Here the "manifestation" takes place before the "witness" can be borne by O.T.

prophets. So in Rom. 16: 26, we read of something that had been kept in silence, but

which was then made manifest.

Let us set out this doxology so that we may the better consider it in detail.

A | 24. | a | Grace be with you. Amen.

b | To Him Who is able to establish.

B1 | Kata. 25. Gospel proclaimed. According to my gospel.

B2 | Kata. 25, 26. Mystery manifested. According to revelation of mystery.

B3 | Kata. 26. Make known. According to commandment.

A | 27. |

b | To God only wise.

a | Glory unto the ages. Amen.

We observe that the section begins with "grace" and ends with "glory", both the

statements contained in it being sealed with an Amen. The words "to be able" are a

translation of dunamai which literally means "to be of power". This is balanced by the

only "wise" God, the two statements revealing "the power of God and the wisdom of

God" working together.

Salvation is not in view here in the same sense as in Rom. 1: 16. The Apostle now

desires that those who are saved shall be established.  He had desired this at the

beginning of the epistle (Rom. 1: 11) where however the establishing was connected with

"some spiritual gift". Here in Rom. 16: the establishing is associated with what the

Apostle calls "My gospel". This expression "My gospel" is used three times by Paul, and

if we consider the context of each reference we shall be impressed with the magnitude of

its sphere.

The first occurrence is in Rom. 2: 16.  Here the Apostle is speaking of the Gentile

world, unevangelized and unenlightened by the law:  a world left to the voice of

conscience and the witness of creation. To argue from Rom. 2: that anyone who

patiently continues in well-doing will be saved, whether he believes the gospel or not, is

to handle the word of God deceitfully. Obviously, where no gospel message has ever

penetrated, it cannot be believed (Rom. 10: 14), yet it is wrong to infer that Rom. 2:

teaches salvation by works. The truth is that salvation for any is neither by works nor by

faith, but by the finished work of Christ. The man who hears the gospel and believes is

saved, but that salvation is a secret unknown to anyone, and unconfirmed to himself,

apart from those good works that manifest the reality of the faith. The point of the

passage is that while the unevangelized heathen cannot believe a message he has never

heard, yet if he manifests by his works that he would have believed had he been given the

opportunity, God reveals that this will be fully recognized "in that day".