Romans 16:26

now In the days of Messiah, and in Him as the Propitiation. Cp. Colossians 1:26.

by the scriptures, &c. Lit. by means of (the) prophetic scriptures. This Epistle, and e.g. Acts 13, are the best commentary on these words. The O. T., as the great prediction of Messiah and preparation for Him, was the text and the warrant of His Apostles wherever they went, and that for Gentiles as much as for Jews. When the Gentiles previously knew nothing of the O. T. the preaching would, of course, not take the O. T. as its starting-point; (see St Paul's discourse at Athens;) but even in such cases it would bring forward the Prophecies as soon as possible, both as its credentials and its text. We have heard this verse unintentionally illustrated by a distinguished Hindoo convert, of great intellectual power; who attributed his ultimate escape from the maze of Brahminic pantheism to the attentive study of the Messianic prophecies side by side with the Gospel history.

the everlasting God The Gr. word (aionios) rendered everlasting perhaps refers back to the "æons" or "ages" of Romans 16:25. Q. d., "The Gospel is now revealed and proclaimed according to the will of Him who appoints and adjusts all the developements of His providence, alike past, present and to come." He who rules all duration knows when to keep silence and when to break it. This adjective is nowhere else in the N. T. attached to the word God. On the adjective, see further on Romans 2:7.

to all nations Lit. to (or perhaps better, for) all the nations. The special reference is, of course, to the Gentiles.

for the obedience of faith i.e. to invite that obedience which, in fact, faith implies; that trustful acceptance of the terms of Salvation which may be described, in one aspect, as "submissionto the righteousness of God." (See note on Romans 10:3.) The thought is not so much of the course of moral obedience to which faith leads, as of the element of submission in the act of faith.

In this brief phrase the great Theme of the Epistle is heard for the last time.