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SECTION f – The Conduct of The
Saints (12:01
– 15:07)
Balanced
by SECTION F – The Conduct of Mankind (1:18
– 3:20)
Romans Twelve – Verses 1 to 8
01. I am
entreating you, then, brethren, by the pities of God,
to present your bodies a sacrifice,
living, holy, well pleasing to God, your
logical divine service,
This section is in marked contrast with the conduct
of mankind (1:18-3:20), as shown in the literary framework [omitted]. The
exhortation is based on the previous teaching concerning our bodies in the sixth,
seventh and eighth chapters. Our mortal bodies are vivified by the
indwelling spirit (8:11). God is no longer pleased with dead substitutes,
but asks for living offerings. He longs for worship in spirit and in truth.
Hence we have no altar and ritual, with bleeding victims which did not
satisfy God, but we offer our bodies, dead indeed to Him, yet energized by
His Spirit, so that they are employed in good deeds, which ascend as a
sweet savor to Him. This is real religious service. It displaces the forms
of divine service connected with the law. It is the only divine service
which He recognizes in this economy. This is the Godward side. Concordant Commentary
'…I am entreating you, then, brethren…'
In accord with our evangel,
Paul does not dictate to believers what they must do. Rather, he ‘entreats’
them, appealing to the spirit of sonship they now have, and encourages
them to follow the guidelines he prescribes.
1Thes.4:9-12 Now, concerning brotherly fondness, we have no
need to be writing to you,
for you
yourselves are taught by God to be loving one another,
10 for you are doing it also
to all the brethren who are in the whole of Macedonia. Now we are entreating
you, brethren, to be superabounding yet more,
11 and that you be ambitious
to be quiet, and to be engaged in your own affairs, and to be working with
your hands, according as we charge you,
12 that you may be walking
respectably toward those outside
and you may
have need of nothing.
1Thes.5:14,15 Now we are entreating you, brethren;
admonish the disorderly, comfort
the fainthearted,
uphold the infirm, be patient
toward all.
15 See that no one may be
rendering evil for evil to anyone,
but always
pursue that which is good for one another as well as for all.
Rom.15:30 Now I am
entreating you, brethren, through our Lord Jesus Christ,
and through the love of the spirit,
to
struggle together with me in prayers to God for me,
1Cor.1:10 …I am entreating you, brethren,
through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that all
may be saying the same thing, and there may be no schisms among you,
but you may be attuned to the same mind and to the same opinion.
Eph.4:1-6 I
am entreating you, then, I, the prisoner in the Lord,
to walk
worthily of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all humility and meekness, with patience,
bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit
with the tie of peace:
4 one body and one spirit,
according as you were called also with one expectation of your
calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all,
Who is over all and through all and in all.
2Cor.6:1 Now, working together, we are also entreating you
not to
receive the grace of God for naught.
2Cor.5:20 For Christ, then, are we
ambassadors,
as of God
entreating through us.
We are beseeching for Christ's sake, "Be conciliated to God!"
1Thes.4:1,2 … we are asking you and
entreating in the Lord Jesus, that,
according as you accepted from us how you
must be walking and pleasing God
(according as you are walking also), that you may be superabounding yet more,
2 for you are aware what charges we give to you
through the Lord Jesus.
'…by the pities of God...'
Webster’s
defines ‘pity’ as the ‘…feeling or suffering of one person, excited
by the distresses of another; sympathy with the grief or misery of another;
compassion or fellow-suffering.’
We find that it is not
the equivalent of ‘compassion’ (the Greek spla[n]gch’non) as there
are passages in which both words occur and are interdependent.
2Cor.1:3 Blessed is the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of
pities and God of all consolation,
Phil.2:1-4 If, then, there is any
consolation in Christ,…
if any compassion and pity,
2 fill my joy full, that you may be mutually
disposed, having mutual love,
joined in
soul,
being disposed to one
thing--
3 nothing according with faction, nor yet according with vainglory--
but with humility, deeming one another superior
to one's self,
4 not each noting that which is his own, but each
that of others also.
Col.3:12,13 Put on, then, as God's chosen ones,
holy and beloved,
pitiful
compassions, kindness, humility, meekness, patience,
13 bearing with one another and dealing
graciously among yourselves,
if anyone should be having a complaint against
any.
According as the Lord also deals graciously with
you, thus also you.
‘Pity’ here, comes from the
Greek ‘oiktirmos’ which is an empathy,
a feeling, for those in distress - rather than mercy which is a
moderation of the severity of justice.
2Cor.4:1,2 … according as we were shown
mercy, we are not despondent.
2 But we spurn the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness,
nor yet adulterating
the word of God, but, by manifestation of the truth,
commending ourselves to every man's conscience
in God's sight.
Eph.2:4,5 yet God, being rich in mercy,
because of His vast love with which He loves
us
5 (we also being dead to the offenses and the
lusts),
vivifies us together in Christ (in grace are you saved!)
Tit.3:5 not for works which are
wrought in righteousness which we do,
but according to His mercy, He saves us,
Not able to realize what it
is that they do, men move in accord with the wisdom of the world quite
unaware that they carry out the behests of the Adversary.
Eph.2:2 … once you walked, in accord with
the eon of this world,
in accord with the chief of the jurisdiction
of the air,
the spirit now operating in the sons of
stubbornness
2Cor.4:4 … the god of this eon blinds
the apprehensions of the unbelieving
so that the illumination of the evangel of the
glory of Christ,
Who is the Image of the invisible God, does
not irradiate them.
Lk.23:33,34 And when they came away to
the place called "Skull,"
there they crucify Him, and the malefactors,…
34 Now Jesus said, "Father, forgive
them, for they are not aware what they are doing."
Since God moves us to love our fellowmen, we should have
this pity for those who do not, as yet, enjoy the blessings we do. This is
not some condescension on our part but, rather, from an understanding of
the predicament they are in – for that is exactly where we were before our
calling – we, too, were sons of stubbornness, deserving of God’s
indignation, just as the rest.
