The Final Doxology
In the closing verses of Romans we have a mighty ascription of Glory to God for the gift and manifestation of salvation. It is a great summing up of the truths which we have learned in the letter.
Establishment.
God is able to establish us according to the gospel Paul taught and according to the preaching of Jesus Christ. The Gospel has been before us in our study of Romans—the gospel of the wondrous grace of God. The Preaching of Jesus Christ may refer to the preaching which speaks of Him or to the preaching which He Himself delivers. Surely both are true. The Gospel is concerning our Lord Jesus Christ but more—in the Gospel He still speaks from Heaven. He thus addresses the sinner, preaching peace through the blood of His cross. Now Paul would not only have us to believe that Gospel, but be established in it. And he would leave upon our hearts the serious, yet encouraging thought that it is only the power of God that can accomplish that. This reminds us of what we read in Philippians 2:13, “It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”
The Mystery.
Not only are we to be established according to the gospel and the preaching, but “according to the revelation of the mystery.” Mystery means “secret.” It is something here that was not known in the ages past. The curtain of silence was over it then, but it has been removed now.
This great secret has been revealed, and we learn that salvation in Christ is not only for the Jewish nation but that it is being made known to all nations for the obedience of faith. God has made known the fulness of His love and the unbounded wealth of His purpose in Christ. He has revealed all His mind and heart to us. Knowing all these wondrous truths, that are distinctive to the dispensation in which we live we might well listen to the words found elsewhere in the New Testament, “What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.” We should be established not only in the gospel but in the truths concerning our acceptance in Christ and our relationships to one another as members of His body.
How touching it is to see the great apostle, with an overflowing heart, amid glowing words of adoration and praise to God, commend the saints to God. And notice how he speaks of God. He is
The Everlasting God.
The word is “ages” and refers both to the ages past and those to come. The gospel that reaches us was in the heart of God before the ages began and it reveals to us a God whose ways during the ages are all in accordance with His divine purpose, and will be to His eternal glory. To this God Paul commits the saints. He is of power to establish them. And then He is
God Only Wise.
What an assertion of His glory this is. He is the eternal Wisdom and there is no wisdom apart from Him. The Gospel is the expression of the wisdom of God. To them that perish the preaching of the cross is foolishness, but to us who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ crucified is both the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Glory Through Christ Jesus Forever, Amen.
As we close our studies let us watch the dear apostle finish the letter. We quote from another.
“He takes the papers and the pen. With dim eyes, and in large, laborious letters, and forgetting at the close, in the intensity of his soul to make perfect the grammatical connection he inscribes, in the twilight, this most wonderful of Doxologies. Let us watch him to its close, and then in silence leave him before His Lord, and ours.”
“But to Him who is able to establish you, according to my gospel, and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, true to the unveiling of the secret hushed in silence during the ages of times, but manifested now, and through the prophetic Scriptures, according to the edict of the God of the Ages, for faith’s obedience, published among all nations—to God Only Wise, through Jesus Christ—to Whom be the glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.”
Questions
1. According to what does the apostle desire the saints to be established?
2. What does Paul mean by “the mystery?”
3. Where is God’s wisdom seen?
4. Through Whom will God receive glory forever and ever?