(1) Spiritual Worship and the Body of Christ: (A) Discuss how Romans 12:1–2 is a transition
from the argument in Romans 1–11 and what follows in the ethical exhortations
of 12–15. How is the “spiritual worship” a culminating image that portrays the
‘embodiment’ of the powerful gospel message? How is the rest of the paraenesis
in. 12:3–21 an outworking of this “be[ing] transformed by the renewal of your
mind”? How do these acts of being a “living sacrifice” reverse the rebellious
humanity portrayed in Romans 1–3? How does Paul use liturgical imagery to
present his exhortation for the sanctification of the community?
1A. Paul writes about the radical
transformation that has occurred [in believer’s lives] “in view of God’s mercy”
(12:1).[1] Paul implies this by starting out the passage
with “therefore,” signaling that the exhortations are his response to God’s
action of mercy – which the whole argument in Romans 1-11 has been about. It’s as if the first 11 chapters were Paul’s
long intro of “here’s how NOT to live,” and now Chapter 12 is calling the
readers to an approach towards life that is the absolute antithesis of that. This “new way” of living is founded on a new
way of thinking, a “renewing of your
mind” (12:2).[2] No longer are believers to act upon their
emotional impetuousness, but rather they are to act deliberately (i.e. with
emotional intelligence) according to this new way of thinking that encompasses
an entirely different way of treating others.
The inward change is to invoke even greater outward action-based
changes.
The “spiritual worship” is a culminating
image portraying the ‘embodiment’ of the gospel message in a parallel way to
that which is the ‘embodiment’ of the believing community. The spiritual worship of the entire community
is now to be a rational worship (12:1) which stems from renewed minds thus
leading to proper discernment of God’s will (12:2). The best part about this embodiment among the
believing community found in these passages is the sense of absolute teamwork/camaraderie/oneness. There is a unity. And as such, all who
are part of the collective body are to function independently with their own
gifts, but are not to think too arrogantly or highly of themselves because of their
God-given giftedness and instead think with self-control (12:3).
This renewal results in an outworking
outside oneself. The puffed up mind of
the Gentile believer was to be humbled by both the grace and the infinitely
wise mind of God in chapter 11. The
Christian’s transformation (12:2) is the result of the renewing of the mind, while thinking
is the primary activity in verse 3. Chapter
12 in its entirety has to do with this new mindset of the Christian as a result
of God’s grace. The Christian doctrine
which Paul taught in Chapters 1-11 addressed the mind, but now Paul is calling
upon the Christian to exercise their
minds so they can conclude that the worship of sacrificial service is the only
proper response. This reverses the
incorrigible humanity which Chapters 1-3 portrayed by shifting from inner
selfish behaviors to [new mindsets] of external selfless behaviors. It is clear that the individual is no longer
the focus but rather the greater good of the whole community, expressing
corporately a right response to God’s grace and mercy.
According to Simmons,
Paul utilized priestly and sacrificial imagery to precipitate his law-free
gospel to the Gentiles. The phrase “the
sacrifice of the Gentiles” in 15:6 balances the accrued weight of Paul’s
liturgical language which picked back up in 12:1-2 as he instructs the hearers
of his message to “present themselves as living and holy sacrifices, holy and
acceptable to God.” Paul did this with
ONE end goal in mind – in fact, his entire ministry was hinging on this one
truth: “he served as a ministering priest of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles,
ministering as a priest for the gospel of God, so that the sacrifice of the
Gentiles might be well received, they being made holy by the Holy Spirit.”[3]
Paul used the classic
imagery of priest and sacrifice to argue for the full inclusion of Gentiles in the
church community as well as to substantiate/legitimize his calling among them,
for he was aware that if his sans-law gospel was to have success, the Gentiles
could no longer live like “sinners of the Gentiles” (Gal. 2:15); they had to be
holy, sanctified, and separated unto God.[4]
[1] Blackwell,
Ben C., Goodrich, John K., Maston, Jason. Reading
Romans in Context, Paul and Second Temple Judaism. Page 139. Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 2015.
[2] Blackwell,
Ben C., Goodrich, John K., Maston, Jason. Reading
Romans in Context, Paul and Second Temple Judaism. Page 139. Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 2015.
[3] Simmons,
William A. Priest – Sacrifice – Life as Worship:
A Pauline Matrix for Understanding Romans. Page 86.
Bibliotheca Sacra, Jan-Mar 2015.
[4] Simmons,
William A. Priest – Sacrifice – Life as Worship:
A Pauline Matrix for Understanding Romans. Page 86.
Bibliotheca Sacra, Jan-Mar 2015.
No comments:
Post a Comment