Chapter 12
Title of Romans 12: “The Interim Life.” Though actually most of the material is the formation of the royal family of God honour code.
1. The interim life is that Christian experience of the believer between salvation and maturity.
2. However, the interim life is only lived by those believers who are positive toward doctrine and advancing toward the objective of maturity.
3. The reversionistic believer who is negative toward doctrine and rejects the function of the rebound technique does not live the interim life. Instead, he lives the life under divine discipline, the disciplinary life. So attitude toward doctrine determines whether you live the interim life or the disciplinary life.
4. In other words, the interim life is the status of those believers who are adjusting to the justice of God.
5. Either you adjust to the justice of God or the justice of God will adjust to you.
6. In the interim life the believer is adjusting to the justice of God through the filling of the Spirit and consistent intake of doctrine.
The royal family
honour code
1. We have become a nation of peasants in our thinking, we have no aristocracy. The aristocracy of thinking has disappeared, and because it has disappeared it has a direct effect upon fundamentalist Christianity. Christians who think like peasants cannot advance.
2. The mental attitude of aristocracy is bound up in an honour code. All systems of aristocracy have their own honour code and the aristocracy of the spiritual world in the Church Age is the believer, the body of Christ.
3. You cannot advance to maturity without understanding the honour code because without the honour code the believer is distracted from Bible doctrine.
4. The royal family of God has an honour code, and basically it has two concepts: a) the privacy of the royal priest; b) advance comes from doctrine. All legitimate production is the result of advance, but not the means. We can do nothing to advance to maturity, it is accomplished for us in the whole framework of logistical grace. We do things because we have reached a certain stage but we cannot do anything to reach that stage of growth. The royal family honour code guarantees the privacy of the believer to live his life before the Lord and provides a system of thoughtfulness and good manners toward all.
5. The honour code of the royal family of God demands that the believer function in compatibility with the grace policy of the justice of God.
6. Every believer has honour on the basis of the judicial imputation of divine righteousness at salvation.
7. The object of the honour code is the believer’s advance to maturity so that the believer in maturity can function on the basis of integrity.
8. Therefore the royal family honour code excludes all forms of Christ works, production, talent, and sacrifice for obtaining blessing. Nothing the believer can do, legitimate or legalistic, can elicit blessing from the justice of God. Blessing from God is an imputation at maturity and thereafter.
9. The royal family honour code demands total dependence on the integrity of God, both His righteousness and His justice.
10. The honour code has a motto: Right thinking; right function.
11. Just as code aristocrat has existed in time past, so there has always existed an honour code for the royal family of God.
The royal family of God must have an honour code in order to advance to maturity. Since the only way to advance to advance to maturity is to learn Bible
Doctrine, and since you cannot learn Bible doctrine apart from privacy, you must when you assemble in the local church, have your privacy to do so. You must have an objective viewpoint toward the teaching of the Word and the only way you can have it is for your sins to never be an issue for you to assemble. They are an issue as far as rebound and your life before the Lord is concerned, and divine discipline; but they are not an issue in listening to the teaching of the Word. The royal family honour code demands that you respect the privacy of other believers.
The concept of
the devil’s triangle
The objective in the believer’s life is to apply doctrine you know to your life. If you are negative toward doctrine then you live in the devil’s triangle, i.e. under the old sin nature. It may be in the area of sin but it is generally in the area of good and evil.
1. The devil’s triangle is the sphere of function for the reversionistic believer.
2. The objective of the Christian way of life is the fusion or amalgamation of two areas of reality for the royal family of God: doctrine and the circumstances of life.
3. These two areas of reality include the circumstances of life and Bible doctrine.
4. The circumstances of life are the reality of our temporal life, while Bible doctrine is the reality of our relationship with God or spiritual life.
5. The objective of the Christian way of life on earth is the insertion of doctrinal reality into circumstantial reality. This is accomplished through the daily function of GAP.
6. The separating factor is the devil’s triangle.
1. The techniques of the interim life, verses 1-2.
2. The function of the interim life, verses 3-8.
3. The production of the interim life, verses 9-21.
Verse 1 – rebound and resultant filling of the Spirit. “I beseech you therefore, brethren.” The inferential conjunction o)un denotes what it introduces as an
inference from what has preceded. What has preceded is Romans chapter eight. Chapters 9-11 is a parenthesis explaining why the Jewish dispensation has been halted and why the unconditional covenants have not yet been fulfilled, and will not be fulfilled until the second advent. So this inferential conjunction reaches back to Romans chapter eight where maturity is described. Chapter eight is for the mature believer; chapter 12 is how to reach there under the royal family of God honour code. The subject changes in chapter 12 from maturity to the interim life and how the interim life functions under the honour code of the royal family of God.
Next is a verb, the present active indicative of the verb parakalew. The word means to call, to beseech, to exhort and to comfort. All of these meanings go back to the formation of the compound [para = beside; kalew = to call] which means to call someone to your side and talk to them through the mouth. This is why it means to exhort or beseech. It also means to call someone to your side to comfort them. This verb does not mean to call upon someone, that would be e)pikalew. The verb used here is used in a military sense. Parakalew was used to encourage soldiers, or exhorting them. It was also used in the technical sense of the commander’s word of encouragement or the commanding officer’s admonition just before the battle begins. Plato uses the verb for winning over to plan of revenge, hence in the sense of persuading. Paul speaks with the authority of a commanding general. He is an apostle, hence he is in a sense the military commander of the early church. He encourages us before the battle. He exhorts us to advance to maturity in the following manner—Romans 12. He seeks to persuade us how to function in that advance. The question, then, is how to translate this word. The best would be “I encourage” or “I urge.” The present tense is a pictorial present, it presents to the mind the picture of a military commander before battle, urging or encouraging his troops to advance to the objective. Hence, the events here pictured are in the process of occurrence. That means that the pictorial present says that everything in this chapter is a part of that exhortation to advance to maturity. The active voice: Paul as the human writer produces the action of the verb. This is the cohortative indicative mood and it is used here to express a command.
The verb is followed by the accusative plural direct object from the personal pronoun su, plus the vocative a)delfoj—“brethren.” This is a family matter. The royal family of God has an honour code; it is a family code; it is your attitude toward other believers, namely the respecting of the privacy of the priesthood.
“by the mercies of God” – dia plus the ablative plural of o)iktrimoj which means mercy or compassion, but it is different from e)leoj, the ordinary word for mercy which connotes emotion or compassion of sympathy. In other words, e)leoj is emotional. You cannot inject emotion into the honour code of the royal family of God, there is no place for it. O)iktrimoj means that this is a rational approach rather than an emotional approach. God’s approach to us is never emotional. O)iktrimoj means compassion, sympathy, mercy, but on a rational basis without one shred of emotion involved. The anthropopathism emphasises the function of divine justice in grace blessing. The ablative here is used, and the ablative is not the regular case for expressing means, but whenever the source is expressed in the means then the ablative is used instead of the instrumental. That is the implication here, the origin or the source of mercy is God. But it is a rational source. Then come the ablative of source, qeoj. “I urge you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies from the [justice of] God.” The definite article which precedes qeoj is used to point out a particular object, a certain aspect of God, the aspect with which we have contact. The justice of God is the source of our divine blessing because it is our point of reference. Therefore o)iktrimoj refers to those blessings in time which are imputed at the point of maturity. Here these blessings are used in Paul’s appeal as motivation for advancing to the point of blessing. In other words, Paul is the commanding officer at the foot of the hill. He is urging the royal family to advance to the high ground of maturity. He says, “Up there are blessings; go get them!” When blessing from God is used as motivation it is a legitimate motivation. This is because blessing from God is the only way that we can glorify God in the angel conflict. “The mercies [grace blessings]” – the definite article is put in, not to go with God, God is unique, but to specify the attribute of God that provides the blessing.
1. The real imputation of divine blessing in time occurs at maturity adjustment to the justice of God.
2. Therefore the urgent appeal to the believer to advance in the interim life whose objective is maturity. But you cannot advance without honour, you must advance under the honour code. Otherwise you will be distracted and never get there. You will be distracted from the thing that cause you to advance—doctrine.
3. Maturity is the status where the believer has capacity for blessing from the justice of God. It is the status where the believer functioning under the honour code begins to function with integrity.
4. Maturity is the place where the justice of God, without any emotion attached, imputes to you and to me the great divine blessings.
“that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice” – aorist active infinitive of the verb paristhmi. This word also has a military meaning. Originally it meant to place beside, to put one’s self under orders to, the place one’s self at God’s disposal (from which the translation “yield” is derived, and is often a mistranslation). The best way to approach paristhmi is to go back to its original use in the Greek language. It was used to set cavalry, to be on hand, to stand by. But in the New Testament it has two connotations, transitive and intransitive. As a transitive verb it means to be at the disposal of someone; as an intransitive verb it means to approach. Here it has the military connotation from the transitive verb, and so we put it: “place your body under orders as a holy sacrifice.” The aorist tense is a constative aorist for a succession of events gathered up into a single whole. The aorist contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety as rebound and the filling of the Spirit. The active voice: the positive believers advancing to maturity in the interim life are commanded to produce the action of the verb. This is an imperative infinitive which relates this verb to Romans 6:13 where the same verb was used in the present active imperative. This is fulfilled in Romans 6:17.
The word “body” is the accusative plural direct object with the infinitive of swma, “your body.” Why the body? Why not the brain? Why not the soul? The body of the believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is also the residence of the old sin nature. These two are in residence, mutually antagonistic—Galatians 5:16. When the old sin nature controls through sin, good, or evil the only solution becomes the rebound technique because if the old sin nature controls the body where it resides it overflows into the soul. If the Holy Spirit controls, then this overflows into the soul. The residence is simply a place to control the soul. It is an attack upon the soul by the old sin nature; it is the filling of the Spirit when the Spirit controls the soul. The soul is the issue, what you think is the issue, and the whole process of the function of the soul. When it says here that you place your body under orders it is referring to rebound and the filling of the Spirit, the two basic techniques of the Christian life.
With this is the accusative singular from the noun qusia, the word for sacrifice. The sacrifice is describes in two ways. First by a present active participle of zaw which is used as an adjective, translated “living.” The second adjective is also an accusative singular from a(gioj which means set apart; it means royalty—“as a living, holy sacrifice.” This verse implies that rebound[1] and the resultant filling of the Spirit are the sacrifices of the royal priesthood in view here. This is the normal function of the Christian way of life.
“acceptable unto God” – the predicate nominative singular from the adjective e)uarestoj which means well-pleasing or acceptable. Since this is a predicate nominative it should be preceded by a present active indicative from e)imi and should be translated “this is acceptable/well-pleasing. Then the dative singular indirect object with the definite article, the noun qeoj. The definite article is used as a possessive pronoun to emphasise our relationship with God the Father—“this is acceptable to our God.”
“which is your reasonable service” – the accusative absolute without the participle used as an anocoluthon. The accusative of the adjective logikoj has a dual meaning. It means rational, and it also means spiritual. All spiritual function is rational, says logikoj. The irrationality of the tongues apostates and the emotional crowd is obviously not worship. Then the accusative of the noun latreia which means “worship.” With it is a descriptive genitive plural from the pronoun su and it should be translated “your rational and spiritual worship.” In other words, there is no worship on the part of the believer apart from rebound and the filling of the Spirit.
