Established by the Gospel | Frontline Faith

Play This Verse Study

0:00 0:00

Scripture • World English Bible

Romans 14:24–26

WEB

²⁴Now to him who is able to establish you according to my Good News and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret through long ages,

²⁵but now is revealed, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known for obedience of faith to all the nations;

²⁶to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.

World English Bible (WEB) • Public Domain

Reflection

Paul closes his letter to the Romans with a doxology that points us back to the one who does the work of settling our hearts: God. He says God is able to establish us by the gospel and by the preaching about Jesus Christ. That word establish pictures being rooted, made firm, set on a foundation that will not fail. The foundation is not our willpower, achievements, or moral performance; it is the gospel — the good news of Jesus — and the faithful proclamation of that truth.

When Paul speaks of a revelation once hidden but now disclosed, he reminds us that God’s plan to bring people from all nations into obedient faith has always been his intention. The Scriptures and prophetic witness point to that revelation, and the result is obedience that springs from faith. In other words, the gospel both informs and transforms: it tells us who God is and what he has done, and it gives us the trust-filled obedience that flows from encountering him.

This truth has immediate, encouraging implications for the Christian life. If God is the one who establishes us, we can stand firm when doubts, criticism, or circumstances shake us. Our identity and mission are secured in the work of Christ and the power of the gospel. That security does not lead to passivity; rather it frees us to live obediently and to pass the gospel on. The same revelation that establishes believers also summons us into mission so that others might come to faith.

Practically, being established by the gospel shapes how we live together as a church. It humbles us — we cannot boast in ourselves — and it unites us, because the gospel reaches across cultural and personal barriers. It also calls us to listen to Scripture and to faithful preaching, to receive correction and encouragement, and to respond in obedience. As we rest in God’s ability to establish us, we join Paul’s doxology: all glory belongs to God through Jesus Christ.

Putting Faith Into Action

When criticism or doubt comes, remind yourself that your standing is grounded in the gospel, not in human approval; pray and confess the truth that God is establishing you.
Make time each week to sit under Scripture and faithful teaching so the gospel can strengthen and shape your obedience and perspective.
Share the gospel simply and lovingly with someone this week — trusting that God uses our faithful proclamation to establish others in faith.

Prayer

Father, thank you that you are the one who establishes us by the gospel and the preaching of Jesus. Strengthen our hearts in your truth, humble us to receive your Word, and use our witness to bring others to obedient faith. To you be the glory through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Memory Verse

Romans 14:26 — to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen. (WEB)

“to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.”

Keep Going Continue to Part 37 Strength That Bears, Hope That Overflows Romans · Romans 15:1–13 Read the next devotional →

Bible Context

Read all of Romans 14

Romans 14

World English Bible • WEB

¹Now accept one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions.

²One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.

³Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.

⁴Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand.

⁵One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.

⁶He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He who doesn’t eat, to the Lord he doesn’t eat, and gives God thanks.

⁷For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.

⁸For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

⁹For to this end Christ died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

¹¹For it is written,

¹²So then each one of us will give account of himself to God.

¹³Therefore let’s not judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block in his brother’s way, or an occasion for falling.

¹⁴I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean of itself; except that to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

¹⁵Yet if because of food your brother is grieved, you walk no longer in love. Don’t destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.

¹⁶Then don’t let your good be slandered,

¹⁷for God’s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.

¹⁹So then, let’s follow after things which make for peace, and things by which we may build one another up.

²⁰Don’t overthrow God’s work for food’s sake. All things indeed are clean, however it is evil for that man who creates a stumbling block by eating.

²¹It is good to not eat meat, drink wine, nor do anything by which your brother stumbles, is offended, or is made weak.

²²Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who doesn’t judge himself in that which he approves.

²³But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because it isn’t of faith; and whatever is not of faith is sin.