WWUTT 1397 Wise to What is Good, Innocent to What is Evil (Romans 16:19-20)

Romans 16:19-20 and the Call to Be Wise in What Is Good

At the conclusion of his letter to the Roman Christians, the Apostle Paul says that I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. Know the right way to go. Don't even be experienced in evil when we understand the text.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of Romans chapter 16, closing in on the end here. And today we'll look at, well, I'll start reading in verse 17, we'll go through verse 27. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome.

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught. Avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites.

And by smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all so that I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you. So do Lucius and Jason and Saucipater, my kinsmen. I, Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother, Quartus, greet you. Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God to bring about the obedience of faith to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ.

Amen. Amen. So yesterday we looked at verses 17 and 18. We're gonna focus today mainly on verses 19 and 20, and I'm going to mention these greetings in verses 21 through 23 as well. So in verse 19, Paul says, for your obedience is known to all so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.

Again, remember back to chapter 15, where after Paul had talked about how those who are mature need to bear with the failings of the weak so that we in the church are building one another up in Christ Jesus.

And this all in keeping with a theme that he had set forth in chapter 12, saying that we are one body, many parts, but we are all one in Christ Jesus. So even those who are more mature have an obligation to bear with those who are less mature, that they may be built up in the Lord so that the whole body of Christ is strengthened.

And so after Paul is given these instructions in chapters 14 and 15 about looking after those who are weaker and not condemning those who may think about some tertiary issues a little differently than you do, do not be divided over opinions.

He says in verse 14, I myself, I'm sorry, I'm in chapter 15, verse 14, I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

But on some points I've written to you very boldly by way of reminder because of the grace given to me by God. So some things Paul will say very pointedly, and it's because he cares for these Christians.

It's not because they've gone astray or they're dealing very divisively with one another. It's because he loves them so affectionately that he might say something to them very strongly or boldly so that they will continue to go in the right way and not get lazy in the pursuit of unity and love that they have in the Holy Spirit of God.

Back at the beginning of Romans chapter one, he says in verse eight, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. So this is not a rebuking letter, and we really have not seen any sort of indication of there being a strong rebuke that everything that the Roman Christians have been doing has been praiseworthy.

And if Paul ever says anything boldly, it's just to be a good shepherd to them, a good pastor, that they would go in the right way. I have listened to my pastor do this many times, Pastor Tom Buck, in the sermons that he gives.

He will sometimes say something very strongly or very boldly. Just recently, he did so in a sermon. And at the very end, right at the conclusion when he's given that last appeal to unbelievers, if you're here and you don't know the Lord, stick around, talk with one of the pastors, and then he gives us a benediction before we leave.

As he was doing that, at the very conclusion, he came back to a point that he made earlier in the sermon, and he said, hey, when I said this thing here, I was not saying that you do this, but I was saying it as a general you, not that you in the church or this church is guilty of this.

But I think it was still a very important point that he would have said it the way that he did in the sermon, so that we may all be convicted. And we check ourselves to make sure that we are walking in the way of righteousness and not wandering off into the weeds, but we're continuing on the straight and narrow way as marked out for us by the word of God.

It says in Psalm 119, your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And as we have studied recently in Proverbs 3, lean not on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.

So here, Paul even writes boldly to these Roman Christians that they may be reminded of the good doctrine that has been preached to them from the very beginning when they first became believers and all of this wonderful, beautiful doctrine that Paul has laid out even here in this letter.

And he says, again, in verse 19, your obedience is known to all, I rejoice over you. This is not a rebuking letter, unlike the letter we're going to go into next, next week, when we begin a study of 1 Corinthians, that's a very rebuking letter.

There are some things that Paul praises the Corinthians for, but by and large, this is going to be a very direct epistle confronting a lot of the problems that has come to Paul's ears regarding some of the conduct that has been going on with these Christians there in Corinth.

With the Roman Christians though, their obedience is praised all over the Roman Empire. They have been persecuted for their faith and yet they remain steadfast in sure their doctrine is right, they are growing in the Lord.

So Paul rejoices over them, but he says, I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. How do we know what is good? How are we wise as to what is good? We've been talking about this in our Proverbs study on Thursday, you know the right way to go when you read the word of God, you know the wisdom of God when you study the Bible.

Remember back to what Paul said in Romans 12 too, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

And how do we test and how do we discern what God's will is? We know when we study the Bible. So what God says to us through his word, through the prophets who gave us the Old Testament and the apostles that gave us the New Testament, led by the Holy Spirit to write what God wanted them to write through our study of these things, we are wise to what is good.

