OUTLOOK STANDARD LESSONS
UNIFORM LESSON FOR AUGUST 28, 2016
Scripture passages and lesson focus: Romans 12:1-2; 13:8-10
After describing his painful but hopeful acknowledgement that most of God’s chosen people, the Jews, had not (yet) accepted the gospel, Paul concludes this theological section of his letter with a doxology praising the unsearchable depth of God’s wisdom. To God “be the glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36b).
Romans 12:1 — Instruments of righteousness
Romans 12 is linked closely with Romans 9-11 by a tiny but exceedingly significant Greek conjunction (oun) meaning “therefore.” It connects Paul’s theological teachings in the preceding chapters with their implications for Christian living described in the following chapters. Theological principles have practical implications for how Christians should live.
What Paul now urges the believers in Rome to do is rooted in God’s mercy and righteousness. Although God’s ways are beyond the capability of ordinary human beings to understand completely, Paul is confident that God’s mercy extends to all people (Romans 11:30-32).
Divine mercy enables believers to offer themselves to God. Their bodies, which represent their entire selves, are to be offered as living sacrifices in service to a merciful God. As Paul has written earlier in Romans 6:12-13, when the power
of sin has been replaced by the life-giving power of the resurrected Christ, the believer’s body becomes an instrument of righteousness.
Believers are holy people in the sense that they are set aside for God’s purposes. In the words of an old-fashioned hymn, “Take time to be holy.” Holy doesn’t mean holier than thou, but it does mean that believers are called to live lives that reflect God’s love and justice in all that they do.
As God’s holy people, Christians dedicate themselves to the service of God. Paul calls this the believer’s “spiritual worship,” according to the NRSV translation. The two Greek words underlying this rich phrase have nuances that have inspired various translations. The NIV has “true and proper worship” while “reasonable service” is the translation found in the venerable KJV.
If Paul really meant to say “spiritual” service, he most likely would have used a different Greek word (pneumatikos) that he commonly uses elsewhere when he wants to say “spiritual.” In a footnote, the translators of the NRSV offer “reasonable” service as an alternative. That comes closer to the Greek word Paul uses here, a word from which the English word “logical” is derived. Paul’s point is that it makes good sense, it is logical, that believers who have received God’s mercy should respond by offering themselves to God.
Equally important is the second Greek word underlying the phrase “spiritual worship.” That word (latreian) refers to a religious or civic obligation. In this context, it extends beyond the formal cultic or religious activities of individuals to include communal demonstrations of service and dedication.
Romans 12:2 — God’s holy people discern God’s will
Paul goes beyond strongly urging his readers in verse 1 to giving them a command in verse 2. In the first of many imperatives in this section of the epistle, Paul commands the Roman Christians not to be poured into the mold of the secular pattern of Roman life, which he calls “this world.” Instead they are to undergo a metamorphosis, a transformation, made possible by their renewed minds. Rather than conforming to the standards and values of their social and political context, Christians are to use their Christ-centered minds to determine what is good, acceptable, and a worthy goal. That is God’s will for their lives.
Romans 13:8-10 — Love fulfills God’s law
Paul uses a very strong negative to say that Christians have no other obligation at all to anyone except to love each other. He is not talking about financial debts, but about the obligations toward others that God’s law requires. Echoing Jesus’s summary of the law, Paul says that love of others fulfills the commandments that apply to human relationships. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Notice that there are no qualifiers describing the neighbor. Love does not harm any neighbor – friendly or unfriendly, rich or poor, black or white, gay or straight, Christian or non-Christian.
In “Works of Love,” the Danish philosopher-theologian Søren Kierkegaard wrote, “love is best described as an infinite debt.” The person who truly loves voluntarily incurs a debt that can never be paid in full. Love that demonstrates a genuine concern for others will always evoke the misunderstanding of the “me first” secular world.
For discussion
What are God’s mercies that you have experienced? What specific standards and values of “the world” do you think Christians should not emulate? How do you determine what God’s will is? What do you and/or your congregation do to show love to your neighbors?
JAMES A. BRASHLER is professor emeritus of Bible at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond,
Virginia.
