he deserted Paul. Then Paul says: “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” (2 Tim. 4:16–17).
Even the saints may fail to help us. But the Lord will not. He said, “I will be with you always, even to the end of the ages” (see Matt. 28:20). He said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (see Heb. 13:5). He is with us, and he is in us, by his Holy Spirit. He will be with us when we are thrown into the fiery furnace.
In ourselves, we are worms. In ourselves, we are called “little Israel” (Isa. 41:14). But Isaiah also tells us, “Fear not!” So we read,
All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. “See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up, and a gale will blow them away. But you will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel (Isa. 41:11-14).
When all forsook Paul, the Lord stood by his side. He strengthened Paul so that he could be his witness through martyrdom. So also the Lord will stand with us and bring us safely home.
Phoebe Is a Helper
Then Paul gives another reason for helping Phoebe in Rome: “for she has been a great help to many people, including me” (Rom. 16:2). Paul was anticipating all the needs Phoebe would have when she reached Rome. She would need lodging, food, transportation, connections, guidance in this big city to get her problems solved, and help with governmental authorities. So he gives the Roman Christians reasons for them to receive and help her: “She is our sister”; “She is a servant of the church in Cenchrea”; “She has been a helper to many people, including me.” In the Greek we read, “She is a prostatis (helper). The word “prostate” comes from this word. It means one who stands in front of us to help us.
Many believers passed through the port of Cenchrea. They did not know where to go or what to do, but Phoebe came to help them. Many were given lodging in her spacious home. She could help them with their business interests because she had influence. She also helped the apostle himself. So Paul asks the Roman saints to help this prostatis, this patron, this benefactress, this helper of many.
Because Phoebe had given much to God and his people, Paul said, the Roman believers should help her. It is God’s will that we give. Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you” (Luke 6:38). Paul taught, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Gal. 6:7–10). Paul also wrote to Timothy: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life” (1 Tim. 6:17–19).
Most Christians are poor people. Paul says that not many were wise, influential, or of noble birth, or rich (1 Cor. 1:26). But some were wealthy, like Gaius (Rom. 16:23), Onesiphorus (2 Tim. 1:16–18), Stephanas (1 Cor. 16:15), Philemon (Philemon 2, 7, 22), Priscilla and Aquila (Rom. 16:3–5), and Phoebe (Rom. 16:1–2).
Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor.” And I say, “Blessed also are the rich who use their wealth in the interest of the kingdom of God.” Without money, we cannot live. We have to have money. Thank God for rich people. I do not envy them, nor do I believe in the redistribution philosophy. But I believe in working six days and making a living.
Blessed are all true people of God who are saved by the Lord to serve one another!
Application
1. Are you a single Christian woman? If so, serve the Lord in total devotion as Phoebe did, as also did the four unmarried daughters of Philip. The Bible says they prophesied (Acts 21:9).
2. When you travel to a destination, correspond beforehand with a true church in that locality. The church will help you in many ways. Carry a letter of recommendation from your pastor with you.
3. Receive true people of God without discrimination. It is a sin to discriminate.
4. Know that we all are saved to serve Christ and his church. Give, and it shall be given to you. Sow to the Holy Spirit and you shall reap eternal life. Serve, and you shall be served. Show hospitality so that you may, in due time, receive the same.
May God help us to love his church and serve him and his church.
1 John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans(Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003), 543.
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