KJV Ephesians 3:8 “The unsearchable riches of Christ.”

NASB Ephesians 3:8 “The unfathomable riches of Christ.”

KJV Romans 2:4 “The Riches of His goodness”

NASB Romans 2:4 “The riches of His kindness”

When Paul picked up his pen to write to the assemblies in Rome, he was keenly aware that he was writing to the capital of world commerce. The coffers of Rome were overflowing with the wealth of the nations they had conquered. Its architecture and the lifestyle of its elite testified to its prosperity.

But Paul had a source of far greater wealth. He could speak of the riches that belonged to each of the believers there in Rome. They might be counted among the half-million or more slaves that inhabited the empire, but they were still wealthy. Unabashedly, Paul wrote to them about the wealth they possessed in Christ.

He spoke first of the riches of God’s goodness. This “currency” had led each of them to repentance and salvation. We, as well, can reflect on the riches of God’s goodness, which is marked by His longsuffering and forbearance. Without it, none of us would have ever been saved.

“The Riches of His Grace” Romans 10:12; Ephesians 1:7

Here is another huge deposit that has been made in our accounts. The riches of His grace, spoken of in both the Roman and Ephesian epistles, are linked with redemption and the forgiveness of our sins. The average believer in Rome very likely had no access to all the wealth of Rome, but each could reflect on what grace had done in their individual lives. While their servitude to Rome was a daily reality, their redemption in Christ was an eternal reality.

Each of us has known redemption that exceeds the liberation from the shackles of human slavery, as tragic as that circumstance was and is. If the riches of God’s grace were to be exchanged into currency, it is a wealth we could never exhaust. Ephesians 2:7 expresses it far better than I can: “The exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness.”

“The Riches of His Greatness” Romans 11:12,33

As Paul comes to the end of his doctrinal section of Romans, reflecting on all of God’s ways with men (ch 1-8) and nations (ch 9-11), he is lost in adoring wonder and worship at the wisdom of God. “O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God …” (11:33). Here is a God whose greatness and magnificence are reflected in the greatness of His plan for delivering sinners and His plan for the dispensations of the ages.

“The Riches of His Glory” Romans 10:12; Ephesians 1:18

Finally, Paul relates to us the riches of glory that beckon us onward. For the redeemed, glory has already begun. But the full riches of that glory all lie in the future. It includes but is not limited to the inheritance we will share with Christ eternally, the manifestation “in glory” with Him, the places of service we will have in His eternal kingdom and His smiling approval on whatever we have done for Him in this life.

But come back to the verse which heads this meditation. It is only through our Lord Jesus that any of this is possible. He has made good the riches of Heaven to us. He has given us an “account” in Heaven’s bank. We have been made rich through His poverty (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Consider

Notice as well how Paul often refers to “power” in the Roman letter. Once again, he is using the background of Rome’s power as a contrast with the power of God.