John Piper writes:
Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. - Romans 16:25-27
Verse 25: “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel.” Everything Paul says in verses 25 and 26 is an unpacking of the gospel which strengthens believers. This gospel which strengthens is “the preaching of Jesus Christ” (v. 25b). Jesus is the central reality of the gospel. This gospel is “according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages” (v. 25c). That’s the mystery that the Gentiles—the nations—are full fellow citizens with Jewish believers by faith in Jesus (Ephesians 3:6). That good news “has now been disclosed” (v. 26a), and even though it was hidden in past ages, it is the very Old Testament “prophetic writings” (v. 26b) themselves that Paul uses to reveal the mystery to “all nations” (v. 26b). And all of this good news for the nations was “the command of the eternal God” and aims at “the obedience of faith” (v. 26c).
All of that is an unpacking of the gospel in verse 25 which God uses to strengthen believers so that they will indeed persevere in the obedience of faith and draw all attention to the glory of God.
This (brings us to an) amazing fact: At the end of this book, as Paul puts the words of his final doxology on his lips, what he chooses to ascribe to God is that God is able to strengthen you with his gospel. When he ends by calling all attention to the glory of God, he does so in a way that makes that glory shine more brightly in God’s strengthening you, his people who believe the gospel.
HT: Desiring God
No comments:
Post a Comment