Eph.2:1-4 in which once you
[believers out of the nations] walked,
in accord with the eon of this world,
in accord with the chief of the
jurisdiction of the air,
the spirit now operating in the sons of
stubbornness
3 (among whom we [believers
out of Israel] also
all behaved ourselves once in the
lusts of our flesh,
doing the will of the flesh and of the
comprehension,
and were, in our nature, children of
indignation, even as the rest),
4 yet God,
being rich in mercy,….
'...to present your bodies a sacrifice….'
With this in mind, we should be presenting
ourselves to God for His use as He sees fit, even sacrificing our every physical
comfort and soulish gratification, doing all within our power to spread the
evangel to all (so that those who are being called may respond to it) as
well as contributing to the growth of the body of Christ.
Rom.6:13 Nor yet be presenting your members, as
implements of injustice, to Sin,
but present yourselves to God as if alive from among the dead,
and your members as implements of righteousness to God.
Rom.6:19 … For even as you present your
members
as slaves to Uncleanness and to Lawlessness for
lawlessness,
thus now present your members as slaves to Righteousness for
holiness.
1Cor.6:20 …you are bought with a price. By
all means glorify God in your body.
1Cor.5:7,8 Clean out, then, the old leaven,
that you may be a fresh kneading, according as
you are unleavened.
For our Passover also, Christ, was sacrificed
for our sakes
8 so that we may be keeping the festival,
not with old leaven,
nor yet with the leaven of evil and wickedness,
but with unleavened
sincerity and truth.
Eph.5:9-11 As children of light be walking
(for the
fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and
truth),
10 testing what is well pleasing to the
Lord.
11 And be not joint
participants in the unfruitful acts of darkness,…
1Cor.6:13 Foods for the bowels and the bowels
for foods,
yet God will be discarding these as well as
those.
Now the body is not for prostitution, but
for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
2Cor.4:16 Wherefore we are not despondent,
but even if our outward man is decaying,
nevertheless that
within us is being renewed day by day.
Tit.3:8 Faithful is the saying,
and I am intending you to be insistent concerning these things,
that those who have believed God may be concerned
to preside for ideal acts.
These things are ideal and beneficial for humanity.
Gal.6:9,10 Now we may not be despondent in
ideal doing, …
10 Consequently, then, as we have
occasion,
we are working for the good of all, yet
specially for the family of faith.
Eph.4:13,14 unto the end that we
should all attain
to the unity of the faith and of the realization
of the son of God,
to a mature man, to the measure of the stature
of the complement of the Christ,
14 that we may by no means still be minors,
surging hither and thither
and being carried about by every wind of
teaching, by human caprice,
by craftiness with a view to the systematizing
of the deception.
Eph.4:15,16 Now, being true, in love we
should be making all grow into Him, Who is the Head – Christ 16 out of
Whom the entire body,
being articulated together and united
through every assimilation of the supply,
in accord with the operation in measure of each
one's part,
is making for the growth of the body, for the upbuilding of
itself in love.
‘…living, holy, well pleasing to God, your
logical divine service,…’
A believer cannot be
passive. He is given faith through holy spirit, and thereby saved now, so
as to be active in works prepared
by God for his doing. He is set apart from unbelievers for this
undertaking, to seek to carry out God's will in it. It is not a mere mental
acknowledgement but a deliberate, experiential, submission of our selves in
the service of God. It is the logical consequence of our being saved.
Eph.2:10 For His achievement are we,
being created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God makes ready beforehand, that we should be walking in them.
Phil.2:12,13 with fear and trembling, be
carrying your own salvation into
effect,
13 for it is God Who is operating in you
to will as well as to work for the sake of His delight.
Eph.6:5-8 Slaves, be obeying your
masters according to the flesh
with fear and trembling, in the singleness of
your heart, as to Christ,
6 not with eye-slavery, as man-pleasers,
but as
slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul,
7 with good humor slaving as to the Lord and not to men,
8 being aware that, whatsoever good each one should be doing,
for this
he will be requited by the Lord, whether slave or free.
Col.3:22-24 Slaves, obey in all things your
masters according to the flesh,
not with eye-slavery, as manpleasers,
but with singleness of heart, fearing the Lord.
23 All, whatsoever you may
be doing,
work from the soul, as to the Lord and not to men,
24 Being aware that from the Lord
you will be getting the compensation of the
enjoyment of an allotment:
for the
Lord Christ are you slaving.
Rom.14:17-19 for the kingdom of God is not food and drink,
but righteousness
and peace and joy in holy spirit.
18 For he who in this is slaving for Christ,
is well
pleasing to God and attested by men.
19 Consequently, then, we are pursuing that which makes for peace
and that which
is for edification of one another.
Eph.5:9,10 As children of light be
walking
(for the fruit of the light is in all goodness
and righteousness and truth),
10 testing
what is well pleasing to the Lord.
02. and not to be
configured to this eon,
but to be transformed by the renewing
of your mind,
for you to be testing what is the will of
God,
good and well pleasing and perfect.
On the manward side our conduct is not to look like
that of the world. There is to be a transformation wrought by means of our
minds, through the influence of God's revelation. We can never be like the
world at heart, so we are not to appear to be like it. We are to become
more and more unlike it by contact with the mind of God. Concordant Commentary
'…not to be configured to this eon…'
God gives clear instructions to His chosen people to
be separate from the rest of the world and not to act in conformity with
the wisdom the world exercises, with the ways of those who are not
His.
Deut.12:30,31 Guard yourself …and lest you inquire about their
elohim, saying:
How do these nations serve their elohim
that I, I too, may do thus?
31 You shall not act thus toward
Yahweh your Elohim,
for every abhorrence which Yahweh hates
they perform for their elohim,…
Deut.18:9 When you come to the land that
Yahweh your Elohim is giving to you,
you shall not
learn to act according to the
abhorrences of those nations.
