Firstly, we must be quite clear that the Church as the body of
Christ is
not the mystery. That is only
one part of the truth. The
mystery is Christ as Head in heaven linked to the Church as His body
on earth. Now there is nothing in the epistles written during the
period of the Acts (including Romans and Corinthians) about Christ
as Head of the Church and hence the thought of the mystery is absent
too.
In 1 Cor. 12:
12–27, Paul likens the Church to the human body with its oneness and
yet many members. In his analogy, Paul speaks not only of the hand
and the foot (see v15), but the eye, the hearing and the smelling
(see v17) and also the head (see v21). The eye, the ear and the nose
all belong to the head in the natural body and the analogy of both
body
and head is to the
Church and
not Christ. The same
analogy is used in Rom. 12: 4–8 of the Church being one body with
many members (see v5) and again there is no mention of Christ as the
Head. Thus so far there is no thought of the mystery.
This brings us
to Rom. 16: 25–27 in which Paul
definitely does refer
to the mystery (see v25), and yet the Roman epistle was clearly
written before Paul went to Rome (see Rom. 1: 13; 15: 23, 24) and
thus within the time span of the Acts. However, paradoxically as it
may seem, these verses, far from disproving the claim that the
mystery was not ministered during the time of the Acts, actually
confirm the matter.
When Paul wrote
Romans, the epistles giving the truth of the mystery (Ephesians and
Colossians) had not been written. To anyone reading Romans, now or
then, without those epistles,
the last three verses of Romans would present an enigma. Such
readers would ask, ‘What is this mystery previously hidden, but now
revealed (see vs 25, 26) that Paul refers to?’ There is nothing in
Romans itself to enlighten them. Given Ephesians and Colossians, all
is clear; without them,
it is a mystery in itself.
This suggests that vs 25–27 were added later.
The normal ending of
all Paul’s epistles is
a benediction (a blessing) beginning with such words as “The grace
of the Lord …” (see 1 Cor. 16: 23, 24; 2 Cor. 13: 14; etc.). There
is just
one exception—Romans.
There the final benediction is in Rom 16: 24 and
not at the end of the
epistle. Rom. 16: 25–27 forms a doxology (an outburst of praise).
Now when we have
both a doxology and a
benediction in Paul’s epistles, the doxology
always comes first
(compare Phil. 4: 20 with 4: 23; 1 Tim. 6: 16 with 6: 21 etc.). This
presents another puzzle to the reader of Romans, for the doxology
ends the epistle. However, if the last three verses were added to
the original epistle later, the benediction of v24 would end the
epistle and the difficulty would vanish.
Now consider the
Greek manuscripts—and here there is a difficulty known for centuries
to Greek scholars. In over 190 manuscripts of Romans, the doxology (vs
25–27) is placed after v23, in two or three manuscripts it is
omitted altogether, and in some manuscripts it ends the epistle but
with v24 omitted. These and other variations present a real problem
as to the correct location of the doxology.
While textual
critics have never doubted the authenticity of the doxology of vs
25–27, the differing copies (we have no original manuscripts of any
NT books) create uncertainty about its correct position.
The one answer that agrees with all the facts given above is
that the original epistle ended with the benediction of v24 and that
the doxology of vs 25–27 was added
later as a postscript
by Paul. However, to give intelligence to the postscript, it could
only have been added
after the truth of the
mystery had been given in Ephesians and Colossians. When Paul
arrived in Rome as a prisoner, he would have access to his original
epistle and after writing Ephesians and Colossians from Rome, would
be able to add the postscript of vs. 25–27. Hence there is no
conflict between Paul’s written ministry and his oral ministry given
during the period of the Acts. Once that ministry had ended and
Israel had been publicly set aside in judgment, then the way was
open for Paul to teach the truth of the mystery.
However, none of
this answers the question as to why Paul thought it necessary to add
the verses in question to the Roman epistle. Paul was a minister
both of the Gospel and of the Church (see Col. 1: 23–25). Romans is
the great epistle of the Gospel while Ephesians is that of the
Church. Many in the present day (and possibly in Paul’s day too)
think that there is nothing beyond the Gospel. The postscript would
serve to link Romans with Ephesians and encourage those who had read
and studied the former to go on to the latter.