Translation: “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the grace blessings [from the justice of God], that you place your bodies under orders as a living, holy sacrifice. This is well-pleasing to our God—your rational and spiritual worship.”
1. All worship must be rational, and this is only possible by relating it to Bible doctrine.
2. All worship must be spiritual, therefore related to the filling of the Spirit. This is summarised in John 4:24.
3. To place your bodies under orders as a living, holy sacrifice does not require a one-shot decision, a so-called dedication decision. In reality it is a series of decisions, daily decisions which involve rebound when necessary, therefore maintaining the filling of the Spirit, and the consistent intake of Bible doctrine, the means of establishing the honour code of the royal family in your life.
4. The pattern of the Christian life is never guided by one decision. It takes one decision to become a Christian; after that there is no one-decision panacea. Always it is a series of decisions. God gives us a day at a time and we must make decisions each day. These decisions must be related to spiritual things such as Bible doctrine, and the temporal things.
5. Salvation, then, is a one-shot decision, but the spiritual life which follows salvation is a series of decision. You place yourself under orders to God for daily commands, daily decisions, daily function.
Worship
1. Spiritual worship is rational worship. Therefore the emotionalism of tongues and other forms of emotional revolt are excluded.
2. Basically, worship includes certain functions: singing, praying, giving, the intake of doctrine, plus the communion service. Each facet of worship demands two things: the filling of the Holy Spirit and the residence of Bible doctrine in the soul. Always, it is doctrine and the Spirit.
3. Therefore singing must be related to doctrine and executed in the filling of the Spirit.
4. Therefore prayer must conform to doctrine and be executed in the filling of the Spirit.
5. Therefore giving must be motivated from doctrine resident in the soul and fulfilled in the filling of the Spirit.[2]
6. Therefore perception of doctrine, the most important and basic facet of worship, demands the filling of the Spirit for inculcation.
7. Therefore the communion service is a ritual which has no meaning apart from doctrine resident in the soul. Hence, a worship function which is impossible apart from the filling of the Spirit.
8. The persistence of worship produces that capacity which is the prerequisite for the imputation of divine blessing from the justice of God.
Verse 2 – the function of GAP and divine guidance. “And be not conformed to this
world” – the conjunction kai is used in the adjunctive sense, therefore it is used as an adverb and should be translated “also.” The verb is the present passive imperative of susxhmatizw which means to be moulded after something, to be conformed to something, or to be guided. Plus the negative mh. “Also stop being conformed [moulded].” This is your thinking being moulded under the influence of good and evil. The present tense is a descriptive present for what is now going on in the Roman church, back when Paul wrote. The passive voice: the reversionistic believers receive the action of the verb. The imperative mood is the imperative of prohibition with the negative mh. Then the dative singular indirect object from the noun a)iwn used for a statement of time. With it is a dative singular indirect object from the immediate demonstrative o(utoj, translated “this”—“this age.” The word “age” is used instead of “world” because the thinking that is 180 degrees off-course from Bible doctrine varies in every age, but it still comes from the same source: the ruler of this world. So “age” is the correct translation because “age” is a period of time. Good and evil as the policy of Satan is expressed one way, and in the next age it is expressed another way. We only have to deal with the good and evil as it is expressed in our day. This is actually a command to stay out of the devil’s triangle, the place where the function of good and evil separates us from doctrine and causes us to resist or be distracted from doctrine. When you think good and evil and hear correct doctrine you reject the doctrine. For example, you are absolutely sold on the fact that the welfare state is the only answer, that everyone is going to be equal, etc. That is thinking in the devil’s triangle. That is conforming to the age in which you live. Living in the devil’s triangle is a distraction to doctrine. Bible doctrine resident in the soul is not only the means of spiritual advance, but it gets your thinking straight. It lines it up with the plan of God so you can be guided by God.
“but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” – the adversative conjunction a)lla sets up a contrast with the previous negative command. The negative command implies that the Roman believers to whom Paul wrote were already deeply involved in the devil’s triangle. This is the contrasting command at this point. The present passive imperative of the verb metamorfow means to undergo a spiritual transformation, but it is used here for an external as well as internal transformation. When used for external transformation it generally means to be transfigured. Here the inner transformation of your thinking is involved. Being transformed refers to the change in thinking that comes from getting out of the devil’s triangle. The present tense is a customary present, it denotes what habitually occurs when the believer is constantly positive toward Bible doctrine and transfers that doctrine from the page of the Word into the soul and the human spirit. The passive voice: the believer receives the action of the verb when he constantly learns doctrine under the ministry of whoever is his right pastor. The imperative mood is a command, the positive command for the daily function of GAP, emphasising the result of the daily function of GAP—a change in thinking. Metamorfow means to be transformed in thought, to change your thinking from human viewpoint to divine viewpoint.
Then the means of transformation is stated by the instrumental singular from the noun a)nakainwsij, translated “renewal,” but it also means “renovation.” It is renewal in the sense of renovation, not in the sense of dedication. This is the method of expressing impersonal means. U(po plus the ablative expresses personal agent; this expresses impersonal agent. In other words, this is not a person changing your thinking but a process of thought, i.e. Bible doctrine. Plus the objective genitive singular from the noun nouj, used here in the sense of understanding of the conscious mind, or a thought—“by the renewal of your thought pattern.” The thought pattern is renovated or renewed through maximum doctrine resident in the soul. The whole purpose of staying alive on this earth is to learn Bible doctrine. The daily function of GAP is not only the means of advancing to maturity but it is the only way of actually learning the will of God, understanding the plan of God, and staying out of the devil’s triangle. So as doctrine replaces human viewpoint a new mental attitude is formed in the mind. You have to have a change of thinking to survive in the devil’s world. You cannot survive in the devil’s world as a believer by thinking the devil’s thoughts, you can only survive by thinking God’s thoughts. The devil isn’t doing anything for you, only God is. Therefore you have to have a complete renovation of your thinking.
“that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” – this begins with a purpose clause, a prepositional phrase, e)ij plus the present active infinitive of dokimazw which means to test for the purpose of approval. The accusative singular of the definite article plus the preposition e)ij introduces the purpose clause. The infinitive is in the present tense, it is called a perfect infinitive in the present. It denotes the continuation of existing results but it emphasises those results in present time, therefore a perfective present tense. The active voice: the believer who is positive toward Bible doctrine produces the action. This is an infinitive of purpose. With this is an accusative of general reference in the plural from the personal pronoun su, plus a nominative neuter singular from the interrogative pronoun tij, which is translated “what.” Then the possessive genitive singular of qeoj to go with the noun qelhma—“the will of God.” This verse is really about the will of God. After this last phrase, “that you may prove what the will of God is,” there are three appositional accusatives. First is the accusative singular of a)gaqoj, for intrinsic good. The will of God is always intrinsic good. Whatever is the will of God is in contrast to human good. It is perfect good. The second accusative is e)uarestoj which means “well-pleasing.” The will of God is always pleasing to God. The third accusative is teleioj which means having attained the end or purpose, hence complete. It refers to having attained the object, which is maturity. The will of God for the believer in time is maturity adjustment to the justice of God. After you are saved that is the will of God.
Translation: “Also stop being moulded to this age: but be transformed by the renovation of your thoughts, that you may prove what the will of God is, namely the good, well-pleasing and complete.”
Principle: The destiny of man is not to work for God, but for God to work for him. The ultimate is the real imputation of divine blessing to the mature believer. In this the work of God for man reaches its peak of grace which glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. The destiny for the believer in time is maturity adjustment to the justice of God.
2. The objective is not external production but internal growth through maximum doctrine resident in the soul.
3. Therefore the will of God for the believer cannot be divorced from Bible doctrine and its perception.[3]
4. God has preserved the canon of Scripture as the source of Bible doctrine, but the work of the saints He has not preserved. It is doctrine that is preserved for every generation, not the works of believers in past generations.
The specialised function of the interim life, verses 3-8.
Verse 3 – “For I say, through the grace given unto me.” The illative use of the postpositive conjunctive particle gar introduces a reason for advancing to maturity, a reason why we should take in doctrine every day. Plus the present active indicative of the verb legw which means here to say or to speak. It always means to communicate. This is an aoristic present tense for punctiliar action in present time. Paul was speaking at this moment about something which was pertinent to the Romans. It is just as pertinent now, and therefore we live under the same aoristic present for this particular verse. The active voice: the apostle Paul under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit communicates doctrine in permanent form as a part of the canon of Scripture. The indicative mood is declarative for the reality of the canon of Scripture being formed from what Paul has to say here. Then the prepositional phrase, dia plus the genitive singular of xarij—“through the grace.” Grace is the policy of the justice of God in providing blessing and prosperity for the believer. But grace is also the policy of God with regard to mankind in general. Plus the aorist passive participle of the verb didomi. The dramatic aorist tense states a present reality with the certitude of a past event. The idiom here is a device for emphasis, it states the result of what has been accomplished and therefore it translated not as a present tense but as an aorist tense. This means that everything that God has provided in X + Y + Z equals grace. The passive voice: the mature believer receives the action of the verb. The circumstantial participle indicates that just being a member of the human race is grace in itself. Then the dative singular indirect object from the personal pronoun e)gw. The dative is used as the object of the verb because it always indicates a principle: the one in whose interest grace has been given. Paul had been a recipient of common grace, efficacious grace, saving grace, logistical grace, and since maturity, super-grace. Paul has the advantage of communicating, then, from maturity adjustment to the justice of God. This anticipates what will be given in verses 4-8. Spiritual gifts are designed to function in the maturity status. They may function in a limited way until then but the maximum utilisation of spiritual gifts in the royal family of God demands maturity.
“to every man that is among you” – dative singular indirect object from paj, translated “everyone.” It is a reference to all believers of the church age, to each one as royal family of God. Paul alerts all believers with regard to the great distraction with regard to functioning in the royal family—arrogance. Arrogance is lack of grace orientation. Plus the articular present active participle e)imi, translated “who is.” Then the prepositional phrase e)n plus the locative plural of su—“among you.”
Now comes the principle that subjective mental attitude [arrogance] should be subordinated to objective Bible doctrine. All forms of pride and arrogance are inevitably related to subjectivity, and often the extent to which you are subjective is the extent to which you practice arrogance. The objective perspective of grace must replace subjective arrogance through maximum doctrine resident in the soul.
“not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think” – immediately arrogance is defined as what you think about yourself in relationship to yourself, to others, and to God. The negative mh is used with an infinitive. It sets up a command, an imperative of prohibition. The verb is the present active infinitive from u(perfronew [fronew = to think; u(per = over]. It means to over-think or to think above yourself. It comes to mean to think too highly of yourself, therefore to be arrogant in your thinking. Arrogance is a thought prior to being an action—not to “think of self in terms of arrogance.” Therefore, “stop thinking of self in terms of arrogance.” The present tense is a progressive present for an action of a state of persistence. The active voice: the believer produces the action of the verb. The infinitive is the imperative infinitive plus the negative. Then the preposition para plus the accusative neuter singular from the relative pronoun o(j—“beyond what.” Plus the present active of the impersonal verb dei, the word for “ought,” and the present active infinitive of the verb fronew, objective thinking. The present tense is a tendencial present, used for an action which is the objective of the Christian way of life—to think objectively. All capacity for life is based upon objective thinking. The active voice: the believer should produce the action. The infinitive is the infinitive of intended result when the result is indicated as fulfilling a deliberate aim or objective. It is the blending of purpose and result. “For I say through the grace which has been given to me, to everyone who is among you, Stop thinking of self in terms of arrogance beyond what he ought to think.”