Jer.10:2,3 Thus said Yahweh:
Unto the way of the nations accustom not
yourselves,
And by the signs of the heavens be not
affrighted,
For the nations are affrighted by
them.
3 For the statutes of the peoples are
vanity,…
More so is it expected of believers to
understand and to guard against the ways of the world. We are to worship God
in spirit and truth, according to the relevant revelation in Scripture and not
in accord with the false perceptions of those who are not a part of the
body of Christ.
Many are still being seduced and beguiled by the
persuasive arguments of those who have already been led astray into the
philosophies and ‘logic’ that should be left as the reserve of unbelievers.
1Cor.2:14 Now the soulish man
is not receiving those things which are
of the spirit of God,
for they are stupidity to him, and he is not able
to know them,
seeing that they are spiritually examined.
Col.2:4 …that no one may be beguiling
you with persuasive words.
Col.2:8 Beware that no one shall be
despoiling you
through philosophy and empty seduction,
in accord with human tradition,
in accord with the elements of the
world,
and not in accord with
Christ,
Eph.5:6-10 Let no one be seducing
you with empty words,
for because of these things
the indignation of God is coming on the
sons of stubbornness.
7 Do not, then, become joint
partakers with them,
8 for you were once
darkness, yet now you are light in the Lord.
9 As children of light
be walking
(for the fruit of the light is in all
goodness and righteousness and truth),
10 testing what is well
pleasing to the Lord.
Tit.1:16 They are avowing an
acquaintance with God,
yet by their acts are denying it,
being abominable and stubborn, and
disqualified for every good act.
2Cor.2:17 …we are not as the
majority, who are peddling the word of God,
but as of sincerity, but as of God, in
the sight of God in Christ, are we speaking.
2Cor.4:2 But we spurn the hidden
things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor yet adulterating
the word of God, but, by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves
to every man's conscience in God's sight.
2Tim.4:2-4 Herald the word. Stand by
it, opportunely, inopportunely,
expose, rebuke, entreat, with all
patience and teaching.
3 For the era will
be
when they will not tolerate sound
teaching, but, their hearing being tickled,
they will heap up for themselves teachers
in accord with their own desires,
4 and, indeed, they will
be turning their hearing away from the truth,
yet will be turned aside to myths
We have been given ‘the mind of Christ’, and this should
be transforming us, moving us to live in accord with the will of God – in
spite of persecutions, calumniations, and ridicule that will come our way
because of it.
1Cor.2:15,16 Now he who is spiritual is,
indeed, examining all,
yet he is being examined by no one.
16 For who knew the mind of the Lord? Who
will be deducing from Him?
Yet we have the mind of Christ.
Eph.4:17-20 This, then, I am saying and
attesting in the Lord:
By no means are you still to
be walking
according as those of the nations also
are walking,
in the vanity of their mind,
18 their comprehension being darkened,
being estranged from the life of God because of
the ignorance that is in them,
because of the callousness of their hearts,
19 who, being past feeling, in greed give
themselves up with wantonness
to all uncleanness as a vocation.
20 Now you did not thus learn Christ,
1Pet.4:4 while they are thinking it strange
of you
not to race together into the same puddle of
profligacy, calumniating you;
2Tim.3:12 And all who are
wanting to live devoutly in Christ Jesus
shall be persecuted.
Phil.1:29,30 for to you it is
graciously granted, for Christ's sake,
not only to be believing on Him, but to be
suffering for His sake also,
30 having the same struggle such as you are
perceiving in me,
and now are hearing to be in me.
To His disciples Christ
declared what they could expect from the world:
Jn.15:18,19 If the world is hating you,
know that it has hated Me first before you.
19 If you were of the world, the world
would be fond of its own.
Now, seeing that you are not of the
world, but I choose you out of the
world,
therefore the world is hating you.
Jn.15:20 "Remember the word which
I said to you,
`A slave is not greater than his lord.'
If Me they persecute, you they
will be persecuting also.
If My word they keep, yours also
will they be keeping.
Jn.17:14 "I have given them Thy word.
And the world hates them,
for they are not of the world, according as I am not of the world.
We are told to expect
people to be unappreciative of the truth – they will even be antagonistic
to it, having already been persuaded by that which is not true.
1Jn.4:5 They are of the world; therefore
they are speaking of the world,
and the world is hearing them.
1Jn.5:19 We are aware that we are of God,
and the
whole world is lying in the wicked one.
Believers of today are
given a deeper understanding on how this separation and degradation has come
about. Invisible, subversive, supernatural forces control the psyche, the
world-view, of the present eon. We can look back at our own situations that
held before we were given to be
believers.
2Cor.4:4 … the god of this eon blinds the apprehensions of the unbelieving
so that the illumination of the evangel of the
glory of Christ,
Who is the Image of the invisible God, does not
irradiate them.
Eph.2:2 in which once you
walked, in accord with the eon of
this world,
in accord with the chief of the jurisdiction of the air,
the spirit now operating in the sons of
stubbornness
Eph.4:17-20 This, then, I am saying
and attesting in the Lord:
By no means are you still to be
walking
according as those of the nations also are
walking,
in the vanity
of their mind,
18 their
comprehension being darkened,
being
estranged from the life of God
because of the ignorance that is in them,
because of the callousness of their hearts,
19 who, being past feeling,
in greed give themselves up with wantonness
to all uncleanness as a vocation.
20 Now you did not thus learn Christ,
Scripture brands this present eon that we live in as wicked. Though we are in the world now, we are not of the world and should extricate
ourselves from its thinking, distancing ourselves from its decadent
principles and warped philosophies. Aligning ourselves with this world-psyche compromises our
understanding of God's revelation.
