by Richard T. Ritenbaugh
06/24/2018
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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. 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. 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. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Romans 16:17-20
This section begins with disfellowshipping because it is a biblical means
of dealing with brethren who are trying to deceive others. We often speak of
disfellowshipping those who cause division. Any kind of deception will
cause division. After a while, deceived people do not believe the same things
as the rest, and this difference causes separation.
Those who are
disfellowshipped, who are causing divisions and offenses, are doing things
contrary to true doctrine. So, Paul says we must avoid them. This is part of
the effort, the diligence, that it takes to keep from being deceived
ourselves. We must especially avoid them in situations where they have the
opportunity to influence our beliefs.
Now, if we should meet them on
the street, a polite, social "hello" would be fine. But we should avoid
getting into a conversation, argument, or discussion about doctrine. We need
to keep that away from ourselves because it is part of our effort to keep from
being deceived. We should not let it even touch us, if we possibly can,
because we are supposed to be keeping ourselves pure spiritually and
physically. We especially do not want false ideas to get into our heads and
begin doing their dangerous work.
Paul says that such deceptive people
are serving, not God, but their
own belly. This may sound like all they are doing is trying to get food or
trying to "live off of" the saints. But what it means is that they are
stoking their own desires. It is a symbol of a person doing
something for his own gratification.
They were deceiving to please
themselves in some way. They are not doing it to please God, obviously,
because if they were, they would be telling the truth. But since they are
telling falsehoods and lies, deceiving the brethren and causing divisions,
they are obviously not pleasing God in any way. What they are gratifying in
themselves could be anything.
Because what they are saying is contrary
to what God teaches, he says that they have to use smooth words and flattering
speech—or, we could say "plausible arguments" and "a neat turn of
phrase." They use deceptive methods as in advertising. Some people can
do this without even knowing that they are doing it. They couch things in such
a "nice" way that it makes it sound good. And before we know it, we are
thinking, "He could be right. He's such a nice guy. I had him
over for dinner one time; and he just regaled us with stories. He always
thanks you, and he compliments everything you do. He's just such a great
person. And, you know, I can't understand how such a nice guy could be
saying anything that is 'bad' because he's so
'good.'" Before long, we are taken in. He has used smooth or
flattering speech. He comes across well. He dresses nicely, and his arguments
seem plausible.
So, as it says here, the simple are taken in. Paul
means the innocent, those who are not looking for evil. They are guileless,
and they think everybody else is as guileless as they are. They are harmless,
like doves, and unsophisticated. They do not see "bad" in anyone.
This
is how we are supposed to be! A few of the qualities of love mentioned in I
Corinthians 13 are concerned with this. Christians should be willing to
believe all things, hope all things,
endure all things. This is why we are so gullible at times because we do not
have a core of steel in our beliefs. We have allowed it to soften into a core
of marshmallow, so that we are easily bent in the wind. Remember, we need to
be wise as serpents and simultaneously harmless as doves.
Paul's
advice comes in verse 19: "Be wise in what is good and simple concerning
evil." In practical terms, this means that we do what is right and
have nothing to do with what is wrong. In doing so, we are "wise." Wisdom has
to do with how we act. It is very practical. Knowledge is mental, and
understanding is mental and spiritual. But wisdom is both of those things and
physical. It is what we do. It is what we say. It is how we live
life.
If we walk in wisdom, then we do not trip, and we should not be
tripped by anything that comes along to make us stumble. Paul says that we
should be wise in what is good, meaning that we do it! It
is wisdom to do what is good.
But we are to be simple concerning
evil. This is related to "simple" in verse 18, but it is not the same word.
This "simple" in verse 19 means "pure, unadulterated, unmixed." If we
mix a little evil with good, what do we get? Human nature. We will get what we
have been all of our lives. This is what happened in the Garden of Eden. Eve
took the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and it produced this world. Paul says, "We're
not supposed to do that! We've had enough of that. What we need to do is
to do what is good and have nothing to do with what is evil." In a sense, we
are looking for the Tree of Life, which is all good and no evil.
So, in summary, do not dabble with questionable
beliefs. Do not even consider them! Avoid them at all
costs. "Stick to the trunk of the tree," as we have said many times in the
past. Do not skitter out along the branches where only squirrels can safely
go. If we hang from a twig, we will find ourselves fallen to the
ground—not even on the tree any more.
Another way that we could
put it is stay away from the edge of the cliff. If we get too close to
the cliff, we might fall off. If there is an earthquake, it will shake us off!
Some things are out of our control. If we are at the edge of the cliff and
something big happens, we might not have a handhold. We would tumble over the
edge and be lost. The smart thing is to stay as close to the side of the
mountain as we can, hang on for dear life, and never let go. As much as lies
within us, we should not even think about evil. Stay away from it. Avoid
it.
Paul says to avoid even the appearance of evil. That is
how far we are supposed to stay away from it. Not just if we are doing evil or
thinking evil, but even if somebody might come along and think that what we
are doing is evil.
Paul ends in verse 20 with the comfort that God will
put away the evil—and the Deceiver—soon. So we only have to do
this for so long. But as long as we have to do it, let us do it well. We need
to have that "core of steel" for as long as we need it. Then we will be given
strength—in the resurrection—to do it all the time, because we
will be good. At that point, we will have developed the character to
be that way all the time ourselves. This is how God is. He cannot be tempted
by evil. That is what we are striving to become!
— Richard T. Ritenbaugh
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