ROMANS 16: 25-27
THE GOD OF GLORY
[1 Corinthians 2:7-10]
The book of Romans ends with a beautiful doxology, praising God for what He has done through His Son, Jesus Christ. It is a grand finale befitting the Lord God, His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel by which we come to know them. It brings the book of Romans to eloquent conclusion. It proclaims the majestic truth that God purposed from all eternity to save the nations in Jesus Christ (CIT).
Doxologies are found throughout Scripture in both Old Testament (Pss. 41:13; 72:18-19) and New (Rom. 11:30-33; Heb. 13:20-21; Jude 24-25). The name doxology comes from the Greek word "doxa". It originally meant, simply, "an opinion". Your opinion of someone was your doxology regarding that person. Over time, "doxa" came to refer to someone's reputation or power. Eventually, it came to mean honor or glory bestowed on someone. [Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Bromiley, Geoffrey: Ed. 1985 Eerdmans. p. 180]
In the Bible, of course, the One who is deserving of "doxa," or of all glory and all power and an honor, is none other than God. [In fact, the word "doxa" appears often in the New Testament as something related to or regarding Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 2:8; Jas. 2:1; 1 Tim. 3:16; Acts 7:55; Heb. 13:21; Titus 2:13).] It is the response of coming into contact with the Lord God.
As the apostle praises God he touches on themes prevalent in Romans. Let's use the following outline to aid us in understanding our passage: The Gospel that Establishes Men (v. 25a), The Gospel that Proclaims Jesus Christ (v. 25b), The Gospel that Reveals God's Mystery (vv. 25–26), and the Gospel that Displays God's Glory (v. 27).
I. THE GOSPEL THAT ESTABLISHES MEN, 25a.
II. THE GOSPEL THAT PROCLAIMS JESUS CHRIST, 25b.
III. THE GOSPEL THAT REVEALS GOD'S MYSTERY, 25–26
IV. THE GOSPEL THAT DISPLAYS GOD'S GLORY, 27.
At this point in the letter Paul does what he frequently did (2 Thessalonians 3:17). He grabbed the pen himself and "autographed" this letter with the final three verses. These verses make up the apostle closing doxology or benediction. Verse 25 begins by proclaiming what God is able to do by the power of His Gospel. "Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,"
In a long and complicated sentence the apostle interweaves his doxology with a description and affirmation of the gospel. It begins in the Greek "to Him who is "dunameno" or dynamic. This word also yields our transliterated word "dynamite." It is encouraging to think of this, since it takes dynamite to break through mountains of disbelief and granite encased hearts.
Paul is praising Him who is powerfully, dynamically capable of not only breaking through our depraved and blinded hearts, but building and establishing our lives for His glory!" Romans 1:16 therefore proclaims, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for all those who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile."
So after affirming God's dynamic power, Paul praises Him for the gospel that establishes men. God is able, that is, has sufficient power, to establish those who trust in Him according to the true gospel that Paul, and every true preacher and teacher proclaim.
The Greek word translated to establish (sterizo) means to make firm, stable or constant, to make fast. [It is used often by Paul. "Sterizo" is the same word that supplies our transliterated word steroids.] In this context to establish refers to being mentally settled, firmly rooted in the truth of the gospel. The unbeliever has no certainty about God or His Word or the way of salvation. The majority of mankind does not even have an interest in finding the true God. They are perfectly satisfied with the religion they have inherited or been exposed to, or else have no concern about religion at all. Even those who attempt to find God by their own searching and discernment are "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim. 3:7).
But, through the gospel, God is able to establish the minds and hearts of believers in the truth, to settle us, ground us, and make us firm in Him. No one but a Christian can be certain about God, certain about His truth, certain about His standards of righteousness, certain about His love and care, or certain about being with Him throughout eternity. Only the genuinely converted can truthfully say with Paul, "I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day" (2 Tim. 1:12). The apostle assured the Corinthian Christians that "God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed" (2 Cor. 9:8). [MacArthur, John. NT Com. Romans 9-16.1994. Moody: Chicago. p. 383-384.]
