Go-and-teach-all-nations
Romans 16: 25-27
The song to praise God
v25 And so I pray to God. He is able to make your faith strong by the good news which I preach. We declare the good news about Jesus Christ. This secret truth was unknown for long ages in the past.
v26 But now God has made it public. As the prophets wrote, people from all nations can know it. God, who lives always, ordered this. He wanted people everywhere to obey him and to trust him.
v27 So I praise God, who alone has all wisdom. All glory will always belong to him, because of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Comment:
In this song to praise God, Paul repeats the main ideas in his letter:
Verse 25
1. God has the power to make a Christian’s faith firm. God protects a Christian’s faith from wrong beliefs. He gives Christians the power to win against tendencies to sin. He gives them courage when people oppose them.
2. The good news about Jesus Christ comes to everyone by means of the people who declare it. Paul speaks about the gospel that ‘I preach’. God had given to him the task to preach, especially to the Gentiles.
3. For many centuries, people did not know God’s plan. It was like a secret that God has now made public. God had decided to rescue people, both Jews and Gentiles, by means of Jesus Christ, his son.
Verse 26
4. The Old Testament prophets said that Christ was coming. God made people understand that the scriptures were a witness to Christ.
5. God’s purpose was that the good news should be available to everyone in the entire world. Jesus himself had given the command to his disciples to tell the good news to everyone everywhere (Matthew 28:19-20).
6. Christians must show that their faith is real. They do this as they obey God. He has shown his love for them by means of Christ. So they should obey him as they show love to everyone.
Verse 27 - Paul wants God to receive the honor that he deserves. And Paul himself praises God. God showed his wisdom when he sent his son, Jesus Christ. And God’s wisdom is so much greater than any person’s wisdom (Romans 11:33-36). So Paul ends his letter with thanks and he praises God. ‘Amen’ shows that he wants everyone to join with him and to give glory to God.
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Text from the EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary - used with permission - © 2007, Wycliffe Associates (UK) - For more information about EasyEnglish Publications, visit their website: www.easyenglish.info.
Go-and-teach-all-nations