“but to think soberly” – incorrect translation. The adversative conjunction a)lla sets up a contrast between what we should not do and what we should do. The present active infinitive from fronew means objective thinking. This is a perfective present to denote the continuation of existing results from maximum doctrine resident in the soul. The active voice: the believer should produce the action of the verb. This is the imperative infinitive: “but think.” Then the prepositional phrase, e)ij plus the accusative of the definite article, with the present active infinitive of swfronew which means to be in one’s right mind, to be sane, to be reasonable: “but think for the purpose of being rational without illusion.” The present tense is a customary present, it denotes what habitually occurs or may be reasonably expected to occur when the believer is consistently positive toward doctrine. The active voice: the positive believer produces this sane and rational thinking. This is the infinitive of purpose.
1. Doctrine in the soul is designed to eliminate the goofy thinking and the arrogant dreaming which is so prevalent among believers today.
2. Doctrine causes the believer to think in terms of common sense, rational and sane divine viewpoint, which inserts doctrine into the daily life and avoids living in the devil’s triangle.
“according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” – a conjunction of comparison w(j, “as.” The nominative subject is o( qeoj—“the God.” The definite article specifies someone previously mentioned in context who is well-known to the readers. The aorist active indicative of merizw. Merizw does not mean to deal, it means to divide, to distribute, to assign: “as the God has assigned.” This is a constative aorist for a fact of doctrine extended over the course of human history. The active voice: God the Father, the author of the divine plan, produces the action of the verb, of assigning something. The indicative mood is declarative for a fact that God the Father has assigned a standard of thinking from Bible doctrine. God’s plan is personal: dative singular direct object from e(kastoj—“to each one.” God regards us as individuals. “The measure of faith” is incorrect. It is the accusative singular direct object from metron, which means not a measure as such but a standard—of thinking. Plus the ablative of source from the noun pistij which has three different meanings: a) trust or confidence or faith, a non-meritorious system of perception; b) an attribute: faithfulness or reliability; c) a system of doctrine, that which is believed. It is this third meaning which is pertinent here. It should be translated, “as the God has assigned to each one a standard of thinking from doctrine.” The ablative of source implies that the original situation, doctrine, contributes to the advance to maturity and the dynamics of thinking.[4]
Translation: “For I say through the grace which has been given to me, to everyone who is among you, stop thinking of self in terms of arrogance beyond what you ought to think; but think in terms of sanity for the purpose of being rational without illusion, as the God has assigned to each one a standard of thinking from doctrine.”
Verses 4 & 5, the structure of the royal family of God.[5]
Verse 4 – “For we have many members in one body” begins with the explanatory use of the postpositive conjunctive particle gar. This means that everything we have had so far demands an explanation. The passage will deal with spiritual gifts, and these demand some explanation. Next is a compound conjunction, kaqaper, correctly translated “just as”—“For just as.” Then the present active indicative from the verb e)xw which means to have, to have and to hold, “For just as we [royal family of God] have.” This is a retroactive progressive present denoting what has begun in the past, when the dispensation of the Church began, and continues into the present time, i.e. as the Church Age progresses and moves toward its conclusion with the Rapture. This will always be true, we will always have this. The active voice: the royal family of God produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic principle of doctrine. With this verb is the accusative plural direct object from both the adjective paj and the noun meloj—“many members.” Then a prepositional phrase, e)n plus the locative singular of the numeral adjective e(ij plus the noun swma—“in one body.” This explains why in the each of the first three verses there is a reference to the dynamics of divine viewpoint thinking: rational and spiritual worship, renovation of thought, rational orientation to life. “For just as we have many members in one body,” or “many parts in one body.” Each one who is a believer in Jesus Christ is a member or a part of the body. We are all in the same organization, called here “body,” but it refers to the royal family of God, an aristocracy which will last forever. The analogy to the human body with its various parts emphasises a doctrine—the doctrine of the difference of all believers.[6]
“and all members have not the same office” – the connective conjunctive particle de is used as a transitional conjunction, connecting two clauses without indicating any contrast. Then the nominative plural subject from the adjective paj plus the noun meloj—“and all the parts.” Then the negative o)u plus the present active indicative of e)xw—“do not have.” The present tense is a customary present denoting what habitually occurs in the function of the royal family of God on earth. The active voice: the royal family of God under the function of its honour code produces the action of the verb. The declarative indicative mood is for a dogmatic statement of doctrine, the viewpoint of reality with regard to the spiritual life. The attributive use of the intensive pronoun a)utoj in the accusative singular is the direct object, and then the accusative singular direct object from pracij which means “function.”
Translation: “For just as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function.”
Verse 5 – “So we.” The adverb o(utoj refers to what precedes and is correctly translated “so,” and with the nominative plural from polluj and the definite article, “So we, the many.” This is a reference to believers in Christ, the royal family of God. Plus the present active indicative of e)imi, the verb to be. The perfective present refers to a fact which has come to be in the past, i.e. the beginning of the Church Age, but is emphasised now as a reality. Then active voice: the believer produces the action. The declarative indicative is for the reality of the royal family of God having a purpose right now on this earth. The accusative neuter direct object from the adjective numeral e(ij—“one,” referring to the fact that we do have certain things in common. What we have in common is in the accusative singular direct object from swma, used for the body of Christ. Then the prepositional phrase e)n plus Xristoj—“So we, the many, are one body in Christ.” We are many parts but we are all in the same royal family.
Translation: “So we, the many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts one of another.”
“and every one members of another – the postpositive conjunctive particle de again, and then the preposition kata used as an adverb, meaning “individually.” This is a late Koine idiom. Plus the nominative plural from melloj—“and individually parts one of another.”
Verse 6-8, the function of spiritual gifts.
Verse 6 – “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us.” The present active participle of the verb e)xw, connoting possession. The present tense is a descriptive present for what is now going on. The active voice: the believer produces the action under the function of his own peculiar spiritual gift, sovereignly bestowed by the Holy Spirit at salvation. The participle is a causal participle, “Since we have.” Plus the accusative plural direct object from xarisma, which means “benefit”—“gifts,” technical for spiritual gifts.[7] The adjective diafora actually means “that differ,” and it indicates two things: a) we have different spiritual gifts; b) we have differences within the framework of common spiritual gifts. No two pastors have exactly the same gift, no two evangelists, no two administrators. We have different gifts as to categories and we have differences within a specific category. Then kata plus the accusative singular of xarij. In other words, whatever gift we have and to what degree of function, and to what degree it is the total picture of a gift, that gift is still grace. We didn’t earn it; we didn’t deserve it; we didn’t work for it. Next is the aorist passive participle from didomi—“has been given,” but because this is a gnomic aorist tense it is translated simply “given.” The gnomic aorist is used for a doctrine which is so fixed in its certainty, so axiomatic in its character, that it is described in the aorist as though it were an actual occurrence. This is an idiom and it is translated by the English present tense. The passive voice: the believer receives the action of the verb at salvation. The participle is circumstantial. With this is the dative plural indirect object from the personal pronoun e)gw—“to us.” This is also a dative of advantage. It is to the advantage of the entire body of Christ to have these specific gifts. “And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us.” This phrase has three factors related to its interpretation: a) Every believer has a spiritual gift; b) Every believer has a different spiritual gift; c) All spiritual gifts have the same source.
“whether prophecy” – e)ite, which combines the conditional particle e)i with the enclitic particle te, and it is used to connect the parts of sentences which are closely related. We translate it “if prophecy” – the accusative singular of profhteia. This is an accusative of general reference, without the infinitive. There is the subject of the infinitive but not the infinitive, a new type of ellipsis which demands the aorist active infinitive from the verb profhteuw to go with the accusative singular of general reference profhteia. The missing aorist active infinitive from profhteuw is used as the imperative infinitive and therefore is translated “if prophecy, prophecy.” If the gift exists, use it. This imperative demands spiritual advance, the filling of the Spirit and the daily function of GAP.
The gift of prophecy mentioned here was a temporary gift which had two connotations: foretelling (accurate dealing with the future) and forthtelling (accurate communication of doctrine). Before the canon of Scripture was completed certain male believers under this gift received messages from God which were compatible with doctrine not yet written. In other words, how did believers in the early church know the content of Revelation before it was written. The knew it from the gift of prophecy. It not only predicted future events such as the Tribulation but it also told about things that had not yet been written in the canon of Scripture, and that is forthtelling. Foretelling is predicting; forthtelling is preaching. The gift was two-fold in this sense.
“let us prophecy according to the proportion of faith” – the preposition al phrase kata plus the accusative of a)nalogia which means “right relationship [or, proportion],” and it is correctly translated “in agreement with.” “In agreement with” connotes the correspondence of a right relationship, hence the function of the gift of prophecy must stand in right relationship with Bible doctrine, which is the objective content of the Word of God. Plus the descriptive genitive singular from pistij with the generic use of the definite article tij—“in agreement with the doctrine.”
Translation: “And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, if prophecy, then prophecy in agreement with the doctrine.”
Principle: No spiritual gift was ever designed to function apart from Bible doctrine, or in denial or rejection of doctrine.
Verse 7 – other gifts specified: “or ministry, on ministering.” The Greek particle e)ite is used to connect parts of a sentence which are closely related. With it is the accusative singular of the noun diakonia, referring here to a spiritual gift of service, aid, support, charity. It is also used for the office of deacon but not the gifts that are necessary for that office. It’s original use was for a waiter waiting on tables, but it also includes spiritual service. Hence, it refers to the spiritual gift of service or helping in this context. There are many variations and distinctions within the framework of this particular gift. The elliptical nature of this sentence requires the aorist active infinitive of diakonew since we have an accusative of general reference. The infinitive is used as the imperative, and so the correct translation: “If service, then serve.” Then a prepositional phrase, e)n plus the locative of the definite article plus the locative singular of diakonia, this time the object of the preposition and should be translated “in the gift of service”—“If service, then service in the gift of service.” If that is your spiritual gift, then use it.” Every believer should function within the framework of his spiritual gift and this is accomplished through the filling of the Spirit and through the function of Bible doctrine. All spiritual gifts function best at maturity and obviously this one is no exception.
“or he that teacheth, on teaching” – the articular present active participle from didaskw, used for a spiritual gift, it means to teach and is a reference here to the gift of paster-teacher if the gift is teaching. The present active participle is used here as a noun and this is not unusual in the Koine Greek. Then e)n plus the locative of didaskolia, and it means to function within the sphere of your spiritual gift.
Translation: “If service, then serve in the gift of service: if teaching, then teach in the gift of teaching.”