Not only is it the Gospel that Establishes Men, it is the Gospel that Proclaims Jesus Christ.
II. THE GOSPEL THAT PROCLAIMS JESUS CHRIST, 25b.
God ... "is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ,"
The gospel has Jesus Christ as its source and purpose. For the only gospel of God that establishes men is the gospel that proclaims Jesus Christ. The major theme of Romans, like the major theme of all Scripture, is Jesus Christ. The preaching [k rygma] of Jesus Christ was Paul's supreme life commitment. In his first letter to the church at Corinth he said, "We preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:23–24). In his second letter he testified, "We do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord.…For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,' is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Cor. 4:5–6). "Faith comes from hearing," he explains in Romans, "and hearing by the Word of Christ" (10:17). [MacArthur, 385].
This letter to the Romans is Paul's longest and most complete statement of the message he proclaimed, what he here called my gospel (2:16; 2 Tim. 2:8) and the proclamation of (concerning) Jesus Christ. [Paul calls the Gospel his Gospel, because many different doctrines would be preached by false teachers as the Gospel.] Noting compares with the gospel as an instrument for establishing believers. The truth of the gospel message is the means of spiritual life and stability (1 Peter 5:10). This truth has been expounded extensively in the book of Romans.
Not only is it the Gospel that Establishes Men, and the Gospel that Proclaims Jesus Christ, it is the Gospel that Reveals God's Mystery.
III. THE GOSPEL THAT REVEALS GOD'S MYSTERY, 25–26.
Proclamation of the Gospel is naturally followed by revelation. As verse 25 continues "according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,"
The gospel is revealed truth. Parts or aspects of this truth (Rom. 11:25; 1 Cor. 15:51; Eph. 5:32) and in a sense the lucidly of the message (Eph. 3:3-9; Col. 1:26-27) were "the mystery hidden for long ages past."
A mystery [musterion] here is that which is not understood without future revelation from God. It [musterion] is like the car commercials in which the new model is covered with a sheet or canvas. You can see the shape of it, but not the details. The engineer knows what's underneath the canvas. The designer already knows the shape of the car. But the car remains hidden to the rest of us. So, too, the mystery of which Paul spoke was hidden until the right moment [Courson, S. 1002], when God revealed or unveiled it.
The gospel was hidden from the ages but through the coming & ministry of Christ was revealed to the world. With the coming of Jesus something unique happened, eternity invaded time & God emerged on earth. His coming was the event which all history was working up to and the event from which all subsequent history flows. After the coming of Christ the world could never be the same again. It was the central fact of history, so that men date time in terms of before and after Christ's birth. It is as if with His coming the world began all over again. The mystery of the good news has now been revealed through the life, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus Christ. The door of heaven now stand open for those who will by faith receive the Lord of lords and King of kings by becoming obedient to Him.
Paul writes of the mystery of "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:25–27). This is the mystery of godliness. The mystery of Christ dying for us, living within us, relating to us. "This mystery, is Jesus establishing you in Him because He lives in you."
The mystery which has been hidden for ages, foretold by the prophets is now revealed through Jesus Christ, who is the gospel message.
Verse 26 indicates the mystery that was previously predicted in veil words by Scriptures and prophets is now to be made know to the nations so that they might become obedient to the Lord of Life. "but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith;"
The message of the gospel of Christ was "hidden" in the Old Testament, but is revealed in the New. In the prophetic writings (of the O.T.; Rom. 1:2), given by the command of the eternal God (1 Tim. 1:17), Christ was referred to (Luke 24:44-45), but even the prophets themselves were not fully aware of all they wrote (1 Peter 1:10-12). But now after the coming of Christ their writings are understood.
The goal of this "revelation of the mystery" (Rom. 16:25) is that people of all nations might believe and obey Christ (1:5; 15:18; 1 Peter 1:2). Paul's concern for the geographical spread of the gospel is evident here (Mt. 28:19)[, appropriate in view of his writing to the believers at the empire's capital city].
