Dale Partridge - July 29, 2025


Romans 16_1-16： Does Scripture Allow for Female Deacons？


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42 minutes

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158.46005

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6,742

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388

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4

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Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this final chapter of the book of Romans, we are dealing with the final words of Paul's epilogue to the Church in Rome. There is so much to be learned from this last chapter, especially about women in ministry and the church in general.

Transcript

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Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
00:00:00.000 Well, we are in Romans 16. This is amazing because we've been here for so long and it is the last
00:00:11.000 chapter of this great book. Now, over the past few weeks, we have been working through these
00:00:16.900 concluding chapters and concluding verses of the book of Romans. In chapter 15, verses 14,
00:00:23.760 we saw that Paul began his epilogue. It's this great concluding statements on the book of Romans
00:00:31.120 to the Christians in Rome. And he clarified his purpose for his epistle. He said that
00:00:37.520 his plans were to visit Rome. He said that his heart was to clarify doctrine and that he prayed
00:00:45.440 for protection from the Christ rejecting Jews in Jerusalem. Now we learned through the testimony
00:00:50.460 of the book of Acts, that Paul did not reach Rome as he originally intended. But what happened?
00:00:56.580 Well, he actually did get seized by those Christ-rejecting Jews, and then he was taken
00:01:03.080 back to Rome in chains, where he eventually was writing the prison epistles that we have in the
00:01:11.960 New Testament. Now, during his time there, Paul was able to minister to the Roman Christians,
00:01:20.540 and there was a period in which he was under house arrest, and eventually, according to church
00:01:25.580 history, he was beheaded as a martyr for the church. Now, today, we begin the final chapter.
00:01:32.380 It's the final chapter in this great book, and it consists really of three sections. The section
00:01:37.640 we're going to be dealing with today is section one, which is the personal greetings. Section two
00:01:42.900 is final instructions. And section three is really the greatest and longest doxology that you have in
00:01:49.140 the entire New Testament. It's a really incredible way to end this book of Romans. So this also means
00:01:55.840 that we only have three remaining sermons, counting this one, left in the book of Romans until I move
00:02:01.260 into the book of Genesis. So this is a really incredible time just to be able to really having
00:02:06.540 our eye toward the end of this book and also toward the beginning of the book of Genesis.
00:02:13.340 Now, many pastors have treated this passage, and you might even be thinking this right now,
00:02:17.380 this has just got to be flyover content. It's like Matthew chapter 1. It's like,
00:02:21.160 oh my goodness, all of these names that I have to deal with here. Well, we can imagine that it
00:02:27.840 has little to offer to the church, and you're going to be shocked by how much we pull out of
00:02:31.640 this passage of scripture. I'm reminded of 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verses 16 through 17. It says
00:02:37.040 all scripture is God breathed. All of it. Every one of, even chapter 16 with the final greetings,
00:02:44.640 it's God breathed. And it's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
00:02:49.580 for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete. Now, as we're going to see
00:02:55.640 in this chapter, it actually touches on a wide range of significant topics, really significant
00:03:00.560 topics, including the discussion of female deacons, including the discussion of house
00:03:06.040 churches, women in ministry, the practice of a holy kiss.
00:03:10.500 Later, we'll hear about the warnings against divisive members of the church eschatological
00:03:15.400 hope.
00:03:16.040 We're going to talk about the Great Commission and the doxology.
00:03:18.420 There's so much that is to be still learned from this great chapter of the book of Romans.
00:03:24.980 And so we're going to move into chapter 16, verses 1 and 2.
00:03:30.320 Why don't you follow along with me as we get through this.
00:03:35.160 It says, I commend to you, our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Centuria,
00:03:42.040 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints
00:03:46.860 and help her in whatever she may need from you.
00:03:50.920 For she has been a patron of many.
00:03:54.160 That's mean that she's been giving to many and of myself as well.
00:03:57.380 So she's been giving money to many of the saints, and Paul included.
00:04:03.440 Now, the first and most important question is,
00:04:06.200 why is Paul commending this woman, Phoebe, to the churches at Rome?
00:04:13.260 Like, what's the purpose of this entire verse?
00:04:18.380 Well, the most logical answer, and I believe this is what most Orthodox Christians view,
00:04:22.780 is that Phoebe was likely the one who delivered the letter from Paul who was writing this in
00:04:29.200 Corinth all the way to the people and the Christians here in Rome and she may have had
00:04:36.640 a reason to travel to Rome she is from the church of Centuria which is about six miles east of
00:04:43.960 Corinth Paul was in Corinth while he was writing this letter so it obviously logically makes sense
00:04:49.220 that this is what occurred. She was the hands that brought this great epistle to the Roman
00:04:56.760 church. What a great task, by the way. What an incredible privilege it would be. She might not
00:05:03.340 have even thought of it as such a great work at this time, but delivering the book of Romans
00:05:09.540 to the Roman church by the hand of the apostle Paul. What a great and beautiful thing. Now,
00:05:16.660 she is called, quote, a servant of the church at Centuria, which was, again, just this port town
00:05:23.580 just east of Corinth. In fact, actually, if you go there today, it's buried underwater. It's about
00:05:28.320 three or four feet underwater at this point. You can actually scuba and snorkel all around there
00:05:34.480 and see all the ruins of that town at this point. And it's actually, I've never been there, but I
00:05:39.360 looked it up online and I saw, wow, what a fun thing because you can snorkel and it's only like
00:05:43.300 five or six feet deep. And you can see all these great ruins and all this really interesting
00:05:47.600 archeological artifacts. Now, Paul had spent approximately 18 months in Corinth. So he was
00:05:55.000 in Corinth for 18 months. And he did that during his second missionary journey. And that's Acts
00:05:59.260 chapter 18, verse 11. Then he returned for an additional three months. And during that three
00:06:05.100 months day is when he wrote the book of Romans. And so it's obvious that he knew Phoebe personally.
