Romans 16:19-20

For your obedience has become known to all. I rejoice therefore over you. But I desire to have you wise in that which is good, but innocent in that which is evil. And the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Paul tells us that the obedience of the Roman Christians was well known. Even though Paul was very happy about this, he wanted their wisdom about what is good to increase. It is difficult to be innocent if you aren’t quite sure about what is right and what is wrong. Since evil men were deceiving the hearts of the innocent, wisdom was desperately needed. God, through Paul, provided the wise words of this letter to preserve our innocence when they are used by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Notice that this combination is the way that God crushes Satan under our feet. The Bible is very important for us because we still need to overcome Satan in our world today. In a few years from this time, the Romans were to have a new emperor named Nero who would end up making it a sport to kill Christians, but God was later to crush this persecution and allow Christianity to exist throughout the empire.

Finally, Paul again reminds us that Jesus’ grace, or unmerited favor, is with us. This is what we start with, and this is what we must continue to remember as we enjoy our relationship with God.