Romans 16:1 - Meaning and Application

Greetings like this were common in letters between friends, but Paul gives them a holy warmth and purpose. He turns ordinary courtesy into Christian service. Here we have his recommendation of a friend, Phoebe, who, some think, carried this letter to Rome (Romans 16:1, Romans 16:2). She seems to have been a woman of standing and means, with business that took her to Rome, where she was a stranger. So Paul asks the believers there to welcome her, showing his true friendship toward her.

Paul knew how to show kindness well. True religion, rightly received, never makes a person rude. Courtesy and Christianity fit together well. He speaks sincerely, not just politely, when he gives Phoebe a strong character. First, he calls her “our sister,” meaning his sister in grace, not by blood or marriage. She was his fellow believer in Christ, loved by him with a pure, spiritual love, like that of a sister.

He also calls her a servant of the church at Cenchrea, a seaport town near Corinth. The word means a servant by office, a regular worker in the church, not a preacher, since women were not to preach. She likely served through charity and hospitality. Perhaps the believers met in her house, and she took care to welcome ministers, especially those who were strangers. Every Christian should try to serve the church in their own place, because in serving the church they serve Christ, and it will be rewarded in the end.

Paul says she was a helper of many, and especially of him (Romans 16:2). She had relieved people in need and distress, which is a good example for women who have the means to help. Her kindness was not limited to a few, because she helped many. Paul also remembers her care for him personally. Thanking others for their kindness is the least we can do. It was an honor to Phoebe that Paul left this record of her help, because wherever this letter is read, her kindness to him is remembered.

Paul then asks the Roman Christians to receive her in the Lord. That means to welcome her for the Lord’s sake, as a servant and friend of Christ. He wants them to treat her with love, honor, and tender care, as saints should receive one another. Sometimes we should use our friendships to help other people, not only ourselves, because influence is a tool for doing good.

He also asks them to help her with whatever business she needs them for. Whether her matter was about trade or a court case, Paul does not say. But as a woman, a stranger, and a Christian, she would need help. Christians should be ready to assist one another in practical matters, especially strangers, since we are members of one another and may need help ourselves. Paul is asking help for someone who had already helped many. The one who gives water will also be refreshed (Romans 16:2).

Paul then sends greetings to several friends, more than he does in any other letter. Though the care of all the churches was always on his mind, he still remembered many people by name. His heart was so full of love that he sent personal greetings with clear marks of affection and concern. He tells them to greet these believers, which is the same as saying he wants them to know he remembers them, loves them, and wishes them well.

Among these greetings are Aquila and Priscilla, a well-known Christian couple whom Paul especially loved. They were originally from Rome, but Claudius had expelled Jews from the city (Acts 18:2). Paul met them at Corinth and worked with them making tents. Later, when the force of that decree weakened, they returned to Rome, and Paul now sends them his greetings there. He calls them his helpers in Christ Jesus because they helped his ministry through private instruction and faithful conversation. One example is their teaching of Apollos more accurately (Acts 18:26).

They were not only useful, but brave. Paul says they risked their own necks for his life. They endangered themselves to protect him, even though he might have been spared more easily than they. Paul was in danger at Corinth while staying with them, but they sheltered him even though that made them targets of angry crowds (Acts 18:12, Acts 18:17). It had been a long time since they showed him that kindness, yet he speaks of it as if it were recent. He says he is thankful, and so are all the Gentile churches, because these good people helped preserve the life of the apostle to the Gentiles.

Paul mentions this to encourage the Roman Christians to show them kindness. He also sends greetings to the church that met in their house (Romans 16:5). So a church meeting in a house is not at all unreasonable, as some claim. Perhaps a group of believers gathered there at set times, and if so, that house was blessed like the house of Obed-Edom, because the ark was there. Others think it was simply a well-ordered, godly family that kept up the worship of God.

When true religion lives with power in a family, it turns the house into a church. That surely helped here, because Priscilla, the good wife in the household, was especially active in faith. She is often named first, which suggests how prominent she was in Christian service. A wise woman who watches over her home well can do much to advance religion in the family.

When Priscilla and Aquila were at Ephesus, though they were only staying there for a time, they also had a church in their house (1 Corinthians 16:19). A truly godly man will be careful to carry religion with him wherever he goes. When Abraham moved his tent, he also renewed his altar (Genesis 13:18). Faith should travel with us, not stay behind when we change places.

Paul next mentions Epenetus in Romans 16:5, calling him his “well-beloved.” Where love rules in the heart, kind and affectionate words will be on the tongue. Christians should use warm words to show love and to strengthen love. He also calls Amplias “beloved in the Lord,” meaning loved because of Christ, and Stachys “my beloved.” Paul’s heart was full of Christian affection.

Of Epenetus, Paul adds that he was the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ. That means he was among the earliest believers in that region, perhaps one of the first people converted through Paul’s ministry there. He was like the first part of the harvest offered to God, a sign that a larger harvest would follow. In Corinth, the chief city of Achaia, God had many people (Acts 18:10). Special honor should be given to those who come early, answering Christ’s call at once.

