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A doxology is very simply a short hymn of praise to God and often the Apostle Paul concluded his letters with a doxology. That's what we'll be studying this week, the doxology that he gives to the Roman Christians when we understand the text.
You are listening to When We Understand the Text, an online Bible ministry so that we may know all the riches freely given to us by God. For questions and comments send us an email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.
Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. This is our final week in our study of the book of Romans. We are in Romans chapter 16, verses 25 through 27, the last three verses in Romans referred to as the doxology, the final hymn of praise that Paul offers up to these Roman Christians directing them to the greatness of our God.
We'll be studying this section of scripture today and tomorrow. Then on Wednesday we're going to go back through Romans chapters 12 through 16 and highlight key passages. We did this when we went through the first 11 chapters of Romans and then when we got to that shift that went from orthodoxy into orthopraxy, went from Paul teaching right doctrine into teaching the practice of that doctrine.
We went back through those 11 chapters and underlined those key passages that we might see when Romans 12, one says, in view of God's mercies, present your bodies as a living sacrifice unto the Lord, holy and acceptable.
We were looking at those mercies as they were laid out in the doctrine of justification in those first 11 chapters in Romans. So highlighting key passages is what we did there. It was requested of me that I do that again.
And so we are going to commit one of our lessons on Wednesday to underlining key passages in chapters 12 through 16. So I'm telling you that now you've got your pen or your favorite highlighter ready, whatever it is that you like to use.
I found these interesting crayons at a Christian bookstore one time that work as highlighters, but they're not like real crayons. You couldn't use a Crayola the same way, I guess. But anyway, that's been a great tool.
I've really liked that. Maybe you have something like that, right? But whatever works best on the pages in your Bible, because some highlighters bleed through like crazy, but whatever you like to use, most of the time I underline.
Have that ready on Wednesday because we will underline some key passages in these final five chapters of the book of Romans. But today we're going to be looking at the last three verses, Romans chapter 16, verses 25 through 27.
And the Apostle Paul writes, Amen. In verse 25,. Now to him who is able to strengthen you. And that reminds me of my favorite doxology in the scriptures, which would have to be Jude verses 24 and 25. This is how Jude concludes his letter.
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling begins very much the same way and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority before all time and now and forever.
Amen. That's probably the doxology that I use the most often when concluding services at my church. Oftentimes I'll grab my Bible and I will read that doxology. It's amazing that I don't do this from memory.
I have it memorized, but I just, I'm in the habit of grabbing my Bible and reading it at the conclusion of the service rather than doing it from memory. But anyway, so Paul's doxology here at the end of Romans begins very similarly to him who is able to strengthen you, Jude says to him who is able to keep you from stumbling.
Same concept. So Jesus is the one who has saved us and Jesus is the one who is also growing us in that process of sanctification. It is by Christ that we have received justification and it is by Christ that we receive sanctification.
So once again, justification is the act. It's the event and sanctification is the process. So sanctification, I've also heard described as justification in action. So when we were justified in Christ, our sins were forgiven and we were declared righteous in the presence of God.
God receives us as holy just as his son is holy because Christ's righteousness has been imparted upon us by his sacrifice on the cross. Not only were our sins taken upon himself, but he gifted us his righteousness.
This is the doctrine that is referred to as double imputation. So Christ took our sins and he gave us his righteousness so that when we are saved, when we repent of our sins and we are followers of Christ Jesus, when we experienced that remorse for our fallenness, our depravity, and we look upon God and his holiness and realize that we are not worthy, but it is through Jesus Christ that we are able to have access to God and have peace with God, that the wrath of God has been satisfied.
When we come to that understanding and we are saved by the act of God, then we stand before him as justified. Our sins are forgiven and we are declared innocent before God because of what Christ has done.
That's justification. It is instantaneous. It is the event that in that moment, we are declared innocent before God. We have been justified, but we're not yet fully sanctified. So when you were saved and you came to Christ, you were immediately justified, but you were not yet fully sanctified.
So then what happens in the life of a believer is that they undergo this process of sanctification. There's going to be this process of growth, of maturity in holiness, in righteousness, in pursuing the things of God.
So when a person is saved, they not only made a declaration or a statement or a commitment in a single moment, but that conversion, the evidence of that conversion is shown in the process of sanctification, that they continue to pursue God and they grow in the holiness of God.
As we read about in Romans chapter eight, God is in this process of continually shaping us into the image of Christ. So as we grow in our Christian walk, we're growing in the things of Christ. God in this process, by his hand, by his sovereignty, by his plan and his guidance, he is the one who is shaping us more into Christ.
In fact, if you'll remember, this was the verse that was coupled with Romans chapter eight verses 28 and 29. We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.
For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And I'm going to go ahead and include verse 30. And those whom he predestined, he also called.
Those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. So it is God who has justified us and it is also God who is undergoing in us this process of sanctification. Those whom he foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ.
So not only were we predestined for justification, we have been predestined for sanctification, that we would grow in this process of holiness in Jesus Christ, our Lord. So again, I come back to the doxology that Jude wrote in Jude verses 24 and 25, it's only one chapter.
So whatever reference you give of Jude is just in verses. Jude 24, to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. So it is God who by his power and his sovereign decree has justified us and shapes us to be presented before him as blameless for his glory and great joy.
So it is God who is enacting in us this process of sanctification. As Paul said to the Philippians, it is God who works in you to will and to work according to his good pleasure. So it is him who strengthens us according to the gospel.