And we may remain innocent as to what is evil. You do not have to experience evil to know what is evil. You know what is evil because you read the word of God. So therefore, you know what God says is good and you know what God says is evil.

Don't think that you have to experience that evil in order to know that it's evil. And that's what Paul means here when he says, I want you to be innocent as to what is evil. Don't even dabble in it. Don't get there and then be going, wow, this is bad.

I should have known better. I shouldn't have done this. I've done the evil and now I'm ready to go back to the path of righteousness. No, be innocent as to what is evil. Don't even know what it feels like to have to experience that evil.

There are many who have gone through some really, really tough things in life because they rebelled against God and went their own way. And then they share these wonderful testimonies about how God rescued me out of that.

I was a wretched sinner. I was into drugs. I was sleeping around. I thought about taking my own life. I was at the end of my rope. And then the gospel was shared with me and I repented of my sin and I sought after Jesus Christ and he forgave me.

And now I'm here and I'm getting baptized. I'm starting a brand new life and I love Jesus. You'll hear those testimonies like that and they're wonderful. It's so great to hear how God has rescued somebody out of their depravity like that.

How close we can get to death and yet God is merciful to not let us die in our sins, in our own choices like that, but to rescue us and give us new life and to grow us in holiness and righteousness and sanctification.

I have many friends who have some dark testimonies just like that, living a life in darkness before they saw the light of Christ as shared with them in the gospel. I've had the privilege of sharing the gospel with people in dark depravity like that and seeing the gospel rescue somebody out of their darkness.

Seeing Christ lift somebody out of a pit of despair like that. I've had the privilege of witnessing that. But don't think that you need to go through that to really have a great testimony or really know the forgiveness and the grace of God.

It is by the grace of God that you've not gone down a path like that. I pray that my children would never have to know that, that they never try to go their own way, but they have known the gospel from birth and they know the goodness of God that has prevented them from ever having to go through that in life.

And so their testimony is, God had in mind to save me at a very young age, to present the gospel to me in my youth that I may know from the family that I was raised in the right way to go from the very beginning.

And that is Jesus Christ, the Lord. That's what I desire for my children. And that they would never therefore then wander off into that really rough stuff and follow after the passions of their flesh and make a shipwreck of themselves before they finally come to their senses and understand who Jesus Christ is.

I don't want any of my children to become the prodigal child in Jesus' parable of the prodigal son, which by the way, we've named that parable. The parable is probably more accurately named the parable of the older brother, since that's who it is that Jesus is addressing with that particular story.

But we know it is the parable of the prodigal son, because you've got this son that's rebelled against his father. He's demanded his inheritance. He goes off and he squanders it. And when he's down in the dirt with the pigs and ready to eat their food, comes to his senses that, hey, I can go work for my father.

So he goes back to his father and that's all he wants is to just ask his dad for a job. But his dad forgives him and loves him and kisses on him and puts the best robes on him and throws a big feast for him.

And so we are given this picture of the celebration that happens in heaven when one sinner repents from his ways. And I don't want my children to go the way of the prodigal child. I don't want my children to go the way of the older brother either.

That's not the point of the story. The story is not you're either this one or you're that one. The point of the story was to rebuke the Pharisees who were the older brother in that particular story. But rather I want my children to always know, they've always known the goodness of God.

And because of the precepts that were taught to them by their parents, they never had to go in that awful way. They always knew the right way to go. My parents taught me the right way. And because they did, I did not go into worse sin than I could have fallen into.

But I certainly chased after the passions of my flesh at a particular time in my life. It could have been much, much worse if it was not for what my parents taught me at a young age. And thankfully I was convicted in heart when I went those sinful ways.

I knew that it was wrong. And I knew to come back to Christ and ask for his forgiveness. And I most certainly received it. And now my direction in life is toward Christ instead of my own sin. So Paul says here to the church in Rome, your obedience is known to all.

I rejoice over you. These are not prodigal children, but those who have heard the gospel have been walking in the right way ever since. And he says, I want you, I say these things to you. I say these things boldly to you that you would be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.

Remember that the tree that God told Adam and Eve not to eat from was called the tree of what? It was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because God says in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.

When they did, when Eve listened to the serpent, when the man, when the husband listened to his wife and they ate of the tree that God told them not to eat from, then the curse came into creation. All things were cursed.

Everything was subjected to futility. Death came into the picture and that became the curse upon the man and the woman and the creature that had enticed them to sin. Where previously we were innocent as to what is evil because of Adam and Eve sin, we became knowledgeable as to what is evil.