Gal.1:4 Who gives Himself for
our sins,
so that He might extricate us out of the present wicked eon,
according to the will of our God and Father,
1Cor.2:6 Yet wisdom are we speaking among
the mature,
yet a wisdom not
of this eon,
neither of the chief men of this eon, who are
being discarded,
1Cor.3:19,20 for the wisdom of this world is
stupidity with God.
For it is written, "He is clutching the
wise in their craftiness."
20 And again, The Lord
knows the reasonings of the wise, that they
are vain.
Jas.4:4 … Are you not aware
that the friendship of this world is enmity
with God?
Whosoever, then should intend to be a friend of
the world
is constituted
an enemy of God.
1Jn.2:15-17 Be not loving the world, neither
that which is in the world.
If ever anyone is loving the world, the love of
the Father is not in him,
16 for everything
that is in the world, the desire of
the flesh,
and the desire of the eyes, and the ostentation of living,
is
not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing
by, and its desire,
yet he who is doing the will of God is remaining
for the eon.
‘…but to be transformed by the renewing of
your mind,…’
We should be transformed,
our thinking must be transformed, from that which we have been inured to,
into a new mind-set that aligns with God's will for us and that recognizes
our position in Christ.
2Cor.5:17 So that, if anyone is
in Christ, there is a new creation:
the primitive passed by. Lo! there has come new!
Eph.1:18,19 the eyes of your heart having
been enlightened,
for you to
perceive what is the expectation of His calling, and
what the riches of the glory of the enjoyment of
His allotment among the saints,
19 and what the transcendent greatness of
His power for us who are believing,
in accord with the operation of the might of His
strength,
Eph.4:22-24 … to put off from you,
as regards your former behavior,
the old humanity which is corrupted in accord
with its seductive desires,
23 yet to
be rejuvenated in the spirit of your mind,
24 and to put on the new humanity which, in accord with God,
is being
created
in righteousness and benignity of the truth.
Col.3:9,10 … stripping off the old humanity together
with its practices,
10 and putting on the young, which is being
renewed into recognition,
to accord
with
the Image of the One Who creates it,
‘…for you to be testing what is the will
of God,…’
We need to know God's will
for us individually, and for the ecclesia collectively, for this time. This
is not merely to be an academic acknowledgement of it but a deliberate commitment to and a practical involvement
in carrying it out.
Col.1:21,22 And you, being once
estranged and enemies in comprehension,
by wicked acts, yet now He
reconciles
22 by His body of flesh, through His death,
to present you holy and flawless and unimpeachable in His sight,
1Thes.4:3-5 For this is the will of God: your holiness.
You are to be abstaining from all
prostitution;
4 each of you is to be aware of his own vessel,
to be acquiring it in holiness and honor,
5 not in lustful passion
even as the nations also who are not
acquainted with God.
Eph.5:9-11 As children of light be walking
(for the fruit of the light is in all goodness
and righteousness and truth),
10 testing
what is well pleasing to the Lord.
11 And be not joint participants in the
unfruitful acts of darkness,
yet rather be exposing them also,
Eph.5:15-17 Be observing accurately, then,
brethren, how you are walking,
not as unwise, but as wise,
16 reclaiming the era, for the days are
wicked.
17 Therefore do not become
imprudent,
but understand
what the will of the Lord is.
Phil.1:9-11 … that your love may be
superabounding still more and more
in realization and all sensibility,
10 for you to be testing what things
are of consequence,
that you may be sincere and no stumbling block
for the day of Christ,
11 filled with the fruit of righteousness
that is through Jesus Christ for the glory and
laud of God.
2Tim.3:16,17 All scripture is inspired by
God, and is beneficial
for teaching, for exposure, for
correction, for discipline in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may
be equipped, fitted out for every
good act
Eph.1:18,19 the
eyes of your heart having been enlightened,
for you to
perceive what is the expectation of His calling, and
what the riches of the glory of the enjoyment
of His allotment among the saints,
19 and what the transcendent
greatness of His power for us who are believing,
in accord with the operation of the might of His
strength,
Scripture declares without
any ambiguity, without any apology, that the Father, God, is the ultimate
Source of all!
Rom.11:36 ...OUT OF Him ex
autou
and THROUGH Him di' autou
and FOR Him eis
auton
is ALL: ... ta
panta
2Cor.5:18 Yet all is out of-the God….
(literal rendering of 'ta de panta ek tou Theou')
1Cor.8:6 …for us there is one God, the Father, out of-Whom all is, …
(literal rendering of '… ex ou ta panta')
Even Christ strove to do
the will of His Father, deriving His authority and power from the Father, His God. He did not ever do ‘His
thing’ independent of that will.
Scripture never says that
the Father derives anything from His Son, or that the Son delegates any
authority to the Father!
Jn.5:19 Jesus, then, answers and said to
them,
"Verily, verily, I am saying to you,
The Son can not be doing anything of Himself
if it is not what He should be observing the
Father doing,
for whatever He may be doing, this the Son also
is doing likewise.
Jn.5:21 For even as the Father
is rousing the dead and vivifying,
thus the Son also is vivifying whom He will.
Jn.5:26 For even as the Father
has life in Himself,
thus to the Son also He gives to have life in
Himself.
Jn.5:27 And He gives Him authority to do judging,…
Jn.5:30 I can not do anything of
Myself.
According as I am hearing am I judging; and My
judging is just,
for I am not seeking My will, but the will of Him Who sends Me.
Heb.10:7 Then said I, "Lo! I am
arriving-- In the summary of
the scroll
it is written concerning Me-- To
do Thy will, O God."
Heb.10:9 then He has declared,
"Lo! I am arriving to do Thy
will, O God!"
Jn.6:38 for I have descended from heaven,
not that I should be doing My will,
but the
will of Him Who sends Me.
Jn.10:29 My Father, Who has
given them to Me, is greater than all,
and no one is able to be snatching them out of
My Father's hand.
