Again Paul introduced his comments with a strong exhortation (cf. 12:1; 15:30). He warned the Roman Christians about false teachers who might enter the fold. His brief warning argues against thinking that false teachers were presently active in the church.
16:17-18 False teachers were a danger to all the churches. Paul urged his Roman readers to avoid them.413
16:19 Paul was confident that his readers could handle this threat because they had a reputation for following the apostles' instructions. The innocent among God's people tend to accept false teachers, and the wise normally reject them. Paul wanted his readers to be wise concerning all good and innocent only regarding evil (cf. Matt. 10:16).
16:20 Satan is behind all evil ultimately. God desires peace among His people, not the antagonism that some in the church who chose to follow Satan's spokesmen would create. "Soon"does not imply that Jesus Christ would return soon necessarily. Paul meant that the Roman Christians would frustrate Satan's work among them soon as they rejected false teachers. His terminology suggests that he had Genesis 3:15 in mind.
Paul's benediction magnified God's grace as does this whole epistle. Usually such a benediction signalled the end of a Pauline letter, but the apostle had more to communicate in this instance.
