Romans 16:19-27 - Corps - July 2,1980
ROMANS 16:19-27 July 2, 1980 Romans 16:19 When you just read it casually as I’ve just done, it seems like it’s a little difficult to understand. It doesn’t quite make full sense like you feel it ought to make. The first thing I want to share with you is that verse 19 is a continuation of a warning he gave them in verse 17 and 18. Here is verse 19, he does not praise them for their obedience so much as to warn them to be very careful about accepting any teaching or preaching, no matter how well it is presented, how seemingly logical, sincere and reasonable it may appear. If it is off one iota from the gospel of God, the mystery that Paul has declared unto us in that Word, then whatever that declaration is, if it’s off even one iota, it is an error and it’s wrong. “good” – agathos; original meaning is “worthy of note.” That is so broad that it includes both good and evil. In other words, if evil is a thriving thing going on, it has to be agathos. It is worthy of note. It appears successfully evil or evil successfully, and that is to make it of note. Like a great bank robber who is real successful in robbing the bank. He’s a good bank robber. Good concerning evil, agathos, was simply because they were successful at what they did at that moment. That’s why this word agathos originally carried that meaning. Then later on it went into two directions, this word agathos. One direction means ability in service, that which is an advantage that’s good. The advantage you have is good. That’s your ability, that’s your advantage, that’s good. The other arm of it was moral or ethical, and that is its basic usage in the New Testament gospel period. And all the men that I’ve ever studied or read on the book of Romans say that this is the side that Paul took. I do not believe that. I believe that here in this epistle which Paul wrote that the Pauline usage includes both, and thus in its relation to righteousness. That word dikaios, which I handled in Romans, which is God to man gift.
From this work
what I said at the opening tonight, that I had asked the Corps to work all these names in sixteen previously, which apparently only two did, and I’d like for Craig to share this with you. He has a copy he’s going to read. You might as well rest yourself because you’re not going to be able to handle all this stuff and take all the notes. If you’ve got an interest in it, you can listen to tapes and if you want to make them, fine. If Craig or any of the rest of them would desire to xerox them, if somebody wants to type them and xerox them, I wouldn’t mind giving them to the whole Corps. They are never going to get it if we don’t do it for them. Whenever a name is given in the Word of God, God has a purpose for that name. It is our responsibility to find out why. There are times in the Bible, great incidents are mentioned, individuals related to it, or it just says this woman did so and so,