Verse 8 – “Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation” is an incorrect translation for this passage, not that the word does not mean exhortation but it has other meanings that are much more pertinent to the context. We are still dealing with spiritual gifts and exhortation is a spiritual gift. The conjunction e)ite introduces a subordinate clause, but in Classical Greek because of ellipsis it also used to indicate a finite verb where a finite verb does not exist. This is the Classical Greek use here, it has the connotation of introducing a verb that is not written down. The articular present active participle of parakalew introduces the spiritual gift. It means to call to one’s side for the purpose of comfort, of encouragement. Therefore it is used here for the gift of counselling rather than what has been commonly designated as the gift of exhortation. In reality there is no gift of exhortation. Exhortation is a part of the gift of pastor-teacher, there is no separate gift of exhortation. It should be translated. “If counselling.” The word for “counselling” here means comfort and encouragement, and this is a spiritual gift. Then the prepositional phrase e)n plus the locative singular of the definite article used to designate the gift, plus the locative singular of paraklhsij. “If counselling, then counsel in the sphere of counselling.” This gift belongs to a very limited number of believers by comparison to others.
“he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity” – this is not about the giving of the congregation as a whole, it is about the gift of giving. The articular present active participle from metadidomi [meta = intensifies the verb; didomi = to give]. Sometimes it means “share” because meta also means “with,” but it means to impart, to share, to give a share. It means here that you are not responsible as an individual to support a local church by yourself, you are only one of those sharing in that responsibility. When it is used of a spiritual gift then the intensive use is the meaning here and it means the gift of giving which belongs to a few, but not a lot. They may be rich or they may be poor, or somewhere between rich and poor. The retroactive progressive present denotes what has begun in the past and continues into the present time under the function of the gift of giving. The active voice: believers with the gift of giving produce the action of the verb. This gift must be distinguished from the personal responsibility of every believer who gives as a commemoration of grace in the function of worship, who is expressing his priesthood in worship. This is not a solicitation to worship but merely an explanation of the spiritual gift. The participle is a circumstantial participle. Then the prepositional phrase which indicates the sphere, e)n plus the instrumental of a)polothj which means generosity—“with generosity.”
Spiritual gift of giving
1. The function of spiritual giving must be distinguished from ordinary giving in a congregation, or even extraordinary giving in a congregation. The gift is sovereignly bestowed by the Holy Spirit at salvation without regard to financial status. It functions under the filling of the Holy Spirit plus maximum doctrine resident in the soul.
2. The more the believer advances in the spiritual life the greater the function of his spiritual gift, whatever it is, and the greater blessing he is to the royal family of God for all spiritual gifts are necessary for the function of the body of Christ.
4. The money necessary for the operation of the local church does not all come from this gift, for giving is an expression of worship, a commemoration of grace, and indicative of the mental attitude motivation of individual members of the royal family.
5. In this context the subject is not the giving of the royal family but the function of the special spiritual gift—the gift of giving which belongs to some believers but not all believers.
6. The doctrine of giving therefore must always be distinguished from the gift of giving. The doctrine of giving belongs to all believers; the gift of giving belongs to some believers.
7. In the doctrine of giving for all believers the object is giving for the local church as an expression of worship.
8. The gift of giving means not only giving to a local church but sharing with needy persons and charitable organizations.
9. The doctrine of giving refers to the individual believer functioning as a royal priest in giving to his specific local church.
“he that ruleth with diligence” – the articular present middle participle from proisthmi means to stand in the front, to be at the head, to direct, or to manage. It means to manage administration in this verse. The present tense is a perfective present, it denotes a continuation of existing results. This refers to the fact that at salvation certain believers were given the gift of administrative management which is now emphasised as a present reality in a local church. The middle voice is the indirect middle, emphasising the agent—a deacon ordinarily—as an administrative manager in a local church as producing the action of the verb. The circumstantial participle means that God provides this gift in enough quantity to supply every local church which is functioning legitimately as a local church. Then the prepositional phrase e)n plus the instrumental from spoudh—“with diligence.” This spiritual gift not only functions on the board of deacons but in every administrative operation of the local church.
“he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness” – the articular present active participle from e)leew means to perform an act of mercy. It is a spiritual gift. The present tense is the perfective present denoting the continuation of existing results. This gift will always be operative during the Church Age. The active voice: the believer with this spiritual gift produces the action of the verb. With this is the prepositional phrase, e)n plus the instrumental from i(lariothj, meaning cheerfulness, gladness or graciousness. This implies that the gift of performing acts of mercy demands some spiritual advance for its correct and proper function. This gift connotes operation apart from graciousness. Graciousness can be an attribute of any believer who advanced to a certain point. Graciousness is an attribute; this is a gift, although it includes graciousness.
Translation: “If counselling, then counsel in the gift of counselling: he who gives, with generosity; he who manages administration, with diligence; he who performs acts of mercy, with graciousness.”
1. This passage does not attempt to enumerate spiritual gifts but rather to emphasise function within one’s sphere of spiritual gift. The emphasis is on function, and the command to function means the advance to advance to maturity. For again, all spiritual gifts function best in maturity.
2. To attempt to cultivate activity in the sphere of someone else’s spiritual gift is to question the wisdom and the judgment of God the Holy Spirit. For example, to assume the responsibility of pastor-teacher without the gift. Everyone has his own spiritual gift.
3. Every believer normally functions in the sphere of his own spiritual gift when he advances to maturity through maximum doctrine resident in the soul.
4. Here is the desirability of maturity adjustment to the justice of God, namely every believer functioning in the sphere of his own spiritual gift, and so functioning as to sustain the body of Christ to the maximum in that generation.
5. This passage also anticipates the abuse of spiritual gifts such as tongues, miracles, healing.
6. Through the distribution of spiritual gifts each believer at salvation is assigned a sphere of influence and operation.
7. The assignment is made by God the Holy Spirit and cannot be cultivated or acquired through human talent, ability, works, changes in personality, or systems of morality.
8. The assignment of spiritual gifts at salvation is just another argument from the Scripture that God intends for every believer to attain spiritual maturity from the perception of Bible doctrine. The whole thrust of teaching spiritual gifts is not so that you can recognise and identify your gift, but to advance to maturity where your gift becomes operational.
Verse 9 – “Let love be without dissimulation.” The nominative singular subject a)gaph, with the definite article used as a possessive pronoun. The elliptical nature of this passage omits the verb here, but several verbs could be inserted to clarify the English translation—like, “should be” or “must function.” The predicate nominative is from the compound adjective a)nupokritoj [a)n = a negative; u(pokritoj = to be an actor or a hypocrite] which means non-hypocritical or without hypocrisy. Love which puts on the facade of hypocrisy has no real mental attitude—no capacity for love, no relaxed mental attitude. In other words, to be able to face people, talk to people, be with people and be relaxed; no hang-ups. In love it is not what you do but what you think, and therefore love is one of the great things in life when you put the cart after the horse: think, then do. Love is a system of thought and lack of love is lack of thought. Doing is a reflection of thinking when no hypocrisy is involved. To pretend to be friendly and to have a mental attitude of jealousy or hatred, etc. is sheer hypocrisy. Love from the filling of the Spirit becomes the motivator in the Christian way of life. “Let your love be without hypocrisy” is not talking here about specific people, it is talking about love as a general status quo. This means that you are a relaxed person, and objective person in your thinking, and you do not have any hang-ups, bitterness, antagonism, or jealousy toward another member of the human race.
“Abhor that which is evil” – the nominative masculine plural present active participle from the compound verb a)postugew [a)po = from; stugew = to hate] which means to hate from the original source, therefore to detest, to loathe, to shrink from something with hatred, to avoid something because you hate it. The present tense is a perfective present, it denotes the continuation of existing results. It refers to a fact which has come to be in the past [perception of evil] but emphasises it as a present reality, therefore detesting evil. The active voice: the believer must produce the action of the verb. The participle is used as an imperative—a peculiarity of the Koine Greek. The object of our hatred, abhorrence, is the accusative singular direct object from ponhroj which along with kakoj is used for “evil.” Plus the generic use of the definite article representing evil as a category separate from all other categories—“Detest the evil.” Evil is the policy of Satan as the ruler of this world; evil is the function of the old sin nature as the ruler of life.
“cleave to that which is good” – present middle participle from the verb kollaw. The word means to glue, to weld together, to unite, to copulate. In 1 Corinthians 6:16 it means to associate in intimate terms with someone so that you cling to them. In the New Testament this verb is not found in the active voice, only in the middle and passive voice. The verb is used for sexual intercourse, as in Ephesians 5:31. But this is not talking about sex here in this verse, it is talking about a principle. When the object of kollaw is a person it refers to sex, but if the object of the verb is a principle it means to adhere. The present tense is a retroactive progressive present. It denotes here what happened in the past with positive volition toward doctrine and continues into the present time with that same positive volition toward Bible doctrine. The middle voice is the indirect middle in which the agent, the positive believer toward doctrine, produces the action of the verb rather than participating in the results of the action. This is, again, the imperative participle. The object is the dative singular indirect object from the adjective a)gaqoj, used for good of intrinsic value: “adhere to the good.”
Translation: “You love must be non-hypocritical. Despise the evil; adhere to the good.”
“The good” is used three ways in the context. It refers to the advance to maturity through the daily function of GAP, and therefore it refers first of all to Bible doctrine. It refers not only to doctrine but what doctrine produces; it refers to the royal family honour code. It refers to the plan of God, X + Y + Z = good.
1. The last command, “Adhere to the good,” refers here to the advance to maturity through the daily function of GAP and resultant Bible doctrine resident in the soul. Actually, the good here blends the royal family honour code with the equation of imputation.
2. The good of this part of Romans refers to three things: Bible doctrine, the royal family honour code, the equation of imputation.
3. The command to adhere to the good refers to giving Bible doctrine # 1 priority in the life: the first common sense application of the Christian life. This is the only way to survive distractions to doctrine.
4. Adhere to the good refers to the function of the royal family of God honour code, which includes three basic factors: privacy of the priesthood as the basis of spiritual freedom—live and let live; compatibility with the grace policy of the justice of God; total dependence upon the integrity of God.
Verse 10 – “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love.” The Greek sentence begins with the word “brotherly love,” the dative of reference singular from filadelfia. The verse actually begins with the phrase, “With reference to your brotherly love.” The definite article used as a personal pronoun precedes it. This brotherly love is simply a relaxed mental attitude toward those of the royal family of God, the attitude which excludes any mental attitude sins toward others and adds to that the principle of the privacy of the other believer. There is no verb in this sentence and therefore the present active imperative of the verb to be is inserted, e)imi—“be.” Then the predicate nominative plural from the compound adjective filostorgoj [filoj = love; storgh = natural affection] which means here “devoted.” This is in the sense of family affection. Plus the prepositional phrase indicating that this is a relationship with other believers: e)ij plus the accusative plural from the reciprocal pronoun a)llhlon—“to each other.”
Principle: Brotherly love in the royal family of God is not demonstrative, not emotional, not friendly. It is a recognition of two things: the imputation of divine righteousness at salvation and respect for that righteousness as a part of the application. And it is recognition of the privacy of the royal priesthood, therefore the fulfilling of the royal family honour code. This is not hypocrisy, instead it is a relaxed mental attitude toward other believers.
“in honour preferring one another” – the dative singular of reference from timh, and should be translated “with reference to honour.” Every believer has honour because of imputed righteousness. The royal family honour code has many principles. This is the principle of live and let live. Then a present middle participle from the verb prohgeomai [pro = before; hgeomai = to lead, to take the lead] means to esteem, to esteem someone more highly than yourself or to simply esteem highly—“let each one esteem others more highly than self.” The present tense is a retroactive progressive present, it denotes what has happened in the past when the believer begins to understand the royal family honour code and to function under it in the ministry of the Spirit. The middle voice: this is a deponent verb, middle in form and active in meaning. The believers as royal family produces the action of the verb in the function of the honour code. The participle is the imperative use of the participle, it is an order. With this is the accusative plural direct object from the reciprocal pronoun a)llahlon meaning other members of the royal family of God. This is the antithesis of inordinate competition.
