Romans 12.11-Paul Commands His Readers To Not Be Lazy, To Continue Being On Fire By Means Of The Spirit's Power And To Continue Serving The Lord
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday November 3, 2009
Romans: Romans 12:11-Paul Commands His Readers To Not Be Lazy, To Continue Being On Fire By Means Of The Spirit’s Power And To Continue Serving The Lord
Lesson # 416
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 12:9.
This evening we will study Romans 12:11 and in this passage Paul issues a prohibition to the Roman believers to not be lazy.
Then, he commands them continue to make it their habit to be on fire for the Lord by means of the power of the Spirit.
Lastly, he commands them to continue to make it their habit to conduct themselves in total service to the Lord.
Romans 12:9-11, “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor. Not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.”
Paul is using the figure of ellipsis meaning he deliberately omits the nominative second person plural present active participle form of the verb eimi (ei)miv) (i-mee), which means “to exist in a particular condition or state,” which is identified by the expression te spoude me okneroi, “not lagging behind in diligence.”
The verb’s meaning is negated by the negative particle me (mhv) (may), “not” and together, they form a prohibition.
Paul employs me and not ouk since the latter is much stronger than the former and would indicate that his readers were being lazy with reference to zeal.
Thus, by employing me instead of ouk, he does not believe that his readers were lagging behind in diligence or being lazy, which ouk would indicate.
Also, further indicating that the prohibition here in Romans 12:11 does not imply that the Roman believers were lagging behind in diligence is that the present imperative of the verb eimi with the negative particle me has the force of a general precept.
It makes no comment about whether the action is going on or not.
Thus, Paul’s readers were “not” presently disobeying this prohibition.
Furthermore, in Romans 15:14-15, Paul writes to the believers in Rome that he was convinced that they were full of goodness and filled with knowledge and able to admonish each other, thus, his teachings in this epistle would serve as a reminder to them.
Therefore, Paul is simply stating a general precept for his readers to follow in the future that would protect their fellowship with God.
As was the case in Romans 12:9 and 10, the verb eimi in Romans 12:11 functions as an imperatival participle indicating that Paul is commanding his readers that they must continue to being lazy.
“Lagging behind” is the nominative masculine plural form of the adjective okneros (o)knhrov$) (ok-nay-ros), which means “lazy” indicating that Paul is prohibiting his readers from being lazy.
“In diligence” is the articular dative feminine singular form of the noun spoude (spoudhv) (spoo-day), which means “zeal” which according to Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary is the, “fervor for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence; ardor.”
It denotes the believer’s eager desire and enthusiastic diligence in serving the Lord by serving the body of Christ since the believer serves the Lord who he can’t see through his fellow believer who he can see.
There are two types of zeal: (1) The product of human power and viewpoint and love for a person or thing (Romans 10:2; Philippians 3:4-6). (2) The product of the Holy Spirit and the believer’s response in faith to what God has done for him, is doing for him now and will do for him in the future through both the Son and the Spirit (John 2:13-17; Matthew 6:33; Ephesians 4:3; 2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 4:11; 6:11-12; 2 Peter 1:1-11; 3:14).
Romans 12:11, “Not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.”
“Fervent” is the nominative masculine plural present active participle form of the verb zeo (zevw) (dzeh-o), which is used in a figurative sense meaning “to be on fire” in the sense of being enthusiastically committed to the cause of Christ and serving Him and His body.
It is set in contrast to the adjective okneros, “lazy” and is used in relation to the noun spoude, “concerning zeal.”
The “customary present imperative” form of this verb signifies a command for action to be continued to the effect of “make this your habit.”
Therefore, it denotes that the Roman believers’ must continue to be on fire for the Lord implying that they were on fire for the Lord, which is supported by Romans 1:8 and 15:14-15.
The verb zeo functions as an imperatival participle indicating that Paul is commanding his readers to continue to make it their habit to be on fire for the Lord.
“In spirit” is composed of the preposition en (e)n), “in” and the dative neuter singular form of the noun pneuma (pneuma), “spirit.”
Some contend that pneuma refers to the believer’s human spirit while others say it refers to the Holy Spirit and Fee contends that it refers to the human spirit but that the Holy Spirit’s is not far away (God’s Empowering Presence, pages 611-612).
However, the noun pneuma is most definitely referring to the Holy Spirit as indicated by the word’s usage with zeo in Acts 18:25.
In Acts 18:25 and Romans 12:11, the articular dative neuter singular form of the noun pneuma is employed with the nominative masculine singular present active participle form of the verb zeo.
In Acts the verb is used of Apollos when he was already a believer because it says that Priscilla and Aquila explained to him more accurately the way of God after he had already been instructed in the way of the Lord and was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus.
Speaking and teaching accurately the things of Jesus is something an unbeliever would not have the desire or capacity to do unless he possessed the Holy Spirit since no one can say “Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3)!
Therefore, the noun pneuma in Acts 18:25 is referring to the Holy Spirit rather than the human spirit since the former gives one the capacity to speak and teach accurately the things of Jesus rather than the human spirit.
In Acts 18:25, pneuma is referring to the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit as the means by which the believer is to be on fire for the Lord just as Apollos was.
No one can be on fire for the Lord unless he or she is a believer in Jesus Christ and thus has received the permanent indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit so as to empower and motivate them to do so!
Fire is a common metaphorical association with the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19), which lends further support for the interpretation that pneuma in Romans 12:11 and Acts 18:25 is a reference to the Spirit.
Furthermore, in Romans chapter eight Paul emphasized the importance of the Spirit’s role in empowering the Roman believers to experience their sanctification and deliverance from the sin nature.
In Romans 12:11, the noun pneuma functions as a “dative instrumental of means” indicating that the Christian is to be on fire for the Lord “by means of” the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 12:11, “Not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.”
“Serving” is the nominative masculine plural present active participle form of the verb douleuo (douleuvw) (dool-yoo-o), which means to act or conduct oneself as one in total service to another or perform the duties of a slave.
Here it denotes that the Roman believers were to continue to conduct themselves in total service to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The verb zeo functions here as an imperatival participle indicating that the Roman believers were to continue to conduct themselves in total service to the Lord.
The “customary present imperative” form of this verb denotes that the Roman believers’ must continue to conduct themselves in total service to the Lord implying that they already were doing so, which is supported by Romans 1:8 and 15:14-15.
“The Lord” is the articular dative masculine singular form of the noun kurios (kuvrio$) (koo-ree-os), which refers to the Lord Jesus Christ and not the Father or the Spirit since in the Greek New Testament when kurios is used with the verb douleuo it is always used of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:17-21; Romans 16;17-18; Ephesians 6:5-8; Colossians 3:22-24).
This word emphasizes Jesus Christ’s equality with the Father and the Spirit as the Son of God and His absolute sovereign authority over the church.
Therefore, we can see from our study of Romans 12:11 that Paul issues a prohibition to the Roman believers to not be lazy, which according to Romans 1:8 and 15:14-15, they were not.
Then, on the heels of this prohibition he issues a command for them to continue making it their habit of being on fire for the Lord by means of the Spirit’s omnipotence.
Lastly, he follows this with a command for them to continue making it their habit of conducting themselves in total service to the Lord.