Romans 16:25-27

Now to Him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey Him - to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Paul closes this great letter, this systematic theological treatise, this practical exhortation to unity with a prayer of adoration to God that serves to encourage God’s people. Paul’s love and concern for God’s people (2 Timothy 2:10) comes out in the greetings we looked at this week and last. His awe of God, his sense of the greatness of God, comes out in this prayer of adoration as the only suitable response to the glorious plan of salvation revealed in this letter.

Paul focuses us on the goal of God’s glory, and we, like Paul, need to be overwhelmed at the greatness of God. The greatness of God is belittled in our generation. Man the sinner is big, and God the Savior is small in our generation. Man is central; God is peripheral. Man is important; God is way down the list of important things in life in our culture today. But Paul is drawing our attention to the greatness of God in this doxology.

First, “To Him who is able,” declares the mighty power of God. “To Him who is able to establish us by and in the Gospel – the proclamation of Jesus Christ.” V25-27 tie back into the theme of Paul’s letter: “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). The Gospel is the power of God. And now God is able to establish us in the Gospel by the Gospel. So we praise God for His mighty power revealed in and by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Take a moment to compare Romans 1:1-16 with 16:25-27.

Second, by saying, “To the only wise God,” Paul is declaring that the Gospel he preached is about a redemptive event that God had been working on from eternity past, but had only revealed fully in Jesus Christ. It draws us back to the doxology in Romans 11. This Gospel in and by which God establishes us has been in the works for all of history, and no one could have figured it out apart from God’s revelation. Only God was wise in devising and working out this plan to be glorified in the salvation of His people. 1 Peter 1:10-12 says, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.” By praising God’s might and power and wisdom, Paul is encouraging us to be comforted and strengthened and assured that we are in capable hands. You’re in good hands with God – and of this is due to Jesus Christ. And yet, “Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6). So, we see the glory of the Triune Deity magnified in this plan as He works, fully unified in the efforts of the three Persons of the Godhead, to bring glory to His name through the salvation of His people.

How would you end the greatest theological treatise ever written? Augustine, at the end of The City of God, after 1100 pages of wrestling with how God is at work in the world, said, “It may be too much for some, too little for others. Of both these groups I ask forgiveness. But of those for whom it is enough I would make this request, that they do not thank me but join with me in rendering thanks to God.” Paul ends it by emphasizing love for the brethren, prayer, praise, confidence in God, and consecration to work for His glory. Thanks be to God for His holy, inspired, and inerrant Word. Amen.