Jn.14:31 … according as the Father directs Me, thus I am doing,…
Eph.1:11 … according to the purpose of the
One
Who is
operating all in accord with the counsel of His will,
Hence Paul entreats
believers to dedicate and consecrate themselves to the service of God, searching
for and doing the things that please Him. Rather than becoming configured
to the course the rest of the world is taking in this eon, believers are to
adjust their thinking to conform to God's will!
03. For I am
saying, through the grace which is given to me,
to everyone who is among you, not to be overweening,
beyond what your disposition must be, but to be of a sane disposition,
as God parts to each the measure of
faith.
‘…through the grace which is given to
me,…’
It should never be a burden
for us, members of the body of Christ, to review the place of the grace of
God in our evangel.
The calling in grace of
Paul was the initiation of an operation that God had kept secret until
then. And, it set the pattern for those who were, from then, to be called
under his ministry. For now, grace reigns.
1Tim.1:12-14 Grateful am I to Him Who invigorates me, Christ
Jesus, our Lord,
for He deems me faithful, assigning me a
service,
13 I, who formerly was a calumniator and a persecutor
and an outrager:
but I was shown mercy, seeing that I do it being
ignorant, in unbelief.
14 Yet the grace of our Lord overwhelms,
with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
1Tim.1:15,16 Faithful is the saying, and
worthy of all welcome,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners, foremost of whom am I.
16 But therefore was I shown mercy,
that in me, the foremost,
Jesus Christ should be displaying all His
patience,
for a pattern of those who are about to
be believing on Him for life eonian.
Rom.1:5,6 Jesus Christ, our Lord,
through Whom we obtained grace and apostleship
for faith-obedience among all the
nations, for His name's sake,
6 among whom are you also, the called of Jesus
Christ:
Rom.15:15,16 Yet more daringly do I write to
you, in part, as prompting you,
because of the
grace being given to me from God,
16 for me to be the minister of
Christ Jesus for the nations,
acting as a priest of the evangel of God,
that the approach present of the nations may be becoming
well received,
having been hallowed by holy spirit.
Eph.3:7-11 I became the dispenser, in accord with the
gratuity of the grace of God,
which is granted to me in accord with His
powerful operation.
8 To me, less than the least of all saints, was
granted this grace:
to bring the evangel of the untraceable riches of Christ to the nations,
9 and to enlighten all as to what is the
administration of the secret,
which has been concealed from the eons in God,
Who creates all,
10 that now
may be made known to the sovereignties and the authorities
among the celestials, through the ecclesia, the multifarious wisdom of God,
11 in accord with the purpose of the eons,
which He makes in Christ Jesus, our Lord;
1Cor.3:10 According to the grace of God which is
being granted to me,
as a wise foreman I lay a foundation, yet
another is building on it.
Yet let each one beware how he is building on
it.
1Cor.15:10 Yet, in the grace of God I am what I am,
and His grace, which is in me, did not come to
be for naught,
but more exceedingly than all of them toil I--
yet not I, but the grace of God which is with me.
Gal.2:8,9 (for He Who operates in Peter for
the apostleship of the Circumcision
operates in me also for the nations),
9 and, knowing the grace which is being given to me,
James and Cephas and John, who are supposed to
be pillars,
give to me and Barnabas the right hand of
fellowship,
that we, indeed, are to be for the nations, yet
they for the Circumcision--
Eph.3:2-5 since you surely hear of the administration of the grace of God
that is given to me for you,
3 for by revelation the secret is made known to
me
(according as I write before, in brief,
4 by which you who are reading
are able to apprehend my understanding in the
secret of the Christ,
5 which, in other generations, is not made known
to the sons of humanity
as it was now revealed to His holy apostles and
prophets)
Eph.2:8,9
For in grace, through faith, are you saved,
and this is not out of
you; it is God's approach present,
9 not of works,
lest anyone should be
boasting.
‘…not to be overweening, beyond what your
disposition must be,…’
Under this administration we are to operate in a climate of
grace among those whom we come into contact - and especially in our
relationship with one another. We must keep in mind what we were and not
lose sight of our unworthiness for the salvation we have. Having received
grace, we should not be overbearing, condescending, or ungracious in our
behaviour.
Rom.11:25 For I am not willing for you to be ignorant of
this secret, brethren,
lest you may be passing for prudent among yourselves,…
Col.3:13 bearing with one another and dealing graciously among yourselves,
if anyone should be having a complaint against
any.
According as
the Lord also deals graciously with you, thus also you.
1Cor.4:7 For who is making you
to discriminate?
Now what have you which you did not obtain?
Now if you obtained it also, why are you boasting as though not obtaining?
2Cor.12:7 … lest I should be lifted up by the transcendence of the
revelations,
there was given to me a splinter in the flesh, a
messenger of Satan,
that he may be buffeting me, lest I may be lifted up.
Gal.6:1,2 Brethren, if a man should be
precipitated, also, in some offense,
you, who are spiritual, be attuning such
a one,
in a spirit of meekness, noting yourself, that you, also, may
not be tried.
2 Bear one another's burdens, and thus fill up
the law of Christ
Gal.6:3-5 For if anyone is
supposing himself to be anything,
being
nothing,
he is imposing on himself.
4 Now let each one be testing his own work,
and then he shall be having his boast for
himself alone, and not for another,
5 for each one shall be bearing his own load.
Phil.2:2-4 … having mutual love, joined in
soul, being disposed to one thing--
3 nothing according with faction, nor yet according with vainglory--
but with humility, deeming one another superior
to one's self,
4 not each noting that which is his own, but each
that of others also.
This does not mean that we should be lax in vigilance
in upholding the truth of the evangel. With an understanding of Scripture
concerning the evangel, we see that there is place for exposing error, for
correction, for rebuke even, to guard the integrity of the message.
2Tim.3:16,17 All scripture is
inspired by God, and is beneficial
for teaching, for exposure, for correction,
for discipline in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be equipped,
fitted out for every good act.
