Paul always concluded his Epistles to the churches with special benedictions. In the conclusion to the Romans, he gave a warning and a sure word of victory.

Then he gave his benediction.

First, the warning

Paul covers several things with this warning.

Romans 16:19 NIV 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.

Have you noticed that some things look good and innocent but they are full of evil?

Paul and several other prisoners were delivered to Julius a centurion of the Augustan Regiment to be transported by ship to Italy. They were sailing along the coast of Asia. After leaving the Fair Havens on the Island of Crete a great tempest arose and they were driven by the wind. When they neared the island of Malta, their ship was broken up by the violent waves. By God’s mercy everyone on board the ship survived. After everyone safely got to shore, the people of Malta showed unusual kindness to them and kindled a fire because it was raining and cold. 

When Paul gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. Vipers sleep in the cold of winter and in their hibernation take on the appearance of their surroundings. If you came across a hibernating serpent, it may look like a twig or stick. Paul picked up the viper along with the sticks.

When Satan comes as a roaring lion, he is easy to detect.

2 Corinthians 11:14 tells us, “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” If Satan always comes against us as a roaring lion, it would be easy to recognize his attack.Satan uses subtle devices and deceptive ways to make evil look good. Some poisons look like water. Sin can be appealing to the eye and pleasurable to the feelings. We must be led by the Holy Spirit in everything we say or do.

We must be wise about what is good.

In Romans 3:9-18, we are told, “none is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks God, everyone has turned aside and have become unprofitable, no one does good…”

We are warned about several things. Goodness refers to being right with God. Goodness comes from really knowing and understanding God. We cannot know what is good until we know and understand God.

Listen to what God told Jeremiah about His people.

Jeremiah 4:22 NKJV “For My people are foolish, They have not known Me. They are silly children, And they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge.”

God is clear about this. We cannot know good until we know Him.

In 1 Corinthians 14, the text is talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues, but they did not understand the ways of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 14:20 NLT Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind.

Look again at Romans 16:19.

Romans 16:19 NIV 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.

1 Samuel 2:2 NLT No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

Mark 10:18 NKJV So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.”

When Jesus was thinking about “goodness,” He said “No one is good but God.”

• God is absolutely perfect in all of His ways. 
• He is slow to anger and abounds in mercy, Psalms 103:8.
• God is love, (1 John 4:8).
• He is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy, (Psalms 145:9).
• The goodness of God endures continually, (Psalms 52:1).
• His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering are rich and the goodness of God leads us to repentance, (Romans 2:4).

When we think about goodness in relation to mankind, we must turn our eyes toward Jesus.

• Jesus Christ is the picture of what is good, for He is the image and likeness of the Father.
• He is holy and righteous.
• He is pure and good.
• He is without sin.
• He is all together lovely.

When Paul is telling us to be wise about what is good, He is referring to our spiritual development.

• How far have you come in spiritual development?
• Have you won some victories?
• Have you conquered some evils in your life?
• What good have you achieved?

Ephesians 2:10 NIV For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Romans 8:29 NIV For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

That is our goal. This is the direction we must progress toward.

Philippians 3:13-14 NCV Brothers and sisters, I know that I have not yet reached that goal, but there is one thing I always do. Forgetting the past and straining toward what is ahead, I keep trying to reach the goal and get the prize for which God called me through Christ to the life above.

Second, Paul gives us a sure word of victory.

Romans 16:20 NIV The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Here are two powerful words for each of us.

First, Satan shall soon be under our feet.

This is a word of victory for every believer.

In the Garden of Eden, the Lord God Almighty said that Satan would be bruised under the heel of Christ.

Adam and Eve had sinned and fell into condemnation and curse. They were hiding from God. Sin had entered and they were defeated. The Lamb of God has intervened and has defeated Satan.

Isaiah 53:4-5 NIV Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.

Jesus Christ the Messiah was bruised so that we could be saved, healed, and delivered. He was broken for our iniquity and bruised for our sin.

Isaiah 53:10 NKJV Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 

God was willing to cause trauma to Christ so we may be freed. He has taken and carried our bruise, grief and sin so that we may have victory.

Colossians 2:13 NCV When you were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self, God made you alive with Christ, and He forgave all our sins. 

Colossians 2:14 NCV He canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross. God stripped the spiritual rulers and powers of their authority. With the cross, He won the victory and showed the world that they were powerless.

When Jesus Christ died on the cross, God stripped Satan of his authority and power. When Christ died, the principality and power was stripped from Satan. Although Satan still claims the world as his, the God of peace will crush him under your feet.

Romans 16:20 NIV The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

We don’t know all that is involved in this. God has planned your victory.

If you are defeated, it is because you have not taken the resources that are available to you.

In Christ Jesus, God has provided victory. Satan has been disarmed and defeated and has been publicly put to an open shame.

James 4:7 NIV Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

You cannot do this in your own strength.

Ephesians 3:10-11 NIV His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In Christ, we can stand against the wiles of the devil, (Ephesians 6:11). Every fiery and flaming dart of the evil one can be quenched, (Ephesians 6:16).

Think about what we are being told.

Jesus defeated and bruised Satan under His heel. The Holy Spirit is saying, Satan is going to be under your feet. If we live in Christ Jesus, that victory is ours.

Romans 16:20 NKJV And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

God has given us a sure word of victory.

First, Satan is soon to be under our feet.

Second, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with us.

What effect does the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ have? 

The word “grace” means favor, delight, pleasure, merciful kindness.

• What is it like living in the favor of the Lord?
• What does it mean to live in the pleasure of the Lord?
• What is it like living in the merciful kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ?

This is the message of rejoicing.

Romans 16:25-26 NLT God is able to make you strong, just as the Good News says. It is the message about Jesus Christ and his plan for you Gentiles, a plan kept secret from the beginning of time. But now as the prophets foretold and as the eternal God has commanded, this message is made known to all Gentiles everywhere, so that they might believe and obey Christ.

God is able to make you strong.

He is able to establish and strengthen you. God is invested in your future.

God made this promise to Abraham in Genesis.

Genesis 12:3 NKJV I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 22:18 NKJV In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.

By Abraham’s seed the whole earth would be blessed.

1 Peter 1:10 NCV The prophets searched carefully and tried to learn about this salvation. They prophesied about the grace that was coming to you.

1 Peter 1:11 NCV The Spirit of Christ was in the prophets, telling in advance about the sufferings of Christ and about the glory that would follow those sufferings. The prophets tried to learn about what the Spirit was showing them, when those things would happen, and what the world would be like at that time. 

1 Peter 1:12 NCV It was shown them that their service was not for themselves but for you, when they told about the truths you have now heard. Those who preached the Good News to you told you those things with the help of the Holy Spirit who was sent from heaven—things into which angels desire to look.

The Old Testament prophets prophesied of the grace that is for us.

They saw a time we would walk in God’s blessing and favor. They could see a time of victory and rejoicing. They could see Satan’s defeat and a people who reaped the blessing of Christ’s sufferings. They could see God’s great salvation. We rejoice in the blessing and favor that God has provided in Christ Jesus.

Romans 16:27 NIV To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

• God wants to bless you and turn your sorrow into dancing.
• God knows how to bring you into victory.
• Give Him your praise.