The household of Stephanas is also called the firstfruits of Achaia (1 Corinthians 16:15). Epenetus may have been part of that household, or at least one of the first few converts from that region. He was one of the first Christians Achaia produced, and such early faith deserves special notice.

Paul speaks next of Mary and other Christians who worked hard in good things. Mary “bestowed much labour” on us. True love does not shrink from work, but enjoys serving. Where there is much love, there will usually be much labor. Some think she had personally cared for Paul at places where he had stayed before. Others think Paul says she worked for him because she helped his friends and fellow workers, and he counted that as service to himself.

He says of Tryphena and Tryphosa, two useful women in their own places, that they “labour in the Lord” (Romans 16:12). Of Persis, another beloved woman, he says that she “laboured much in the Lord.” She worked harder than many others and overflowed in the Lord’s work. These women show that faithful service in Christ is honored, even when it is quiet and hidden from the world.

About Andronicus and Junia, Romans 16:7, some think they were husband and wife, and the wording can bear that. That seems more likely than taking them as two men and brothers. They were Paul’s relatives, as Herodion also was (Romans 16:11). Faith does not erase family ties. Instead, it corrects them, makes them holy, and improves them, leading us to do the most good for our kin and to rejoice even more when they belong to Christ by faith.

They were also Paul’s fellow prisoners. Shared suffering often joins people closely together and binds their hearts. We do not find another prison time for Paul before this letter except the one at Philippi (Acts 16:23). But Paul was often in prison (2 Corinthians 11:23), and in one of those imprisonments he seems to have met Andronicus and Junia. They were yoked together with him in suffering for Christ and in bearing Christ’s yoke.

Paul says they were “of note among the apostles,” not necessarily because they were rich or important in the world, but because they were known for knowledge, gifts, and grace. That made them well regarded among the apostles, who were fit judges of such things. The apostles, by God’s Spirit, could recognize not only whether believers were sincere, but also whether they were especially gifted.

Paul adds that they were in Christ before him, meaning they had come to faith before he did. In time, they had the advantage over Paul, even though he was converted only a year or so after Christ’s ascension. Paul is quick to honor what is good in others, even when it means acknowledging that they came to faith first.

Apelles is described as “approved in Christ” (Romans 16:10), a very high praise. He was a man of proven honesty and sincerity in religion, one who had been tested. Both friends and enemies had tried him, and he stood like gold. He was also sound in understanding, steady in judgment, brave, and constant, someone you could trust.

Paul then mentions Aristobulus and Narcissus, paying attention to those in their households (Romans 16:10, 11). He includes those who were “in the Lord,” meaning the Christians among their household members. Paul was careful not to leave out anyone he knew when sending greetings. Some think Aristobulus and Narcissus were absent or had recently died. Others think they were unbelievers, including one Narcissus who may have been a very rich but wicked man in the time of Claudius.

Even in a wicked man’s household, there may be some good servants or dependents, which is common enough (1 Timothy 6:1). A poor servant may be called, chosen, and faithful, while a rich master is left in unbelief. “Even so, Father, because it seemed good to you.” God’s grace reaches whom he pleases.

Rufus is called “chosen in the Lord” (Romans 16:13). He was an excellent Christian, and his gifts and character showed that he was chosen in Christ Jesus. He was one of the finest men for honesty and holiness. Paul also sends greetings to “his mother and mine,” meaning Rufus’s mother was like a mother to Paul by Christian love and care. As he calls Phoebe his sister, so here he speaks of a spiritual family bond. This good woman had cared for Paul and comforted him, and he gratefully honors her as a mother.

Finally, Paul greets “the brethren who are with them” (Romans 16:14) and “the saints who are with them” (Romans 16:15), meaning those connected by family ties and by Christian fellowship. Saints should delight in being together. Paul joins them together in his greetings to strengthen their love for one another. And lest anyone feel forgotten, he ends by remembering the rest as brothers and saints, even though they are not named. In Christian congregations, there should be smaller groups bound together in love, sharing life, and finding ways to spend time together often.

Among all the people Paul greets here, there is no mention of Peter. This gives reason to doubt the claim that Peter was bishop of Rome, as the Roman Catholics say, because if he had been there, we would expect Paul to mention him. Paul writes a long letter to the Roman Christians, so it is hard to see how he could say nothing about Peter if Peter were living there.

At the end, Paul urges them to show love and affection to one another: “Greet one another with a holy kiss” (Romans 16:16). These mutual greetings show love, and they also strengthen love and make Christians feel close to one another. That is why Paul encourages them, but he makes the greeting holy. It should be a pure kiss, unlike a sinful or lustful one, and a sincere kiss, unlike the false kiss of Judas, who betrayed Christ with a kiss.

Paul closes with a general greeting from all the churches of Christ (Romans 16:16). He means the churches where he was staying and the ones he often visited in person, all joined together in the same Christian faith. They wanted him to pass on their love and good wishes to the believers in Rome. This is one way Christians keep the fellowship of all believers alive.