A meditation based on Romans 16:25-27.

“Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past but now revealed and made known through the writings of the prophets by the command of the eternal God, in order to lead all nations to the obedience that comes from faith—to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”
—Romans 16:25-27

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There comes a moment in every believer’s life when the familiar language of “faith” and “belief” begins to feel too small. Too surface. Too casual for the kind of spiritual inheritance God actually intends for us. I have learned that God never designed faith to be passive, polite, or theoretical. Faith was always meant to be governmental—a force that restructures your inner world, stabilises your soul, and gives you a new way to walk through life.

This is why Paul speaks of “my gospel” with such boldness (Romans 16:25). He owned it, made it his,embodied it. The gospel is not merely a message we repeat; in ancient times the “euaggelion” (εὐαγγέλιον) predates Christianity as a royal decree, a proclamation of victory. Paul now uses this term, familiar to his audience, to desscribe a new reality on earth made possible through what God did through Christ for mankind.

It is God’s official proclamation of victory, announced to reshape everything that has ever tried to define you—all we have to do is to believe it, that is, become persuaded of it.

And woven through this decree is a single thread that holds everything together:

Faith—biblical faith—is obedience. A persuaded mind. A submission to the new world God says is now yours.

FAITH AS OBEDIENCE: THE CALL TO BE PERSUADED

When the crowd asked Jesus the most sincere, universal question—“What must we do to be doing the works of God?”—His answer stripped religion down to its essence:

“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
—John 6:29

Faith is not simply nodding your head in agreement with doctrine. Faith is not intellectually agreeing with theological concepts. Faith is the inward πείθω (peithō)—the persuasion, the yielding, the surrendering of the heart to a new kingdom that has the power to transform all who believe (Romans 1:16).

Paul describes the goal of the gospel as:

“…to bring about the obedience of faith.”
—Romans 16:26

Faith is obedience. And obedience is the manifestation of being fully persuaded. This is why unbelief—ἀπιστία (apistia, apeitheo )—is described not as ignorance but as: “refusal to be persuaded.”

Hebrews says:

“The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith.” —Hebrews 4:2

“They did not enter because of unbelief.” —Hebrews 4:6

The gospel carries infinite power, but it becomes transformative only when the heart yields—when you allow yourself to be persuaded of a new possibility that has the power to transcend what your senses are communicating to you.

BELIEVING IS ACTIVE: THE ART OF SELF-PERSUASION

Some of the greatest acts of faith in Scripture happened in solitude, under pressure, with no encouragement from any direction. David understood this more than most. When everything collapsed at Ziklag and his own men prepared to stone him, David did something radically simple and spiritually courageous:

“David encouraged [persuaded] himself in the LORD his God.”
—1 Samuel 30:6

He didn’t wait for a miracle. He didn’t wait for a feeling. He didn’t wait for the situation to change. He changed the situation by changing himself, his heart and mind, first. He persuaded himself with the truth God had already spoken.

This is the inner discipline of those who walk in victory. You speak yourself back into alignment. You bring your soul into obedience, that is submission to the good news as defined by the promises of God (2 Corinthians 1:20)
You declare the royal decree until your emotions and mind surrender to it.

→ Belief is not passive.
→ Belief is a decision.
→ Belief is the active reshaping of the inner stance—your heel, your angle, your posture.

Belief is the process of engaging with the promises of God until your perspective changes. Belief is a choice. A choice to stop living on autopilot. To stop being hypnotised by the physical-material world and its illusion of dysfunction, chaos and suffering. To believe is to stop submitting to imposed limitation.

“So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
—James 4:7

This connects powerfully to the Hebrew עָקֵב (aqev), heel (ankle), and עָקַל (aqal) (angle), to bend, twist, or angle—the same root that echoes in “Achilles,” whose only vulnerability was in the place of his stance. Your heel represents the angle of your life. Faith realigns the “ankle.” Faith corrects the angle. Faith forces your internal posture to agree with God.

THE MYSTERY WE ARE INITIATED INTO

Paul says the gospel is:

“the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages…”
—Romans 16:25

“Mystery” is the Greek μυστήριον, but its spiritual heartbeat is heard in the Hebrew סֵתֶר (seter)—the hidden place, the covert place, the sacred secrecy of God.

