Your logical worship

Warm-up: When you buy a new gadget, do you directly try to make it work, or are you the type who always reads the manual first? Why?

Read: Romans 12

1) v1: Why did Paul not end his letter after Ro11:36?

• Is the “manual” to a Christian life in Ro 12? Or is Ro 12 the Christian life, and the manual is in Ro 1 to 11? =>
• Why did Paul proceed from doctrine to “duty”, and not the other way round?
  • Why can’t we simply focus on Christian behavior and dump divisive doctrines of chapters 1 to 11? (Hint: Why can no one walk in Christ without understanding the doctrine how to receive Christ?) =>
  • e.g. how do men confuse what is “holy and acceptable” to God if they do not understand the ‘manual’ of the faith? cf Ro 10:2-4
• Merriam-Webster defines duty as a legal obligation. Is duty the right word to describe what Paul had in mind?
  • Despite the many imperatives, the words obligation or duty do not occur in Ro 12. Why not?
  • What else did Paul call it? =>
•  How did he define “spiritual worship” (gr. logikon, from logos: divinely reasonable)?
  • What has such worship to do with the body (including its soul)? How can this be a “living sacrifice”?
  • How can you possibly present yourself to God in this way? =>
    • Why (only) ‘by his mercies’? cf Ro 11:32
    • How does this way of sanctification differ from the old way under the law?
    • Hint: Who sanctifies whom in this way? cf Jn 17:17-19

2) How does v2 define the goal of ‘spiritual worship’ and how Christians arrive there? =>

• A challenge for translators of v2 is to convey what it could mean to prove (KJV) or test (to discern, ESV), or determine (ISV), or even experience (Jubilee Bible 2000) the will of God (gr. dokimazo: To approve/find out as right after examination): So what could this be about?
  • Is it about discerning a hidden will of God for you, e.g. what car to buy etc.? Hint: What does the context spell out as the will of God? v3ff
  • What is there to prove/verify about God’s will that it requires our own experience of heart renewal? Hint: Why/how does an unrenewed man (the flesh) fail to find God’s will ‘good and perfectly agreeable’? cf Ro 8:7; 10:3
• What then does it mean to ‘not be conformed (passive) to this age’?
  • Why does this require active resistance?
  • What does such resistance consist of? =>
    • Why are monasteries and mere withdrawal from ‘the world’ not the solution? =>
• What needs to be renewed of our mind? =>

3) Where does v3 point us to begin with a change of mind? =>

• What does it mean to not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to?
  • What does it say about self-esteem and our esteem for others?
  • What is a ‘sober judgment according to the God-given measure of faith’? cf v6 [in proportion to our faith: More genuine faith is recognized by more genuine humility]
• vv4-8: What needs to change in how you think of your giftedness, and why?

4) vv9-13 all aim at the heart: What vices of the human heart are we called here to overcome by faith?

• Did Paul after all still smuggle in some law to tame selfishness and pride?
  • If not, what else did he do here?
  • Why is it necessary to hear such exhortations for heart change?
• If you feel you have not yet arrived at perfection, is that bad? Why or why not? cf v16
  • What can you do to experience the change of heart that is part of what it means to be saved? vv1-2

5) After vv9-13 addressed the inner life of our heart and its affections, vv14-21 focus on its relations to others. How so?

• What is new here compared to the eye-for-an-eye righteousness of the OT?
  • Why can (only) Christians be commanded to conform to this new standard? cf Ro 5:5
• v20: What could be the idea behind burning coals on the head?
  • Possible meanings: 1) God’s punishment, e.g. Ps 11:6; 140:10; 2) alternative translation: “…snatching coals from his head”; and 3) shaming the enemy by kind treatment, Prov 25:21-22. How can any of these be more loving than if you yourself repay someone’s evil with evil?

6) v21: Why does it go against human nature to ‘overcome evil with good’?

• Hint: Think of gross and blatant evil. How do people react when they do recognize an evil as gross?
• Read Ro 5:7-8. What does human nature lack that it does not love our enemies as God does? cf Ro 11:30-32How does God overcome with good this evil in man’s heart (i.e. our mercilessness)? cf v1 =>
• Why can (only) the experience of God’s mercy renew those who believe him? cf Lk 7:46-50

7) Personal & application

• Measure of faith: Do you ever try to measure whether your faith actually ‘works’ the way it is meant to? How?
  • Or if not, why not?
  • What criteria might Ro 12 give you to determine whether you are on the right track that leads to Christian maturity?
• What do you regard as genuine humility?
  • How does that compare to how vv3–8 defined it?
• What else than such humility would the flesh prefer as the ‘barometer’ of true spirituality?
  • According to Ro 12, how can you help each other to pursue genuine humility and mercy?