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25 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 kept secret since the world began 26 but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith— 27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. ~ Romans 16:25-27
Today, we come to the end of the book of Romans which was written by the Apostle Paul while he was in the city of Corinth. It was very likely that at this point the Apostle Paul took the pen and wrote the closing paragraph in his own hand. Paul told us in 2 Thessalonians 3:17 that this was his custom. He did this to protect his letters from forgery. Scholars agree that Paul probably suffered from a serious eye problem as indicated in his letter written to the Galatians. As a result, the Apostle Paul wrote these final words in large letters with his own hand.
In v.25 of today's passage we read, "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 kept secret since the world began."
We serve a God who is truly the Supreme Being of all. This letter written to the believers in Rome begins and ends with the idea of the power of God. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so powerful that it is used of God to rescue man from eternal damnation in hell. It also has the power to establish the believer for an eternity with God. God has the power to save and to sanctify the believer in Christ. It is not only God's responsibility to save us, it is also His responsibility to sanctify us. You and I are not given the final responsibility to bring about this change that God desires to bring about in our souls through the process of our sanctification.
Now, we are wise to walk in God's truth and His culture as spelled out in His word, and, if we walk in His truth, we will realize all of the blessings the Lord Jesus died to give us. I am sure, as Paul wrote these words, he had in mind all the instances and circumstances from the past that instruct us on God's sovereignty. Just this morning I went to a men's Bible Study and only one man showed up. I have experienced enough of God culture to recognize that He was up to something and He had something in mind that I did not anticipate. The two hour conversation that ensued would not have happened had all of the guys who were supposed to be there had showed up. It was designed of God for just the two of us to meet. All too often we accuse Satan for such things when in reality God is the one who is causing or allowing the disruption. When we are being defined by God, we will recognize such and we will fall in line with that which God is doing.
The word "establish" used here in v.24 means to set steadfastly in an immovable position. The result of this in the life of the believer in Christ is a mental settledness that causes us to be faithful to His call on our lives. This is what the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ accomplishes in the yielded life of the believer in Christ. Many mistakenly think that the gospel is just the doorway into Christianity; but the gospel is the mansion itself. As believers in Christ, we do not get the gospel and then move beyond it. We get the gospel and then we move into it. This is the way God strengthens the believer in Christ. We must be careful to preach the Gospel to ourselves on a daily basis because it is the very life of Christ in our lives that brings about the purposes and culture of God in and through our lives.
In the latter part of v.25 we read, "...according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began."
This mystery is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. More specifically the mystery is Christ Himself living His life in, to, and through our yielded lives. This mystery includes the bad news and the good news. The bad news is that man violently rebelled against the God of the Bible. The good news is that from the foundation of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ willingly agreed to remedy man's rebellion and to die on the cross to remove the subsequent sentence of hell that we all deserve. By means of His virgin birth, His sinless life, His substitutionary death upon the cross of Calvary, and by means of the gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, God has given the Lord Jesus Christ all that He is and all that He has to you and to me. He has done this in order to equip us to realize that which He has called us to on this earth.
In v.26 of today's passage we read, "but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith."
Throughout the Old Testament Scriptures God hinted at the work the Lord Jesus eventually brought to pass while hanging on the cross of Calvary. The prophets spoke and wrote about it. Ezekiel had written about the fact that someday God would come and save His people and take away their stony hearts and give them a heart of flesh and He would write His law in their hearts and He would give them His Spirit. But, for a long time it was not made manifest. It was hidden and veiled. The gospel was the unfolding of this mystery, this mystery kept secret since the world began and now has been made manifest.
As the latter part of this verse clearly reveals, God did all of this "for the obedience to the faith." God didn't do all of this wonderful work so that we would continue to live in sin and rebellion against Him. God saved us to bring us into a wonderful personal relationship with Himself so that His culture would invade ours. And, He doesn't stop there. It is the nature of the truth to be used through our lives so that others might come into a personal relationship with God, as well. As a result, every born again believer is a part of the unveiling of the mystery which has been hidden from ages past and is now being revealed.
In v.27 of today's passage we read, "to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen."
And now, the Apostle Paul cries out in final conclusion, "to God, alone wise be glory." He did this because only the infinite mind of God could ever have designed such a plan. And, only He could bring it to fruition. There was no one who would be wise enough to ever accomplish such a saving work. This is what makes God the Supreme Being of all. And, just as through the yielded life of the Lord Jesus Himself, our yielded lives bring Him great glory as well. This is all part of the unveiling of the mystery that has been hidden from the foundation of this world.