‘Mystery’ (m-seter-ic) and ‘esoteric’ (e-seter-ic) both echo this idea. Revelation is not mere information; it is initiation.

Jesus confirms this beautifully:

“Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven.” —Matthew 16:17

“He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately He explained everything to His disciples.” —Mark 4:34

Revelation is not earned—it is received. It flows in friendship, not performance and not education. We are ushered into the mysteries through worship, prayer, and the simple nearness of walking with Jesus day by day.

YOUR FOOT, YOUR CLAIM, YOUR COVENANT

Scripture uses the foot as a symbol of authority, territory, and legal right. The heel is not just anatomical—it’s spiritual.

Joshua shows this boldly:

“Put your feet on the necks of these kings.”
—Joshua 10:24

→ Dominion.
→ Ownership.
→ A statement of spiritual government.

God tells Joshua:

“Every place the sole of your foot shall tread, I have given you.”
—Joshua 1:3

Your steps announce what you believe. Your walk reveals your persuasion. Your posture declares your faith to heaven and hell alike.

And in Ruth 4, we see the legal transaction of redemption finalised by removing a sandal as a symbol of authority over territory and giving it to the new owner:

“…this was the manner of attesting in Israel.”
—Ruth 4:7

→ Your life—your walk—is your testimony.
→ Your obedience is your seal.
→ Your daily steps write the gospel into the earth beneath you.

This is why Gandhi said:

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

And St. Francis echoed:

“Preach always; if necessary, use words.”

→ Your life is your sermon.
→ Your walk is your witness.
→Your “feet,” what you claim by faith, is writing your gospel.

THE ROYAL DECREE OF PEACE

Two Scriptures gather like a warm blanket around the anxious heart:

“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” —Exodus 14:14

“You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You.” —Isaiah 26:3

→ Peace is the fruit of a persuaded mind.
→ Stillness is the mark of a heart that has submitted to the decree.
→ Anxiety loses its power when the gospel becomes your angle, your stance, your reality.

DEVOTIONAL PRAYER

Father, help me persuade myself.
Help me anchor my heart in the royal decree of Your gospel—the proclamation of victory that shapes every corner of my life.
Help me to obey by believing, to yield by trusting, and to stand by persuading my soul daily with Your promises.
Draw me into the mysteries hidden in the seter, your secret, into the intimate place where You reveal Yourself as Friend and Lord.
Establish my steps.
Help me strengthen my stance with your good news.
Let my life preach louder than my words, and may every step be a declaration of Your kingdom alive within me.
Amen.

CALL TO ACTION

Your life is already preaching a gospel. The question is which one.

If the gospel truly is a royal decree—a proclamation of victory—then the world is waiting to hear it through the way you walk, the way you stand, the way you respond to adversity, and the way you carry yourself when no one is watching—in secret.

→ So today, choose to obey by believing.
→ Choose to persuade your soul.
→ Choose to step into the territory God has already given you (Joshua 18:3).

Let your life become the loudest sermon (demonstration) of what is possible for God when someone actually begins to engage the faith process by persuading their heart of the Kingdom’s new reality (Matthew 6:10).

And if this message stirred you—share it, teach it, live it. Walk it out. Let heaven conform your new footsteps.

Your gospel begins the moment you take your next step. Stop retracting your foot from what rightfully belongs to you now in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20).

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

1. Where am I waiting for faith to “happen” instead of actively persuading my heart?
2. What royal decree—what truth—do I need to submit to (agree with) today (2 Corinthians 1:20)?
3. What area of my life still reveals an “Achilles heel,” an angle not yet aligned with God?
4. How is God inviting me into deeper revelation in the hidden place—His seter, His secret place (Psalm 91:1, Matthew 6:6)?
5. What does my daily walk—my footsteps—say about what I believe?

MEDIATION VERSES

“Your kingdom [control] come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
—Joshua 10:24

“So Joshua [Jesus in Heb.] said to the people of Israel, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?”
—Joshua 10:24