25 Now to him who is able to make you strong in agreement with the good news which I gave you and the preaching of Jesus Christ, in the light of the revelation of that secret which has been kept through times eternal,
Having made clear to us the secret of his purpose, in agreement with the design which he had in mind, to put into his hands
But we give the news of the secret wisdom of God, which he had kept in store before the world came into existence, for our glory;
How by revelation the secret was made clear to me, as I said before in a short letter, By the reading of which you will be clear about my knowledge of the secret of Christ; Which in other generations was not given to the sons of men, but the revelation of it has now been made to his holy Apostles and prophets in the Spirit;
Certainly the Lord will do nothing without making clear his secret to his servants, the prophets.
And now, I give you into the care of God and the word of his grace, which is able to make you strong and to give you your heritage among all the saints.
For our preaching is not about ourselves, but about Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants through Jesus.
The secret which has been kept from all times and generations, but has now been made clear to his saints, To whom God was pleased to give knowledge of the wealth of the glory of this secret among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
And in this purpose he gave you a part through the good news of which we were the preachers, even that you might have part in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And after you have undergone pain for a little time, the God of all grace who has given you a part in his eternal glory through Christ Jesus, will himself give you strength and support, and make you complete in every good thing;
In the hope of eternal life, which was made certain before eternal time, by the word of God who is ever true;
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to give you a place in his glory, free from all evil, with great joy, To the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, let us give glory and honour and authority and power, before all time and now and for ever. So be it.
Who was marked out by God before the making of the world, but was caused to be seen in these last times for you,
For the prophets who gave the news of the grace which would come to you, made search with all care for knowledge of this salvation; Attempting to see what sort of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them was pointing to, when it gave witness to the pains which Christ would undergo and the glories which would come after them. And it was made clear to those prophets that they were God's servants not for themselves but for you, to give you word of the things which have now come to your ears from the preachers of the good news through the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; things which even angels have a desire to see.
But if our good news is veiled, it is veiled from those who are on the way to destruction:
He is the unveiler of deep and secret things: he has knowledge of what is in the dark, and the light has its living-place with him.
And, turning to the disciples, he said privately, Happy are the eyes which see the things you see: For I say to you that numbers of prophets and kings have had a desire to see the things which you see, and have not seen them, and to have knowledge of the things which have come to your ears, and they had it not.
And straight away, in the Synagogues, he was preaching Jesus as the Son of God.
But we give the good news of Christ on the cross, a hard thing to the Jews, and a foolish thing to the Gentiles;
And when I came to you, my brothers, I did not come with wise words of knowledge, putting before you the secret of God. For I had made the decision to have knowledge of nothing among you but only of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Opening my mouth I will give out a story, even the dark sayings of old times;
And I went up by revelation; and I put before them the good news which I was preaching among the Gentiles, but privately before those who were of good name, so that the work which I was or had been doing might not be without effect.
Now to him who is able to do in full measure more than all our desires or thoughts, through the power which is working in us, To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations for ever and ever. So be it.
And for me, that words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make clear without fear the secret of the good news,
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who had love for us and has given us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, Give you comfort and strength in every good work and word.
Who gave us salvation, marking us out for his purpose, not on account of our works, but in the measure of his purpose and his grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Romans 16
Commentary on Romans 16 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 16
Paul is now concluding this long and excellent epistle, and he does it with a great deal of affection. As in the main body of the epistle he appears to have been a very knowing man, so in these appurtenances of it he appears to have been a very loving man. So much knowledge and so much love are a very rare, but (where they exist) a very excellent and amiable-composition; for what is heaven but knowledge and love made perfect? It is observable how often Paul speaks as if he were concluding, and yet takes fresh hold again. One would have thought that solemn benediction which closed the foregoing chapter should have ended the epistle; and yet here he begins again, and in this chapter he repeats the blessing (v. 20), "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, Amen.' And yet he has something more to say; nay, again he repeats the blessing (v. 24), and yet has not done; an expression of his tender love. These repeated benedictions, which stand for valedictions, speak Paul loth to part. Now, in this closing chapter, we may observe,
Rom 16:1-16
Such remembrances as these are usual in letters between friends; and yet Paul, by the savouriness of his expressions, sanctifies these common compliments.
Rom 16:17-20
The apostle having endeavoured by his endearing salutations to unite them together, it was not improper to subjoin a caution to take heed of those whose principles and practices were destructive to Christian love. And we may observe,
Rom 16:21-24
As the Apostle had before sent his own salutations to many of this church, and that of the churches round him to them all, he here adds an affectionate remembrance of them from some particular persons who were now with him, the better to promote acquaintance and fellowship among distant saints, and that the subscribing of these worthy names, known to them, might the more recommend this epistle. He mentions,
Rom 16:25-27
Here the apostle solemnly closes his epistle with a magnificent ascription of glory to the blessed God, as one that terminated all in the praise and glory of God, and studied to return all to him, seeing all is of him and from him. He does, as it were, breathe out his soul to these Romans in the praise of God, choosing to make that the end of his epistle which he made the end of his life. Observe here,