00:06:11.120 he had spent a significant amount of time ministering to the churches and those Christians
00:06:15.160 in that area. And he was likely aware of her upcoming travels. And he entrusted her again
00:06:20.020 to deliver this letter to the Roman church. Now, this verse was verse one and two really
00:06:30.380 has become like a flashpoint or a hotspot because there's a larger debate in the Christian church
00:06:35.860 around this particular passage of scripture. In the original Greek, Romans 16.1 reads,
00:06:42.100 I commend you to our sister Phoebe, a diakonos of the church at Centuria. Now, diakonos is the
00:06:51.100 Greek word for deacon. It's the Greek word that we have for deacon. So the key issue lies in the
00:06:57.420 translation of the word diakonos. And again, now the word diakonos in the Greek, it just means
00:07:02.860 servant. It just means servant. But also that same word is used for the office of deacon.
00:07:12.080 And so as a result, some people argue that this passage affirms that women hold the ordained
00:07:17.800 office, not just the role of a servant, but the ordained office of a deacon. After all,
00:07:22.920 Paul doesn't merely just say that she is serving the church at Centuria. She is a servant of the
00:07:29.020 church of Centuria. So it gives this implication that there's some sort of official role being
00:07:34.740 played here. Now, those who support this view of female deacons or deaconesses often point to early
00:07:41.680 church history where they use this term deaconess and they served other women in the church,
00:07:46.320 particularly in areas of modesty, in preparation for baptism and feminine needs. This was occurring
00:07:52.280 in the early church. Now, when we look at the institution of the diaconate in Acts chapter 6,
00:07:58.080 That's really when we see the beginning of the diaconate in the Bible.
00:08:01.560 And we find something quite revealing.
00:08:04.020 The apostles respond to a very specific feminine need.
00:08:08.080 It says, now in those days, while the disciples were multiplying in number,
00:08:12.980 there was grumbling from the Hellenists against the Hebrews
00:08:16.940 because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.
00:08:23.320 That's Acts chapter 6, verse 1.
00:08:25.360 Now, this was certainly a feminine issue.
00:08:27.900 The widows were not being cared for properly.
00:08:32.260 Now, if there were ever a context where female deacons would make sense,
00:08:39.220 it would be this particular context.
00:08:42.000 But what we see in the passage is the apostles direct the church to select,
00:08:47.620 quote, seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and full of wisdom
00:08:53.560 to deal with this particular matter.
00:08:55.040 If you look to Acts chapter 6, verse 3.
00:08:57.420 So the solution to a feminine need was still solved by masculine leadership.
00:09:04.160 It was qualified, godly men.
00:09:08.380 Now, the term diakonos, it appears many times in Scripture.
00:09:12.780 I'm only going to give you a few.
00:09:13.800 I think there's 29 different references in the Bible.
00:09:17.880 But just to give you a quick reference, it's not always,
00:09:21.240 and in fact, it's actually rarely talking about the office of deacon.
00:09:24.240 It's almost always talking about the role, the servant role of being a deacon.
00:09:30.480 And so if you look to Romans 13, 4, it says the civil magistrate is called God's diakonos, God's servant for your good.
00:09:39.660 It's the whole justification why we say, well, if the government is God's servant, then he ought to do God's will.
00:09:46.080 It's the reason that we actually can have a moral justification for political theology in the church.
00:09:51.580 Now, it goes on in 1 Corinthians 3, 5, and it's Paul and Apollos are described as, quote, the diakonos, those whom you believed, or servants through whom you believed.
00:10:05.900 But Paul never calls himself an actual deacon.
00:10:08.860 Paul is certainly a servant, but Paul has never called himself in the office of a deacon.
00:10:13.460 He never called himself a pastor.
00:10:15.460 He calls himself an apostle, which is a completely different office.
00:10:21.580 Actually, I'm going to talk about that for a second.
00:10:23.140 A lot of people go, oh, well, you know, why do you believe that elders need to be married?
00:10:27.120 Well, Paul wasn't married.
00:10:28.040 And Paul wasn't a pastor.
00:10:30.720 Paul is giving the instructions.
00:10:32.000 In fact, he even submits to Peter and James, who are married, when they are ruling as elders in the early church.
00:10:41.020 And so that's just a fun little side note there.
00:10:43.260 But again, in Matthew 23, 11, Jesus says, the greatest among you shall be your diakonos, shall be your servant.
00:10:50.340 So again, it's these usages that are not speaking to the official office of deacon.
