Bible Truth #304 - Romans 16:25-26

Romans 16:25-26

25  Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,

26  but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith;

Verse 25 - ...according to the revelation of the mystery that has been kept secret for long ages past... The mystery was kept secret for long ages past? Wait a minute! I thought God wants EVERYONE to repent. Does not God want everyone to be saved? If that’s true, why did He keep the mystery of Christ secret for long ages past?

The obvious answer is that God does NOT want every man saved. If He did, He would have put every man in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). But since He didn’t, it is easily understood why He kept the mystery secret for millennia.

However, the Arminian will still grasp at the man-made theory that God wants all men to be saved by pointing to the phrase in verse 26 that He has now made the same mystery known to all nations.

#1 - that doesn’t answer my first point in that He has kept it hidden for millennia and

#2 - nations in this verse is the Greek word ἔθνος (ethnos - Strong’s G1484) which means people groups. This means God has made the mystery known to all people groups. This does not mean every single person within the people group, but to some within all people groups. The word “all” that precedes nations is from the Greek word πᾶς (pas - Strong’s G3956) and an allowable definition is “some of all types.” There is also a Greek word that is not used in this passage - a Greek word that means “each and every.” The word is ἕκαστος (hekastos - Strong’s G1538) and not only is it NOT used in this passage, it is NEVER used in the context of the atonement of Christ.

Now let’s consider HOW God kept it secret for long ages past. That answer is also easy. He simply did not give the Holy Spirit to men so they could understand. How do I know that? Go all the way back to Bible Truth #1 (1 Corinthians 2:14) where I write about God saying there is no lost man who understands ANYTHING from the Holy Spirit because those things must be spiritually discerned. And the spirit in a lost man is dead (Ephesians 2:1, 2:5, Colossians 2:13).

This also reconciles with the many places John uses the word “world” in that he is speaking of Jews AND Greeks, not just Jews. When God had John write world, He did NOT mean every single person on the planet for there are many whom God hates. I can understand why some will disagree and claim God loves everyone. That is why I wrote Bible Truth #66 that explains their misunderstanding.