Romans 16:20: Victory over satan

Introduction:

This is the first and only mention of satan in the book of Romans. Why talk about him now? Paul has been giving his love to the church and encouraging love between people and churches. He naturally moves from the unity of the church to the enemies of that unity warning about those false teachers who have a different gospel and who cause divisions. That is why Paul is talking about satan. The book of Revelation reveals that satan is thrown down to earth and is waging war against the church. The prophecy reveals satan using persecuting power, the first beast, false religion, the second beast, and seduction, the harlot against the Church. The church in every age faces these three enemies, we in NZ are facing more of the harlot and the second beast than the persecutions of the first beast. The church in Rome likewise was facing the attacks of satan, she was suffering from persecution, we know that the Christians had been kicked out of Rome for a while; they were under attack from false religion, the presence of the false teachers makes this clear; and they were bombarded by the temptations of the permissive societies around them. The war is felt, the enemy is real, but we see in this encouragement the victory is guaranteed. Romans 16:20,

‘The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.’

This is a promise for all believers in all times. Today as we look at it we want to consider the two main characters mentioned—God and satan.