00:10:55.380 They're speaking to the role of deacon.
00:10:59.120 And then Philippians 1.1.
00:11:03.300 This is an interesting one because this is actually speaking to the office.
00:11:06.600 And you can see the distinction here that is being made.
00:11:09.000 We see Paul address the formal office and he says, quote,
00:11:12.140 Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ to Jesus, to all the saints that are in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi,
00:11:17.720 with the overseers and the deacons okay so there he is speaking specifically to the office
00:11:24.040 not just speaking to the role and so there's a classification of a deacon and it's not just that
00:11:32.500 at some degree we're all servants of the lord jesus christ at some degree we all participate
00:11:39.180 in the work of servitude we would all serve one another and we are at that particular point
00:11:45.920 maybe a deacon acting as a deacon, but that is very different than the distinction of the office
00:11:50.880 of deacon. And we're going to see that here in just a minute. The central question becomes this.
00:11:56.360 Is Paul affirming Phoebe in a role of service to the church or in the ordained office as deacon?
00:12:07.500 That's the question that we need to answer. And if he is affirming her in the ordained office,
00:12:12.680 does that affirmation align with his instruction for qualifications for deacons in 1st Timothy
00:12:19.060 chapter 3? Now, some people have suggested that 1st Timothy 3 presents three separate categories
00:12:27.180 of people. And if you want to turn there for a second, it might be helpful because I'm going to
00:12:31.180 kind of have you look at some verses as we pop through this. 1st Timothy 3, some people present
00:12:37.600 that there's three separate categories of qualifications. They would say elders, and that's
00:12:42.880 verses 1 through 7. They would say male deacons, and that's verses 8 through 10. And then some
00:12:50.460 people would say female deacons, which is verse 11. Now, what they like to point out is that verse
00:12:56.700 11 says likewise. Now, if you're reading the ESV, it might say women. It might say wives.
00:13:04.120 depends on the translation that you're actually looking in but the word agunika or gunike is
00:13:10.560 actually the same word for women and wives so you have to understand if it is uh if the intention
00:13:19.080 of the author is to say wives or women based on the context it's the same thing in first corinthians
00:13:24.440 chapter 11 when it's talking about head coverings is it wives who only need to cover their heads
00:13:29.000 or is it women that need to only cover their heads is it women that need to only cover their heads
00:13:33.160 or is it females and girls that need to cover their heads? So there's a big discussion around
00:13:37.700 the definitive understanding of this particular Greek word. Now, so it says, likewise, women or
00:13:47.120 wives must be dignified, not slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all things. So if we
00:13:52.580 take that as to be women, it's just talking about women. So it gave the qualifications for male
00:13:57.220 deacons. Well, and it says, well, likewise, women, if they're going to be deacons must be dignified,
00:14:02.780 not slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all things. So this is how they would view this
00:14:09.240 particular passage of scripture. And there's, you know, I would say it's a minority view within kind
00:14:14.980 of the biblical expositional position. I mean, they exist. Even interestingly, John MacArthur
00:14:21.600 holds this position, but he is like extremely rare in this particular position. And he would
00:14:29.120 argue it away and say things like, well, you know, I'm okay if you hold a different position.
00:14:34.240 I'm not going to white knuckle this passage of scripture, but this is kind of my take on it.
00:14:38.460 But the vast majority in his camp, the vast majority in the reform camp are all on the
00:14:42.760 other side. Let me explain why. This verse here in verse 11 faces some pretty major grammatical
00:14:49.560 and contextual hurdles in the next verse. If you look to verse 12, it says, quote, let deacons
00:14:56.320 be the husband of one wife managing their children and their households well and in fact you know
00:15:06.660 john macarthur's translation the legacy standard bible which is the lsb uh he actually translates
00:15:11.880 the first verse 11 uh gunakai to to women uh but he he actually transfer or translates
00:15:20.280 verse 12 as wives, because you just can't escape the reality that it's talking about a wife here.
00:15:27.840 And so what this does is that it clearly refers to a spouse, not a general woman, but a spouse.
00:15:34.680 And the phrase husband of one wife clearly limits the office to qualified men. In other words,
00:15:40.180 if Paul had intended to establish an office of a female deacon, a formal category, we would expect
00:15:47.940 him to use some sort of inclusive or parallel language in this verse. Something like, you know,
00:15:53.060 let each deacon be faithful to their spouse or managing their household well, or let male deacons
00:15:58.160 be husbands of one wives and female deacons be wives of one husband. You would expect some sort
00:16:02.520 of language there if that was the intention of Paul. But Paul doesn't do this. And so he explicitly
00:16:08.440 frames this passage of scripture in masculine terms and assuming a male subject with wife
00:16:14.480 and children. So that's where this argument, the larger discussion goes, and that's why the vast
00:16:20.320 majority of scholars and interpreters, unless you're liberal, you know, and you're looking for
00:16:25.720 some sort of, you know, scapegoat or loophole to make your square peg theology fit in that round
00:16:30.620 hole, that's really the justification here. Now, even the early church where the word deaconess
00:16:36.860 was used, and we see this in early church history, it's never referred to an office, but it's actually
00:16:44.280 referred to a role. In fact, if you look to the Council of Nicaea, this is really great church
00:16:49.480 history, because if you look to the Council of Nicaea, that's AD 325, Canon 19, so they have
00:16:56.080 notes that came out of these councils, Canon 19 states, quote, we mean by deaconesses such as have
00:17:04.740 assumed the habit, but who, since they have no imposition of hands or laying on of hands, like
00:17:12.200 ordination, are to be numbered among the laity. They're to be numbered among the laity, not the
00:17:17.080 clergy. In other words, the view of deaconesses were not to be counted among the offices of the
00:17:24.560 ordained. For example, we may in the future here at Kingsway appoint a particular woman
00:17:32.200 as a point of contact for women's ministry. It just makes sense, right? You want to eliminate
00:17:39.760 opportunities where men have to communicate with women in situations especially of counseling that
00:17:45.300 are difficult or maybe more feminine needs. And if we were writing in Koine Greek, we would
00:17:53.760 describe this person as a servant of the ladies at the church here at Kingsway. And we would
00:18:00.380 probably use, if we were writing in Greek, that word diakonos. She is a servant, a deaconess.
