Romans 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Pursuing good from the previous verse will help us experience the peace God provides through the Holy Spirit. Paul uses the phrase “God of peace” several times in his letters ( Romans 15:33; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Philippians 4:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:23). God is the source of peace because God is peaceful. Peace is what people seek but rarely find. Our world is so full of fighting, anxiety, fear, and general mayhem. Satan is behind the chaos of the world and seeks to destroy people by enticing people with the lie that power brings peace. Human power is easily distorted by sin and usually ends up hurting someone. The God of peace brings serenity to us in the midst of the fighting and chaos around us. There should be a difference between how Christians react to the challenges of life and non-Christians, especially those who are full of self and pride. Christians should be peace lovers who bring peace to any situation where they are.
The wording of this verse is significant because we are involved in this. Of course, on the cosmic level, God can and will crush Satan at the end of time. Meanwhile, God gives us strength to overcome Satan in this life. If God is for us, no one can be against us, even if we physically have to suffer in this life. This verse can give us strength and renew our faith because God does the crushing, but the crushing is under our feet. We are the ones who will experience this because God will work through us to help us experience victory over Satan.
Paul finally adds a simple blessing that signals the end of the letter, or at least it seems like the end of Paul’s dictation. The rest of the letter gives some final greetings that may come from Tertius the scribe and those physically present as they worked on this important letter. What we need most in this lifetime as we await the coming again of Jesus is the “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We need his strength to overcome sin and temptation. We need his power to sustain us through suffering. We need his Spirit to help us live in holiness and love.
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