Glory to God Who Establishes You

25 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 26 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— 27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

This doxology is a praise to God. It begins with “Now to Him”. What is to Him and who is Him is answered in 27. “God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. So all that is in between is the the “Why”.

The primary given as to why we praise God and give glory to Him is that He is able to establish you. Which we talked about last week and it means to strengthen or cause us to stand or continue stedfast. The Greek word here is a derivative of the word used in

Romans 14:4 NKJV

4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

So to establish is to make you stand. To understand the gravity of Paul’s statement we need to understand the importance of standing or being established.

For us to stand or endure to the end is essential.

Hebrews 3:12–15 NKJV

12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Only when we grasp what is at stake to stand or to fall is the difference between heaven or hell, can we truely appreciate this call to praise. This is Him who is able to make you to stand, to cause you to endure to the end and be saved. Glory be to God only wise, glory be to Him through Jesus Christ our redeemer.

Notice it is God who is able not you. We are unable to establish ourselves. This work had been His from the beginning and it is His to complete. As it says in Heb 12:2

Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV)

2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,

He was the beginning of our faith and He is the finisher of it.

Philippians 1:3–6 NKJV

3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Romans 8:28–30 NKJV

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

God foreknew, predestined, called, justified and will glorify us. That means that He is the primary active agent in every aspect of my or your salvation. Yet we heard the gospel from someone, we repented, we continue to struggle with sin, temptations, we exercise will power to resist. We fall and get back up. Brothers and sister in Christ encourage and edify us and we grow in faith. So it would seem that it is human agents who are responsible for our salvation and endurance. Is this a contradiction? Certianty not. God is the primary agent but He accomplishes His work through human agents. It is according to His sovereign design that He uses earthen vessels to carry His divine message. This makes it no less God’s work nor does it in any way introduce any uncertainty the the completion of His work. God is able to accomplish His perfect work in you flawlessly by using broken, fallen people to do it. Glory be to God alone wise though Jesus Christ forever!

Now lets look at how Paul says that God establishes us.

Romans 16:25 NKJV

25 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

By the Preaching of Jesus Christ

So your endurance, the completion of you salvation is accomplished through the preaching of the Gospel. That is done by people. Not just people but weak people

This is broader than the common definition of Gospel and preaching

The Gospel is all the teachings of or about Christ and preaching is any and all proclamation. Including discussion encouragement etc.

1 Corinthians 1:20–31 NKJV

20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

this includes what we read in Heb 3:13

Hebrews 3:13 NKJV

13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

and James 5:19-20

James 5:19–20 NKJV

19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

This edification, exhortation, and preaching is the means by which God in His sovereign grace keeps us from falling and causes us to endure to the end. This is why church is so important for us. If we just take the teaching that God will keep us and cause us to persevere to the end no matter what and we conclude that church isn’t important because it’s just about my relationship with God then we miss the teaching of the scriptures. My relationship with Christ is supported, encouraged, and my faith is strengthen through fellowship with other believers through praying together, through studying the Word together. encouraging, edifying, exhorting one another. Church is critical.

The preaching or the Gospel that truely strengthens us is

According to the Revelation

Romans 16:25–26 NKJV

The gospel was a mystery kept secret by hidden in the Lord since before the world began. God’s plan for redemption His plan before he ever created the heavens and the earth. and it remained a mystery throughout the ages until it was revealed in Christ. But Christ came and revealed the mystery and and taught the disciples that the scriptures as in Luke 24 when Christ beginning at Moses and all the prophets He explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning Himself. So now the revelation of the mystery is made known by the scriptures. Made known to all nations. Not the Jews only but also the Gentiles. This was also a part of that mystery revealed, that God always intended extend the gospel to all nations and to unite together the Gentiles and Israel into one people of God in Christ.

So then it is the preaching of the gospel according to the scriptures which is what God uses to establish us. It causes us to grow in our understanding and knowledge of Christ and to grow in faith and patients and love so that we are not easily deceived by sin and drawn away from the faith. The preaching of the Word of God is powerful in our perseverance.

According to the Divine Commandment

Romans 16:26 NKJV

26 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—

What is the commandment of the everlasting God spoken of here. That God establishes us and completes the work of salvation according to the preaching of Jesus Christ by weak earthen vessels, according to mystery revealed and made known to all nations through the scriptures, all for the obedience of faith. That is the obedience that is produced by faith. This is all according to the will of God and by his decree. It is the way in which God has determined to not only bring people to saving faith in Jesus Christ but also how he determined to keep us and cause us to stand and persevere until the end.

With this Doxology Paul brings us full circle from where he began this epistle. His calling and apostleship as stated in Rom 1:5

Romans 1:5 NKJV

5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name,

was for the obedience of faith among all nations.

And he said in Rom 1:11

Romans 1:11 NKJV

11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established—