00:18:06.560 Now, again, that would be her role, but that does not necessarily mean that she is an ordained officer of the church, according to 1 Timothy chapter 3.
00:18:17.720 The same is true with teachers.
00:18:19.020 You have lots of teachers in the church.
00:18:21.500 It's a biblical and godly thing to have many people teach one another the truths of the gospel.
00:18:26.080 But that does not make every person that teaches a teaching pastor.
00:18:30.140 There is a distinction there.
00:18:32.180 And so, this passage, in my understanding, should not be understood as an affirmation of women in the ordained office of deacon.
00:18:40.480 Rather, Phoebe is an example of a faithful servant of the church of Centuria.
00:18:44.920 Okay, text goes on to verse 2, and I promise I'm not going to be spending this.
00:18:48.860 We're going to zoom through a whole section.
00:18:52.260 So, we're not going to just be, wow, we're on verse 2 of 16.
00:18:56.040 Yeah, don't worry. We'll speed up quick here in a second.
00:19:00.040 Verse 2 says,
00:19:00.760 Welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you.
00:19:06.880 For she has been a patron of many, and of myself as well.
00:19:12.660 I just want to point out real quick, Christianity honors women far above any other world religion.
00:19:18.040 Just remember that.
00:19:19.500 We think that Christianity is oppressive here in America because of our feministic tendencies.
00:19:24.420 It's a flat lie.
00:19:26.400 Remember, it's never oppressive to adhere to the truth of God's order.
00:19:30.540 Men don't need to be frustrated.
00:19:33.540 Or men don't need to be called or think that they're misogynistic or oppressive
00:19:38.000 because they're the head of their household.
00:19:39.980 That's God's design for you.
00:19:41.900 And women don't need to feel oppressed because they're submissive.
00:19:45.620 That's God's design for you.
00:19:46.940 You can't call what God said is good in order oppressive and misogynistic. 0.99
00:19:51.080 That's ridiculous. 0.98
00:19:53.500 Christianity honors women, unlike Hinduism, 0.97
00:19:55.580 which teaches about this karmic you know curse based on inferiority of past lives you know oh
00:20:03.880 you're a woman that means that you had a really terrible last life okay or islam where you know
00:20:10.440 sees women as deficient in intellect or understanding they lack the ability to receive 0.53
00:20:16.440 inheritance christianity teaches that women or men are equally valuable before the lord
00:20:23.360 equally made in God's image,
00:20:26.560 unequal in role,
00:20:27.940 unequal in nature,
00:20:29.680 but equal in value
00:20:31.100 before the Lord.
00:20:32.900 Now Paul says to welcome Phoebe in the Lord
00:20:35.160 in a way worthy of the saints, help her
00:20:37.200 in whatever she may need.
00:20:39.540 Then he uses the word for, and he says
00:20:41.260 you could translate
00:20:43.320 that word for to because.
00:20:45.500 It's the ground for why you should
00:20:47.340 help her. Because she's been
00:20:49.280 helpful to us. She's been helpful to the
00:20:51.320 saints. She's been helpful to me. That's why
00:20:53.300 should help her. Reciprocate. So Phoebe is a faithful servant, a generous woman, and
00:20:59.020 as she is honored, especially in a great way, being included in this passage of Scripture.
00:21:03.320 And then Paul says in verse 3, he says, greet Prisca, or Priscilla, depends on what translation
00:21:10.480 you have, and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus who risk their necks for my life,
00:21:17.720 to whom not only I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well.
00:21:23.780 Greet also the church and their home.
00:21:27.980 Paul refers to Priscilla and Aquila a lot, actually.
00:21:31.020 We see them throughout the scripture.
00:21:32.360 They're fellow workers in Christ Jesus.
00:21:34.240 That's a term of deep respect and adoration.
00:21:39.440 Throughout the New Testament, they're always included together.
00:21:43.140 You're never talking about Priscilla without Aquila.
00:21:44.640 You're never talking about Aquila without Priscilla.
00:21:46.120 So they have a great marriage of gospel ministry, which is another great point to extrapolate there.
00:21:53.300 To be clear, fellow workers in Christ does not mean that they're pastors.
