Commendations. Romans 16:1-16 What is it that enables one to gain the approval of others? To express in words things that are praiseworthy of another person, cannot be done in any way that is less than the honest truth. When a person has been proved trustworthy because of the activities and acts of assistance done on behalf of others, then that approval can be defined and put into readable words. The sister in the Lord, Phoebe, who served the assembly in Cenchrea near Corinth, was notable for her hospitality and commitment to the well-being of the saints that met there. She was a helper herself, and now it was her turn to be helped.
Letters of commendation are an introduction with a list of credentials regarding a person, and states a desired action for those who receive the bearer of the letter. A letter with the name of such a committed servant of God such as Phoebe, is not something to be considered lightly or of little value. The evaluation of one's attitude and personal service is made by more than one person. Each of us is daily leaving behind us a trail that will be either commendable or blamable.
Phoebe was a sister in the sense of being a fellow believer in Christ. She was also a deaconess in that she was one who served the Lord’s people as she ministered to the Lord and as she met the needs of others. She is also described as a “helper,” a benefactor, of many people as a patron who financially supported other people including Paul. She was likely a woman of financial means who used what she had generously for the benefit of others at Cenchrea. There was no hesitation on the part of the apostle Paul to commend her to the assembly at Rome.
The church at Cenchrea, a port serving the city of Corinth, was six or seven miles from Corinth where Paul likely was when he wrote this epistle. He certainly held this sister in high regard for who she was and for her acts of hospitality and charitable work among the Lord’s people.
Women in the early church had significant roles to fill including meeting the needs of believers in showing hospitality such as Lydia and Phoebe did. They had a role of personal teaching and helping like Priscilla and Phoebe and providing for the needs associated with evangelizing like Phoebe. Some assemblies met in their homes for their meetings. Those who were older women were to make it a point of reaching out to younger women and giving practical teaching and guidance from their years of experience.
Phoebe is a Gentile name of a goddess who was supposed to be the grandmother of Apollo and Artemis. The sister in the Lord, Phoebe, was certainly a responsible woman who is an example to us as to what is commendable in a person. We should make it a point of using what we have and well as ourselves and our time to serve the Lord’s people. People who serve others deserve a gracious welcome wherever they go. The Gospel and the work of the Lord in general, places equal value on men and women. Such people are working for the Lord in many part of the world today in places where their skills and compassion are meeting needs for thousands of people.
The first time the word “church” is used in the book of Romans is in verse one of this chapter. The word means a gathering of people, a congregation or an assembly of people. It was used in Greek literature almost always for a political gathering when citizens came together for the purpose of conducting civic affairs. In those cases, it referred to the meeting, not the people themselves. The people were not considered the “ecclesia” at such meetings.
In the New Testament the word “ecclesia” refers to the people of God 109 times out of the 114 times the word is used. “Ecclesia” is only used twice in the four Gospels; in Acts twenty-three times and in the epistles of Paul forty-six times. In Revelation it is used twenty times and a few brief times in James and Hebrews.
From these uses we know that “ecclesia” usually refers to a local assembly of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ who have been identified publicly by baptism to have allegiance to Him. Six times in Acts, Corinthians and Ephesians it refers to the universal or dispensational church. In 1Corinthians 1:2 and 2Corinthians 1:1 it is designated as God’s congregation. Each local assembly is in a sense a manifestation of the unseen universal church.