It should be noted that bless and do not curse coincide with overcome evil with good. If the verse breaks match the sentences it would look different:

Transcription

1 Romans 12:14-21 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. "BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. We need to keep in mind that Romans 12 is not disciplinary. Paul is not telling them what they should do because they have problems. He addresses them as believers who understand and are grace-oriented. Because of this, Paul then anticipates them wondering how to live in light of everything that God has provided. 1. To the outsider, the instructions in Romans may seem to be a list of things to do in order to gain. 2. The benefits of being a believer have already been established (provided by grace). 3. This is not the fine print. 4. Legalism is defined as performance of service in order to obtain benefit. 5. This Gospel of Purpose is given for these purposes a. To inform the reader of what is the appropriate response to grace (12:1) b. To inform the reader of what will make for a joyful life (14:22; 15:13) c. To inform the reader of what behavior pleases God (14:10-12,17-18; 15:5-6) ***These instructions are provided to the believer to help, not hinder. *** Moving to this text, there are no difficult textual issues. There are no questions concerning the original language that would give cause for concern. The paragraph break is under dispute. Some have the paragraph being from verse 9-21; some have it being from verse Verses 9-13 (no verbs, attributes of love) are set up in the language differently than The question is does verse 14 introduce a new topic? Although this may be part of the believer s response to others in love, these are not attributes. There are 15 verbs (including the verse citation of Deuteronomy and Proverbs 9 verbs). It is very fitting that this is in context of love. It is easy to love those who love you, but loving those who hate you, who despise you, by all estimation, are evil, being controlled by the world or demonic influences, that is much more difficult (Matthew 5:43-48; 1 st Corinthians 4:11-13a). The first and last sentences in this section are the main point. There are three imperatives in verse 14 and two imperatives in verse 21. In verses there are four imperatives.

2 It should be noted that bless and do not curse coincide with overcome evil with good. If the verse breaks match the sentences it would look different: Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse; rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep, be of the same mind toward one another do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation, never pay back evil for evil to anyone, respect what is right in the sight of all men, if possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men, never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord; BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Remember that in Greek the rules for sentence grammar are not the same as they are in English. The reason we read it in accordance with the Greek structure is because we can capture the main idea easier and see what information is supporting the main ideas. Verse 14 is fairly straightforward; bless is used twice, repeated for emphasis. εὐλογέω eulogeō is a compound word that means speak good. This is the same word as in 1 st Corinthians 4:12. The word indicates that the response to the person who persecutes you is to speak well. Here is a question that I have? To whom are we to give this well speaking? Do we speak well to God of those who persecute? Do we speak well to those who persecute? In Greek, those who persecute you is an articular participle in the accusative case. They receive the action of speak good. The idea of a blessing is not religious. This also needs to be understood in context of love. The reason we are to bless is because we are to love. This correlates back to the attribute of persevering being ones who persevere under pressure. This pressure is persecution; to persevere in accordance with God s Word is to be Christ like to love like Christ loved. The nature of love is well known (1 st Corinthians 13:4-7), but Christ is our example having died for us even though we were active enemies prior to obtaining the gift of God (Romans 5:6-11). In Peter s first epistle, this becomes the main focal point of endurance under pressure (1 st Peter 2:21-25; 3:8-9).

3 Perseverance indicates that we put off the system of this fallen world and instead follow the example of God in love by means of His Word being ones who are walking in accordance with the doctrines we believe to be true. The world has laid its trap. In this current cultural and political climate, we have an immediate heated emotional response to those on the other side of the opinion. Both sides are not godly in action or in message. As believers, we can debate content but often the conversation becomes explosive (and sometimes physical). The Christ-like example is to speak well of them, bless them, pray for them and not get sucked into the fray. This is one of the many strategies of the satanic system that we are in and leads us to sin against God bringing dishonor to His truth, His Word, His name. Curse is καταράομαι kataraomai and is literally a prayer downward, to wish evil against someone. The cursed ones in the New Testament are always unsaved; this then indicates that to curse is to desire God s judgment or desire hell for them. If we are led by the Spirit and are walking in the Word, then our mental and outward reaction to verbal or physical pressures by others must be to desire good not evil. With this contrast, what does speaking good to them indicate? If we are not desiring hell for them then we must be desiring everlasting life for them. Therefore speaking good seems to indicate to speak the Word of God, the Good News. James 2:1 New context, do not hold back the Gospel from those who hate you, all men need the truth. This is also can be understood in context of difficult fellow believers; we do not disassociate with those in doctrinal or moral error but we speak the truth of God in love and gentleness to help them. James also takes on the idea of blessings and cursing in James 3:8-10. Back to Romans the main idea of the first sentence is speak good and do not desire evil. Verse 15 supports this command. The first instance of rejoice and weep are infinitives, adverbial phrases that support you bless the ones who persecute. LCV To rejoice with the rejoicing ones; to weep with the weeping ones. When we are set against the enemies of God (or of us), we often rejoice when they weep and weep when they rejoice. This simply indicates that we are to be empathetic. The words are standard. Rejoicing is χαίρω chairō and means to be happy, show happiness. In context, this does not indicate that we are to be happy with the enemy when they succeed, rejoicing in unrighteousness (1Cor 13:6). This rejoicing then must be in context with being happy for a good reason. When an enemy is happy at a good circumstance, we are to be empathetic and rejoice with them.

