Chapter # 12 Paragraph # 4 Study # 5
May 3, 2020
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: Paul's Third "Set of Three" Gives Instruction In Light of "Circumstances".
Introduction: In our considerations of
Romans 12:9-21 we have seen that Paul presents the second level of "Life" as the outworking of "the sacrificed body". The first level concerns the believer's stewardship as one "gifted" by God to provide benefit to the Body of Christ. This second level concerns the believer's "Love" as an unhypocritical system of values wherein a "violent hatred of The Evil" and a "welded union with The Good" are topmost in respect to the practical outworking of "the sacrificed body".
We have considered the issues Paul presents in the terms of "the welded union with The Good" from 12:9 to 12:12a. This evening we are going to look into the last of these issues as Paul presented them in 12:12b-13. We have seen that Paul's presentation has been in the form of three sets of three. The first set was "In respect to" brotherly-love, honor, and diligence. The second set was "in respect to" The Spirit, The Lord, and The Hope.
This evening we are going to look into the third set: "in respect to" tribulation, prayer, and the needs of the saints.
- I. This "Third Set" Has This Distinction: An Additional Participle At The End of The Set.
- II. Otherwise, This "Third Set" Follows the Pattern of The "Second Set": A Definite Article Followed By A Noun In The Dative Case (translated as "In respect to..."), followed By A Participle That Expresses The Desired Response (except for the third of the set as mentioned above).
- A. "In respect to" tribulation/affliction.
- 1. The word Paul used is "thlipsis", and its verbal root is "thlibo", which means "to squeeze so that difficulty of some kind arises".
- a. The idea of the word is, in a word picture, the movement of inescapable negatives that are like walls that both hem in and make the "space" progressively smaller.
- b. Paul's use of this word in Romans is instructive.
- 1) Romans 2:9 uses the term to describe what God is going to do to the souls of those who work hard to produce "evil" (the word used in our context in 12:17 and 12:21).
- a) In this text Paul adds a word, "stenocoria", that has the similarity of addressing the same idea of "smallness of space" as "narrowness".
- b) The idea of the use of both words together as God's response to "evil" people is best understood by those of us who are subject to claustrophobia (an absolute terror when subjected to narrow places or being subjected to narrowing space).
- 2) Romans 5:3 uses the term to describe what "evil men" do to those who work hard to produce "The Good".
- a) The fundamental issue is a terrorizing caused by being progressively, and inescapably, "squeezed".
- b) But in this text, Paul calls it a basis for "exulting" because of the "effects" that it produces (an inescapable, "forced conformity" that ultimately produces an attitude of a willingness to "put up with it" until God sees fit to deliver so that "hope" becomes the primary attitude of "Life" -- the "terror" is replaced by "submissive Hope).
- 3) Romans 8:35 raises the question of whether, in the process of being "forced" to adapt, our initial responses might cause us to be separated from The Love of The Christ.
- a) The assumption is that our initial responses are less than they ought to be and that our "failure" might antagonize our "intercessor" (8:34), The Christ.
- b) Paul is emphatic: "being squeezed" is not an evidence of divine displeasure to the point of rejection.
- 2. The qualifying participle: "hupomenontes".
- a. This is an emphatic combination of the preposition that means "under" and a verb that means "to remain".
- b. This emphatic participle strongly implies that there is no "getting out from under" the pressing load without compromising the will of God.
- 1) This is the only use of this verb in Romans (though the noun is used in six texts).
- 2) The word in this context indicates that "faithfulness" will mean waiting for God to deliver (8:25) and not "delivering ourselves by any actions of unbelief".
- B. "In respect to" prayer.
- 1. The word "prayer" is "generic", including all forms (praise, petition, intercession, etc.).
- 2. This is an automatic, knee-jerk, follow-up category, given "tribulations" at hand.
- 3. The qualifying participle: "proskarterountes".
- a. This is another emphatic combination of a preposition and a verb which has ten New Testament texts to give us a sense of the meaning.
- b. The clearest of those ten is Romans 13:6 where it is used to describe "servants of God" who view their assigned task as "my job" (with Acts 6:4 in context being of the same sense).
- c. Thus, "prayer" in any and all forms is to be viewed as "my job", given by God and made more insistent by the "pressures" of "tribulations" from which there is no escape except by the action of God.
- C. "In respect to" the needs of the saints.
- 1. This, in one sense, is a circling back around to 12:3-8, but it also branches out to "needs" that specifically apply to the situation addressed by the addition of a second qualifying participle.
- a. This "branching out" signals things that may well fall outside of our specific "grace gift(s)" but which we can address.
- b. The "needs" of the saints are "needs" (Acts 2:45 and 4:35), not wishes imposed upon us by the demanding agendas of thoughtless fellow-believers.
- 2. The "qualifying participles": "koinonountes" and "diokontes".
- a. The first has to do with "engaging in an active partnership with another to achieve some end".
- 1) In respect to "needs", the "end" is to have the "need" met.
- 2) The way the "need" will be met is to have others "become partners" so that there is a sharing of resources and abilities.
- b. The second has to do with "making a diligent effort" in respect to showing hospitality.
- 1) The reference to "hospitality" is most likely the most immediate "need" at hand.
- 2) "Making an effort", in this case, means providing "food and covering".