2Tim.4:2-4 Herald the word. Stand by it,
opportunely, inopportunely,
expose, rebuke, entreat, with all
patience and teaching.
3 For the era will be when they will not
tolerate sound teaching,
but, their hearing being tickled,
they will heap up for themselves teachers in
accord with their own desires,
4 and, indeed, they will be turning their
hearing away from the truth,
yet will be turned aside to myths.
‘…but to be of a sane disposition,…’
All the while we should not
be impulsive and judgmental in our relationship with others within the
ecclesia. We should, rather, be understanding and compassionate, exercising
care and giving encouragement as occasion calls for.
Tit.2:12,13 training us that, disowning
irreverence and worldly desires,
we should be living sanely and justly and
devoutly in the current eon,
13 anticipating that happy expectation,
even the advent of the glory of the great God
and our Saviour Jesus Christ,
1Pet.5:8 Be sober! Watch! For
your plaintiff, the Adversary,
is walking about as a roaring lion, seeking
someone to swallow up;
‘…as God parts to each the measure of faith….’
We must keep in mind that
it is all under grace. It is God Who operates in each one and growth is
dependent, not even on each one's own effort but, ultimately, on God's
grace for them to will and to do what pleases Him!
1Cor.12:18 Yet now God placed the members, each one of them, in the body
according
as He wills.
1Cor.12:4-11 Now there are apportionments of
graces, yet the same spirit,
5 and there are apportionments of services,
and the same Lord,
6 and there are apportionments of
operations,
yet the
same God Who is operating all in all.
7 Now to each one is being given the
manifestation of the spirit,
with a
view to expedience.
8 For to
one, indeed, through the spirit, is being given the word of wisdom,
yet to
another the word of knowledge, according to the same spirit,
9 yet to
another faith, by the same spirit,
yet to
another the graces of healing, by the
one spirit,
10 yet to
another operations of powerful deeds, yet to another prophecy,
yet to
another discrimination of spirits, yet to another species of languages,
yet to
another translation of languages.
11 Now all these one and the same spirit is
operating,
apportioning
to each his own, according as He is
intending.
1Cor.12:29,30 Not all are apostles.
Not all are prophets.
Not all are teachers.
Not all have powers.
30 Not all have the graces of healing.
Not all are speaking languages.
Not all are interpreting.
Phil.2:13 for it is God Who is operating in you
to will as well as to work for the sake of His
delight.
04. For even
as, in one body, we have many members,
yet all the members have not the same
function,
Our
behavior toward one another is based on the marvelous figure of the human
body. We all have distinct functions, designed not merely for our own use, but
for the edification of all. This is the key to conduct among our
fellow-saints. As the body is a vital unity, so the saints are one in
Christ. Concordant Commentary
For a body to function
properly, its various parts must work interdependently with, rather
than independently of, each other. Each part is designed to
function differently so that there must be contribution from each
part for effective coordination and efficient operation of the whole being.
1Cor.12:14-21 For the body also is
not one member, but many.
15 If the foot should be saying,
"Seeing that I am not a hand, I am not of
the body,"
not for this is it not of the body.
16 And if the ear should be saying,
"Seeing that I am not an eye, I am not of
the body"
not for this is it not of the body.
17 If the whole body were an eye,
where were the hearing?
If the whole were hearing, where the scent?
18 Yet now God placed the
members, each one of them, in the body
according as He wills.
19 Now if it were all one member, where were
the body?
20 Yet now there are, indeed, many
members, yet one body.
21 Yet the eye can not say to the hand,
"I have no need of you,"
or, again, the head to the feet, "I have no
need of you."
05. thus we, who are many, are
one body in Christ,
yet individually members of one another.
This analogy of a body with
its proper functioning through the coordinated contribution of its
individual parts is applied to the spiritual entity which is ‘the body of
Christ’ with all individual believers in the evangel dispensed through Paul
as its members.
Eph.1:22,23 and subjects all under His
feet, and gives Him,
as Head over all, to the ecclesia 23 which is His body,
the
complement
of the One completing the all in all.
1Cor.12:12-14 For even as the body is one and has many
members,
yet all the members of the one body, being many,
are one body,
thus also is the Christ.
13 For in one spirit also we all
are baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free,
and all are made to imbibe one spirit.
14 For the body also is not
one member, but many.
1Cor.12:20 Yet now there are, indeed, many
members, yet one body.
Eph.5:30 for we are members of His body.
1Cor.12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members of a
part,
Eph.4:25 …let each be speaking the truth
with his associate,
for we are members
of one another.
1Cor.10:17 For we, who are many, are one bread, one body,
for we all are partaking of the one bread.
1Cor.12:4-6 Now there are apportionments of
graces, yet the same spirit,
5 and there are apportionments of services, and
the same Lord,
6 and there are apportionments of
operations, yet the same God
Who is operating all in all.
Eph.5:23,24 for the husband is head
of the wife
even as Christ is Head of the ecclesia, and He is the Saviour of the body.
24 Nevertheless, as the ecclesia is subject to Christ,
thus are the wives also to their husbands in
everything.
Col.1:24 I am now rejoicing in my
sufferings for you,
and am filling up in my flesh, in His stead,
the deficiencies of the afflictions of Christ,
for His body, which is the ecclesia
Scripture speaks of members
of the body of Christ being articulated together for the upbuilding
of itself in love.
1Cor.12:7 Now to each one is being given the
manifestation of the spirit,
with a view to
expedience
Eph.4:7 Now to each one of
us was given grace
in accord with the measure of the
gratuity of Christ
1Cor.12:24-26 but God blends the body
together,
giving to that which is deficient more exceeding
honor,
25 that there may be no schism in the body,
but the members may be solicitous for one
another.
26 And whether one member is suffering, all
the members are sympathizing,
or one
member is being esteemed, all the
members are rejoicing with it.
