Romans 16:17-19 (NIV)

Romans 16:17-19 (NIV)
17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. 19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

Matters of faith matter. People have been killed over matters of faith. People are being killed over matters of faith. People risk their lives over matters of faith. We have a saying that you are not to turn a mole hill into a mountain. I have another one. We are not to turn a mountain into a mole hill. We must know what the important matters of faith are for the believer in Christ. We must know what the mountains are for our faith. Paul is telling this church in Rome to stay clear of those who are teaching what is contrary to what they have been taught. You may ask what are the crucial matters of faith? First and foremost it has to do with who Jesus Christ is and what His work is on the cross. It has to do with our view of Scripture as the authoritative Word of God. It has to do with salvation and how one gains a place in heaven or goes to hell. It has to do with a believer's walk in Christ as one that is suppose to be transformed by His Spirit. These are mountains worth dying on. I am not saying there are not more crucial doctrines. However, I do believe that once you figure out Jesus is the second person of the Trinity and has come to us as God-man to purchase for us salvation everything else will come together. Paul does not have kind words for those who teach what is false. Paul sees them as self-serving and not serving Christ. Paul ends on a positive note as to where he thinks they are in their walk with Christ. He sees the church in Rome as an obedient people and Paul is full of joy over them. What does Paul want for this Church that ministers in Rome? He wants it to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil. May we take that on as a goal in our own lives. We need to be really good at being good and really bad at being bad.

You may ask what are we going to do for the next five weeks since we are finishing up with the book of Romans? We are going to review. For this week please read chapters one, five and six and of course, the chapter on the Spirit, chapter eight.