Now to him that is of power, Τω δυναμενω, that is able, to establish you according to my gospel That is, in your belief of the great and important doctrines contained in it, particularly those that respect the gratuitous justification of Jews and Gentiles by faith. “These doctrines he calls his gospel, or good news, not in contradistinction to the good news of the other apostles, as Locke fancies, to the great discredit of the rest, whose doctrine was the same with Paul's, so far as it went: but in opposition to the doctrines taught by the Judaizers, and other false teachers, who added the law to the gospel, on pretence that the gospel was defective in rites of atonement.” This is not all: he doubtless desired also that they should be established in the possession of all Christian graces, particularly in the faith whereby the just live and walk; in that hope of life eternal which is as an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast; and in that love to God, his people, and all mankind, in which whosoever abideth, dwelleth in God, and God in him; and in all other graces comprehended in, or flowing from these. He wished them to be established also in the steady, persevering performance of every Christian duty, whether toward God or man: or, in seeking glory, honour, and immortality; by a patient continuance in well-doing By being steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord: according to the revelation of the mystery Of the admission of the Gentiles into the church of God, without subjecting them to the law of Moses; which, as plainly as it was foretold in the prophets, was still hid from many even of the believing Jews, and is therefore called a mystery, (in allusion to the mysteries of the heathen, which used to be concealed from all but the initiated,) kept secret since the world began Or, as χρονοις αιωνιοις σεσιγημενου, may be rendered, kept in silence from eternal ages; or in all former ages from the beginning of the world. But now is made manifest By the preaching of the gospel; and by, or according to, the scriptures of the prophets, the meaning whereof is now set forth and elucidated by the revelation of the Spirit; not by chance, but according to the commandment (which is the chief foundation of the apostolical office) of the everlasting God A more proper epithet could not be used. A new dispensation infers no change in God. Known unto him are all his works, and every variation of them, from eternity. Made known to all nations To the Gentile nations as well as the people of Israel; for the obedience of the faith That they might not only know the blessings of the gospel, but enjoy them also, by believing in Christ, and in the truths and promises of his gospel, as they are commanded to do. To God only wise Whose manifold wisdom is known in the church through the gospel, and who has so prudently contrived, and so effectually executed, this grand scheme. Dr. Macknight renders the clause, To the wise God alone, thinking that is the true translation, both here and in 1 Timothy 1:17; Judges 1:25; because, “if the translation were to be, To the only wise God, it would imply that there are some gods who are not wise. Or if we render the clause, To God only wise, the reader might be apt to think that God hath no perfection but wisdom.” Whereas “the apostle's meaning is, that glory ought to be ascribed to God alone in the highest degree: or that God alone is entitled thereto, in and of himself;” all other beings, to whom any glory is due, deriving their title to it from the perfection which God has communicated to them, or the authority which he has bestowed on them: be glory in all the churches on earth, and in the general assembly and church of the firstborn in heaven; through Jesus Christ for ever Through his mediation and grace, through which alone guilty and sinful creatures can give glory to God in an acceptable manner; and let every believer say, Amen!
“Thus endeth Paul's Epistle to the Romans; a writing which, for sublimity and truth of sentiment, for brevity and strength of expression, for regularity in its structure, but above all, for the unspeakable importance of the discoveries which it contains, stands unrivalled by any human composition; and as far exceeds the most celebrated productions of the learned Greeks and Romans, as the shining of the sun exceedeth the twinkling of the stars.”