Romans 12:1
Παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, διὰ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν τοῦ θεοῦ παραστῆσαι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν θυσίαν ζῶσαν ἁγίαν εὐάρεστον τῷ θεῷ, τὴν λογικὴν λατρείαν ὑμῶν·
I exhort you, therefore, brothers, through the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, your reasonable service.
Paraphrase: Now, brothers and sisters, in light of all what we have learned about our depravity (Romans 1-3), all what we learned pertaining to our justification apart from law-keeping (Romans 4-5), all what we learned about God dismantling our sin nature (Romans 6-8), all of what God will do for His people the Jews (Romans 9-11), in light of all this, it now remains for us to set up an altar and to offer ourselves up to God. Yes, I mean that we take our entire person, our ambitions, our desires, our gifts, our body, all what we are and have and we place it on this altar. Then we light it up and send it up to God. Of course, I don’t mean this literally. I mean simply that we make a full surrender of ourselves to God our Savior. We yield ourselves completely to Him holding nothing back. Then we are not offering up a dead animal to God as was done under the old covenant. No, now we are offering a living sacrifice which is so acceptable to God, and it is the only reasonable thing to do after we see all what God has done for us in Christ. To what other conclusion can we come? It’s the same conclusion that Isaiah the prophet had when he simply said, “Here am I YHWH, send me.”
Comments:
Romans 12:2
καὶ μὴ συσχηματίζεσθε τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, ἀλλὰ μεταμορφοῦσθε τῇ ἀνακαινώσει τοῦ νοός, εἰς τὸ δοκιμάζειν ὑμᾶς τί τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ εὐάρεστον καὶ τέλειον.
and do not be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewing of your mind in order that you might test what is the will of God, the good and acceptable and complete.
Paraphrase: Don’t give yourselves over to the culture, ideas, and lifestyle of the present day. On the contrary, let your mind be molded and shaped by the word of God. Then you will be in the best possible position to know how He wants you to live and act. Your mind will be filled with truth which is really good, ideas which are acceptable to God, and a body of truth which contains everything you need to know to live a happy and God-honoring life.
Comments:
Principle 22 shows us that συσχηματίζεσθε is not indicative but imperative.
Romans 12:3
Λέγω γὰρ διὰ τῆς χάριτος τῆς δοθείσης μοι παντὶ τῷ ὄντι ἐν ὑμῖν μὴ ὑπερφρονεῖν παρ’ ὃ δεῖ φρονεῖν, ἀλλὰ φρονεῖν εἰς τὸ σωφρονεῖν, ἑκάστῳ ὡς ὁ θεὸς ἐμέρισεν μέτρον πίστεως.
For I say, through the grace being given to me, to every man being among you, not to think more than what is necessary to think, but to think unto sound judgment to each as God has assigned a measure of faith.
Paraphrase: Now to make such a sacrifice requires humility. That’s why I say to you, by the teaching which God Himself has given to me, that no one should think more highly of himself than is necessary. We must be willing to set aside our own ambitions and dreams in order to walk the path which God lays out for us. We can’t yield ourselves to God as a living sacrifice if we are so determined to go our own way. Much better would it be if we made a sober and honest assessment of the gifts which God has given us. Then, just as God has given us faith to trust Him with our salvation, so we should trust that He will lead us into the best way of using those gifts to His glory.
Comments:
Romans 12:4
καθάπερ γὰρ ἐν ἑνὶ σώματι πολλὰ μέλη ἔχομεν, τὰ δὲ μέλη πάντα οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει πρᾶξιν,
For just as in one body, we have many parts, and not all the parts have the same function,
Paraphrase: Consider your own local church of which you are a member. I am sure that there is a wide variety of different people who make up this church each having their own gifts. Now since each of these members is using his or her own gift to build up the church as a whole (Ephesians 4:12), we can say that each local church is one body. It’s similar to your own human body. It’s one body, but it is composed of many different parts, each performing its own unique function such that the entire body can flourish.
