Chapter # 12 Paragraph # 4 Study # 3
February 23, 2020
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: "Clinging to The Good" has a crucial focus upon dealing with "fellow believers".
Introduction: In our previous studies, we have seen that there are certain primary issues arranged under the concept of the "sacrificed body" as given in
Romans 12:1-2. The initial issue is a focus upon one's participation with God as a steward of a/some "grace gift(s)" as they apply to God's program of building His Church. The second issue is a focus upon making sure that the "love" that is expressed as a "sacrificed body" is genuine and not hypocritical. Our study this evening is upon some of the details of that "love" which exists as a kind of umbrella over all of our activities.
As we saw last time, under the "umbrella" of a legitimate expression of "Love", there is the insistence that we "violently hate" The Evil (as a primary attitude of self-importance within us) and that we "be welded to" The Good as the integration of our whole selves into the firm commitment to seek the benefits of eternity for those who around us.
As we begin to look into the next verses, the first thing we notice is that this "being Welded to/Violently Hating" thesis is addressed with some specific instructions. As such, the "Welding/Violent Hating" itself becomes a kind of under-umbrella. What this means is that our behavior as "sacrificed bodies" is to have the over-arching theme of "Unhypocritical Love" in place over another, secondary, over-arching theme: "Welding/Violent Hating".
So, for my part, I see Paul deliberately developing what he means by "Being Welded to The Good" in 12:19-13a and what he means by "Violently Hating The Evil" in 12:13b-21.
Thus, for the study this evening we are going to look into "Being Welded to The Good" thesis as it pertains particularly to how we treat our fellow-believers. This, in a very real sense, is tied back to the paragraph on being a "steward to God" in respect to the "gifts" He has given for the benefit of His Church. As a "steward of the manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4:10), I am to be welded to the principle of "The Good", and that leads to some particulars which are the focus of our study this evening.
- I. The First Observations.
- A. All of the phrases in 12:10-13a begin with a definite article and a noun which are both in the dative case, which I translate as "In respect to [the noun involved]...".
- B. In the first three of these phrases (there are nine such phrases), there is another grammatical factor: the first and third of the phrases are a combination of an "in respect to" followed by a specific concept, and an adjective that identifies the particular characteristic that is to govern the concept involved, which the second phrase uses a participle in the place of the adjective.
- 1. This forms an abbreviated "chiastic" structure.
- 2. The use of "chiasm" by an author is always for the purpose of highlighting the major idea so that the lesser ideas can be understood in that light.
- 3. In this first "set of three" (there are three sets of three in the nine), the second phrase is about "honor" and its requirement that "others" are to be placed before oneself.
- a. The first set of three is about our responses to fellow-believers.
- b. The second set of three is about our responses to God.
- c. The third set of three is about our responses to difficult circumstances.
- II. The Details.
- A. Since the "point" established by the A B A construction is focused upon the middle phrase, that is where we will begin.
- 1. "In respect to honor...": this is the issue; what does it mean?
- a. Paul is the user of the term in 17 of the 40 references in the New Testament.
- 1) In Romans, it signifies "a position of great value" (2:7 and 10), "a status above most others" (9:21 and 13:7).
- 2) Paul's focus in his other letters is upon "the price of a thing/the cost/the amount one would pay to obtain something" (1 Corinthians 6:20/7:23), and "the treatment of someone/thing because of the value it possesses in the mind/heart of the one acting" (1 Corinthians 12:23-24).
- a) In Colossians 2:23 he uses the word in respect to certain "desired" characteristics which have no capacity to rein in fleshly indulgences [in other words, those who understand would not "pay" anything to possess those "desired characteristics" because they have no ability to accomplish their "apparent" objectives.]
- b) In 1 &2 Timothy, Paul uses the word to indicate "the attitude one takes toward someone/thing that he/she considers 'pricey'". "Honor" is given to that which is considered to be of "high price".
- b. "Honor", then, is a view of someone/thing as fairly expensive and "honoring" is the actions we take in light of that "expense".
- 2. The participle "giving preference".
- a. This verb is only found here in the New Testament.
- b. The meaning has to do with "who gets to be in the lead" as a way to determine what is to be done.
- c. The "lead" is not "who actually determines the agenda and its processes"; it is "whose interests are primary" as the one(s) giving the answer look at the requirements of eternal benefit for another in comparison to their own interests.
- 3. Thus, the one who is to be considered "pricey/especially valuable" is "the other(s) rather than me" and each believer is to view the real needs of eternal benefit of others as higher than one's own and take action accordingly.
- B. Since the first phrase is "first" in this set of three, we will consider it next.
- 1. At issue is "in respect to brotherly love"... .
- a. The word is heavily dependent upon what we call "love" as defined by the Greek verb "fileo".
- b. Paul shies away from this verb almost entirely.
- 1) He uses it as a prefix in our current text and nowhere else in Romans.
- 2) He uses it as a stand alone verb in only two other places in all of his letters: 1 Corinthians 16:22 and Titus 3:15.
- c. A comparative study of fileo in the New Testament reveals that it is a special kind of "love".
- 1) It has to do with the compelling attachment that one has to someone/thing so that his/her emotional well-being is "at stake" in the attachment.
- 2) It is the "typical" verb used when one's "special attachments" are in view with a focus upon emotional well-being (John 11:36 makes "weeping" an indicator of this kind of "love").
- 3) The comparison in John 21:15-17 is instructive in that Peter was "grieved" when Jesus switched to fileo in His last question.
- d. The "point": "In respect to your emotional attachments to 'brothers'..." your commitment is to "a love of those to whom you are related".
- 1) The adjective in this description of how "beloved brethren" are to be treated is only used once in the entire New Testament and is a composite word that puts "filos" on "storgos" as a prefix.
- a) The "storgos" is, according to the lexicographers, "natural relatives" and, assuming no particular conflicts in that category, introduces the basis for the emotional attachment of the "filos".
- b) Mostly people have emotional attachments to their "near relatives" that are naturally existing without any particular choices to be made.
- 2) The idea is that, "in respect to brotherly affection", "fellow-believers" are to be treated as "natural kin" (combining both spiritual unity and physical unity as the basis for the "love".
- 2. As the "lead in" to the basic concept of "significantly expensive", there is the prerequisite of "loving a brother" with a strong emotional attachment that "automatically" puts his interests ahead of one's own.
- C. And, then, there is the third phrase.
- 1. It seems a bit disconnected at first.
- 2. But, when the issue is "in respect to diligence" as it relates to being committed to paying the expensive price required by the "fellow-believer" who is a "brother", the ideas are clearly tied together.
- 3. The notion of "diligence" has already been broached (12:8) as a matter that becomes important when things are not as they should be.
- a. The implication is that the "expense" involved is now being seen as "too high" because the issues are too threatening (the relationship might be broken), but the alternative is even higher (eternal benefit is more important than temporal harmony).
- b. In this case, the requirement is "not lagging behind" (NASB) or "slothful" (Authorized Version).
- 1) The requirement is that we do what needs to be done when it needs to be done.
- 2) Procrastination is disallowed because the consequences are too high to consider.