00:21:57.720 I've heard a bunch of liberal, progressive people that are like,
00:22:02.140 women pastors, look at Priscilla.
00:22:05.340 And you're like, how are you doing that?
00:22:10.020 Well, again, what I want to say here is that these are commendations, not ordinations.
00:22:15.540 They're commendations.
00:22:17.100 That's all they are.
00:22:19.080 They're valuable, they're incredible, they're important.
00:22:21.740 But they're not ordinations.
00:22:23.300 it highlights that they labored faithfully alongside these official officers of the church.
00:22:31.780 And it shows that you don't need to be ordained to be involved in ministry.
00:22:35.700 You could do a lot of great work for the Lord without being a pastor.
00:22:43.080 Paul expresses his gratitude for them, and he says it in a way that not only is he thankful,
00:22:49.400 but the churches of the Gentiles
00:22:52.000 should be thankful because basically
00:22:53.940 they saved Paul's life. And had
00:22:56.060 they not, the ministry of
00:22:58.020 Paul might have been hindered.
00:22:59.960 So then Paul goes on to various greetings
00:23:01.800 with all the names that we're about to hear
00:23:03.460 and he lists out
00:23:05.900 like 29 or 30 individuals
00:23:07.560 in this section.
00:23:10.340 And like Joseph, I may
00:23:11.660 say their names wrong, but
00:23:13.400 it's a really incredible
00:23:15.180 passage of Scripture.
00:23:17.820 And I'll tell you why in just a second. He says,
00:23:20.360 Greet my beloved Eponidas, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.
00:23:27.300 What an amazing thing.
00:23:28.960 Just like, hey guys, I'm the first convert in this entire continent, by the way.
00:23:33.280 And what an amazing truth.
00:23:35.440 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.
00:23:37.600 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and fellow prisoners.
00:23:42.380 They are well known to the apostles.
00:23:45.140 Imagine just being well known to the apostles.
00:23:47.000 and they were in Christ before me
00:23:50.640 imagine Paul like
00:23:52.380 you know how long you been in Christ
00:23:54.560 oh yeah what's been your experience
00:23:56.320 Paul asking you that question
00:23:57.540 greet Ampelatus
00:24:01.780 my beloved in the Lord
00:24:03.360 greet Urbanus
00:24:04.520 our fellow worker in Christ
00:24:06.680 and my beloved Stachys
00:24:09.280 greet Apellus who is approved in Christ
00:24:11.960 greet those who belong to the family
00:24:13.800 Aristobulus
00:24:14.620 greet my kinsman Herodian
00:24:16.580 Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus
00:24:20.600 I wouldn't want that name, but
00:24:22.760 Verse 12
00:24:24.980 Greet those workers in the Lord
00:24:27.040 Trephania and Triposa
00:24:28.900 Greet the beloved Persis
00:24:32.220 Who has worked hard in the Lord
00:24:35.200 Greet Rufus
00:24:36.780 I want to stalk you
00:24:37.360 Rufus
00:24:38.140 So Simon of Cyrene
00:24:40.240 Do you guys remember Simon of Cyrene?
00:24:41.600 He is the guy that helped Jesus carry the cross
00:24:44.720 in mark it says that he has a son named rufus now we don't know if this is the same rufus
00:24:50.760 but there's a decent chance that it is and um and the reason is because he says chosen in the
00:24:58.800 lord and also his mother who has been a mother to me as well so there's some relation the only
00:25:03.120 time the root the name rufus appears in the bible outside of here is this is the son of rufus or
00:25:09.720 sorry, the son of Simon of Cyrene.
00:25:12.300 And so that was an interesting, fun fact.
00:25:15.800 It says,
00:25:17.860 greet Asyncretus,
00:25:21.500 Phlegon, Hermes, Petrobus, Hermas,
00:25:24.580 and the brothers who were with them.
00:25:26.660 Greet Philagus, Julia, Nereus,
00:25:31.760 and his sister, and Olympus,
00:25:33.780 and all the saints who were with them.
00:25:35.000 Okay, lots of words, lots of names.
00:25:37.200 first i just want to show you one thing for a man who has never been to rome
00:25:45.740 the guy knows a lot of people okay the guy knows a lot of people for never being to rome
00:25:50.720 that's pretty amazing right this is like pre-social media this is pre-connection
00:25:55.480 this is pre-telephone this is this is like an amazing number of people to know
00:26:00.460 in a place that you don't live.
00:26:04.020 And it demonstrates the exceptional
00:26:06.060 relational capacity of Paul.
00:26:08.360 It also demonstrates the vital importance
00:26:11.020 of being connected if you're in ministry.
00:26:14.180 I mean, just a very powerful example there.
00:26:17.460 Now, some liberal theologians argue for,
00:26:20.540 here we go, female apostles
00:26:23.000 because of this passage of Scripture.
00:26:27.160 It's a real thing.
00:26:29.140 Based on one possible Greek translation of Romans 16, 7, it says that Junia was, quote, outstanding among the apostles.
00:26:38.860 That's one way you can translate it.
00:26:41.420 The more accurate translation and the reason that the vast majority of Bible translations on earth, all throughout history, have not rendered it that way, is they would say, well, she's well known among the apostles.
