according to the glad tidings of the glory of the blessed God, with which *I* have been entrusted.
Paul closes a hard list of sins with a surprising standard: not the law, but the good news entrusted to him. That phrase raises three questions: whose glory is this, why is God called "blessed," and what does Paul mean by a message put in his trust?
The Glory, Not a Glorious Message
Paul does not simply call the gospel glorious. He names God's own glory, and one writer makes that glory the measure of everything else.
It is the gospel of God's glory, not "the glorious gospel." Such is the hope in which we rejoice, and such the standard by which He would have us measure and reject all evil. It is a standard that allows no compromise with man's hardness of heart, as the law did, but is completely intolerant of everything opposed to God's nature and presence on high.
The Happy God
The word "blessed" here means happy. One writer notes where the phrase sits: dark pictures of human evil stand on both sides of it.
What could exceed the moral filth and degradation of those who had fallen short not only of the law but of "the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23)? Their portrait appears in verses 9 and 10. Then in verse 11 comes "the gospel of the glory of the blessed God," followed in the next verses by the dark picture Paul gives of himself as an unconverted man. Look before and look after, and we see nothing but the shame of cursed and unhappy man. Into the middle of it comes the glad tidings of the glory of the blessed, or happy, God. A contrast indeed!
Why is God happy? Another writer points to how God speaks now, and to what made that possible.
God is now revealed as "the blessed God," because He speaks to us not from Sinai's fire and storm, but in the fullness of grace and truth of Christ. Once atonement was accomplished and the Saviour had gone up into glory, God was "happy" in acting freely in love to the lost.
What Glory Is
One writer asks a plain question: what is glory? His answer comes from Paul's own conversion.
If anyone asks, what is glory? We may answer, it is excellence on display. God's excellence may be on display in a way the eye can see. But it may not be. A glory of a moral and spiritual kind, reaching the heart by channels other than the eye, is no less wonderful. When Saul of Tarsus was converted, a glory struck him to the ground and blinded his eyes. But the glory of that exceedingly abundant grace of our Lord "with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus" opened the eyes of his heart without dazzling the eyes of his head. That is the glory spoken of here.
Not Softer Than the Law
Is the gospel a softer standard than the law? One writer answers by comparing what each one does.
The gospel, then, is no less exclusive of evil than the law is; but the gospel of the glory of the blessed God is the great remedy that brings health and soundness to the sick. And in this gospel God reveals His glory as He could not in the law. The law did declare God's righteous judgment, but it could not reveal the love and grace of His heart.
So "sound doctrine" here is never only correct opinion.
Sound doctrine is therefore not only a correct belief in the gospel of the glory of the blessed God — what that gospel accomplishes to the glory of God, and the glory it puts on our side. Sound doctrine also means practical godliness. Sound doctrine produces a holy life, and sound doctrine must lead to a holy life.
Bigger Than Escape
One writer warns against shrinking this message down to escape from judgment.
To preach forgiveness of sins and relief from judgment, with a sure hope of heaven at the end, is good as far as it goes. But the gospel of the glory of the blessed God is according to His purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the world began. It takes us out of the world in spirit now. It brings us into salvation and a holy calling, with the enjoyment of eternal life now.
A Trust to Carry
Paul ends the verse with a trust the Lord handed him. One writer weighs both sides of it.
This is the gospel the Lord has committed to His servants. Paul puts it this way: it is "the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted." Unspeakable privilege! Solemn responsibility! To be commissioned by the Lord Himself to proclaim that gospel far and near! That gospel is the highest display of the divine glory in the richest display of sovereign grace to man.
Summary
- Glory, first. The phrase is "the gospel of the glory," not just a glorious gospel. The message carries God's own excellence on display.
- Happy God, next. "Blessed" means happy: with atonement accomplished, God acts freely in love to the lost, and the good news drops into the middle of two dark pictures of man.
- Grace outreaches law. The law declared God's righteous judgment. Only this gospel reveals the love and grace of His heart — and it excludes evil no less.
- Doctrine becomes life. Sound teaching here is not correct opinion alone but practical godliness; a holy life comes out of it.
- Held in trust. The Lord commits this gospel to His servants; carrying it is privilege and responsibility together.