Translation: “With reference to your brotherly love be devoted to each other; with reference to your honour esteem others more highly than yourself.”
The imperative use of the participle is an idiom and it means to make it a matter of honour to give precedence to others.
1. The royal family honour code demands that each believer avoids maligning, judging, nitpicking, implacable criticism, trying to put down another member of the royal family of God.
2. There is no place for either mental attitude or verbal sins directed toward other believers.
3. Therefore each believer is honour bound by the code of the royal family to avoid gossip, maligning, judging, malicious criticism of another believer.
4. This excludes authority relationship such as parents to children, Christian management to labour, pastor to congregation.
5. Vengeance or getting even is prohibited by the royal family honour code.
6. There is no place for pettiness in the function of the honour code, no place for inordinate competition, no place for expression of hang-ups.
7. The very status of the royal family in the Church Age demands the honour code. In effect, the honour code is a super morality. It is a code in which deference and precedence is converted into the privacy of the royal priesthood.
8. The practical application of judicial imputation #2 is, then, the royal family honour code in which each believer respects the residence of God’s righteousness in other believers by avoiding mental and verbal sins and therefore living and letting live.
Verse 11 – the modus operandi of the royal ambassadorship.
1. No production in the Christian life is designed to obtain blessing from God.
2. All production is the function of the royal ambassadorship of the believer.
3. Therefore production in the Christian life is a manifestation of God’s appointment of each believer in the status of royal ambassador.
4. All blessing from God is imputed from the attribute of justice to the attribute of divine righteousness.
5. Therefore, any form of production as a means of blessing is excluded.
6. The imputation of blessing in time occurs when the believer has the capacity for such blessing through the attainment of maturity adjustment to the justice of God.
7. Advance to maturity occurs only through grace perception of Bible doctrine.
8. Maximum accumulation of doctrine in the soul plus resident doctrine in the human spirit—this results in the construction of the ECS—produces the prerequisite for divine blessing as an imputation from the justice of God toe the righteousness of God.
9. The royal family honour code excludes all forms of Christian works or production from being a source of divine blessing.
10. Nothing the believer does, legitimate or legalistic, can bring one blessing from God; for divine blessing is an imputation from God’s perfect justice to God’s perfect righteousness. Therefore such imputation glorifies God.
11. There are many Biblical commands to service and production, but these commands are related to the function of ambassadorship and not the means of blessing the believer.
12. It is therefore imperative to understand the believer’s royal ambassadorship as a means of production and full time Christian service.
13. Christian production is not motivated for blessing from God, but Christian works and service are the result of the normal function of the believer’s ambassadorship.
14. This means that all who are born again are in full time Christian service.
15. Full time Christian service, then, is not the decision of the believer but the appointment of God.
16. This appointment occurs at salvation and functions through the progress of the spiritual life.
17. Christian service and production is a sign of advance in the Christian life but not the means of advance.
18. Only Bible doctrine resident in the soul can advance the believer. Therefore to appreciate and understand the meaning of this verse 11 it is necessary to learn something about the ambassadorship of the believer.[8]
“Not slothful in business” – the dative of reference singular from the noun spoudh,
which in the Attic Greek means haste, speed or zeal. But in the Koine it means that which must be done. Herodotis used it for a rapid military manoeuvre. It comes to mean application, diligence. It is translated “With reference to application” – of doctrine to the circumstances of life. Then the negative o)u which denies the fact, used with the indicative mood, plus the present active imperative of e)imi—“do not.” The predicate nominative from the adjective o)knhroj follows, it means indolence, idle, lazy. It connotes hesitation through weariness, sloth, fear, and sometimes even bashfulness. Here it means negligent, “do not be negligent.” “With reference to application of doctrine, do not be negligent.” You cannot apply doctrine unless you store doctrine, so if you are negative toward doctrine then you are negligent in application.
Principle
1. Since the royal ambassadorship emphasises production in the Christian way of life, and since doctrine resident in the soul is the means of that production, the negative command is necessary not only to avoid the devil’s triangle but to have legitimate production in royal ambassadorship.
2. Application of doctrine is impossible without cognisance of doctrine.
3. Therefore knowledge of doctrine must precede any production in the Christian way of life.
4. Production minus the filling of the Spirit and cognisance of doctrine is human good.
“fervent in spirit” – the dative singular of reference from pneuma, referring to God the Holy Spirit, plus the generic use of the definite article emphasising the
fact that this is God the Holy Spirit who is unique as eternal God. Then the present active participle of zew which means to boil—“with reference to the Spirit, boil.” It also means to be zealous, to be ardent. Actually, it is nothing more or less than a command to be filled with the Spirit. The word zew is used twice in the New Testament for the filling of the Spirit, cf. Acts 18:25. This is the customary present tense which denotes what habitually occurs when the believer is consistent with the rebound technique. The active voice: the believer produces the action of the verb when he rebounds. The participle is used here for the imperative—“with reference to the Spirit be zealous.”
“serving the Lord” – the function of the ambassadorship, not the function of the priesthood. The function of the priesthood: advance to maturity; function of ambassadorship: serve the Lord. This is the dative singular indirect object from kurioj, used for deity. With it is the generic use of the definite article to emphasise the uniqueness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the God-Man, the unique person of the universe. The dative of indirect object indicates the one in whose interest all ambassadorship service is conducted. So we have, “when serving the Lord,” for we have a temporal present active participle from doulouw which means to serve. Notice that the temporal participle says when serving the Lord, which means you are not serving the Lord every minute. Therefore the temporal participle demands sanity when living the Christian way of life—sanity, balance and stability. Don’t be a screwball! The iterative present describes what recurs at successive intervals in the life of the royal ambassador. The active voice: the believer as the royal ambassador produces the action of the verb. The participle is temporal.
Translation: “With reference to application of doctrine do not be negligent with reference to the Holy Spirit; be zealous when serving the Lord.”
Serving the Lord is only a part of full time Christian service; it includes many other things. You have to take in doctrine, which is not serving the Lord; it is preparing to serve the Lord when service occurs.
Verse 12 – “Rejoicing in hope.” This is our life, our capacity for life, our way of life. The first word in the Greek is the definite article th, a dative singular of reference. The generic use indicates that we have something special here. The dative of reference is simply translated “With reference to the.” The next word is the dative of reference singular from the noun e)lpij—“With reference to the hope.” There are three possibilities. The first hope is confident anticipation that when you believe in Christ you have eternal life, but that is not the hope here. We have passed that hope. Hope is always replaced by the reality. When the reality comes the hope is over. When we crack the maturity barrier we lose our second hope because we now have the reality rather than the confident anticipation of blessing. Reality means you must now have a new hope, and in life you can only have three hopes: #1, confident anticipation of salvation through faith in Christ; #2, confident anticipation of blessing in time at the point of maturity and thereafter; #3, confident anticipation of blessing and reward at the judgment seat of Christ. The third hope is the one in view for mature believers and is the one this verse is dealing with. So e)lpij here means hope in the sense of expectation or prospect of the future. It does not mean uncertainty. Hope in the Bible, e)lpij, never means uncertainty. Next comes the present active participle of xairw which means to rejoice or to be happy. The progressive present tense signifies action in progress or in a state of persistence in present time—linear aktionsart. The active voice: the mature believer produces the action of the verb by having the third hope.[9] This was written from the viewpoint of the mature believer. “With reference to the hope, be rejoicing.” This is the imperative use of the participle here and is peculiar to the Koine Greek and to the papyri.
“patient in tribulation” – undeserved suffering is a part of the imputation of blessing in time. More than that, undeserved suffering gives us the eternal perspective in a period of prosperity. Undeserved suffering refocuses to the perspective of the future in a time of great blessing and prosperity. This equals the third hope: absolute confidence that when we stand in a resurrection body at the judgment seat of Christ we will receive great blessing and reward which is the seventh imputation, the means of glorifying God forever. The phrase begins with the dative of reference singular from the noun qliyij which means pressure, undeserved suffering in this case. Plus the present active participle from the compound verb u(pomenw which means to remain, to stay behind, to remain instead of fleeing, to wait for someone, to stand still, to stand fast, to stand form against a hostile attack. Translation: “with reference to the pressure of undeserved suffering, stand fast.” The present tense is an aoristic present for punctiliar action in present time. Here the undeserved suffering is anticipated in the present time as a part of the imputation of divine blessing at maturity. The active voice: the mature believer produces the action of the verb in time of undeserved suffering.
Principle
1. Standing fast in undeserved suffering involves faith-resting the 3rd hope, the utilisation of the confidence found in the 3rd hope. That hope is absolute confidence about a future thing, something that has not yet occurred. The believer who has cracked the maturity barrier from time to time is going to receive undeserved suffering as a part of his blessing. This undeserved suffering merely stimulates his confidence in the future, knowing that at the resurrection he will stand to receive his great rewards.
2. Undeserved suffering is imputed as blessing from the justice of God. Therefore it requires an entirely different attitude. There is no redress of grievance when the justice of God provides undeserved suffering to the mature believer. Undeserved suffering from the justice of God demands that the mature believer stand fast. Hence, undeserved suffering acts as a stimulus to the third hope as a laser beam penetrating into eternity, penetrating beyond the barriers of time.
3. The mature believer in the midst of prosperity may lose his focus with regard to eternal reward and blessing, therefore the justice of God provides undeserved suffering designed to refocus on eternity.
“continuing instant in prayer” – present active participle from the compound verb
proskarterew [proj = face to face with; katerew = endure] which means persist. In time of undeserved suffering you can’t run around and complain but you do have one thing open to you: prayer. Then the locative singular of sphere from the noun proseuxh which means prayer. The principle is that maximum exploitation of prayer is the prerogative of the mature believer. This exploitation reaches its peak when you are standing fast in a period of undeserved suffering. Prayer is a grace instrument of great power in the hands of a mature believer.
Translation: “With reference to hope [3rd hope], be rejoicing; with reference to the pressure of undeserved suffering, stand fast; persist in prayer.”
Verse 13 – the fellowship of the royal family of God. “Distributing to the necessity of saints” – the present active participle from the verb koinwnew which means to share, to have a share, and also to contribute. The present tense is a perfective present, it denotes the continuation of existing results in the mature believer related to blessing by association. The progressive present says “Contribute.” The active voice: the mature believer produces the action of the verb. The participle is the imperative participle, used exclusively in the Koine and the papyri type Greek. It is translated “Contribute to.” It emphasises the fact that mature believers have something to contribute to other believers in their periphery. The pivot of the local church is made up of its mature believers and their very presence in the local church is a means of blessing. They are not any particular category in the local church, they are found in all categories. They are simply people who have cracked the maturity barrier. Some might not bee seen to be doing anything, but their very presence becomes the basis of blessing by association. Then the dative plural indirect object from xreia. It indicates the ones in whose interest the blessing by association is performed. All believers are blessed if there is any mature believer in their periphery. The dative plural indirect object means the needs. “Contribute to the needs.” At first this may seem to indicate giving money to people. It does not exclude that but it is much greater than that. It means basically you contribute to the needs of others by reaching maturity yourself. Your greatest contribution to other people is to take in doctrine on a daily basis until you have cracked the maturity barrier. A mature believer will be prospered in so many ways that he is now in a position to be gracious and generous and helpful to others. Next is a descriptive genitive plural from a(gioj referring to believers in general. It is translated “saints” but that means royal family.
