1. Romans 12:12–16 (ESV)
  2. Structure and outline

Introduction to Romans 12—16

Romans 12:12–16 (ESV)

12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Beginning with Romans 12:1–21 and proceeding unto the conclusion of the letter in Romans 16:1–27, Paul addresses the actual behaviour of his audience. His spiritual exhortations in this section can easily be connected to what he had written in Romans 6:1–8:39 concerning the new life in the Spirit. Yet at the same time there is also an intrinsic connection to Romans 9:1–11:36 wherein the apostle had written about the salvation of Israel. At first it may appear as though Romans 9:1–11:36 formed an intermezzo that is concluded at the start of Romans 12:1–21. Upon closer investigation, however, it becomes clear that there is an important connection between the salvation of Israel discussed in the preceding section and the new walk of life of the Gentile Christians discussed here (see also Reichert1).

Thematically Paul already laid the groundwork for his discussion of sanctification of the Gentiles in Romans 9:1–11:36. Paul desires that the entry of the Gentiles into the tents of the believing Abraham will have the effect of making the Jews, who now still reject the Messiah, envious (Romans 11:14, Romans 11:31). The faithful lives of Gentile Christians are relevant to the future of Israel, a connection that is also clearly evident throughout Romans 12:1–15:33:

  1. Paul begins by characterizing the sanctification of the lives of the Gentiles as a sacrifice (Romans 12:1), not as a sacrifice to idols, but as a sacrifice that is pleasing to God, the LORD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for whom sacrifices are still being offered daily in Jerusalem. Gentile Christians are not circumcised and have no access to the inner court of the temple where the sacrifices being offered, but Paul shows that they can indeed participate in the administration of sacrifices to the Lord by presenting themselves as spiritual sacrifices to him. In this way Christians from among the Gentiles themselves become a sacrificial sacrifice to the Lord—a sacrifice that is bound to make those who offer up sacrifices in Jerusalem jealous. God now also accepts that spiritual sacrifice of the Gentiles in Christ.

  2. Paul begins Romans 12:1 by appealing to the mercies of God. This appeal is connected to the immediately preceding section. First God showed compassion on Israel and now he shows compassion on the Gentiles so that, in this way, he will also again have compassion on Israel (Romans 11:30–31). Compassion on all is the motif of both his strategy with Israel as well as with the nations (Romans 11:32). Paul now appeals to God’s compassion so as to spur the readers on to holy living, for their holy lives must stand in the service of God’s compassion in that it must function as an appeal to the unbelieving portion of the Jews.

  3. The Gentile Christians needed the instruction about the salvation of Israel (Romans 9:1–11:36) so as to keep them from becoming conceited (Romans 11:25). Paul repeats this motif when he makes an appeal for their sanctification: I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment (Romans 12:3). In Romans 11:25 and Romans 12:3, Paul uses Greek words and terms that are related to each other. The Gentile Christians ought to be modest and recognize their place—they must be a sacrificial gift to the Lord, for the benefit of a disobedient Israel. The fulness of their obedience stands in the place of the unbelief of the hardened Israelites, not to outdo them, but rather to serve them by means of a good and appealing example (Romans 15:7–13).

  4. The section about the sanctification of the Gentile Christians purposely culminates in Paul’s own example. He brings the offering as a sacrificial gift from the Gentiles to Jerusalem (Romans 15:25–33).

  5. Paul’s motive is to bring the Gentiles into the obedience of faith (Romans 1:4–5, Romans 15:18, Romans 16:26). This entails the conversion to the Creator, and the return to the obedience of faith in the one God. Paul thereby brings the Gentiles back to Noah and Abraham. Their sanctification is the true consequence of this new obedience to Israel’s God.

