Chapter # 12 Paragraph # 4 Study # 1
February 2, 2020
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: Paul's "second level" of focus upon the outworking of the "sacrificed body" concept is upon a "no pretense love".
Introduction: In our last study we considered the issue of "showing mercy" as the final "gift" in Paul's presentation of "the outworking of the sacrificed body" concept. However, we ran out of time before we looked at the main characteristic imposed upon the display of "mercy": what the translators of the Authorized Version call "cheerfulness". So, I want to summarize what I would have said if I had not run out of time before we move into the next paragraph. Paul's use of the word involved here is interesting in that he is the only New Testament author who uses it and he only uses the noun form one time and the adjectival form one time. Two uses in the entire New Testament is all we have. The first of these is found in
2 Corinthians 9:7 in the context of Paul's teaching about "giving" monetary/physical provisions to those in need. There are three concepts in this one verse that "color" our understanding of this
adjective: personal purpose out of the heart; a complete absence of 'sorrow'; and a complete absence of 'necessity'. The first: Purposeful. This is another single-use word in the New Testament meaning 'to personally move a "valued" issue higher up the structure of the "value system" so that it displaces earlier "valued items"; it becomes a greater and greater priority, This is particularly significant in the light of Paul's opening comment in his next paragraph in
Romans 12:9. The second: Without 'sorrow'. This word is used in 14 texts and the concept involves the sense of great loss because a "valued" issue is denied (as in wanting a beloved person to remain with us, but seeing them die); in other words, the movement up the value system is not to be done with any sense of "loss". And the third: Without 'necessity'. This word is found in 18 texts and the concept involved is a feeling of being pressured by outside forces against ones own wishes; in other words, the movement up the value system is done because of great desire, not because of some external compelling need.
The noun is found only in the verse under consideration in this study. The concept is defined in one source as "with a laughing heart" or "with dancing eyes". The imagery is almost that of someone being mischievously engaged in an act that is intended to "delight" because of the "delight" in that one's own heart.
This boils down to the display of "mercy", as it particularly involves the forgiveness of offenses, being rooted in a strong desire to be able to forgive them with an attitude of appealing mischief: let me respond to your repentance with delight.
This is a remarkable summons to wind up the focus upon the exercise of the "gifts", and is an automatic lead into the next paragraph, which begins with a verbless exhortation to function in a genuine way.
- I. "The Love Unhypocritical".
- A. This verbless exhortation is a kind of "pivot", from Paul's "first level" of focus upon the outworking of the "sacrificed body" as it regards the use of "gifts" for the benefit of the Body of Christ, to his "second level" of focus upon the outworking the "sacrificed body" as it regards the roots of the believer's treatment of others.
- B. The articular use of the noun "agape".
- 1. There are other words in Greek that are translated "love" in our English translations each of which has its own nuance of meaning in regard to one's attitude toward others.
- 2. This particular word denotes the particular "kind" of "love" that rests at the root of every "person" as the ultimate sponsor of every attitude and action that is taken.
- C. This focus upon "the Love" is a focus that has been significantly distorted over many years because someone came up with a statement about its meaning that is erroneous, but repeated over and over.
- 1. The erroneous statement is: "agape" is God's kind of "Love".
- a. The error is easily revealed by a relatively casual "word study" wherein a person simply looks at each of the texts in the New Testament that have the word in them.
- b. This means that a most fundamental principle of "Bible Study" has been rejected: before any "truth" can be discerned, "words" must be defined by their use in the culture and the Scriptures.
- 2. A "word study" will reveal certain facts that are to be incorporated into our understanding.
- a. "Agape" is used to declare a divine attribute in 1 John 4:8 in a way that makes "Love" a kind of all-encompassing description of God.
- 1) In this light, we are not, then, surprised by Paul's focus in Romans upon "agape" as an attribute of God (5:5 addresses "The Love of The God ("he agape tou theou") and 5:8 addresses "His Love" ("ten heautou agape"; literally "the of-Him Love").
- 2) Nor are we surprised when we read of Paul's declaration of an "agape" that is a characteristic of Jesus, the Son of God (according to 8:35, Christ has an "agape" ("tes agapes tou Cristou").
- 3) Nor are we surprised when we read of Paul's declaration of an "agape" that is a characteristic of the Spirit of God (15:30 uses "The Love of The Spirit" (tes agapes tou pneumatos") as an element in the "medium/instrument of" (dia plus the Genitive) intensive prayer.
- b. "Agape" is also used to describe a human attribute as our text clearly reveals in its verb-less command.
- c. Additionally, we need to also understand that "agape" is not restricted to God and/or His saints, but is something that all men possess and exercise.
- 1) There are multiple texts in the New Testament in which ungodly men are characterized as having an "agape" that is contrary to the "agape" of God (Matthew 5:46; Luke 6:32; 11:43; John 3:19; 12:43; and, most particularly 1 John 2:15, are samples of this twisted "system of values").
- 2) The point is this: "agape" is the essential root of "value" in regard to all things and all men, as well as God.
- a) As this essential root, there is no greater issue in regard to the roots of all behavior and attitudes.
- b) Being this essential root, "agape" is actually the sponsor of great evil both in attitudes and behavior.
- D. Paul's requirement that our "agape" be unhypocritical.
- 1. This term is used in six texts of the New Testament (Romans 12:9; 2 Corinthians 6:6; 1 Timothy 1:5; 2 Timothy 1:5; James 3:17; and 1 Peter 1:22).
- a. Three of these are in regard to "Love" (Romans 12:9; 2 Corinthians 6:6; 1 Peter 1:22).
- b. Two are in regard to "Faith" (1 Timothy 1:5; 2 Timothy 1:5).
- c. One is in regard to "Wisdom" (James 3:17).
- 2. This term is formed by the prefix "a", which is a negative particle (much like our "un" as in "unlikable", or our "dis" as in "dislike"), an "infix" (upo), and the main noun "judge".
- a. Altogether the etymology is "without being under the concept of a judge" that led, eventually, to the idea of "being without the kind of hypocrisy that makes a person 'judge' another while doing the very thing being condemned; as in Romans 2:1.
- b. Thus, the idea is to "fake behavior in order to deceive others as to the real attitude of the heart".
- 1) It can be "fake speech" (as in John's "let us not love in word only, but in deed and in truth": 1 John 3:18).
- 2) It can also be "fake behavior" (as in Paul's "though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing": 1 Corinthians 13:3).
- 3) In any case, what is presented as "Love" is not following the characteristics of "the Love of God".
- 3. Thus, what Paul is calling for is "genuineness in Love". This would mean that one does not claim more "Love" than is really existing (nor, alternatively, claiming less).
