Paul ends his letter with a blessing. His entire letter was about faith in the gospel and the resurrection power of the gospel to live a righteous life through faith, and here he closes by summarizing.
Paul finishes this letter to the believers in Rome with a blessing, assuring them of their hope in Christ. This is Paul’s longest letter, and he spent much of it explaining the hope of the gospel. Because of Jesus Christ, we have the ability to live by faith daily in the resurrection power of Jesus and experience fulfilled and hopeful life in Christ. Paul starts out by proclaiming that God is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, which is what this whole letter has been about. Paul has been reminding the believers that everything they need for salvation and for a righteous life has been provided to them in Christ, the law has been fulfilled through Christ, and faith in Christ is the only way to be righteous before God.
The gospel of Christ was a mystery throughout the Old Testament given through the prophecies, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God. Now, the gospel has been fully revealed in Christ and is no longer a mystery. Through the prophets, God wrote the prophecies that would be fulfilled in Christ. This gospel has been made known to all of the nations, and those who believe it are practicing obedience in faith. This refutes the slander that led Paul to write this letter. The slanderers claimed that teaching a gospel of grace leads to a life of sin. They say that if all that is required to be justified as righteous before God is to simply believe, then people will say, “great, now that is done, I can sin and not worry about it.” But not so – those who have believed Paul’s gospel are living lives in the obedience of faith. And that is likely because they have been taught by Paul all this letter lays out: why would we want to go back under death, slavery, and judgment of sin in our daily experience when we can live the resurrection power of Jesus and share both His life and rewards?
Although the gospel was a mystery before Christ, this does not mean that those who came before Christ cannot be justified before God. Paul used Abraham as an example of someone who believed God and was justified before God simply because he believed. Abraham lived long before Christ came to earth, but Paul explains clearly that he was saved through faith. Even though Abraham did not know when or how Christ would come, he believed the promise God made to him and it was credited to him as righteousness (Romans 4). Jesus’ death on the cross paid for the sins of the entire world, past, present and future.
Christ has come and fulfilled all of the prophecies, making the mystery known and now the gospel is being made known to all of the nations. Paul spent his ministry making the gospel known to the nations and as we know, the faith of the believers of Rome is being spoken of throughout the world (Romans 1:8). The gospel is being spread, bringing many to obedience in faith. The theme verse of Romans, verse 1:17, For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed–a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, and by faith, we and the nations can have a righteous standing before God and continue living a just life in faith through the power of God and the resurrection of Jesus (Romans 1:16).
Paul concludes his blessing by giving God the glory through Jesus Christ. Throughout Romans, Paul has made it clear that it is God who should receive credit for all good things, such as in Romans 5:9-11:
“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
It is only because of God that we are able to live freely. The law does not empower us to live a righteous and harmonious life. Apart from Christ, we do not have the ability to live that redeemed life.
We as believers have been saved from the penalty of sin through faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross. Subsequently, we are being sanctified through our continued faith in Christ, not the law. Paul is reminding the Roman audience of this essential point. God alone deserves all the glory. To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.
Biblical Text
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 which has been kept secret for long ages past, 26 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; 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.
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