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meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another, in the day when God shall judge the
secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel" (Rom. 2: 14-16).
The second occurrence of "My gospel" is in Rom. 16: 25 and the third in
II Tim. 2: 8.
"Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according
to my gospel."
These three occurrences have reference to the unevangelized heathen, to the revelation
of a mystery hitherto kept in silence, and to the position of the Lord Jesus Christ in the
dispensation of the mystery. Three concentric circles, each narrower than the preceding
one, yet each vitally associated with the peculiar ministry of Paul.
It is, then, evident that what Paul calls "My gospel" is a distinctive message, not to be
confused with the good news proclaimed by others. Associated with this gospel is the
preaching of Jesus Christ "according to the revelation of a secret which hath been
silenced in aionian times, but is now made manifest, and through prophetic writings."
The reader will be conscious that there is something missing in the above rendering.
He naturally feels that the phrase "and through prophetic writings" should be followed by
"as well as . . . . ." In other words the particle te is often followed by kai, so that there
appears to be an ellipsis here. Elsewhere te is passed over in our Version, but to be
accurate it should always be translated. Look at the difference the recognition of the
particle makes in I Cor. 1: 30:
"But of Him, are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, as well as
righteousness, and sanctification and redemption."
Consequently we read Rom. 16: 26 as follows:
"But now made manifest both through prophetic writings as well as" (by the Apostle's
preaching) "according to the commandment of the aionian God."
Every commentator speaks of the grammatical "gaps" that appear in this great
doxology, as though the Apostle's thoughts were too great to find expression.
"According to the revelation of a secret."--It is entirely unnecessary to assume that
this is the secret, or mystery, revealed in Eph. 3: The dispensational section of Romans
had a secret the making known of which illuminated the problem resulting from Israel's
failure (Rom. 11: 25), and this is the theme of another doxology, namely that which closes
Rom. 11: at verses 33-36.
When examining Rom. 5: 12 - 8: 39, we have seen that it constitutes a unique
section of the teaching of the epistle. It goes back to a period before there was a Jew, and
before Abraham, to Adam. No one can read Gen. 3: without being conscious that there
is much unexplained. Solomon writing in Eccles. 3: says, "To everything there is a
season, and a time to every purpose under heaven", and in enumerating them he says, "A