So back in Romans 16 verse 25 again, to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel. My gospel? I thought it was God's gospel. I thought it was the gospel of Jesus Christ. Well, yeah, it is, which he gave to his apostles to declare to the world.
So this message that the apostle Paul has to share, he readily recognizes as God's message. It is not his, but he as an apostle and with that authority as an apostle is the one who is the carrier of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And so it is the gospel as Paul shares it. And we know the gospel exactly as Paul shared it, not just by what was written down in his letters, by what but by what we read also in the gospel of Luke. So Dr. Luke, OK, the physician Luke, who was one of the fellow missionaries with Paul who would follow him around.
He was the writer of the book of Acts. When you see those possessive singular pronouns that are used or I'm sorry, the possessive first person pronouns, what I meant to say, like we and us and and here we were in this town and this, that and the others, because it's Luke that is writing that letter.
And so the Luke was also the writer of the gospel of Luke, of course, and what he wrote down there in that gospel was the gospel the way that Paul preached it. So Matthew was Matthew's gospel. Mark was Peter's gospel because Mark was likely writing down what it was that Peter preached.
Luke was the gospel the way that Paul preached it. And John was John's gospel. So those are the gospel accounts as we have them, at least the four that have been canonized for us in scripture and preserved for us in the word of God.
And so and so, Paul, as he is sharing this with the Romans, according to my gospel, the gospel as he has shared it in his missions work as an apostle, which he has done around the world, including to the Romans now with this letter.
So to him, who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ. So, again, it's not Paul's message is God's, but it's still the gospel as he presents it as an apostle.
So it's Paul in this doxology owning his calling as an apostle, but still giving credit to Christ and his preaching, which is the gospel message. So the gospel that the apostles shared was the account of the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations.
We'll expound on this a little bit more tomorrow, but let me give you the gist of it here in Ephesians chapter three. So turn with me, if you will, to Ephesians three and the title of that section, if you have the English Standard Bible, is the mystery of the gospel revealed.
That's the title of the section. So here's Ephesians chapter three. Paul says, for this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation as I have written briefly.
Okay, end of sentence. That's three verses, one sentence. So when Paul says, for this reason, when he starts the chapter off, for what reason? Well, what he said at the end of chapter two, Ephesians chapter two, that Christ has built his church on a foundation of the apostles with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.
So for this reason, since the church is being built on a foundation of the apostles, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you as Gentiles, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you given to me as an apostle, that I might teach you of God's grace, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation as I have written briefly.
In other words, God revealed this to him because it was Christ's revelation on the road to Damascus. There were certain truths that Christ revealed to Paul because he was an apostle, but there were also truths that were verified according to apostolic accounts by the other apostles.
And we have accounts of those meetings between Paul and the other apostles in the book of Acts and also Galatians. Paul talks about meeting Cephas, contending with Cephas, those kinds of things. OK, so then in verse four, when you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit.
This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body and partakers of the promise of Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given to me by the working of his power.
To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
So the heart of what Paul is saying here is this. Those who are on the Old Testament side of the cross did not understand how God was going to reconcile to himself to himself, both Jews and Gentiles. They thought the way that God was going to reconcile Gentiles to himself was because of the way that they blessed or treated the Jews, the Israelites, the people of God, as were called out of Egypt, the heritage of Abraham.
So how the Gentiles treated the Jews was going to be how God reconciled Jews and Gentiles to himself. But that was not the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. Paul is saying that now in this generation, we see the fulfillment of those things that were prophesied in ages past, a mystery that has since been revealed to us that was not revealed to them.
And that was how God was going to reconcile all men, all people on earth, all people groups, all nations to himself. And that was through the work of Jesus Christ. They didn't know how that was going to be done before Christ came, died on the cross, was resurrected from the grave and ascended into heaven.
But since those things have happened and the gospel has been taught, now we understand how God was going to reconcile all people to himself. And that is through Jesus Christ, our Lord. That is basically what Paul is saying there through in this section of Ephesians chapter three, this mystery that has been revealed to us through Christ Jesus.
So now going back to Romans chapter 16, 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, but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations.
And then tomorrow, we're going to look more at that verse 26, as well as according to the command of the eternal God to bring about the obedience of the faith to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ.
Amen. And we'll expound on that gospel truth a little bit more tomorrow. So praise God for the record that we have in the old Testament and the new Testament that shows us how God fulfilled all of those things that were prophesied long ago and were written down by the law and by the prophets in the law by the prophets.
I guess I should say it that way. This fulfillment of the mystery that we have in Jesus Christ, Paul said to the Colossians and Colossians 126, that Christ is the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints to them.
God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. And it is also to the Colossians that Paul says that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
God has been revealed to us through his son, Jesus Christ, our understanding of God, even his triune, his father and son and Holy Spirit has been revealed in the sun. And so whoever has the sun has life and knows God.
Let us pray, Lord, as we wrap up this conclusion to the book of Romans and as we finish what we've studied today in the doxology, I pray that it brings us to a greater knowledge of Christ, a greater knowledge of you and your sovereignty.
And we praise you all the more for what you have purposed and brought to fulfillment through your son who was sent to die for our sins on the cross, resurrected from the grave, ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God and who is now an intercessor for us, interceding for the saints before God on his throne.
We praise you for this, oh God. And I pray that knowing these things and seeing this revealed truth in your word makes us better worshipers of God, worshiping you in spirit and in truth. And we pray and ask this in the name of Christ.
Amen.
Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com.
Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word when we understand the text.