Romans

12:9-21

Exhortations 12:1-15:13

ii] Let love be genuine

Having completed his theological argument, Paul now turns to the business of Jewish and Gentile believers living together within God's new community, 12:1-15:13. An overarching concern in this section is the community's witness to the world through the life of its members. In v9-21 Paul speaks of the way of love, of Christian love in the world. The practical implication for Paul is that kindness, and obviously godliness, in the face evil, will disarm those who oppose the gospel.

anupokritoV adj. "sincere" - unashamed. "Love is to be the real thing, genuine, and not counterfeit", Cranfield; "don't pretend to love", TH.

kollwmenoi (kollaw) pas. part. "cling to" - cleaving to, glued to, be joined firmly to. The participle is obviously imperatival, as with "abhorring (hate) the evil". Similar imperatival participles continue through the passage. We must hate the evil, flee from it, but join ourselves to the good, be passionate for the will of God.

th/ filadelfia (a) dat. "in brotherly love" - with brotherly love. The dative can be understood in numerous ways, eg. Instrumentally "by means of brotherly love", TH; as a dative of respect, "with respect to brotherly love", Morris; dative of manner, "as between bothers", Phillips; dative of advantage, "for the brotherhood", Moffatt. The term "brother" for a fellow adherent of a religious faith, is not peculiar to Christianity, but it was used by Christ and adopted by the first believers.

filostorgoi (oV) "be devoted to" - love warmly, cherish, be affectionate toward. "Tender affection, particularly family affection", Cranfield.

th/ spoudh/ (h) dat. "in zeal" - earnestness, diligence, dedication. Again the dative here, as with the two other datives in this verse, may be translated in numerous ways. Possibly again a dative of respect; "with respect to dedication (toward the Lord / the brotherhood?), never be lacking." Possibly a dative of cause as in v12, "in zeal" = "by virtue of", BDF, "on the basis of."

mh oknhroi adj "never be lacking in" - slothful, lazy, slackness, irked by the demands of (Murray). The adjective here takes a verbal role. Moule regards that here it serves as an imperatival participle, so best translated as a positive imperative to parallel the positive imperatives of this verse and the next; "be constant in zeal." The phrase illustrates the attitude that drives a person to sidestep their responsibilities in favour of as little work as possible. cf. Matt.25:26.

zeonteV (zew) part. "fervor" - burning or boiling,.... the burning within, fervor. We must be set on fire. "With respect to the human spirit (possibly the Holy Spirit), bubble with enthusiasm", or possibly, "be on fire within."

douleuonteV (douleuw) part. "serving" - serving as a slave. "With respect to the Lord, be devoted in service." Note the alternate reading "time" = the present time, serve it; "seize your opportunities", Barclay.

caironteV (cairw) part. "be joyful" - rejoice. The imperatival participles continue.

th/ elpidi (iV idoV) dat. "in hope" - hope. The dative again leaves us with numerous translation possibilities. Do we continue with "with respect / regard to", or go with a dative of cause; "be joyful in hope, ie. by virtue of hope"; "if you have hope, this will make your cheerful", JB. The grammar indicates a similar approach to v11 and 12, so a dative of respect may be the best all-round option.

proskarterounteV (proskarterew) part. "faithful" - persevering. "Busy oneself with, be busily engaged in", BAGD. "Faithful" doesn't quite express the "keeping at it" sense, although Paul is not saying that we should keep praying until God gives us what we want. Probably "constant" carries the sense better than "persevere".

taiV creiaiV (a) dat. "in need" - Probably again a dative of respect, "with regard the needs of the saints, share."

koinwnounteV (koinwnew) part. "share with" - share. "Contribute a share", BAGD. "Contribute to the needs of God's people", NEB. Poverty was a fairly serious problem for the early church, as it was for the Roman Empire as a whole. Accommodation was also limited and expensive for travelers, so these exhortations meet a very practical need.

eulogeite (eulogew) imp. "bless" - invoke God's blessing upon (Murray); "call down blessing on", NEB. Note Paul's switch to simple imperatives. Calvin says of this exhortation, "although there is hardly anyone who has made such advance in the law of the Lord that he fulfills this precept, no one can boast that he is the child of God, or glory in the name of a Christian, who has not partially undertaken this course, and does not struggle daily to resist the will to do the opposite."

cairein (cairw) inf. "rejoice" - to rejoice. The infinitive is most likely imperatival, an uncommon infinitive in the New Testament. "Share the happiness of those who are happy, and the sorrow of those who are sad", Phillips.

meta cairontwn "with those who rejoice" - with rejoicing. Obviously the participle is functioning here as a noun, even though it is without the article.

to auto eiV allhlouV fronounteV "live in harmony with one another" - thinking the same to one another. "Treat everyone with equal kindness", JB, but this is not quite the sense, as is the NIV stab. Probably better, "be of the same mind", Morris. Verse 17ff are taken as general exhortations for believers in their contact with non-believers, but v16, even 15 and 14, may not be church specific. Paul is not encouraging us to paper over differences. We are always bound to stand for the truth as we see it.

sunapagomenoi (sunapagw) part. "associate with" - led, or carried along with. We should not be "carried along" by high-mindedness, but rather by "the humble tasks in community", Black. Christians who think they are socially superior are really not standing with Christ.

mhdeni "anyone" - no one. Emphatic.part.

pronooumenoi (pronoew) "be careful" - taking thought, to have regard for, aim at, seek. The exhortation to do what is right in the sight of others is interesting. The NIV sense can easy imply the performance of goodness, but the NEB gets to the heart of it with "let your aims be such as all men count honourable."

to ex Jumwn "as far as it depends on you" - it from you. "To the extent that it depends on you" Moo. "It" is an accusative of respect, Moule = "so far as it is in your power." Calvin says of this verse, "we are not to strive to attain the favour of men in such a way that we refuse to incur the hatred of any for the sake of Christ." We are to maintain peace as best we can.

ekdikounteV (edkikew) part. "take revenge" - revenge, avenge. The word implies a wrong has been done for which a suitable reaction is called for. A believer, standing under the grace of God in Christ, cannot wield the sword of revenge against another sinner, rather we should leave the matter in God's hands, for his mercy, or his wrath. The wrath is best witnessed at Gethsemane. "We give place to wrath only when we wait patiently for the proper time for our deliverance, praying in the meantime that those who now trouble us may repent and become our friends", Calvin.

dote topon "leave room" - give place. "Let the wrath of God have its way", Moffatt.

th/ orgh/ (h) "God's wrath" - the wrath. "God" is understood.

Proverbs 25:21-22, LXX. Render help to anyone in need. The enemy is not necessarily someone outside the fellowship.

anqrakaV puroV "burning coals" - coals of fire. An image of "the burning pangs of shame and contrition", Cranfield.

swreuseiV (swreuw) fut. "heap" - you will pile up. The piling up of good deeds toward an enemy serves to stir their bitter conscience and hopefully move them toward reconciliation with God.

mh nikw sing. pres. pas. part. "do not be overcome" - be not conquered. The change from plural to singular here probably serves to emphasize the personal nature of the exhortation. Present tense = "do not continue to be overcome", but Turner classes this present as a perfective. Possibly "don't allow yourselves to be overpowered by evil", Phillips, but better, don't "respond to evil with evil", Morris. Take the path of love rather than vindictiveness.

tou kakou adj. "[by] evil" - the evil. Possibly "the evil one."

Romans Introduction.

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