00:26:53.020 Now, this is the more reliable translation because, one,
00:26:59.140 Junia is only mentioned once in the entire Bible.
00:27:01.820 There is no biblical or historical pattern for female apostles.
00:27:06.080 The qualifications for apostleship are laid out in Acts 1, verse 21-22,
00:27:11.080 which say that they must be eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ
00:27:13.560 and that they must be appointed to him directly by Jesus.
00:27:17.420 so um again it's pretty amazing that people do this you're going to hear somebody on the internet
00:27:24.460 like oh well you know even junior was an apostle and you're like it's an amazing uh you know thing
00:27:31.180 to to think and i want to talk about this kind of movement of this common error among progressive
00:27:39.480 and i think roman catholics do this as well um they refuse to let the plain reading of scripture
00:27:45.760 interprets scripture and instead they take isolated and ambiguous passages of scripture
00:27:52.820 or just some disputed detail in church history and they allow it to overturn the consistent
00:27:59.560 uh clear repeated teaching of god's word they take some sort of allegorical and spiritual
00:28:07.860 interpretation instead of the historical the grammatical the real interpretation
00:28:12.580 and it's it's it's it's incredibly frustrating i'm actually i have a friend of mine who's
00:28:19.600 who's investigating roman catholicism to convert and every argument that they send to me is just
00:28:25.820 like this overreaching stretch it's like they take the most unclear passage of scripture
00:28:31.660 and they build this massive doctrine on it while totally ignoring the clear pattern of scripture
00:28:37.480 this is like hermeneutics 101 you never take a unclear passage and let it supersede all of the
00:28:45.700 clear passages it's it's it's just it's unfaithful interpretation and and so doctrine must be built
00:28:56.420 on biblical grammatical historical and contextual clarity now why now let me let me explain this
00:29:01.000 there are two camps of hermeneutics hermeneutics is the science of interpretation the art of
00:29:06.260 interpretation. There are two camps of hermeneutics, and it is the historical, grammatical, contextual
00:29:12.000 hermeneutic, or it is the allegorical and spiritual hermeneutic. This goes all the way back to the
00:29:16.240 early church. And we need to be very careful that we do not fall into the allegorical and spiritual.
00:29:26.360 Now, here's why. Because Jesus and the apostles prove in their own use of scripture, in their own
00:29:33.620 interpretation of the Old Testament that they use the historic grammatical contextual method of
00:29:40.260 hermeneutics. And so people go, well, you know, I interpret it this way. And you're like, well,
00:29:44.820 you're interpreting that allegorically, typographically, spiritually, with a very
00:29:49.620 unclear way to interpret that passage of scripture. And you go, well, well, you know,
00:29:54.300 here's our justification. It's like, but that's not how Jesus interpreted it. It's not how Paul
00:29:58.420 interpreted it. It's not how Peter interpreted it. It's not how the prophets interpret it.
00:30:02.480 Why are you interpreting this?
00:30:03.660 Well, it's because you want to fit your square peg in that round hole
00:30:06.780 because you want to do what you want to do.
00:30:10.020 Jesus spoke to these people.
00:30:11.880 And this is what he said of them.
00:30:13.580 In Mark 7, verses 8 through 9, he says,
00:30:15.680 You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God
00:30:19.000 in order to establish your tradition.
00:30:21.120 A fine way.
00:30:22.780 You hear the sarcasm there?
00:30:24.520 You have a fine way of rejecting the commandments of God
00:30:28.780 in order to establish your traditions.
00:30:33.260 That happens to this day.
00:30:35.460 In fact, Paul says in Colossians, he says,
00:30:37.500 see to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy,
00:30:40.800 which is, Roman Catholicism is just like religious philosophy.
00:30:44.040 It is just filled with just philosophy.
00:30:46.500 It sounds good philosophically,
00:30:48.600 but it doesn't add up to what is written.
00:30:52.960 And he says, see to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy,
00:30:56.100 an empty deceit, according to what?
00:30:57.780 human tradition according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to christ
00:31:02.360 so this is vital be careful with the text of scripture this is why we have confessions it's
00:31:14.400 not just that we have an interpretation of scripture because you go down the street and
00:31:17.880 some guy's going to say something different this is why we have confessions in this we are a
00:31:21.560 confessional church in fact if american christianity would finally get on the get on board
00:31:25.560 and we'd have confessional Christianity,
00:31:27.680 we can actually have some unity.
00:31:29.740 Because you don't just need to have sola scriptura
00:31:32.120 with everybody interpreting it themselves,
00:31:34.740 me, my Bible, and I, Christianity.
00:31:36.760 I don't think it says that because I don't like it.
00:31:39.500 And never trusting pastors
00:31:40.900 because they're the ones that are trained,
00:31:42.760 even though the Bible says that we have, you know,
00:31:45.460 some apostles, pastors, teachers, prophets, and evangelists
00:31:48.340 for the edification of the saints,
00:31:50.260 for the work of ministry to teach the church to be one.
00:31:52.840 People still want to go, you know what?
00:31:53.880 My interpretation is probably right.
00:31:54.960 I know I didn't go to seminary.
00:31:56.100 I know I didn't study.
00:31:57.080 I know I don't understand Greek or Hebrew.