The Sacred Writings reveal a time when all men of all nations would know God. That time is not yet; but it is the dream of God that some day the knowledge of Him will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, and it is the glory of man that he can help make God's dream come true.
This gospel of Jesus Christ calls for obedience that is founded on faith, on a surrender which is the result of love. ["For the obedience of faith," i.e. that they should become obedient to the faith (Rom. 1:5).] For Paul the Christian is not a man who has surrendered to a crushing power or law. The Christi is one who has fallen in love with the God who is the lover of the souls of men and whose amazing love stands for ever full-displayed in Jesus Christ. [Barclay, William. The Letter to the Romans. Westminister Press. 1975. Philidelpia. P. 222].
This gospel so long concealed, or revealed but partially in the ancient prophets, is now, by the command of God, to be made known among all nations. Taking the gospel to all corners of the world will require great strength and fortitude but God would not call us to the task if He were not "able" and willing to "establish" us. Accordingly, we must look up continually to Him and see in the gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, the revelation of the mystery, that God has intervened in the human arena and that, having called people to faith in and obedience to Christ, He will strengthen us for the task ahead.
IV. THE GOSPEL THAT DISPLAYS GOD'S GLORY, 27.
Paul identified specifically the object of his benediction in verse 27. "to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen."
The gospel is the "wisdom of God," in contrast with the wisdom of men. After connecting the plan of redemption as the product of the divine mind, and intended for all nations, Paul addresses his praises to its author as the Only Wise God. His wisdom is so wonderfully displayed in the gospel and in all His other works, that He alone can be considered truly wise. [Hodge, Charles. Romans. Banner of Truth. 1972. Mackays of Chatham, Great Britain. p. 453]
The phrase "to the only wise God" in the Greek is followed immediately by the words through Jesus Christ. This indicates that the wisdom of God is displayed supremely through Christ (Col. 2:3).
All the glory that will redound to God through the ages of eternity, from the salvation of sinners, proceeds through Jesus Christ. Through Him it is manifested. It is through Jesus Christ that we ought to ascribe to God the glory.
According to the Greek text the benediction then ends, to whom be glory forever! Jude concludes his Epistle, 'To the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and powerful both now and ever Amen.'
God is the One who intervened. His was the wisdom that devised the glorious blending of grace, mercy and justice. It was His Son who died and it was His power that raised Him from the dead. It was from His life the Spirit was dispensed and through Him that the redeemed believer lives the life that honors the Lord and crushes Satan. [Briscoe, D. Stuart. The Preacher's Commentary Series, Vol. 29: Romans. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1982, S. 262] Therefore, to Him all glory rightly belongs! Amen (Rom. 11:36). God the Father ultimately is the One to be praised and to whom glory belongs (1 Cor. 15:24-28).
IN CLOSING
Christian privilege is to appropriate the good news for ourselves; the Christian duty is to transmit that good news to others. A famous story tells how Jesus, after the Cross and the Resurrection, RETURNED TO HIS GLORY, still bearing the marks of His sufferings. One of the angels said to him, " You must have suffered terribly for men down there." "I did," said Jesus." Do they all know about what you did for them?" asked the angel.
"No," said Jesus, "not yet. Only a few know about it so far."
"And," said the angel, " what have you done that they should all know?" "Well," said Jesus, "I asked Peter and James and John to make it their business to tell others, and the others still others, until the remotest parts of the earth have heard the story." The angel looked doubtful, for he knew well how poorly men obeyed. "Yes," he said, "but what if they forget? What if they grow weary of the telling? What if, away down in the twentieth-first century, men fail to tell the story of Your love for them? What then? Haven't You made any other plans?" Jesus answered, "I have no other plans. I'm counting on them." Jesus died to give us the gospel; and now He is counting on us to share it with all men everywhere. He has no other plan.
The book of Romans comes to an end with a doxology which is also the gospel which we love and preach. To God be the Glory! The ultimate purpose of all things.
