Section 5
the churches: the church at Cenchrea (v. 1); the church in Rome, which met in the house of Prisca and Aquila (vv. 3, 5); the churches of the nations (v. 4); and the churches of Christ (v. 16). We are now in the churches. Hallelujah! The Body is in the churches, Christ is in the Body, and God is in Christ. How wonderful this is! If we see this, then we see the basic concept of this book.
This matter is worthy of our full attention. The first section of Romans covers personal sal vation, and the last section covers the Body, which is not a matter of individual salvation, but of corporate function. The first section is on in dividual salvation, and the last section is on cor porate function. This corporate function is the Body, which is expressed in hundreds and even thousands of localities as local churches. This is the reason that Paul wrote chapter sixteen in such a wonderful way, not in the way of doc trine, but in the way of practical experience, in the way of greetings. Through his greetings, Paul opened a window through which we may look at the churches of the first century. Romans 16 is a window. Praise the Lord for this window! With out this chapter, we could never be so clear what was taking place in the churches at that time.