00:31:58.820 I know I don't understand systematics,
00:32:00.200 but I'm probably right.
00:32:03.440 No, confessions are very helpful, and here's why.
00:32:06.900 Confessions write down the interpretation of the Bible.
00:32:11.640 No, our church holds to the Westminster Confession of Faith.
00:32:14.840 We would also support, you know, the three forms of unity.
00:32:18.400 We also support other catechisms,
00:32:20.260 the early confessions of the church,
00:32:22.120 you know, the Nicene Creed,
00:32:24.560 You know, this is important to have confessional churches
00:32:27.840 because it defines what you believe.
00:32:30.100 And you don't get these weird, crazy errors.
00:32:33.480 People going sideways.
00:32:35.640 Breaking up denominations.
00:32:39.920 I'll get off my high horse now.
00:32:41.740 And we'll return to the very last verse.
00:32:45.340 Last verse, verse 16.
00:32:49.140 And it's, you know, it's a little bit of a doozy.
00:32:52.240 It says, greet one another with a holy kiss.
00:32:56.340 All the churches of Christ greet you.
00:33:00.820 Okay, this verse often comes up in debates about practices like head coverings and foot washings.
00:33:12.400 The common objection goes something like this.
00:33:14.540 if you're going to insist on head coverings
00:33:18.420 shouldn't you also greet another with a
00:33:21.940 holy kiss and wash each other's feet? I can't tell you how many times
00:33:26.200 I've heard that argument in my life. I happen to be the guy that wrote a book on head coverings
00:33:30.360 so I'm going to hear it more than the average bear. But
00:33:32.000 that objection fails to understand this distinction. I want you guys to pay attention
00:33:38.260 here. There is a distinction between cultural customs
00:33:41.740 and divine commands.
00:33:44.520 Cultural customs and divine commands.
00:33:46.380 And I'm going to explain this.
00:33:48.380 Scripture sometimes gives us divine commands
00:33:51.600 that can be expressed through varying customs.
00:33:57.760 Other times, we get divine commands
00:34:00.620 that must be preserved exactly as is.
00:34:05.160 Now, the way to discern the difference
00:34:08.060 is by examining the basis or the ground by which Paul or the author of scripture gives this
00:34:17.820 particular command. So let me explain. Stay with me here. So in 1 Corinthians chapter 11,
00:34:23.360 talking about head coverings, the call for head coverings is rooted not in culture.
00:34:28.280 Where is it rooted? Well, it's rooted in creation. It's rooted in the doctrine of headship.
00:34:35.080 It's rooted in authority.
00:34:37.120 It's rooted in angelic observation.
00:34:40.640 These are like fixed, transcendent, immovable, always consistent realities.
00:34:47.380 It's not things that change.
00:34:48.980 It's things that are staying the same.
00:34:53.680 Now, some are still going to argue, which I've heard,
00:34:57.220 well, that the principle of headship,
00:34:58.920 it was expressed through head coverings,
00:35:01.880 um but those things can change with culture so now we express headship through wedding rings
00:35:09.120 that's that's position of john mccarthur that's position even of doug wilson
00:35:13.820 and i think that is just silly and here's why head coverings are intended to communicate
00:35:21.900 the doctrine of headship okay it's pretty simple um to replace or change the symbol is to blur the
00:35:30.360 message. Head coverings communicate the doctrine of headship, right? That makes sense.
00:35:37.820 In contrast, the holy kiss was a common greeting in the ancient Near East. And like a handshake
00:35:45.400 or a hug today, Paul does not root this practice in any sort of kind of theological truth or
00:35:50.680 transcendent principle. It's just something that he calls us to do. So the enduring principle
00:35:55.640 is a genuine, affectionate desire,
00:36:00.620 a holy love for one another
00:36:02.720 that we are to take with each other.
00:36:06.540 It changes across cultures, how that might play out.
00:36:09.740 Now, similarly, we look to John 13,
00:36:11.340 we look at the foot-washing passage,
00:36:13.440 and Jesus washed the disciples' feet.
00:36:17.500 Well, he was illustrating what?
00:36:19.080 The principle of humble service.
00:36:21.700 He's not instituting the perpetual ritual
00:36:25.160 of literal foot washing for the end of time.
00:36:28.100 Now, there is an entire group of Christians today
00:36:30.980 that foot wash every Sunday.
00:36:32.820 Okay, that's like a real thing.
00:36:35.560 Now, if the doctrine had been about feet themselves,
00:36:41.120 then changing foot washing practice to hand washing
00:36:43.760 would be unacceptable because, again,
00:36:45.160 it would blur the message.
00:36:46.240 But it's not.
00:36:47.700 It wasn't about feet.
00:36:49.780 It was about something completely different.
00:36:51.880 the principle is servant-heartedness it's the expression of that principle can rightly adapt
00:36:58.680 to different cultural contexts and so while we are not bound to a holy kiss because that's not
00:37:05.700 a western thing we are commanded to greet each other with a holy loving affection in culturally
00:37:13.100 appropriate ways now it might be something in italy you might actually still do the holy kiss
00:37:19.180 because that is something that is culturally practiced there.
00:37:23.060 And so, again, while we may not wash feet,
00:37:25.660 we must still serve one another in humility and love.