1. This is obeyed by your intake of doctrine, reaching maturity yourself.
2. It is obeyed after you reach maturity by the sharing of whatever blessing God has provided for you, when the occasion arises. This also relates to your spiritual gift as well.
“given to hospitality” – the present active participle of diwkw which means to pursue, to aspire to. It is translated “be pursuing.” The progressive present is linear aktionsart—“keep on pursuing.” The active voice: the mature believer produces the action of the verb. This doesn’t mean that you can’t be hospitable until you reach maturity, far from it. The participle is an imperative participle. It is an order. The accusative singular direct object is filocenia—“hospitality”—“be pursuing the hospitality.”
Translation: “Contribute to the needs of the saints; be pursuing the hospitality.”
Principle
1. In verse 13 are two imperatives. These are imperative participles and they emphasise a command to mature believers, a command which is related to the principle of blessing by association.[10] Refreshment is a part of the principle.[11]
2. Blessing by association is category #3 in the imputation of divine blessing to the mature believer.
3. Blessing by association is the overflow of divine blessing to those in the periphery of the mature believer.
4. Blessing by association belongs to the believer who has attained spiritual maturity.
5. Spiritual maturity is the time of the 6th imputation blessing. Inasmuch as all spiritual maturity is attained through maximum doctrine resident in the soul this begins, then, with the gift of pastor-teacher. No one can exceed the spiritual growth of his own pastor, hence it all begins with the pastoral periphery.
Verse 14 – “Bless them which persecute you” begins with the present active imperative of the verb e)ulogew, and it does not mean to bless. It ordinarily means to speak well of someone. The present tense is a descriptive present, sometimes called a pictorial present because it presents to the mind a picture of events in the process of occurrence—being under great pressure of persecution and speaking well of the persecutor. The active voice: the mature believer produces the action of the verb as a part of his objectivity and poise. To be objective where your enemies are concerned is certainly the test of objectivity. Poise and presence under persecution always leaves the matter in the Lord’s hands so that the justice of God can deal directly with the matter. Next is the accusative plural direct object from the definite article used as a near demonstrative, and it should be translated “Speak well of those.” Plus the present active participle of the verb diwkw. In the previous verse this word meant to pursue in a good sense, but here in a bad sense—persecute. While you pursue hospitality you are being pursued by those who follow the Satanic policy of good and evil. There are always do-gooders, those who feel that their job in life is to mind everyone else’s business, who persecute in the sense of telling you how to live your life, how to dress, what to do, etc. There is no personal pronoun in the Greek, though it is implied—“you.” “Speak well of those who persecute you” does not mean that every time someone runs you down you have to say something nice about it, it merely indicates the application of pressure of your life. The pressure does not reach your soul; the self-consciousness is not damaged by the pressure; your mentality understands it. Some of the worst persecution comes from those who have no authority in life at all: believers in local churches.
“bless and curse not” – present active imperative of the same verb. The verb is repeated because this is the application of the relaxed mental attitude of poise and objectivity in the soul. This time it is the retroactive progressive present denoting what begins at maturity and continues throughout one’s life when undeserved suffering occurs. The active voice: the mature believer produces the action of the verb. The imperative is the imperative of command, “keep on speaking well.” It doesn’t mean that you always speak, but speaking covers two factors. Always it covers what you think, then what you say. What you think is indicated by what you say. In the worst pressures of life you must think. You cannot become one who emotes. Next comes the connective kai, “and,” plus the final command, the negative mh with katakraomai which means to curse, to implicate, to wish evil. It is an antagonistic attitude. You cannot become antagonistic in pressure situations and still think. And think you must under pressure. This is an aoristic present for reaction, reaction under pressure; punctiliar action in present time. It means you react in a way which indicates that you have no function of the mentality under pressure. The middle voice: this is a deponent verb, it is middle in form but active in meaning. Only the mature believer can do this because he has enough doctrine to do it. The imperative is the imperative of prohibition.
Translation: “Speak well of those that persecute you, and do not curse them.”
1. There is no greater test of poise and objectivity than when under fire of antagonism and persecution, or when you are in a situation where people are observing you and expect the best for you and where you have a hang-up of arrogance.
2. For the believer this objectivity keeps the matter in the Lord’s hands, recognising the function of the justice of God as far more capable of dealing with the matter.
3. Furthermore, such hostility and persecution is for the mature believer undeserved suffering designed to stimulate the function of hope for the future blessings which are far greater.
4. Undeserved suffering is that laser beam which penetrates the barriers of time into the eternal future as it ignites and stimulates the third hope. Inevitably the whole matter brings the believer around to the principle of occupation with Christ.
Verse 15 – rapport in the royal family of God. Rapport means relationship; a relationship of harmony, conformity, accord, and affinity. It does not mean to cater—to self-pity, to introversion. It does mean to share the same capacity for life, mental attitude, integrity and esprit décor. Rapport depends on the filling of the Spirit, and it is becomes an extension of the honour code. There is no rapport without mutual positive volition toward doctrine. Doctrine is the basis for true rapport.
“Rejoice with them who rejoice” – present active infinitive of xairw, the word for rejoice. It also means to be glad, to be delighted, to be happy; plus it is used as a greeting in the second person singular present active imperative. The present tense is a progressive present which denotes a state of persistence or linear aktionsart. The active voice: the believer produces the action of the verb, especially the advancing or mature believer. The infinitive is used as the imperative, as per Classical Greek. Then the prepositional phrase meta plus the genitive plural of the present active participle of xairw—“with those who rejoice.” The present tense is an aoristic present, meaning they aren’t going to rejoice very long but while they are happy, be happy with them. Rapport must be compatibility with the mood of the moment. Translation: “Rejoice with those who rejoice.” Rapport is sharing the enthusiasms of others, but also rapport is being aware of the moods of others. This is a passage of rapport, not copying, not aping someone else.
The word “and” is not found in the original. This is merely the other side of rapport. There is the present active infinitive of klaiw which doesn’t mean simply to cry but to be expressing an unhappy situation: bad news, disaster, whatever it is. The progressive present denotes a state of persistence. The active voice: the believer is producing the action. The infinitive is again the imperative infinitive. Plus the preposition meta, the genitive plural present active participle of klaiw again—“weep with those who weep.” Weeping is used in the sense of hurting for some reason.
Translation: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”
Rapport with those who are suffering or in agony requires even more doctrine than the first command, so really it is an advance. If people are sad, disturbed, upset because they are in suffering for some reason, and you walk in, you cannot have rapport with them unless you have some depth to you. This doesn’t mean to work up a cry, it has to do with the person who has depth from the honour code, depth from doctrine, to enter into the same mood, to slip in and be a part of the picture without being stupid. This is simply harmony and rapport for believers in their time of trouble. It is rapport of sympathy which does not include any emotional binge in which self-pity is encouraged so that one feels sorry for himself even more than before.
Verse 16 – “Be of the same mind one toward another.” The present active participle of the verb fronew means to think. This verse does not mean that your thinking should form into a cookie cutter and that you should think exactly the same as someone else thinks. This word means to think, and it also means to hold an opinion. The present tense is a progressive present, it indicates action in a state of persistence. The active voice: the believer produces the action of the verb in obedience to the divine command. The participle is the imperative use peculiar to Koine Greek, this is a command—“Keep thinking.” Then the accusative neuter singular direct object from the attributive use of the intensive pronoun a)utoj, translated “the same.” The attributive intensive pronoun is comparable to an adjective, and adjective without a noun, an adjective not qualifying a noun for the noun has to be implied by the passage. So we must put in something which is comparable. “Be thinking the same mental attitude.” Not the same things, not the same thoughts, but be thinking in the sphere of the same mental attitude. Believers are required to have the same mental attitude. This thinking falls into categories. First there is thinking toward God, then there is thinking toward self—the analysing of your own life in the light of the standards of Bible doctrine. Then there is thinking about others. Then comes a prepositional phrase, e)ij plus the accusative plural from the reciprocal pronoun a)llhlon—“toward one another.” Whatever your thoughts about another believer may be, your thinking must enshroud that person in privacy.
“Mind not high things” – the present active participle of fronew which brings us back to thought, this time with the negative mh used with the participle to indicate that this is an imperative participle. This is an imperative of prohibition. It is a descriptive present tense plus the negative indicating what should not be going on. The active voice: the believer produces the action as a member of the royal family of God becoming cognisant of the honour code. The accusative neuter plural direct object from the adjective u(yhloj means high, lofty elevation. It speaks here of arrogance, high things referring to arrogant ambition. “Do not be thinking in terms of arrogance.” Arrogance is the great enemy to the royal family honour code, to living the Christian life.
“but condescend to men of low degree” – the adversative conjunction a)lla sets up a contrast that eliminates arrogance, “but.” Plus the present middle participle from sunapagw [sun = with; apagw = to lead away] which means to seduce; in the passive voice it means to be carried off. In the middle voice it means to associate—“but associate.” The present tense is a progressive present, it indicates action in a state of persistence. The middle voice is an indirect middle in which the agent, the royal family under the honour code produces the action rather than participating in the results. This is the imperative participle. Then the dative of association plural tapeinoj, which means not just humble folk but people who in your estimation are humble folk, people you would not associate with if you were trying to advance yourself.
“Be not wise in your own conceits” – the present active imperative of ginomai, plus the negative mh which is used because we have in this case an imperative mood (If it was the negative o)u it would be the indicative) – “Stop becoming.” The present tense is a pictorial present for events in the process of occurrence. The active voice: the royal family of God is prohibited from producing the action of the verb as a part of the honour code. Plus the predicate nominative plural from fronimoj which means to have a thought that entrances you, that makes you think that because you have that thought you are great. In other words, it is pseudo wisdom. “Stop being wise” means that you must learn to distinguish between what is Bible doctrine and what is your own opinion. Then the preposition para plus the locative plural from the reflexive pronoun e(autou – an idiom meaning “in your own estimation.” You cannot function under the honour code and be arrogant.
Translation: “Be thinking the same toward each other. Do not be thinking in terms of arrogance, but associate with humble people. Stop being wise in your own estimation.”
1. To assume what you are not is to be what you cannot be.
2. To be what you cannot be is to hinder being what God wants you to be.
3. Arrogance and resultant snobbishness keeps the believer off-balance and disoriented to the plan of God.
4. To be or not to be is not the question! Rather, not to be so as to be is the issue.
5. By not being arrogant and conceited the believer has removed the barrier to be what God wants us to be as royal family under the honour code.
6. The arrogance is inordinately ambitious. Inordinately ambitious believers are incapable of genuine affection, a relaxed mental attitude, and cannot fulfil the honour code.
7. Inordinate ambition is either trying to prove something or gain something.
8. Arrogant people are poor lovers, poor achievers, and disoriented people.
9. The grace mental attitude from maximum doctrine resident in the soul avoids the pitfalls of arrogance and disassociation from reality.
10. Capacity for life demands cognisance of the imperatives of this verse. Capacity for life is related to the royal family honour code.