4 Likewise, weeping is not saddened by God s Truth. κλαίω klaiō indicates weeping with cause, mourning, lament. This word is used primarily for the emotions at a funeral. But it is also the emotion when family leaves or an unfortunate circumstance causes an emotional reaction. So, when an adversary is seen in mourning, we are not to think (or say) evil toward them, but instead be empathetic towards their loss. Again, verse 16 supports the main idea of the sentence, Be of the same mind towards one another. The word mind here is a participle. The main point of this verse is for the readership to come to terms with the previous instruction. There are three adverbial participles which indicates the thought process of the audience. LCV the same thing into one another thinking. Rendered Having the same thought process in one another. It is easy to see why the translators made this appear to be a command; in a way, it carries the weight of the verb, Think the same way. The word φρονέω phroneō is not the same as have the same knowledge. Rather it is an evaluation word, think in the same manner. The body is encouraged to discuss and come to an agreement about this instruction. The beauty of being a participle is that we can see what exactly to what Paul is referring. In this reference, it is about the difficult challenge of thinking bless those who are persecutors. The next phrase needs work. The translators, in my estimation, miss this completely. KJV Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. HCSB Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. NIV Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. YLT not minding the high things, but with the lowly going along; This passage is not about humility, it is about a proper response to evil and persecution do not respond in like manner with curses but instead speak good. The key is understanding the difference between high and low. All three phrases in this verse (not the last sentence) are set up in the same manner. LCV the same thing in one another thinking; not the high (things) thinking, but (with) the low (things) being led with. The contrast between the middle phrase and the last phrase in Greek is obvious. 1. High vs low 2. Present Active Participle vs Present Passive Participle The word high is ὑψηλός hupsēlos and means a high place. It is used to speak of a high mountain, a high wall. It is used to speak of the Majesty on high, Jesus high above the heavens, or God with a high arm brought

5 Israel out of Exodus. This word is used as a cognate with thinking in Romans 11:20 where the implication is thinking higher of yourself, and the context makes this clear. In Romans 12:16, the articular adjective does not modify the participle thinking (Plural Neuter vs Plural Masculine) but is substantive. This is why we have high things. The word ταπεινός tapeinos is another substantive articular adjective. This word is used eight times in the New Testament. Each time it is referring to people and there is a clear antecedent referring to Paul, Jesus, a brother. Peter and James each quote the Old Testament, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. In Classical Greek, ὑψηλός hupsēlos is used for the height of dignity, the climax of thought, and is used in philosophical terms for high thought. In like manner, ταπεινός tapeinos in Classical Greek was exclusively negative in its usage, things that were despised, thoughts that were base. In the New Testament, this Greek philosophical high thinking is contrasted several times with the so called lowly thinking of God (Luke 16:14-15; 1 st Corinthians 1:18-25; 2 nd Corinthians 10:5). In review of these two words and in the context, I am convinced that the idea of these two phrases is not being ones who think the high things of man but rather be led by the low things of God. The other option, of course, is that if the ὑψηλός hupsēlos and ταπεινός tapeinos are referring to people and not thoughts, then this still holds true. The high thinkers are ones who stand against the wisdom of God due to human standards (rational). The humble thinkers are ones who submit to the truth of God. συναπάγω sunapagō is a compound word that means to lead away with. The word is used in Galatians 2:13 and 2 nd Peter 3:17. This word is in the Passive Participle being lead with the humble things. LT - Bless those persecuting you; bless and curse not; to rejoice with the rejoicing, and to weep with the weeping, being ones who are thinking the same thing in one another, not being ones who are thinking the high things, but being ones who are being led with the low things; This first sentence can be rendered in this manner, Speak well to the those who persecute you, speak well to them and do not curse them; speak well by rejoicing with those who are rejoicing, and mourning with those who are mourning, come to this

6 understanding with in your group, not thinking like the high wisdom of this world but being led along by the humble truth of God Word. Conclusion This section proves easy to teach but hard to accomplish. The thinking of this world is in everything we experience outside of God s Word. It is a challenge to think differently. To have this truth become our first reaction takes a determined mind to honor God in how we handle our adversaries. We need to constantly bring God s truth to the forethought. This needs to be part of our desire as well. To keep the motivation, one must constantly remember (or re-learn) the grace provisions of God in Romans The challenge here is to outwardly love those who actively hate you. The only reason we have to accomplish this is because of God s love for us while we were actively hating Him. Jesus gave up all His rights to die for us and grant us life. In spite of all our shortcomings, knowing that all of us would fail sometimes and most of us would all the time, he still grants us everything. When we reflect on that, is it unreasonable to honor God by living Christ-like, to be the earthly example of Jesus to those who have hurt us, offended us, even actively hated us?