Doxology: Roman's Final Words

July 3rd, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Roman 16:24-27 [The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.] 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.

The bracketed v. 24 has little manuscript (mss) support and is not believed to be original but a later insertion that sounds like something Paul would have written. Perhaps he did. It is short and to the point, and if it was added later by some scribe, the scribe's intent was only to help, not hurt Paul's writing.

But Paul’s doxology in vv. 25-27, or praise-glory word, is quite beautiful and the longest of any of Paul’s benedictions. First, Paul gives glory and honor to “Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ…” To “establish” (Gr. stērizō) is to “set up; to fix firmly in place.” Who establishes Christians, setting them on solid ground, fixing them firmly? “Him”—Christ Jesus; to Him “be the glory forever.”

Christ’s establishing His people firmly comes through the preached gospel of Christ, what Paul calls “my gospel.” Of course Paul did not own the gospel, and he didn’t create it. But it was the gospel given to him, the gospel he preached; hence, it was his gospel. This gospel, or good news, is God’s truth. Those who believe it stand on it and are established in it by God Himself.

The gospel Paul speaks of is “according to the revelation of the mystery which has been secret for long ages past” (v. 25). A “revelation” is a revealing of something, in this context the gospel itself. God revealed the gospel that Paul preached. This gospel was a “mystery” (Gr. mustērion) in that it was unknown in ages past (in Old Testament history)—a “secret.” In other words, God becoming flesh, being handed over to the Jewish authorities to be tried and then handed over to the Romans to be crucified was unseen and secret in the OT.
But that which was once a mystery, a secret for long ages past, “now is manifested” (Gr. phaneroō)—become clearly revealed. The OT Scriptures from Moses to the prophets to the Writings that spoke of the coming Christ, holy Scripture that merely hinted at God’s secret mystery, are now clear (cf. Isa. 53). This is in accordance with the “commandment of the eternal God,” for God has made Himself known through His Son Jesus Christ “to all nations.” Don’t miss this! The eternal God has made Himself known to His people through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Why did God do what He did? “For the “obedience of faith” (v. 26; cf. 1:5). If the righteous shall live by faith (1:17), then true saving faith entails obedience to God—living out our faith. Paul wrote what he did not only to unveil the mystery hidden for ages past; he wrote to exhort those who profess to know Christ as Lord and Savior to put their faith into action through obedience. After all, faith without works is dead, worthless faith (cf. Jas. 2:14-26).
Paul now closes this extraordinary epistle, saying, “To the only wise God…” There is only one God, and He is all-wise, knowing all things. Paul’s praise to this wise God is “through Jesus Christ,” for Jesus Christ is the one Mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5). It is to this God—the one God existing eternally in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—that Paul offers the doxology: to God be the glory forever. Amen.

Food For Thought
From Scripture we learn so much about God through observation. God Himself, through faith in Jesus Christ, rescues us from sinking sand and establishes us on a firm foundation. How? The preached gospel which is what we heard and believed, leading to our salvation. And it is from the Scriptures—both the Old and New Testaments that we read and learn about the holiness of our God who, unlike us, is eternal. He, and He alone, is thus the explanation of how anything exists that exists. His gospel if for all. May we obey Him to His glory forever and ever.