Chapter # 14 Paragraph # 2 Study # 10
July 11, 2021
Humble, Texas
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Thesis:   It 'should' "go without saying" that believers 'should' be all about being in persecution mode regarding the practice of "righteousness" as it affects the establishment of "Peace" and "Edification".

Introduction:   As we have come to the second explanation of what is really important (against a backdrop of believers making things that are not important, "important"), we are in pursuit of the meaning of Paul's chiastic presentation of the essential implications of The Kingdom of The God. The believers in Rome have made each other adversaries by disputing with each other over things that are not important, and Paul has pointed out how this is contrary to the Love that exists at the roots of The Kingdom of The God. In this pursuit we have already seen that The Kingdom is "all about" righteousness, peace, and joy by the Holy Spirit. We have also seen Paul's repetition of that thesis in his declaration that the most fundamental issue of That Kingdom in respect to the King and His subjects is their identity as "slaves" of The King.

Now, this evening's study concerns Paul's second statement regarding the fault of those who are allowing their "good" to be "blasphemed". In our look at the first statement, we saw that "blasphemy" is the result of people who think they see a most fundamental breakdown between words and actions in those who would "teach" them. When people "see" what they consider to be "hypocrisy", they "blaspheme" what they consider to be the cause of that "hypocrisy". Paul called upon those who were supposed to have a better grasp of the truth of the Gospel of Grace to stop pursuing their freedoms at the cost of their brothers' spiritual growth.

To do that, "Love" has to be forsaken, and when "Love" is forsaken, "hypocrisy" becomes visible. So, in our look at Paul's repetition (by chiasm) of the behavior of the participants in God's "Slave" Kingdom, we shall see that he insists upon the only "ought" actually involved.

• I. The Established Realities.
  • A. The Kingdom of The God is essentially "all about" righteousness, peace, and joy by the Holy Spirit.
  • B. The heirs of that Kingdom are essentially "slaves" of The King Who makes The Kingdom "all about" righteousness, peace, and joy by the Holy Spirit.
• II. The Inescapable Conclusion.
  • A. The indication of Paul's "attitude" at this point.
    • 1. There is, at the beginning of 14:19, a grammatical construction that indicates that Paul is at least somewhat exasperated.
      • a. This construction begins with "ara".
        • 1) The Logos Library System says that "ara" is two things.
          • a) It is a "conjunction" indicating "inference".
          • b) It is "an untranslatable interrogative particle implying anxiety or impatience" (meaning that Paul inserted this word to "impatiently ask" his readers what conclusion(s) we are to draw from the facts that we are slaves to The King and that His Kingdom's absolute focus involves the three-fold issues of righteousness, peace, and joy).
        • 2) Thus, Paul's "ara" means that he is expressing a bit of exasperation that the Roman believers are dropping the ball big time in respect to their practice of The Love of The Kingdom (because they are elevating unimportant issues -- "freedoms" vs. "the practices of observing dietary regulations and memorial days").
      • b. This construction adds "oun" to "ara".
        • 1) "oun" is extensively used in the New Testament and typically calls for a conclusion.
        • 2) It is typically translated "therefore".
    • 2. Thus, Paul's opening words indicate that he is asking his readers, somewhat impatiently, what we are to conclude from the twin facts that the Kingdom is "all about" the pursuit of "righteousness, peace, and joy by the Holy Spirit" and that the Kingdom is made up of "slaves" to The King, whose "right" actions as "slaves" will garner God's pleasure with them and men's approval of them.
      • a. His impatience indicates that he considers the "conclusion" to be "beyond obvious".
      • b. His statement of the "conclusion" leaves us without any doubts about what we should conclude.
  • B. The elements of this "inescapable" and "obvious" conclusion.
    • 1. First, the verb.
      • a. It is a verb that is characteristically translated "persecute".
        • 1) This translation often indicates an illegitimate pursuit of others to try to force their compliance to the persecutor's agenda.
        • 2) But it can be (and in this case, "should be") an indication of the "intensity" of the "pursuer" as he/she goes after the pursued (a zealous, single minded, focus like a hound chasing a rabbit).
      • b. It is a verb put, by Paul, in the Subjunctive Mood where we might expect an Imperative.
        • 1) This makes it a declaration of what "ought" to be (and that, beyond debate because it is so "obvious").
        • 2) This also makes it an "imperative" because we are obligated to pursue what "ought to be".
    • 2. Second, the objectives of the hound-like pursuit.
      • a. The first of these objectives is identified as "the things that belong to The Peace".
        • 1) Paul uses "the peace" as his focus because it is "conflict" that is the problem.
        • 2) The "things" that belong to The Peace have already been identified in 14:17.
          • a) The first of these "things" is "righteousness" as the primary mechanism for the Spirit's production of "Peace".
          • b) The second of these "things" is "joy" as the ultimate objective of the Spirit's production of "Peace"
      • b. The second of these objectives is identified as "the things that belong to the task of the building up of one another".
        • 1) The inclusion of this second objective sets a scenario before us that must be in play if "Peace" is to be established.
          • a) "Building up" is a metaphor of the physical realm concept of placing one stone after another in place to produce a completed building.
            • i. This metaphor indicates a perspective of both an objective (a completed building) and a task (placing each element of the building into its rightful place).
            • ii. But this metaphor also includes a perspective of a host of scattered pieces from which one is to draw the individual pieces.
          • b) The "picture" involved, then, is one of a hodgepodge of scattered pieces that must be brought into play in the placement of them into their proper place.
        • 2) The assumption of this second objective is that each of us has, perhaps, a "host" of things that are out of place in our makeup, thus creating a significant number of things that will go wrong until the pieces are in place.
        • 3) It is the goal of "Kingdom People" to play a "slave's" part in bringing the scattered pieces into their places.
          • a) A major blockage to this process is the failure of the "Love" system that is in place by virtue of The King's values.
          • b) The hot pursuit of "Peace" requires the active accomplishments of "righteousness" in view of "joy".

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This is article #132.
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