Romans 16:20

And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Those commentators who view this eschatologically and allege that Paul expected the end of the world shortly, miss the plain point of this verse. Murray was absolutely correct when he saw this as an allusion to Genesis 3:15. As he said:

"God of peace" in this place clearly has reference to God's maintaining peace in the church, because of its particular relevance to the bruising of Satan. The previous verses have in view the division caused by Satan's instruments. It is God who bruises Satan and establishes peace in contrast with conflict, discord, and division. He is therefore the God of peace. The assurance given in this verse is the encouragement to heed the admonitions. Each element is significant. God will crush Satan; he will crush him under the feet of the faithful; and he will do it speedily. The promise of a victorious issue undergirds the fight of faith.[36]

Likewise, Hodge commented:

The apostle, in giving them the assurance of the effectual aid of God, calls him the God of peace.[37]

Thus, the bruising of Satan is not something here promised for the remote future, but is a triumph over him to be won immediately and speedily by the Roman Christians who would have the effectual aid of God in maintaining the unity and peace of the Christians when they would be attacked by the false teachers. The entire thrust of this whole passage is not forward to the eternal judgment, but retrospective to Genesis 3:15.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you ... is another of the numerous doxologies in Romans.

[36] John Murray, op. cit., p. 236.

[37] Charles Hodge, op. cit., p. 451.