  6. The sanctification of the Gentiles is effectuated by the power of the Spirit of holiness (Romans 1:4, Romans 15:19). This is the Spirit of the risen Messiah (Romans 1:4). The fruit of the Spirit of Israel’s God among the Gentiles proves that it is truly the Lord who has resurrected Jesus and who now gives glory to him as his divine Son among both the Jews and Gentiles (Romans 1:3–4). The conversion of the Gentiles proves to the unbelieving Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. Paul hopes that this will make them jealous, causing them to convert to the Messiah and share in the same compassion.

  7. The contents of Romans 12:1–15:33 show that the sanctification of the Gentiles is in no way different from the heart of what the law has always demanded. In other words, the Gentiles become identical to the central image of Israel’s law. They are truly engrafted in the old stem. At times Paul literally refers to the commands of Israel’s law (Romans 12:19–20, Romans 13:9), but the exhortations to the readers always conform to the teachings of rabbis such as Hillel and Shammai which outline the kind of human behaviour appropriate for creatures of the Almighty. The spiritual sacrifice that believers in the diaspora already brought to the Lord in the diaspora are now being strengthened by the Gentile Christians. The fact that this section of the letter is also saturated with the teachings of Jesus2 does not change this perspective, for Jesus did not come to abolish the law and the prophets. Paul’s ethical instruction shows how the Christian walk of life ultimately lies in following the footsteps of Jesus (Romans 15:1–13), and how this actually accords with the spirit of Moses and not with the traditional outlook on life of the Gentiles. An example of this ethical continuity is the instruction about loving one’s enemies in Romans 12:14–21.3

  8. This same section of the letter also concludes with a special doxology (Romans 16:25–27). In this eulogy Paul speaks about his confidence in God, who has power to strengthen the Gentile Christians. This refers especially to their perseverance and sanctification. God will strengthen them into becoming a spiritual sacrifice. Paul expresses this confidence in the context of God’s mystery that now concludes by highlighting the (renewed) obedience through faith among the Gentiles. Prophetic writings had already announced it. The sanctification of the Gentiles has been therefore imbedded in the work of God from the time of Abraham and Moses.

  9. Finally, the very structure of Romans 12:1–16:27 also reveals Paul’s desire to transform the body that is the Gentile Christian community into an attractive and enticing example for the unbelieving Jews:

The unity and cohesion of the new believers is the beginning (Romans 12:3–8) and the end (Romans 14:1–23). This unity is fed by love both among themselves as well as toward others (Romans 12:9–13:14), and this powerful community of faith has a calling with regard to those who are powerless because of their unbelief (Romans 15:1–13), which can only be fulfilled in imitation of Christ and Paul (Romans 15:14–33), and which must then be illustrated by the actual personal relationships in Rome (Romans 16:1–20).

In summary, in Romans 12:1–16:27 the apostle Paul writes about Christendom as the sacrifice intended by the Lord to complete and fulfil the worship of Israel. The preceding section concerning the future of Israel (Romans 9:1–11:36) should therefore not be regarded as an intermezzo but rather as an indication of what the right perspective to accompany the Christian life ought to look like.

The New Testament scholar Philip F. Esler4 rebuts the Danish classicist Engberg-Pedersen's idea that Paul’s line of argument here resembles that of classical Stoic ethics.5 In this section Paul's line of argument and radically different orientation trumps any superficial conformity to Stoic terminology or regarding a number of widely accepted ethical principles. He is not approaching the issue here as a wise man, but rather as Christian in communion with God and his fellow human beings, as the German Roman Catholic theologian Franz-Josef Ortkemper6 puts it. In reaction to Esler7, Engberg-Pedersen therefore modified his description of the stoa8, conceding that with Paul all the emphasis here lies on the complete dedication of the believing Christian within the communion of which he is a member, which indeed significantly differs from the more nuanced stoa in which the individual person retains his own place, even if this is not the fruit of egocentrism.

An altogether different interpretation is that of the Australian New Testament scholar Bruce W. Winter9 who regards Romans 12:1–15:33 as a pure form of cultural criticism towards Roman society, especially in light of its divisions into various ranks and positions, as well as its permitted licentiousness etc.