16:8-15
We then get a list of various people. They cover male and female, Gentiles and Jews. It is clear that Pul valued strong relationships and those who work hard and faithfully for the Lord. He also had good relationships with women. So, as I have already said, those who accuse Paul of misogyny really don’t know what they are talking about.
16:16
Here we have an example of cultural application. “Greet one another with a holy kiss”. It was common then, as it still is in some countries, for people to greet each other with a kiss. In our society this is far less common. So it would not generally be appropriate for us to follow this. It would either lead to misunderstanding, or just be far too embarrassing.
16:17
We are to avoid people who cause division and who promote things that are contrary to the gospel. We need to listen to this, too often in the church we think we have to be “nice” all the time! There are some people who are just trouble, and note that the Bible, Old and New Testament, is very clear on this, and it advocates a direct approach to such people. We avoid them and do not give them the time of day. Now we do need to be careful for we have a habit of going to one extreme or the other. We are all sinners, so we need to be concerned first about the logs in our own eyes. We also do not want to go down the road of some so-called “discernment ministries” that are obsessed with finding fault with people. But the Bible calls on us (ie God calls on us, Jesus calls on us) to use wisdom and to treat false teachers and division makers very seriously.
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