Keep your eyes on those who cause dissensions…
Romans 16:17 Sadly, many Christians today still listen to those who are spreading a false Gospel.
“Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.”
Romans 16:17 NASB1995
Today’s verse comes from the last chapter of Paul’s epistle to the Romans. He’s just finished writing personal greetings to many of the people he knows personally in the church in Rome, at least half of whom are thought to have been newly-minted Christians who actually worked in the emperor’s household. The epistle is thought to have been written during the reign of Nero in 55-57 AD, before that emperor began his vicious and widespread persecution and execution of Christians.
Having made his farewell messages to his friends in Rome, Paul now turns back to business in verse 17. His concern here is that there were those in the church who might divide God’s people (keep them from having unity of mind) and/or deceive them with false teachings. Paul asks the recipients of his letter to “keep an eye” on those who would “cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.”
In other words, once the deceivers and dividers are identified, they need to be avoided at all cost! Enduring Word notes that unity needs to be one of the essential attributes of the church:
This is essential to God’s purpose for the church. Truth without unity leads to pride; unity without truth leads to a departure from the true gospel itself. Each of these must be guarded against.
Australian New Testament scholar Leon Morris, cited in the Enduring Word commentary, believes that Paul took over writing the epistle at this point, literally grabbing the pen from his scribe Tertius because of the importance of what he wanted to say:
Now I urge you, brethren: The tone here suggests how important this was to Paul; “It may well be that Paul took the pen and wrote these words himself... It is quite possible that Paul wrote these words, then passed the pen back to Tertius for a postscript. Something unusual happened at the end of this letter, and this is a very possible understanding of it.”
Today, as in Paul’s time, discernment is essential to keeping the doctrines of Christ as undefiled as possible. How can we, as everyday believers, know when we’re being led astray from the Gospel? By studying all of God’s Word continuously and repeatedly, until it becomes part of our being and we know when we’re being misled. As written in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”
Sadly, many Christians today still listen to those who are spreading a false Gospel. I’ll close with these sobering words from William E. Newell (once again from Enduring Word):
“Mad dogs are shot; infectious diseases are quarantined; but evil teachers who would divide to their destruction and draw away the saints with teaching contrary to the doctrine of Christ and His Apostles are everywhere tolerated!”
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Today’s prayer comes from Knowing Jesus:
Heavenly Father, thank You for the truth of Your Word. I realise how easily division and disunity can infiltrate the Body of Christ. I pray that I would walk in spirit and truth and not allow myself to be drawn into any dissentious discussions with brothers and sisters in Christ, but quickly turn away from those that display any spirit of disunity and discord. I pray that I may grow in grace and keep the eyes of my heart on Jesus, and that you would give Church elders and leaders wisdom to identify and deal with any internal strife quickly and with wisdom, for Your greater glory. This I ask in Jesus' name, AMEN.