We have seen Paul’s relationship with two parties: with the Gentiles, to whom he ministered Christ, and with the Jews, to whom he brought material possessions. However, 15:29 unfolds Paul’s relationship with a third party: the believers in Rome whom he hoped to see on his way to Spain. In this verse we see how Paul expected to come to the saints in Rome. “And I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.” Paul did not say this in any other epistle. Paul went to the Gentiles with Christ, returned to the Jewish brothers with material possessions, and expected to visit Rome in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. This is the church life. The church life is being filled up with Christ, filled with love in the communication of material possessions, and filled with the fullness of the blessing of Christ. I expect to see in all the churches in the Lord’s recovery that Christ is ministered to people everywhere, that these people will respond with sincerity and love in their material possessions, and that there will also be the mutual participation in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. We should not be those who share doctrinal truths wherever we go. Wherever we go we must go with the fullness of the blessing of Christ. However, before we can go with the blessing of Christ, we must first experience it ourselves. Paul could go anywhere to share the fullness of the blessing of Christ because he had the full experience of it. As we travel among the churches, let us not take with us doctrines and gifts, but the fullness of the blessing of Christ. It is not only a matter of giving material things, although such communication is a true expression of the reality of Christ. If we have the reality of Christ, we shall pour ourselves out as an expression of our love toward the needy saints. Paul was very wise, giving us a picture of the proper practice of the church life in experience, not in doctrine. With Paul we see the experience of all the riches of Christ. When he came to people with the fullness of the blessing of Christ, it meant that he came to them ministering all the riches of Christ.
I believe that the Apostle Paul took the lead in the fellowship of concern among the saints and between the churches (16:1-19, 21-23). Paul initiated the fellowship of concern. He was concerned for the saints, the Lord’s servants, and for the churches. He was a brother who was altogether immersed in the fellowship of concern. All of the particular greetings recorded in Romans 16 are an evidence of his far-reaching concern. I like this chapter because it reveals that included in this fellowship of concern are the churches. This fellowship of concern was among the saints within the churches and between the churches.
I have already said that the church and the churches are mentioned five times in Romans 16. Let us now examine each occurrence in more detail. In 16:1 Paul says, “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deaconess of the church which is at Cenchrea.” Phoebe was a deaconess, that is, a serving one. Paul held her in such high esteem that in the following verse he said that “she has been a patroness of many and of myself as well.” The term “patroness” in Greek is a word of dignity, denoting one who helps, sustains, and supplies. A patroness is one who stands beside you, serves you, nourishes and cherishes you, and cares for all your needs. Paul’s use of this word with reference to Phoebe discloses how much she was appreciated and regarded. Phoebe was a sister who served others at any price and at any cost. If we mean business with the Lord in the church life, we also need to serve the church and care for it regardless of the cost. If we lack the heart to care for the church, we are unworthy of the practice of the church life. The first requirement for the practice of the church life is that we serve the church. Sister Phoebe was a patroness of the church. Likewise we all must be the serving ones in the church life.
Secondly, Paul indicates that we need to risk our necks for the church. Speaking of Prisca and Aquila, Paul says in 16:4 that they “risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the nations.” We need to risk our lives for the church life. Prisca and Aquila did not count their own lives as dear to them; they were willing to care for the churches at the cost of their own lives. Therefore, all the churches of the nations, of the Gentile world, were grateful to them. Do not think that Paul spoke about Prisca and Aquila in a light way. He wrote with a definite purpose, indicating that if we truly love the Lord’s church, we need to risk our lives for it. We must be willing to pay this cost not only for one church, but also for the churches. Some dear saints only care for the church in their locality. This is absolutely wrong. Prisca and Aquila were for all the churches. Although it is right to be located by the Lord in a specific place, our heart should be wide and broad enough to embrace all the churches.
The third mention of the church is in 16:5, where Paul says “greet the church in their house,” referring to the house of Prisca and Aquila. On the one hand this couple was for all the churches; on the other hand they were for their local church in particular. When they were living in Ephesus (Acts 18:18-19), the church in Ephesus was in their house (1 Cor. 16:19). When they were in Rome, the church in Rome met in their house. The “church in their house” in verse 5 was the church in Rome. To have the church in your home is a very heavy burden. If you try it, you will discover how heavy a burden it is. However, Prisca and Aquila were absolute for the church life; they cared not for the heavy burden.
In 16:16 Paul says, “The churches of Christ greet you.” Suddenly Paul mentions “the churches of Christ.” Wherever the churches are located, in your city or in my town, they must be the churches of Christ. The church in every locality must be the church of Christ. Do not say that the church is the church of Brother So-and-So. Such a saying is mistaken. We must all learn to say “the churches of Christ.”
The last mention of the church in Romans regards hospitality. “Gaius, my host, and of the whole church, greets you” (v. 23). Without hospitality there is something lacking in the practical church life. If there is no hospitality in a certain church, that church must be poor. However, the more hospitality you have, the richer your church life will be. Gaius was not only the host of one apostle, but the host of the entire church. I do not believe that he rendered hospitality to the whole church all at once, but that probably the saints who traveled to his city and perhaps remained there for a while, received hospitality from him. His home was open and available to all the saints. The genuine church life depends upon this kind of hospitality. When a home is open to hospitality, it will be filled with the blessing of Christ. We praise the Lord that the more hospitality we render, the greater will be our experience of the church life. This is practical.
In summary, we may list these five aspects of the church life: serving the church; risking our lives for the church; having the church in our home; never considering the church as anyone’s church, but acknowledging that it is the church of Christ; extending hospitality to everyone in the church and being a host to all the churches. In his greetings recorded in Romans 16, Paul unveiled the crucial indicators of the proper church life both in a particular local church and among the churches. His greetings also underscore the qualities of many of the dear saints. Thus, in Romans 16 we see the churches in localities and the details of the genuine church life expressed in the attributes and virtues of so many saints. This is a complete portrait of the ancient church life. Once again I say that in Romans we do not find the doctrine of the church; we behold the practicality of the church life. Hence, the ultimate consummation of the gospel is the church life.
What a great contrast there is between Romans 1 and 16. In chapter one we see sinners, people that are evil, unclean, and condemned; in chapter sixteen we see the churches that are holy and glorious. There is no comparison. How did vile sinners become glorious churches? Through the lengthy process revealed from chapter one through chapter sixteen, the process of redemption, justification, sanctification, glorification, selection, and transformation. As a result of a long process sinners have become glorious churches, churches that are holy and yet so practical.