Comments:
Romans 12:5
οὕτως οἱ πολλοὶ ἓν σῶμά ἐσμεν ἐν Χριστῷ, τὸ δὲ καθ’ εἷς ἀλλήλων μέλη.
In this manner, the many are one body in Christ and each are parts one of another.
Paraphrase: In the same way, the many different kinds of people that make up a given church are one body. They are one because they are united under Christ who is the head of this body. Furthermore, they are one because each member, just like the individual parts of your body, contributes to the flourishing of the entire church.
Comments:
Romans 12:6
ἔχοντες δὲ χαρίσματα κατὰ τὴν χάριν τὴν δοθεῖσαν ἡμῖν διάφορα, εἴτε προφητείαν κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς πίστεως,
Romans 12:7
εἴτε διακονίαν ἐν τῇ διακονίᾳ, εἴτε ὁ διδάσκων ἐν τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ,
Romans 12:8
εἴτε ὁ παρακαλῶν ἐν τῇ παρακλήσει, ὁ μεταδιδοὺς ἐν ἁπλότητι, ὁ προϊστάμενος ἐν σπουδῇ, ὁ ἐλεῶν ἐν ἱλαρότητι.
Romans 12:9
Ἡ ἀγάπη ἀνυπόκριτος. ἀποστυγοῦντες τὸ πονηρόν, κολλώμενοι τῷ ἀγαθῷ·
Romans 12:10
τῇ φιλαδελφίᾳ εἰς ἀλλήλους φιλόστοργοι, τῇ τιμῇ ἀλλήλους προηγούμενοι,
Romans 12:11
τῇ σπουδῇ μὴ ὀκνηροί, τῷ πνεύματι ζέοντες, τῷ κυρίῳ δουλεύοντες,
Romans 12:12
τῇ ἐλπίδι χαίροντες, τῇ θλίψει ὑπομένοντες, τῇ προσευχῇ προσκαρτεροῦντες,
Romans 12:13 ταῖς χρείαις τῶν ἁγίων κοινωνοῦντες, τὴν φιλοξενίαν διώκοντες.
Romans 12:14 εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώκοντας, εὐλογεῖτε καὶ μὴ καταρᾶσθε.
Romans 12:15 χαίρειν μετὰ χαιρόντων, κλαίειν μετὰ κλαιόντων.
Romans 12:16 τὸ αὐτὸ εἰς ἀλλήλους φρονοῦντες, μὴ τὰ ὑψηλὰ φρονοῦντες ἀλλὰ τοῖς ταπεινοῖς συναπαγόμενοι. μὴ γίνεσθε φρόνιμοι παρ’ ἑαυτοῖς.
Romans 12:17 μηδενὶ κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ ἀποδιδόντες· προνοούμενοι καλὰ ἐνώπιον πάντων ἀνθρώπων·
Romans 12:18 εἰ δυνατόν, τὸ ἐξ ὑμῶν μετὰ πάντων ἀνθρώπων εἰρηνεύοντες·
Romans 12:19 μὴ ἑαυτοὺς ἐκδικοῦντες, ἀγαπητοί, ἀλλὰ δότε τόπον τῇ ὀργῇ, γέγραπται γάρ· Ἐμοὶ ἐκδίκησις, ἐγὼ ἀνταποδώσω, λέγει κύριος.
Romans 12:20 ἀλλὰ ἐὰν πεινᾷ ὁ ἐχθρός σου, ψώμιζε αὐτόν· ἐὰν διψᾷ, πότιζε αὐτόν· τοῦτο γὰρ ποιῶν ἄνθρακας πυρὸς σωρεύσεις ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ.
Romans 12:21 μὴ νικῶ ὑπὸ τοῦ κακοῦ, ἀλλὰ νίκα ἐν τῷ ἀγαθῷ τὸ κακόν.