Eph.4:13 unto the end
that we should all attain to the unity of the faith
and of the realization of the son of God, to a mature man,
to the measure of the stature of the complement of the Christ,
Eph.4:15,16 Now, being true, in
love we should be making all grow into Him,
Who is the Head--Christ--
16 out of Whom the entire body,
being articulated together and united
through every assimilation of the supply,
in accord with the operation in measure of
each one's part,
is making for the growth of the body, for
the upbuilding of itself in love.
Col.2:19 … the Head, out of Whom
the entire body,
being supplied and united through the
assimilation and ligaments,
is growing in the growth of God.
This does not say that every one who claims to be a
believer is really one. Neither does it give the slightest credence to the
various denominations, characterized by charismatic personalities and
creeds, within Christendom – which are all manmade and in direct
contradiction of Scripture.
1Cor.1:10-13 Now I am entreating you, brethren,
through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that all may be saying the same thing,
and there may be no schisms among you,
but you may be attuned to the same
mind and to the same opinion.
11 For it was made evident to me concerning
you, my brethren,
by those of Chloe, that there are strifes among
you.
12 Now I am saying this, that each of you is
saying,
"I, indeed, am of Paul," yet "I
of Apollos," yet "I of Cephas," yet "I of
Christ."
13 Christ is parted! Not Paul was
crucified for your sakes!
Or into the name of Paul are you baptized?
The body of Christ consists
of believers, wherever they may be, who are sealed with holy spirit on
believing the evangel of their salvation (and not that which belongs
to Jewish believers), and in whom that spirit makes its home. They show the
spirit of sonship, the spirit of Christ, in doing all to please God, the
Father, rather than to gratify their own soulish desires that accord with
the wisdom of the world.
Eph.1:13,14 In Whom you also—
on hearing the word of truth, the evangel of your
salvation—
in Whom on believing also, you are sealed
with the holy spirit of promise
14 (which is an earnest of the enjoyment of
our allotment,
to the deliverance of that which has been
procured) for the laud of His glory!
1Cor.3:16 Are you not aware that you are a
temple of God
and the spirit of God is making its home in
you?
Rom.8:9 Yet you are not in flesh, but in
spirit,
if so be that God's spirit is making its home
in you.
Now if anyone has not Christ's spirit,
this one is not His.
Rom.8:15 For you did not get slavery's
spirit to fear again,
but you got the spirit of sonship, in
which we are crying, "Abba, Father!"
06. Now,
having graces excelling,
in accord with the grace which is
given to us,
whether prophecy, exercise it in accord with the analogy of the faith;
07. or
dispensing, in the dispensation; or the teacher, in teaching;
08. or the
entreater, in entreaty; the sharer, with generosity;
the presider, with diligence; the merciful
one,
with glee.
God imparts faith to each
believer, enabling him to believe for his salvation. Beyond that, He graces
them with functional gifts and abilities for the edification of the
ecclesia according to His will and design. Not everyone will see and
understand and believe exactly the same things at the same time. The scope
and rate of growth of each one is entirely
dependent on God's determination. So we are advised not to be overbearing
and impatient in teaching others. Instead, we are to be reasonable and
considerate in our dealings with one another. Though it is given for us to
care and have a concern for the growth, both spiritual and behavioural, of
our fellow believers, the 'responsibility' for each one rests on our Lord.
Rom.14:4 Who are you who are
judging Another's domestic?
To his own Master he is standing or falling.
Now he will be made to stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
Phil.1:10,11 for you to be testing what things
are of consequence,
that you may be sincere and no stumbling block for the day of Christ,
11 filled with the fruit of righteousness
that is through Jesus Christ
for the glory and laud of God.
Paul uses the figure of the
human body to explain this situation. Just as the human body is composed of
many parts, each designed to perform some different function, so also, the
Body of Christ is made up of many members, each designated to serve a
different function according to the gracious gifts of God to each. This
being so, each one of us should serve faithfully, cheerfully, and lovingly
in his own capacity and according to his own individual capability so that
there is harmony within the body.
1Cor.12:27,28 Now you are the body of
Christ, and members of a part,
whom also God, indeed, placed in the ecclesia,
28 first, apostles, second, prophets,
third, teachers, thereupon powers,
thereupon graces of healing, supports, pilotage,
species of languages.
These gifts
have become the hallmark of ‘charismatic movement’ within Christendom, with
‘healing’ and ‘speaking in tongues’ the more prominent ones today. The
latter phenomenon has even been used to distinguish between ‘Christian’ and
‘non-Christian’ – one who speaks in tongues has holy spirit while one who
does not has not. Does Scripture support such a criterion for
identification? Of course, not!
1Cor.12:29,30 Not all are apostles. Not
all are prophets. Not all are teachers.
30 Not all have powers. Not all
have the graces of healing.
Not all are speaking languages. Not all
are interpreting.
The fact is that these abilities were dispensed to some
believers of that time with a view to expedience. Once the objective for these
gifts was fulfilled, they became redundant. By the time Paul penned his
letter to the Ephesians most of these had faded from use. And by the time
the books of the ‘New Testament’ were completed even the gifts of
‘apostles’ and ‘prophets’ were no longer expedient.
1Cor.12:7 Now to each one is being given the
manifestation of the spirit,
with a view to expedience.
Eph.4:11-14 And the same One gives
these, indeed, as apostles, yet these as prophets,
yet these as evangelists, yet these as pastors
and teachers,
12 toward the adjusting of the saints for
the work of dispensing,
for the upbuilding of the body of Christ,
13 unto the end that we should all
attain to the unity of the faith
and of the realization of the son of God, to a
mature man,
to the measure of the stature of the complement
of the Christ,
14 that we may by no means
still be minors, surging hither and thither
and being carried about by every wind of
teaching, by human caprice,
by craftiness with a view to the systematizing
of the deception.
