Friday August 19, Romans 16:24-27

The NRSV omits verse 24 altogether, just as it put a note on the end of verse 20. We love ‘The grace of our Lore Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all’. We just don’t think that it, or parts of it, were original to Romans, but rather were added to garnish later manuscripts.

The rest of the doxology, 25-27, shows up in most manuscripts, though often at the end of chapter 14 or 15. There is a hint of an appeal here not only to echo the opening verses of Romans, but to anticipate or amplify either an emerging Gnostic type appeal to the Spirit, or a crystallizing appeal to scriptural authority.

What’s missing in this final flurry? There is a reference to ‘my gospel and proclamation of Jesus Christ’, but not to the life and teachings of Jesus. What is the obedience of faithfulness brought about by the revelation of secret mysteries? Is it just belief triggering salvation, or something else?