11. The prerequisite for thinking of the interrelationship with people demands right thinking toward God.
12. Right thinking toward God is impossible apart from Bible doctrine resident in the soul. This means that the natural trend toward arrogance must be displaced by doctrine and replaced by the function of the honour code.
Verse 17 – “Recompense to no man evil for evil” begins with the present active participle of the verb a)podidomi [a)po = from; didomi = to give] which means to give back, to restore, to pay back, refund. Here it means to pay back in the sense of revenge. Plus the locative of time mhdeij, never or in no way—“Never pay back.” The present tense is a customary present, it denotes what habitually occurs in the function of the mature believer in the field of his integrity. The active voice: the mature believer customarily produces the action of the verb in regard to the royal family honour code. The participle is the imperative use of the participle, peculiar to the Koine Greek. Plus the accusative singular direct object from kakoj, the word for evil used here for the modus operandi of the reversionist. By paying back evil for evil you lower yourself to the standards of the one you despise; you are no better; you abandon the royal family honour code. The prepositional phrase is a)nti plus the ablative singular from kakoj is a substitutionary preposition meaning “instead of,” but it also means against. Here it becomes an idiom for evil.
1. Revenge and retaliation is a major violation of the royal family honour code.
2. First, it causes the positive or mature believer to abandon his own standards, the royal family honour code, by violating the privacy of another’s priesthood.
3. Secondly, it results in the mature believer lowering his own standards to that of the reversionist.
4. To lower one’s self to someone else’s standards by taking revenge is tantamount to blasphemy: failure to trust the justice of God to do the job.
5. Furthermore, this becomes a distraction to perception of doctrine which hinders the possibility of the believer advancing to maturity and keeps the mature believer from progressing from one stage of maturity to the next.
6. Further, it brings down divine discipline on the believer who tries to seek revenge, to retaliate.
7. Evil is the standard and the function of the reversionistic believer. Therefore evil must be avoided at all times.
8. Revenge and retaliation abandons the royal family honour code in favour of the function of evil.
9. Retaliation brings down compound discipline from the justice of God for interfering with the function of divine justice.
10. But above all retaliation and revenge is arrogance. It is a way of saying you can do a better job of righting wrongs than God can.
“Provide things honest in the sight of all men” – the present middle participle of pronoew [pro = before; noew = think] which means to think of beforehand, to apply one’s self to a thing, to strive to exhibit, the perceive in advance, to think in advance. It finally comes to mean “have regard for” or “respect.” Here it means to respect. The customary present tense denotes what habitually occurs in the function of the mature believer’s integrity. This is an indirect middle voice in which the positive or mature believer produces the action of the verb rather than participating in the result. Plus the accusative neuter plural direct object from the adjective kaloj. Because it is in the neuter gender and because it is in the plural it means honourable—“Respect what is honourable.” Then the improper preposition e)nwpion plus paj, plus a)nqrwpoj—“in the sight of all men.” This means respect for divine establishment. It means that part of the royal family honour code is respect for all principles of authority.
Translation: “Never pay back evil for evil. Respect what is honourable in the sight of all men.”
Verses 18-20, the function of the royal family honour code.
Verse 18 – “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you.” All of the possibilities of life lie within you. There is no such thing as a miracle as far as the spiritual life is concerned, it is strictly a matter of capacity. This begins with the conditional conjunction e)i—“If.” Whenever it includes the indicative in a verb, or an implied indicative, it is called the protasis of a first class condition, which means “if and it is true.” Plus the nominative neuter plural from dunatoj, a word for power used here as a predicate nominative, implying that we have no verb at this point. It is translated with the verb to be, “If it is possible [and it is].” All of the potentialities and the possibilities of life are possible but they are impossible to the extent that you are ignorant of doctrine, for it is knowledge of doctrine that gives capacity for life, capacity for happiness, capacity for blessing, capacity for everything that is worthwhile. Without capacity everything in life is meaningless, even if you have it. The function of the royal family honour code combines with the filling of the Spirit with the perception of doctrine making everything possible. The word “possible” in this passage is a synonym for capacity. The next phrase in the Greek is literally, “the from you part” – to e)c u(mwn. This is the accusative of general reference from the definite article to, then the preposition e)k plus the ablative from su. This is an idiom and it means “as much as it depends on you.” This means that the believer has to live his own life. No one can drive for you in the Christian life, so stop depending on others to be you chauffeur.
“live peaceably with all men” – the present active participle of e)irhneuw. It means to be at peace but it also means to live in harmony, to reconcile, to live in peace, to keep the peace. Living in harmony means that you have to be very thoughtful of others. You have to have the honour code sensitivity about other people. You have to get away from being selfish and self-centred. It refers here to living in harmony or living in peace with all men. The customary present denotes what habitually occurs or may be reasonably expected to occur in the life of a mature believer. The active voice: the believer who is positive toward doctrine and/or the mature believer produces the action of the verb. This is an imperative participle. Then another prepositional phrase, meta plus the genitive plural of paj and a)nqrwpoj—“with all mankind.” This means harmony, it is based on the principle of live and let live. Harmony demands as its basic fundamental that you recognise the privacy of other people. Privacy is the key to freedom.
Translation: “If it is possible [and it is], as much as it depends on you, live in harmony with all men.”
1. It is not always possible to live in harmony with all people because they do not live under the royal family honour code. Therefore, when it is impossible to live in harmony with others then other principles must apply, ranging from separation to excommunication.
2. To do your part, to obey the command of the apodosis, it is necessary to rebound, to be filled with the Spirit, and to take in doctrine consistently.
3. This results in living under the honour code of “love the brethren,” which means a relaxed mental attitude toward all believers.
Verse 19 – non-retaliation when tempted. “Dearly beloved” is the vocative plural of a)gaphtoj, and adjective used as a substantive meaning “beloved ones.” It refers strictly to God’s attitude toward you. This is a reference to the fact that God loves every believer because every believer has His righteousness.
“avenge not yourselves” – the negative mh with the present active participle of e)kdikew which means to punish, to procure justice for someone, to take vengeance on someone—“never avenge yourselves” or “never take your own revenge.” The best translation is “stop avenging yourselves.” This is a descriptive present for what is now going on at the time of writing in the Roman church. The Roman believers were taking matters into their own hands rather than leaving them to the justice of God. This is an imperative participle plus the negative and it means stop doing this terrible thing. Plus the accusative plural direct object from the reflexive pronoun e(autou—“yourselves.”
“give place unto wrath” – the adversative conjunction a)lla sets up a contrast between the failure of the Roman believers and what is required, the standard of the royal family honour code. Then the aorist active imperative of the verb didomi which means to give. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. The active voice: the royal family honour code demands that the believer leave retaliation in the hands of the justice of God. This is the imperative mood of entreaty which does not convey the finality of a command but has the force of an urgency or a request. In other words, volition must be involved. It should be translated “instead give.” Then the accusative singular direct object from topoj, “place,” plus the dative singular indirect object from the definite article to denote a previous reference to the wrath of God, plus the dative singular indirect object from the noun o)rgh—anger or wrath. It also means punishment: “instead give place to the punishment of the justice of God.” Always defer to the justice of God when you are tempted to take vengeance.
1. By leaving the matter in the Lord’s hands perfect justice will be administered by perfect God.
2. When the believer takes personal retaliation he takes the matter out of the Lord’s hands.
3. The royal family honour code demands that the matter be placed in the Lord’s hands for satisfaction. Personal satisfaction is no satisfaction.
4. Satisfaction means the administration of punitive action from the justice of God.
5. Most honour codes of aristocracy demand satisfaction through duelling, but the honour code of the royal family demands that satisfaction be administered by the justice of God.
6. The justice of God possesses all the facts and never makes an error in judgment.
7. All royal family squabbles demand the action of the justice of God rather than revenge or retaliatory tactics of imperfect human beings.
8. Two wrongs do not make a right. Retaliation is the prerogative of divine justice, therefore to add wrong to wrong brings down divine wrath and punitive action on your own head rather than divine discipline on the one who wronged you.
9. The royal family honour code demands that all retaliation and all revenge be left to the function of the justice of God.
“for it is written” – the conjunction gar is used to express a cause or reason. This means that we have documentation for this stage of the honour code. Then the perfect passive indicative of the verb grafw. It means to write and in the perfect tense it is correctly translated “for it stands written.” The perfect tense is an intensive perfect, it emphasises the existing results of a finished product, namely the Old Testament canon having been completed at this time. This is the perfect tense of existing state. The Old Testament Scriptures are recognised here by the apostle Paul as canonical. The passive voice: we have the mechanics of inspiration which receive the action of the verb in documentation. Paul is quoting from Deuteronomy 32:35.
“Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” – in quoting this from the Hebrew to the Greek the apostle Paul selects for the word “vengeance” the nominative singular from the noun e)kdikhsij, and it means punishment rather than vengeance. The word “vengeance” is used in a negative sense for someone who is retaliating, but it is used here in a positive sense for the administration of punishment from the justice of God. In the idiom which follows, the dative singular indirect object from the personal pronoun e)gw, which is literally “punishment to me,” is an idiom: “punishment belongs to me.” The punishment belongs to the justice of God. Then comes a second use of the nominative singular personal pronoun e)gw—“I,” plus the future active indicative from the compound verb a)ntapodiomi [a)nt = against; apodidomi = to discharge an obligation, to pay back] which means “will repay.” The future tense is a predictive future, it predicts an event which is expected to occur in future time, after you have been wronged. This is an aoristic future for punctiliar action in future time—the function of divine justice in discharging the obligation of punishment when you have been wronged. You must leave the punishment in the hands of the Lord. The active voice: the justice of God produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement of fact.
“saith the Lord” – the present active indicative of legw is used simply as a verb of communication. In the futuristic present is denoted an event which has not yet occurred but is regarded as so certain in thought that it will occur in the future from the justice of God. The active voice: the justice of God produces the action. The indicative mood is declarative for an unqualified assertion of fact, it represents the verbal idea from the viewpoint of reality.
Translation: “Stop avenging yourselves, beloved; instead give place to the punishment from the justice of God: for it stands written, Punishment belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”
Deuteronomy 32:35 – “Retaliation [vengeance] belongs to me, and retribution; in due time their foot will slip. For the day of their calamity is near, and the impending things of judgment are hastened upon them. Verse 36 – “For the Lord will vindicate his own . . .”
Psalm 94:1,2 – O Lord God of vengeance; the God of vengeance has shown forth. Rise up O judge of the earth; render recompense to the arrogant.”
Isaiah 33:22 – “The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will deliver us.”
Hebrews 10:30 – “For we know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay. And again, the Lord will judge his people.”
1. Justice belongs to the God of justice. God has the monopoly on justice and does not need our help in the function of retaliation and punishment.
2. Therefore it is
part of the royal family honour code and an extension of the faith-rest
technique to leave punishment in the hands of perfect God who administers
perfect justice.
3. The royal family honour code emphasises the privacy of the believer to live
his own life as unto the Lord. This includes punishment and discipline.
4. By taking the matter into one’s own hands means interference with the justice of God and violation of the privacy of the royal priesthood.
5. Revenge or retaliation is therefore a direct violation of the royal family honour code. When you violate the honour code, you are punished by God.