00:37:28.000 And as for head coverings,
00:37:29.560 this is not in the same category as a cultural custom.
00:37:33.820 It's 16 verses on a doctrine of headship,
00:37:38.280 and it gives visible symbols to represent the spiritual realities.
00:37:42.920 And so we can have another discussion on that.
00:37:45.840 You could also read my book, A Cover for Glory,
00:37:47.840 if he wanted to go into the deep end of the pool.
00:37:50.680 But that's the difference between cultural customs and divine commands.
00:37:55.620 Now, as I close, this is the closing here.
00:37:58.500 A general theme that I think I should highlight just real quick
00:38:01.640 is the value of working hard for the Lord.
00:38:07.580 Every one of these people are being thanked,
00:38:09.900 not because they were lazy.
00:38:11.480 and men women children uh the commendation of the lord never comes to lazy people
00:38:23.060 it is a wicked thing to be a lazy person i wish i had the proverbs pulled up for that
00:38:29.480 just to go through the proverbs of the sluggard and the sloth it is a wicked thing to be a lazy
00:38:35.300 person. But what we see over
00:38:39.340 and over is Paul's gratitude for the support, for the passion, for the risk
00:38:43.520 of these average, ordinary laborers
00:38:47.420 of the gospel. Which I believe really fits the theme of
00:38:51.340 this entire epistle. Because the first 11 chapters of Romans is what? It's on belief.
00:38:55.640 It's on doctrine. And in the last five chapters,
00:38:59.100 it's on behavior. So we have belief
00:39:02.480 informs behavior. Belief informs behavior. Identity produces activity. That's essentially
00:39:11.480 that theme that we went over the last several months. And so, these men and women proved
00:39:18.940 the sincerity of their faith with their works. They're actual believers because there's fruit
00:39:25.600 on the tree. I think about James 2.18 that says, someone will say, you have faith and I have works.
00:39:31.640 Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
00:39:38.300 You want to say that you're a follower of Christ? Let's see the works.
00:39:41.400 It's not that the works are the thing that justify you or save you.
00:39:45.260 It's that the works are the fruit of those who have been justified.
00:39:50.000 Jesus Christ is the root. The works of God are the fruit.
00:39:54.540 The obedience, the works that you do in the world, are the fruit of that salvation.
00:40:00.660 And so, maybe your name isn't going to be written in history.
00:40:05.980 Maybe you're not going to be this great figure in church history.
00:40:09.780 Maybe you don't write a great book or preach to the nations.
00:40:13.260 But maybe you can support or maybe you can even raise one that does.
00:40:18.760 Mothers, you don't even know.
00:40:20.100 You don't even know what your sons or daughters are going to become.
00:40:26.060 You don't know the support that you offer to this particular ministry
00:40:30.000 or the support that you offer to this particular pastor
00:40:32.460 or the donation that you made to this particular church.
00:40:34.860 You don't know how it's going to be used.
00:40:36.480 Heaven knows.
00:40:37.960 Heaven will tell and keep a record of your faithfulness.
00:40:43.320 And I think that's basically the point of this section.
00:40:46.240 God builds his kingdom not just with apostles and preachers,
00:40:49.660 but with ordinary saints.
00:40:52.460 It's like the credits that go after a movie.
00:40:55.280 paul's like i know i just am the director and i just put out this giant letter
00:41:02.100 but he's thanking all of these people that made these things possible
00:41:06.280 and his ministry and i think that's a really great encouragement
00:41:10.360 it's an encouragement for mothers and for generous patrons to ministry
00:41:14.160 and for deacons servants whether they're the office or not
00:41:18.020 for encouragers for hard-working believers whose names again
00:41:21.700 are going to be written in heaven.
00:41:24.520 And so that's why we work.
00:41:25.920 We work whether we are supporting the Lord
00:41:28.360 through our direct efforts,
00:41:30.880 whether we are supporting other pastors
00:41:32.660 and teachers and ministries.
00:41:34.500 But what we cannot do is we can't check out,
00:41:38.320 not engage, be disconnected.
00:41:40.720 I do church at home.
00:41:42.240 I watch live streams.
00:41:44.100 Okay?
00:41:44.540 We actually have to come and support the body of Christ.
00:41:48.040 Amen?
00:41:48.940 Amen.
00:41:49.520 Let's pray.
00:41:50.300 Father, we thank you, Lord.
00:41:51.700 for the work that you're doing,
00:41:54.820 not just through those people in the front,
00:41:57.280 but through everybody, the body of Christ,
00:42:00.420 the arms and the eyes and the feet and the toes
00:42:02.800 and the hands and the stomach and all
00:42:04.360 that you are working through your body.
00:42:07.640 Lord, we know it is a group effort
00:42:09.360 and it is only guided by you as the head
00:42:12.180 that you are working through time
00:42:15.600 to build and establish your kingdom
00:42:18.120 through the proclamation of the gospel
00:42:19.600 by the help and the support of your people.
00:42:23.140 Lord, we thank you for that.
00:42:23.960 We ask that you would help us to understand it in a deeper way,
00:42:26.000 that we might mature and grow
00:42:27.860 and be even more grateful for your Son, Jesus.
00:42:31.580 In Jesus' name, amen.