Of the 19 people our mission team baptized while we lived in Romania, maybe 1/3 of those can be traced directly or indirectly to a young mom while our kids were playing together in the park. The women on our mission team were active in the Lord’s work in Romania. They taught Bible classes, even in Romanian. They helped serve those who needed physical help. They were instrumental in leading others to Christ.
It was a big deal for Christianity to come along and teach that the gospel made men and women equal in the eyes of God. Paul will write in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
THE EQUALITY OF THE GOSPEL – 16:1-16:
Paul had written the theme of Romans back in 1:16: – “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Not only is the gospel for male and female, but it is also for Jew and Greek. Paul illustrates that point to us here in this chapter, specifically the first 16 verses…
First, let me point out that there are nine women who were so active in the church that Paul sends special greetings to them (mark them in your Bible): Phoebe (ver. 1), Prisca (ver. 3), Mary (ver. 6), Junias (ver. 7), Tryphaena and Tryphosa (ver. 12), Persis (ver. 12), Julia (ver. 15), and Nereus’ sister (ver. 15).
What about the Gentiles among the Christians in Rome? This list in Romans 16 contains probably more Gentiles than Jews. Paul indicates specifically that some are Jews – those identified as Paul’s “kinsmen:” verse 7 and 11. We also know that Aquila, Priscilla, Mary, and Rufus and his mother were Jews. Otherwise, these names were Gentile names.
How about those who were slaves in the church of Christ in Rome? As many as 1/5 people in Rome were slaves. Here are some individuals who were slaves or had been slaves and were now “freedmen / freedwomen:” Andronicus and Junias (ver. 7), Ampliatus (ver. 9), Urbanus (ver. 9), Stachys might have been a slave, Herodion (ver. 11), Hermes (ver. 14), Philologus and Julia, Nereus (ver. 15). As with the names being predominantly Gentile, so it is with slaves or freedmen or freedwomen. There were a lot of them in the church.
The Gospel unites us all into one body, the church of Christ. Let us stay faithful to that Gospel until Christ comes again!
Paul Holland