The Romance of Romans-Part 127

[Michael]

Romans Chapter 16 cont'd

The testimony of your faithfulness to God has been reported throughout
the whole world and I am glad that you've been honored like this. Just
make sure that you preserve your spirit of innocence- be "streetwise"
in good, but not in evil! And soon, the God of peace will crush Satan
under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Yes,
Lord, let it be!

Comments:

I think it's interesting that, given the broad scope of the book of
Romans for living a truly spiritual life, Paul only mentions Satan by
name just this one time at the end of his letter. I don't believe this
is because we should deny the reality of, ignore or underestimate the
kingdom of darkness and its many hosts. Rather, I think that it is
because the reality of evil and...the entities behind it all that
manipulate humanity and so many cultural systems of this age...are a
given in the worldview of his readers. And...the focus of the apostles
seemed to be overcoming evil with good...first on a personal level and
then corporately as the Body of Christ...versus hastily and angrily
lashing out against all the evil about us in the name of serving God.
(Notice the very practical nature of the "whole armor of God" that
Paul exhorts us to "put on" in Eph 6:12ff that enables us to "stand"
in an evil day.) Their instruction to us is not to panic or be overly-
conscious of evil spirits and their craft, but to proclaim and live
out the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to call all people to
believe in and follow him, to leave sin in the dirt behind us where it
belongs, to live in healthy interdependent relational networks called
local churches and to lovingly reach out to the needy and broken
people all about us with Christ's love and compassion.

When we are confronted by evil spirits, which will happen in the
normal course of living out our mission, we simply exercise the
spiritual authority freely entrusted to us in Christ and express the
power of the Holy Spirit through our prayers, words and deeds. We
often see the power of God working through us, his servants, in ways
that trump and bust up the powers of darkness. Yet, this doesn't imply
that everything will be or turn out fine here and now...there are
casualties in this war. We "triumph through Christ", but not in a
manner that smacks of the bloated "triumphalism" of so many modern
(and ancient!) overly-zealous movements and sects. We have both many
victories and many sufferings in our mission and God will use them all
to make us more like his glorious Son.

Though Satan and is kingdom have been legally defeated and overthrown
through all that Jesus accomplished in his first coming (his vicarious
death and subsequent resurrection and ascension), the power of his
deceptive lies still hold significant sway over many people and
nations of this fallen world. Satan received a mortal blow at the
cross, but he is, since then, a wounded and dying beast who is enraged
at God and determined to destroy as many human lives as he can before
his final judgment is leveled. Yes...we are to be well aware of the
ancient enemy of all that is good and just and his classic schemes
that keep so many people captive to do his will. We are aware of and
buffeted by his constant attempts to assault and hinder what God wills
to do through Christ-followers and our new covenant bands.

Finally, we are joyfully aware that, though we will experience painful
and disappointing setbacks and losses in this battle, we minister,
persevere, labor and fight with an indomitable declaration and promise
of hope that rings and resonates throughout our entire being and
throughout the entire cosmos. It is based on an inarguable
eschatological certainty made so by the resurrection and ascension of
Jesus Christ to his place of highest honor and supremacy...soon, the
God who brings true peace, will crush Satan under our feet. 'Nuff
said...so carry on!