Romans concludes with a doxology (Romans 16:25-27), an explosive word of praise. These final verses contain much that is theologically rich, but the point of doxology is not to study them, but to joyfully proclaim that God is wonderful and infinitely worthy of praise. While we shouldn’t dissect a doxology too much, it is still good to bask in the reasons Paul feels our God is so praiseworthy.
God is able. Able to strengthen us. Our strength is not enough. It may get us pretty far, maybe further than we thought it could. But it will dry up. Our energy, our creativity, our time, our ability to put up with each other – it can only last so long. If we’re going to try and fuel the daily walk of discipleship with our own determination and steadfastness, we might make it far enough to impress some. But we will fail in the end. God’s strength will not fail. The best way to sustain the daily walk of discipleship is to admit that we’re lost and to abandon ourselves to the sustaining nutrition of God’s presence.
We are strengthened by the gospel, the proclamation of Jesus Christ. God has acted decisively within human history through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to overthrow the power of sin and death. The gospel is not a self-help guide to how to live a better life. The gospel is an announcement of what God has accomplished – a new exodus, the irreversible defeat of everything that would separate us from him.
There was a mystery, kept secret for ages. All along, from Abraham and even before Abraham, God was up to something, moving human history toward a grand, dramatic climax in Jesus himself. This is why the worldwide Church has long designated these final words of Romans to be read in the season of Advent. With the arrival of Jesus, we survey the wondrous, mysterious story that brought us to him and him to us with all its ups and downs and twists and turns. That all of human history would converge on the birth of Mary’s son, and on the crucifixion of the Messiah, is a mysterious thing indeed, a story only God could tell.
And this wasn’t a story for just a few people, or for a group of insiders. It’s for the whole world. The mystery has been disclosed, not only to Israel, but to the gentiles, that is, to everyone everywhere. Whatever a person’s background, status, or location, no one is out of God’s reach. The gospel is revealing itself to anyone anywhere without qualification. The one gospel of the one Jesus Christ is making one new humanity worshipping with one unified voice.
While the gospel is not a self-help guide to how to live a better life, its announcement of the irreversibly powerful thing God has done through Jesus is transforming us into people who think, speak, and behave like Jesus. Paul calls this “the obedience of faith.” Being baptized into Christ doesn’t just mean we’re destined for a nice afterlife. It means we’re being changed here and now.
Finally, our God is “the only wise God.” The wisdom of God will not lead us astray. Our discernment of what is wise and what is not wise can be tricky; we can get ourselves into trouble. But God’s wisdom, when we block out the noise and hear it clearly, leads us back to him.
This is the letter’s final doxology. How else should Romans end? Given all that has been beautiful, inspiring, complex, and enriching in throughout the letter, what else can we say but, glory to God!
0 Comments