God's gifts to us are endowments,
in the realm of grace. No one can earn them nor deserve them through
any intrinsic quality or expended effort. It is simply a matter of God's
preference so that the ecclesia may operate effectively and efficiently
within a set time-context. Each one, therefore, has some function through
which to contribute towards the good of the ecclesia. The exercise of these
gifts must, therefore, be in an environment
of love, motivated by love
for the brethren, and carried out in
love for the Lord.
1Cor.1:5-7 in everything are you enriched in
Him, in all expression and all knowledge,
6 according as the testimony of Christ was
confirmed among you,
7 so that
you are not deficient in any grace,
awaiting the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Cor.12:4-11 Now there are apportionments of
graces, yet the same spirit,
5 and there are apportionments of
services, and the same Lord,
6 and there are apportionments of operations,
yet the same God
Who is operating all in all.
7 Now to each one is being given the
manifestation of the spirit,
with a view to expedience.
8 For to one, indeed, through the spirit,
is being given the word of wisdom,
yet to another the word of knowledge,
according to the same spirit,
9 yet to another faith, by the same
spirit,
yet to another the graces of healing, by
the one spirit,
10 yet to another operations of
powerful deeds, yet to another prophecy,
yet to another discrimination of spirits,
yet to another species of languages,
yet to another translation of
languages.
11 Now all these one and the same spirit is operating,
apportioning to each his own, according as He
is intending.
These spiritual endowments from God are, evidently,
not for self-aggrandizement and for pandering to pride, nor licence to lord it over
other believers. They are to be exercised for the edification of the
ecclesia.
1Cor.13:1-3 If I should be speaking in the
languages of men and of the messengers,
yet should have no love,
I have become resounding copper or a clanging
cymbal.
2 And if I should have prophecy
and should be perceiving all secrets and all
knowledge,
and if I should have all faith, so as to
transport mountains,
yet have no love, I am nothing.
3 And if ever I should be morselling out
all my possessions,
and if I should be giving up my body, that I
should be boasting,
yet may have no love, in nothing do I
benefit.
1Pet.4:10,11 Each, according
as he obtained a gracious gift, be dispensing it
among yourselves, as ideal administrators of the
varied grace of God;
11 if anyone is speaking, as the
oracles of God;
if anyone is dispensing, as out of the
strength which God is furnishing;
that in all God
may be glorified, through Jesus Christ,
to Whom is the glory and the might for the eons
of the eons. Amen!
1Cor.14:1-5 Be pursuing love. Yet
be zealous for spiritual endowments,
yet rather that you may be prophesying.
2 For he who is speaking in a language is not
speaking to men, but to God,
for no one is hearing, yet in spirit he is
speaking secrets.
3 Yet he who is prophesying is speaking to men
for edification and consolation and
comfort.
4 He who is speaking in a language is
edifying himself,
yet he who is prophesying is edifying the ecclesia.
5 Now I want you all to be speaking in languages,
yet rather that you may be prophesying,
for greater is he who is prophesying than he who
is speaking in languages,
outside and except he may be interpreting,
that the
ecclesia may be getting edification.
Eph.4:11-14 … the same One
gives these, indeed, as apostles, yet these as
prophets,
yet these as evangelists, yet these as pastors
and teachers,
12 toward the adjusting of the
saints for the work of dispensing,
for the upbuilding of the body of
Christ,
13 unto the end that we
should all attain to the unity of
the faith
and of the realization of the son of God, to a
mature man,
to the measure of the stature of the complement of the Christ,
14 that we may by no means
still be minors, surging hither and thither
and being carried about by every wind of
teaching, by human caprice,
by craftiness with a view to the systematizing
of the deception.
1Thes.5:19-22 Quench not the spirit. 20Scorn not
prophecies.
21 Yet be testing all, retaining the
ideal.
22 From everything wicked to the
perception, abstain.
Col.4:17 And say to Archippus:
"Look to the service which you accepted in
the Lord, that you may be fulfilling
it."
2Tim.4:2-4 Herald
the word. Stand by it, opportunely, inopportunely,
expose, rebuke, entreat, with all patience and
teaching.
3 For the era will be when they will not
tolerate sound teaching, but, their hearing being tickled,
they will heap up for themselves teachers in
accord with their own desires,
4 and, indeed, they will be turning their
hearing away from the truth,
yet will be turned aside to myths.
Col.1:28,29 Whom we are announcing,
admonishing every man and teaching every man in
all wisdom,
that we should be presenting every man mature in Christ
Jesus;
29 for which I am toiling also, struggling
in accord with His operation,
which is operating in me with power.
1Tim.2:5-7 For there is one God,
and one Mediator of God and mankind,
a Man, Christ Jesus,
6 Who is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom
for all
(the testimony in its own eras),
7 for which I was appointed a herald and an
apostle
(I am telling the truth, I am not lying),
a teacher of the nations in knowledge and
truth.
1Tim.5:17
Let elders who have
presided ideally be counted worthy of double honor,
especially those who are toiling in word
and teaching,
2Tim.2:2 And what things you hear from me
through many witnesses,
these commit to faithful men, who shall be competent to teach others also.
2Tim.2:24-26 Now a slave of the Lord must
not be fighting,
but be gentle toward all, apt to teach, bearing
with evil,
25 with meekness training
those who are antagonizing, seeing
whether God
may be giving them repentance
to come
into a realization of the truth,
26 and they will be
sobering up out of the trap of the Adversary,
having been caught alive by him, for that one's
will.
1Tim.4:13-16 Till I come, give heed
to reading, to entreaty, to teaching.
14 Neglect not the gracious gift which is
in you, which was given to you
through prophecy with the imposition of the
hands of the eldership.
15
On these things meditate. In these be,
that your progress may be apparent to all.
16 Attend to yourself and to the teaching.
Be persisting in them,
for in doing this you will save yourself as well
as those hearing you.
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