That's why that tree was called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because once they ate of it, they became aware of evil by experience. They had experienced evil and now they truly knew evil.

They became intimate with evil. And it says that once Adam and Eve had done this, they were filled with shame. Their eyes were opened and they saw their nakedness and they tried to cover themselves. And then they tried to hide from God, which is ridiculous.

Nobody can hide from God, but sin makes us do stupid things. This is what Paul wants to protect the Roman Christians from. They were sinners. Now they have come to righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ justified by faith.

And so now walking in newness of life, Paul wants to protect them from ever dabbling in these sinful ways ever again. He wants them to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. Don't even know the evil by experience.

Don't become acquainted with it, friends with it, intimate with it, be innocent as to what is evil. May it never be said of you that you engaged in this, dabbled in this, that your conscience would be defiled by this.

Don't even go that way. Yes, God is a gracious God. He forgives us of our iniquities. He clothes our shame with his purity, his holiness, the righteousness of Jesus Christ that we receive as garments when we put our faith in him.

He cleanses us and makes us new because he is a good God. But he is also good to show us the right way to go that we would not go that way that will lead to death. As I said to you, when we were in our study of Proverbs in chapters five and six and seven, I think was where we were, I said, don't even look at the sin and be enticed by it and think that you can go there and you can just ask God's forgiveness or maybe nobody will ever find out so it won't be any harm to anyone else.

And if somebody does find out, I can just ask their forgiveness. I'll ask God's forgiveness because God is gracious. He'll just forgive me, right? And what I said to you when we talked about those things, when we looked at those things from Proverbs, I said, how do you know that after you have sinned, you will actually have a mind that desires the forgiveness of God?

How will you know? How do you know that God will not just give you over to your own depravity? And when you get away with this sin once, you'll think, I can get away with it again. I can just do it again.

God will forgive me, right? And then you find before you know it that you've not ever really had the grace of God, but you're still enslaved to your sin. Don't play that game. Don't play games with God.

Don't put the Lord your God to the test. If you know the grace of God, then walk in it. Don't ever go the sinful way. If you are in sin right now, brothers and sisters, repent. Go before Christ and ask forgiveness for your sins.

And in asking forgiveness, in repenting, it means you're not gonna go that way again. Walk in his righteousness. Pursue the goodness of God, the righteousness of Christ that we have been given. 1 John 1 .9 says, if we ask forgiveness for our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If you've been cleansed of this sin, then walk in the righteousness and not in the sin, lest you find that your way is the way of death instead of walking in the way of life. Paul pleads with these Christians there in Rome that they would continue in obedience.

Your obedience is known to all so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good. Continue in the goodness of what has been revealed in the scriptures to us. That's what he's done here by writing this letter to them.

Every word of this letter is the mind of God, the word of Christ, the Holy Spirit poured out for them that they may know the will of God according to his word. I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.

That's why Paul has written these things to them. He says, the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. We have peace with God because God is a God of peace and he has made the way of peace through his son.

Colossians 1 .20, through Jesus to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Peace between God and man has been made through Jesus Christ.

And you have peace with God when you put your faith in him. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet to bring peace, he must eliminate the enemy. And the promise of God is in that he will vanquish all of his enemies on the day of Christ.

He will crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. So if you are in the grace of God, walk in the grace of God. As Paul had said back in Romans 6, some of the things that Paul is saying here at the conclusion are bringing back to their attention things that he has said earlier in the letter.

So he says in Romans 6 .1, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? No, by no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it? So he says in verse 12, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions.

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

For sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under the law, but under grace. So indeed, if you are under the grace of God, then be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Now I said at the conclusion of the message here that I was going to talk about some of these greetings. I didn't get to that. So let's do that tomorrow. And then we will finish our study of the book of Romans with this wonderful doxology at the very end.

Let us pray together. Heavenly Father, thank you for the good that you show to us, goodness that you have shown to us by forgiving us of our sins through faith in Jesus Christ, your son, whom you sent to die on the cross for sin, that all who believe in him will not perish, but we will have everlasting life, sharing in his resurrection unto glory.

I pray that you would continue to show your goodness to us, that we may understand your word, knowing what is good and being innocent as to what is evil. If there is anybody who is listening to this lesson today who is tempted by sin and is giving into that temptation and thinking that they can continue in this and that God will be gracious to them, I pray that you would be gracious to them in convicting their hearts of their sin that they may turn from it and not continue to walk in a way that you have promised that you will judge, but instead they will know the righteousness of Christ and desire to live by faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

It's in your precious name that we pray, amen.

Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com.

Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word when we understand the text.