In the ‘So What’ section of Romans 12:1 through 15:12, Paul will explain how understanding the ‘theology’ section chapters 1 through 11 should change the way we live. In Rom.12:1 all the major English translations have the word ‘therefore.’ What the ‘therefore’ introduces is the result of what has preceded it. In Rom. 12:3-8 Paul begins discussing how the church is like the human body. The body has many parts or members each with a particular function, but it is only one body. The body should function as a unit, working together to accomplish the purpose of the ‘brain’ directing it. We’ve all known people that have suffered from a stroke or other neurological disorders where they have certain members of their body that just refuse to cooperate. They won’t move in the direction the body wants to move or they won’t hold up their own weight. The church also can suffer when all are not unified. Paul also says that God determines how each member functions in the church by the particular Spiritual gifts that they have been given. He develops this analogy in more detail in 1 Cor. 12. Cross-references will point to other passages where Spiritual Gifts are mentioned, you will probably find these and more listed in your reference Bible, 1Co 7:7; 12:4; 1Pt 4:10–11. One gift that you won’t find in any of the passages is that of ‘pew sitter.’ As you read this section this week think of your own Spiritual gift and ask yourself if you are happy with the way you have developed your gift and used it in the body of Christ?
In Rom. 12:9 some translations will translate the first part of the verse negatively and others will translate it positively. The CSB, NASB95, and the NKJV translate negatively “Let love be without hypocrisy.” The ESV and NIV translate positively, “Let love be genuine. (ESV)” and “Love must be sincere. (NIV)”. Sometimes formal translations like the ESV in this case will translate functionally, and sometimes functional translations will translate formally. If someone asked you what ‘Let love be without hypocrisy means?’ You might answer that ‘love’ must be ‘real’ or ‘genuine.’ You can do a lot of soul searching in these verses. Don’t just read the words, meditate on them. This is the Word of God after all, and we learn God’s will through studying it. If the Holy Spirit convicts you as you ponder each phrase, repentance is the proper response.
One difficult verse in found in Rom. 13:8. “Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”1 Another translation has, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”2 The first translation from the CSB is formal/literal and the last translation from the NIV is interpretative and functional. Is the NIV interpretative translation correct or does Paul command us not to be indebted to anyone? Be sure to read Rom. 13:7 carefully when deciding. Also see Matt. 5:42 and Philemon 18-19. Study Bibles can help. One reads, “The Christian is to pay all his obligations, but there is one debt we can never repay. This is the debt of love. Some have misinterpreted this verse as prohibiting all monetary debt, including having a mortgage on a house or buying a car on an installment plan. It may be wise never to go into monetary debt (cp. “the borrower is a slave to the lender,” Pr 22:7), but this verse has little to do with modern methods of finance. It is about fulfilling obligations of all kinds. We can never stop loving as long as we live.”3 Another reads, “Owe no one anything links back to v. 7, and thus the command does not prohibit all borrowing but means that one should always “pay what is owed” (see v. 7), fulfilling whatever repayment agreements have been made. The debt one never ceases paying is the call to love one another.”4 There are exegetical reasons supporting the Study Bibles and NIV.
1Christian Standard Bible. 2020. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
2The Holy Bible: New International Version. 1984. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
3Blum, Edwin A. 2017. “Romans.” In CSB Study Bible: Notes, edited by Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax, 1801–2. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
4Crossway Bibles. 2008. The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
In Rom. 12:9 some translations will translate the first part of the verse negatively and others will translate it positively. The CSB, NASB95, and the NKJV translate negatively “Let love be without hypocrisy.” The ESV and NIV translate positively, “Let love be genuine. (ESV)” and “Love must be sincere. (NIV)”. Sometimes formal translations like the ESV in this case will translate functionally, and sometimes functional translations will translate formally. If someone asked you what ‘Let love be without hypocrisy means?’ You might answer that ‘love’ must be ‘real’ or ‘genuine.’ You can do a lot of soul searching in these verses. Don’t just read the words, meditate on them. This is the Word of God after all, and we learn God’s will through studying it. If the Holy Spirit convicts you as you ponder each phrase, repentance is the proper response.
One difficult verse in found in Rom. 13:8. “Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”1 Another translation has, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”2 The first translation from the CSB is formal/literal and the last translation from the NIV is interpretative and functional. Is the NIV interpretative translation correct or does Paul command us not to be indebted to anyone? Be sure to read Rom. 13:7 carefully when deciding. Also see Matt. 5:42 and Philemon 18-19. Study Bibles can help. One reads, “The Christian is to pay all his obligations, but there is one debt we can never repay. This is the debt of love. Some have misinterpreted this verse as prohibiting all monetary debt, including having a mortgage on a house or buying a car on an installment plan. It may be wise never to go into monetary debt (cp. “the borrower is a slave to the lender,” Pr 22:7), but this verse has little to do with modern methods of finance. It is about fulfilling obligations of all kinds. We can never stop loving as long as we live.”3 Another reads, “Owe no one anything links back to v. 7, and thus the command does not prohibit all borrowing but means that one should always “pay what is owed” (see v. 7), fulfilling whatever repayment agreements have been made. The debt one never ceases paying is the call to love one another.”4 There are exegetical reasons supporting the Study Bibles and NIV.
1Christian Standard Bible. 2020. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
2The Holy Bible: New International Version. 1984. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
3Blum, Edwin A. 2017. “Romans.” In CSB Study Bible: Notes, edited by Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax, 1801–2. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
4Crossway Bibles. 2008. The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
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