Session 87: Romans Chapters 15-16

15:4 Another verse that refutes “Once Saved, Always Saved” error:  It refers to the need for endurance, and that we might have HOPE (not absolute assurance.)  (See, by the same author,
1 Cor. 10:12- a warning to those who think they are standing secure.)

16:1 Phoebe is referred to, in some translations, as a “deacon(ess)” who served the Church.  We have no record of women being ordained, so she was most likely similar to a “nun.”
See the 1994 Papal Encyclical by John Paul II for a further explanation of the issue of women’s ordination.  Women are essential in the life and leadership of the Church, but.....

16:17 Paul warns against “dissensions” and “opposition to the teaching that you learned.”  (We believers are to be part of ONE Church!)

16:26 Paul mentions the “obedience of faith.”  (So, it’s not one or the other that leads us to salvation, it is both!)   (Christ can give us the grace to become obedient, through Word and Sacraments.)