To God alone

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 kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.  – Romans 16.25-27

This is a powerful doxological benediction to an amazing book. The letter to the Romans is packed with the gospel. It discusses man’s sin nature. It talks about the grace of God. He speaks of sanctification. It speaks of God’s sovereignty. It speaks specifically of how one gets saved. It tells us how to deal with leaders. It encourages Christian service. It tells us how to live godly lives and how to deal with each.

And the whole purpose of all that is wrapped up here. ‘To Him…be glory through Jesus Christ forever.’

There is a lot about what God has done here. He is able to establish us. He does that through the gospel and through the preaching of Christ. He has revealed and the fullness of the mystery of the gospel. He has made the Scriptures for all nations to hear. All this is in the remit of our God who is eternal. He did this to bring us into the ‘obedience of the faith.’ And last but not least, He is the only truly wise one.

This God is indeed worthy of glory though Christ. As we will see in a few days in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians God uses people like us because it allows Him to be glorified through His Son.

To Him indeed be the glory!