6. Under the honour code you cannot work for blessing, nor retaliate for revenge.
7. The justice of God has monopoly on both blessing and cursing.
8. Either you adjust to the justice of God or the justice of God will adjust to you.
9. Revenge is maladjustment to the justice of God, punishable by extreme discipline.
Verse 20 – this is Christian sarcasm. You feed your enemies so that they will be nice and healthy when God lowers the boom! “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him.” This is not your bleeding heart liberal do-gooder, this is the epitome of Christian sophistication. When you feed your enemy you have fulfilled one of the greatest pieces of sarcasm without retaliating. This begins with the adversative particle a)lla which is usually translated “but.” However, it is translated here when whole clauses are compared to indicate a transition to something. This is a transition to sarcasm; it is not inference. The word is “Nevertheless.” This is for those who not only have enough doctrine to turn the matter over to the Lord for punishment, but to enjoy a little sanctified sarcasm on the side. The conditional conjunction e)i is used with the subjunctive mood. It introduces a third class condition of sarcasm. The sarcasm: he may not live long enough to be hungry or thirsty. But should God be keeping him alive for some other purpose—to test a few other believers to see if they can pass the test—feed him. So the third class condition says, If he lives long enough, feed him.
Next comes the nominative singular subject e)xqroj which means someone who is hostile to you, not necessarily an enemy. This is an adjective meaning hated or hostile, it is translated in the KJV as a substantive for a personal enemy but with the definite article it should be translated, “Nevertheless if the one hostile.” Then a dative singular of possession, a Greek idiom for the personal pronoun su. The dative of possession is a dative of personal interest which particularises the point of ownership. Plus the present active subjunctive peinaw which means to be hungry. This is a pictorial present tense whose distinctive force is to present to the mind a picture of an event in the process of occurrence. The active voice: the positive/mature believer produces the action of the verb as a part of the royal family honour code. The subjunctive mood is a potential subjunctive, it implies a future reference and is qualified by the element of contingency. The one who is hostile or an enemy may have been removed from this life by divine discipline prior to fulfilling this principle of the honour code.
Why are we told to feed this person? It has nothing to do with socialism. This has to do with someone who is personally antagonistic toward you. It means that the royal family honour code has a system of function which is far greater than any morality than any that has ever been put down on paper, including the ten commandments. The RFHC expects more from the believer than any system of reality. Only the believer with maximum doctrine in his soul can feed his enemy. This is far beyond what the laws of divine establishment demand of all of us. This is a command, the present active imperative from ywmizw. It doesn’t necessarily mean to feed him by getting to sit down to dinner with you, though that is one way of doing it. It can be accomplished by giving him food or supplying him food. The present tense is an aoristic present for punctiliar action in present time. The active voice: the believer functions under the royal family honour code to produce this action and not under any system of morality. The imperative mood: this is the imperative of a direct command. Plus the accusative singular direct object from the intensive pronoun a)utoj, used here as the third person pronoun.
Principle
1. The modus operandi of the RFHC demands grace function. This is grace function.
2. By feeding a hungry enemy the positive/mature believer leaves all hostility in the hands of the Lord.
3. This dependence on the integrity of God to deal with your enemies rather than revenge tactics and retaliation.
4. Your attitude of grace in feeding your enemy does not depend on who and what your enemy is, it depends on who and what you are.
5. The honour code never commands the believer to stoop to the level of the vindictive and implacable enemy.
6. The benefits of grace demand the function of grace.
7. Retaliation interferes with the justice of God in punishing another.
8. Retaliation lowers the believer to the standard of his enemy.
9. Never reduce yourself to the level of what you despise in others.
10. Revenge and retaliation lowers your norms and standards to the level of evil, pettiness, implacability, vindictiveness, etc.
11. Never stoop to the level of evil for the honour code demands the high standards of grace.
12. Grace demands that you leave all matters of enmity and hostility in the hands of God.
Proverbs 25:21,22—“If the one who hates you is hungry, give him food to eat; furthermore, if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.” The burning coals is punishment from the justice of God; divine reward is not from feeding your enemy but because you have a status of maturity which demands such blessing.
“if he thirst, give him to drink” – the conditional conjunction e)an introduces the protasis of a third class condition. Then the present active subjunctive of diyaw which means to be thirsty in the sense of being dehydrated. This is to find someone who is hostile toward you in a critical situation where you have then opportunity of saving their life. In the case of thirst it is a matter of being close to death and in this case you actually preserve the life of the individual. Why? Because of who and what you are, not because of who and what they are. God often tests the believer by placing his enemies under the power of the believer. How the believer handles that power determines how his life will function thereafter. If he is the kind of a person who abuses such a power then he will never see it again; he will be disciplined. But if he can take authority and use it in the manner of objectivity then that authority will be a future blessing. This is the aoristic present tense for punctiliar action in present time, it take the potential moment of an enemy dying from thirst and isolates it in the light of the honour code. The active voice: the believer produces the action of the verb under the royal honour code. The subjunctive mood is potential, it imply a future reference and is qualified by the element of contingency. Maybe the believer will do this and maybe he won’t. Next is the present active imperative from potizw, meaning here to give a drink, plus the accusative singular direct object from the intensive pronoun a)utoj. The present tense means always do the same thing, always be consistent, when you have authority. This is an authority test and when authority is an issue you treat everyone the same way.
Both food and water are necessary to sustain life. It would be easy to see your enemy dying from lack of food or lack of water. It would be easy to dismiss your responsibility to the honour code by simply turning around and walking away, pretending that you never heard the cry for help. This is failure because it means that while you go through the motions of Christianity you really don’t have what it takes in your soul, you have never really applied doctrine properly. Only the justice of God has the right to take life or permit life to be taken. Never contribute to the discomfort of your enemies, only the justice of God can deal properly with hostility against you. Why is the enemy’s life preserved? So that the Lord can heap coals of fire upon his head.
“for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head” – the explanatory use of the postpositive conjunction gar, followed by the present active participle of poiew—“for by doing.” The customary present tense denotes what habitually occurs when a believer is positive toward doctrine and following the honour code of the royal family. The active voice: either a believer positive toward doctrine or a mature believer produces the action of the verb in observation of the royal family honour code. The participle is instrumental, it indicates the means by which the action of the main verb is accomplished. Then the accusative neuter singular direct object from the immediate demonstrative pronoun o(utoj—“this.” Plus the future active indicative of the verb swreuw which means to pile up. The future tense is a gnomic future for a statement of fact that may be expected under conditions specified in the context. The active voice: when the believer functions under the royal family honour code and love for other believers he produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative for an unqualified assertion of a fact—the justice of God now intervenes. The accusative plural direct object from a)nqrac—“burning coals.” Plus the descriptive genitive singular from pur, the word for fire. This is a reference to divine judgment from the justice of God in contrast to human retaliation and revenge tactics. Next is e)pi plus the accusative of kefalh and a possessive genitive, “his head.”
The entire matter has been left in the hands of God. Burning coals of fire means that he is going to live and hurt, and from hurting he will either recover and be the better for it, or he will become worse and God will take him out under the sin unto death. By leaving animosity and antagonisms to the justice of God, and by following an application of the privacy of the royal priesthood, you have strengthened yourself on the one hand and prepared the way for the justice of God to deal with the individual on the other.
Translation: “Nevertheless if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for by doing this you will pile up coals of fire on his head.”
Verse 21 – “Be not overcome with evil” begins with the negative mh with the present passive imperative of the verb nikaw. Literally, “Stop being conquered.” The present tense is a descriptive present for what is now going on, or a pictorial present which presents to the mind a picture of events in the process of occurrence. This was happening in Rome at the time that Paul wrote. The believers were supporting this type of thing because they thought it was good. They misunderstood human good. The passive voice: the believer receives the action of the verb because of apathy toward doctrine, distraction from doctrine, and resultant complete indifference to what is going on, or failure to discern from doctrine what is going on. The participle is an imperative participle. With the negative mh this is tantamount to an imperative of prohibition. Then the prepositional phrase u(po plus the ablative singular kakoj for “evil.” There is also the generic use of the definite article. Evil should be very familiar in this context and the generic use of the article, which does not have to be translated, sets evil apart as a category. “Stop being conquered by evil.”
Principle
1. This is a reference to the reversionistic believer who has neglected doctrine, has become negative or apathetic to Bible teaching, and who has no concept of discipline in life, much less the spiritual academic discipline for perception of Bible doctrine.
2. Such a believer lives in the devil’s triangle under the rulership of evil which is the policy of Satan as the ruler of this world and the function of the old sin nature as the sovereign of life. You start being conquered by evil when you reject doctrine and when you jump on the bandwagon for some form of human good. The objective of the Christian way of life is not good, not social reform; the objective of the Christian way of life is renovation of thought (Rom. 12:2), or the standard of thinking of doctrine (Rom. 12:3).
“but overcome evil with good” – the adversative conjunction a)lla to give us the
positive part sets up a contrast between the two commands. The present active imperative of nikaw means to conquer. This is a customary present tense, it denotes what habitually occurs when the believer is positive toward doctrine. When you insert doctrine from the pages of the Word of God into your life you completely avoid the devil’s triangle. Good versus evil is the great issue in the devil’s triangle. The accusative singular direct object of kakoj again—“evil,” and again the generic use of the definite article, not translated because it is used to designate evil as a category. The prepositional phrase this time is different, it is e)n plus the instrumental of a)gaqoj. Again a definite article, this time denoting a previous reference to Romans 8:28—“but conquer evil by means of the good.”
Translation: “Stop being conquered by evil, but conquer evil by means of the good.”
X + Y + Z = a)gaqoj, the good. There is only one way to conquer evil[12] and that is to advance one step at a time in the plan of God through perception of Bible doctrine.
1. Evil is conquered by means of the good. The god is the advance in the plan of God as portrayed in the equation.
2. The predetermined plan of God for the believer calls for six imputations in time resulting in the seventh imputation in eternity. It is the attainment of the 6th imputation in time, plus confidence of the 7th imputation in eternity, that defeats evil.
3. The 6th imputation of divine blessing in time to the mature believer glorifies Christ in time, and it is the only way to glorify Christ in time. God is glorified when the justice of God imputes to you personal blessings in the devil’s world.
4. The 7th imputation of divine blessing and rewards at the judgment seat of Christ glorifies God forever. This is the only way that we as believers can glorify God forever.
5. Note the role of doctrine in conquering evil, then. The right side of the equation emphasises doctrine perceived, converting potential into hope and hope into reality.
6. This verse emphasises the fact that the believer who is positive toward doctrine conquers evil and stays out of the devil’s triangle.
7. But the believer who is negative toward doctrine is conquered by evil and lives his life in the devil’s triangle, fulfilling all of the concepts of sincerity and stupidity which are completely and totally destructive to him as an individual.
[1] See the Doctrine of Rebound.
[2] See the Doctrine of the Filling of the Holy Spirit.
[3] See the Doctrine of Divine Guidance.
[4] See the Doctrine of Mental Attitude.
[5] See the Doctrine of the Royal Family of God.
[6] See the Doctrine of Difference Among Believers.
[7] See the Doctrine of Spiritual Gifts.
[8] See the Doctrine of Ambassadorship.
[9] See the Doctrine of Hope.
[10] See the Doctrine of Blessing by Association.
[11] See the Doctrine of Refreshment.
[12] See the Doctrine of Evil.