Chapter # 12 Paragraph # 1 Study #4
September 8, 2019
Humble, Texas
(008)
1769 Translation:
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [
which is] your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [
is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
1901 ASV Translation:
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, [
which is] your spiritual service.
2 And be not fashioned according to this
world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
the good and
acceptable and perfect will of God.
- I. The Foundations of the Summons.
- A. The necessary "view finder".
- 1. Identity as "brothers" [See these notes (003)].
- 2. Identity as recipients of "the mercies of The God" [See these notes (005)].
- B. The actual nature of the summons.
- 1. A "presentation".
- a. This verb is used in six texts of Romans, two of which have it twice in the same verse.
- 1) The translators opt to translate it as "yield" five times in three texts (6:13; 6:16; and 6:19); as "present" once (in our current text); as "stand" once (14:10); and as "assist" once (16:2). These variations are arbitrary "interpretive" translations, and not faithful, actual translations. It is the translator's task to present a faithful representation of the original language in a different language, not to give the reader whatever interpretation the translator favors. It is a complete failure of translation theory to give readers "interpretations" rather than translations under the guise of "making the meaning clear" (corrupting the translation with one's own interpretations is not conducive to clarity). Men, assuming their understanding of the meaning of a text to be accurate, do a disservice to their readers to insert their understanding into the translation and then call it "the Word of God".
- 2) The concept of the word is that of an entity "standing alongside of" another entity (this is according to the etymology [but be aware of the reality of what is called "the root fallacy" wherein a word's actual meaning has drifted away from its original meaning as exposed by its etymology]) in conjunction with its uses by Paul. If he meant "yield" in the five uses in chapter six, why would he not mean "yield" in our current text? Alternatively, if he meant "present" in 12:1, why would he not mean "present" in chapter six? Etc. The fact is, it is the context surrounding the word in any given text that "bends" the root concept of the word into distinct applications of that root. There is a difference between "meaning" and "significance", and contexts are used to expose the "significance" of an author's use of a particular "meaning". Why did the translators of the Authorized Version feel like "yield" was a better exposure of meaning than "present" in chapter six and not in chapter twelve?
- b. Paul's "sense" of the word's impact in our text/context is that of a willing attitude of heart/mind in respect to the activities that will be undertaken by the body of the one with the "attitude". In other words, Paul intends his readers to understand that they are, by properly viewing the significance of the mercies of God, to adopt an attitude wherein they are committed to actions that are in harmony with God's Love/Faith agenda. If there is some "reluctance" involved, "yielding" is necessary; but if there is "enthusiasm" involved "presenting" is the way to approach the issue.
- 1) This "standing alongside of" is the outcome of a legitimate response to the "summons".
- a) The "summons" is a "call to come alongside" (parakaleo).
- b) The "presenting" is a specific action of having "come along side" (parastesai) so that now the responder is "standing alongside" and prepared to make take this action of "presentation".
- 2) This "presentation/yielding" is specific: the "body" is directly in view as the instrument of activities in the material world. It is the "spirit" of a man that energizes his actions, but it is his "body" that is so energized (James 2:26) so that it is the body that "acts".
- 3) Thus, if the "body" is the entity made available as a "living sacrifice", the activities of the person are strictly limited to "sacrificial" activities and the person is no longer bouncing between multiple agendas and methods: in the large view, there is to be one agenda and one method though there be many sub-agendas involved.
- a) This "sacrifice" is to be "living", "holy", and "acceptable" to The God.
- i. The "living" is a participle of a verb that has a particular nuance to it in Romans. It signals "functional capacities" along with a special provision for those capacities (6:13 called for a "presentation/yielding" to God "as those that are alive from the dead" with the context of being "dead to sin but alive to God"). In other words, this "living" sacrifice is to be made with the reality of having been "made alive" to, and by, God; i.e., having God's special provision(s) for a new type of "function" (life).
- ii. The "holiness" of the sacrifice refers to the "special dedication" to God that must be involved (no vacillations between alternative agendas; being "doubleminded" as James described it in James 1:8.). This is, after all, a "sacrifice" which is, by definition, a "sacrifice" of some form. In this case, it is a "sacrifice" of the will, wishes, and wants of the person making the sacrifice to the One Who makes "sacrifices" effective.
- iii. The "acceptability" of the sacrifice refers to what "pleases" God so that He is willing to "accept" the body as a living, dedicated, sacrifice, because it is rooted in a Love/Faith complex that "sees" God as Exceptionally Good and desires to participate more fully in "Life" with Him.
- b) But, here we run into a common problem: men often think that they are the arbiter of what the essence of the agenda and method is. In the "I surrendered to preach" terminology that was at one time a popular expression of commitment to God's will, this error is plain. What if God's summons to "surrender" was not involving "preaching"? What if a man "surrenders to preach" but does not have the gift(s) or calling to do that? What if a person "surrenders to the mission field" but God blocks every effort to get there?
- c) The bottom line is that the "summons" to "come alongside" and the challenge to "present one's body" is, as far as the person's perceptions and biases go, "agenda-free". God, Whose "judgments are unsearchable" and Whose "ways are past finding out" (11:33), directs the steps after the commitment is made.
- 2. A "reasonable service".
- a. The term translated 'reasonable" is used only twice in the entire New Testament. It is derived from the widely used logos, a word that most fundamentally addresses an inherent characteristic of Jesus when He is viewed in terms of divine revelation from God (John 1:14). This derivation signals a description of something that is inherently within the mainstream of the quality of the thing described. The "summons" to "come alongside" and then "to make a presentation from that location" (alongside, in the presence of) is, clearly, directly in the middle of the stream of gracious revelation from God about His promise and capacity to fulfill it.
- b. The term translated "service" is used in five texts of the New Testament and in each of them outside of Romans there is a direct sense of "taking some action prescribed by God for attending upon Him".
- 1) John 16:2 gives us Jesus using this word to describe the thinking of men who put God's servants to death: they think they are "rendering service to God". The idea seems to be that these murderers "think" God wishes the elimination of those spreading false information among the people (clearly believing the Gospel to be "false information").
- 2) In both Hebrews 9:1 and 9:6 the word is used to signify the particular activities within the tabernacle/temple that God commanded for "temple worship" on a daily basis; i.e., those activities within the holy place as opposed to the huge number of activities that take place outside of that specific location. For example, it is one thing to place fresh bread upon the table for the "bread of presence" as an "inner holy place activity of service" and it is altogether another thing to sit upon a throne in another place and "rule the people of God as the representative of their True King, God Himself".
- 3) The conclusion I draw is this: responding to the "summons" to "come alongside" is very much like coming into the holy place "to make a presentation while in that holy place". There is no reason to think that Paul's word use in Romans does not mean the same thing as the texts of John and Hebrews do. Thus, Paul is saying that responding to the summons to come alongside leads directly into the middle of the stream of doing what God wishes for each of His people to do: love Him enough, and trust Him enough, to make a definitive presentation of one's "body" to Him as a "living" and "dedicated" sacrifice so that one is willing to totally focus upon His will and pleasure. This is the core "inner" attitude, and all overt activities fall under the revelation of His "Word".